What would we do without advertising jingles?
Probably hum a lot less in the shower.
Some radio and television commercials are so catchy that they stick with us for decades. The companies may be long gone and the products may be obsolete, but we’re still singing their praises.
Beacon Journal readers continue to reminisce about jingles and slogans from Northeast Ohio companies.Let’s see what’s playing this week.
O’Neil’s and Bates & Springer
Bob Houlihan has quite a memory. He can recite the words to 70-year-old commercials with remarkable clarity.
“In the mid-’50s, WAKR 1590 ruled the AM airwaves,” he wrote. “Every morning, my mother would tune in to a soft ballad show called ‘Journey into Melody’ while she did her ironing (quaint concept that). I don’t remember much about the songs they featured, but I do remember two repetitive jingles.”
O’Neil’s
Single male crooner:
Mmm … mm … O’Neil’s is such an exciting department store.
Alive with fashion flair, alert to better living.
Aware of value giving.
At O’Neil’s, you’re assured of quality.
And wide, wide choosability.
Ooh, what wonders every floor reveals —
Chorus:
It’s such a satisfaction shopping at O’Neil’s!
Bates & Springer
Chorus:
Move up in living with Bates & Springer!
In an apartment from Bates & Springer,
Male crooner:
Give us a call
And in no time at all
You will beeeee …
Chorus:
In a building managed by Bates & Springer Company!
“While O’Neil’s is self-explanatory, for the life of me, I cannot fathom what Bates & Springer was, or what they did,” Houlihan noted.
For newcomers to Ohio, O’Neil’s was a beloved Akron department store that operated from 1877 to 1989. Older residents have fond memories of shopping there.
Bates & Springer was a real estate management firm that specialized in apartments, shopping centers and offices. Cleveland brokers Stanlee T. Bates and George E. Springer formed the company in 1949 and operated it for 20 years.
Kudos to Houlihan for preserving these lyrics. He may be the only one who remembers these songs!
‘The best things in life’
Cleveland had an image problem in the 1970s: crime, pollution, economic turmoil, you name it. If only a song could make it all go away.
New Franklin resident Susan Martin remembers the uplifting jingle “The Best Things in Life Are Right Here in Cleveland.”
The Greater Cleveland Growth Association led a 1974 campaign to improve the city’s image and enlisted Wyse Advertising Agency to coordinate the effort.
Ellen Starr composed the tune “Cleveland” for Kevin Gavin Productions in New York.
“The best things in life are right here in Cleveland,” the song begins. “There are friendly people near. Getting around is easy here. We’re a town where great things happen all year.”
The 60-second commercial touts such landmarks as The Flats, Cleveland Zoo, Karamu House, Cleveland Play House, University Circle, Blossom Music Center and Cleveland Metroparks.
No mention of the burning river or the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run.
The campaign must not have worked too well because the growth association jettisoned the slogan in 1978 and introduced a new jingle titled “Cleveland. A New Generation.”
The lyrics: “Once upon a time in Cleveland, things could get you down. Some people said Cleveland was becoming a tired, old town. But now would you look at Cleveland and the feeling that she’s found. There’s a new generation in Cleveland and the word is getting around.”
Later that year, Cleveland became the first major U.S. city to default on its debt since the Great Depression.
Jingles and slogans
It’s time for the lightning round. Here are more jingles and slogans that readers recall from Northeast Ohio, and so many are about cars.
∎ Tom Kozma: “Thompson Pontiac, TP, try our Pontiac, you’ll see!” “We’re your Chevy dealer of the ’80s! Come see us at Ron Marhofer Chevrolet.” “We are family and we show it! TV 55!”
∎ Jeffery Smith: “George Waikem Ford is little Detroit.”
∎ Cary Chatelain: “The only Chevy dealer on I-77. Burt Greenwald Chevrolet.”
∎ Les Berman: “Straight shootin’ Ed Stinn Chevrolet. Big-hearted Jim Connell Chevrolet.”
∎ Paul Galley: “Dick Bass does the handiwork. Larry Burke gives the cars away. At 4491 Northfield Road, the home of Bass Chevrolet.”
∎ Scott Garner: “It’s time to fall in love again … with your home. Only at the Calvetta Brothers Floor Show.”
Big Ginger
No one mentioned this tune, but it’s a personal favorite and we just can’t hold back any longer.Remember Cotton Club Less Sweet Ginger Ale?
“If you’ve got a thirst that just won’t quit, think big,” the jingle goes. “Big Ginger. It’s a light glass of flavor. Man, this is it. Think big. Big Ginger.”
The Cotton Club Bottling Co., which operated from 1902 to 2000 in Cleveland, rebranded its signature soft drink as Big Ginger in the mid-1970s.
Lustig Advertising Agency executive Maria McGee originated the character and appeared on soda bottles. She later handed the baton to United Airlines flight attendant Janise Harris, who won a Farrah Fawcett lookalike contest sponsored by WGAR-AM in 1977.
A disco-themed commercial, featuring pulsating lights, a mirrorball and dancing couples, aired 60 times a day in the Cleveland TV market following the success of “Saturday Night Fever.”
“Think Big Ginger, drink Big Ginger,” the jingle concludes. “Cotton Club Less Sweet Ginger Ale. Think Big Ginger, drink Big Ginger with the Big Ginger taste. It’s really, really big.”
The 1970s were far out.
Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Fun jingles for O’Neil’s, Cleveland and Cotton Club | Local history
Reporting by Mark J. Price, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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By Mark J. Price, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
