Thanks to you, dear readers, I'm still humming the words to ''Roll on, Big O.''
When I decided about a month ago to tell you about Lawson's stores that were still operating in Japan, I could have never imagined the wave of nostalgia that would sweep across the Akron area, into my e-mail box and onto my phone line.
Behold the power of a tub of chip dip.
I didn't have a single message that wasn't full of warm feelings for the store that gave us our chipped chopped ham, ice cream and potato chips, with, of course, Lawson's Chip Dip.
I have to admit to sharing some of the same wistful feelings that so many readers expressed over the long-gone dairy store chain that started in Cuyahoga Falls. I know it's been gone for 25 years, but I still feel a tug on my heart when I see that familiar milk jug sign that used to be a fixture on what seemed like every corner in Northeast Ohio.
My most vivid Lawson's memory was going there with my dad, brother and sister when Lawson's would put its half-gallons of ice cream on sale. My dad would let each of us pick out our own flavor to take home and we'd always bring home butter pecan for my mother.
I am not alone.
''I miss seeing that big old blue sign with the white bottle on it. Those were good, happy, simple days,'' one reader wrote, after detailing the trips she made to the Arlington Road Lawson's with her brothers.
Many of you were quite good at finding old pop bottles to return, particularly when Lawson's was running a special on such things as its frozen ice pops, which sold for essentially the same nickel deposit that you got back on those pop bottles.
I heard from the man whose father painted the original milk jug sign on top of Lawson's Broad Boulevard dairy in Cuyahoga Falls.
One reader chastised me for not pointing out that founder J.J. Lawson, who started the milk company in 1939, was the first person to market milk in a glass gallon jug. Now you all know.
Many readers shared photos of their trips to Japan, where the touristy thing to do (if you are from the Akron area) is to take your picture in front of one of the 8,000 or so Lawson stores that operate there.
I've seen lots of vacation photos, and since you've all checked: No, they do not sell the chip dip at the Japanese Lawson's. It is, however, still sold at local Circle K stores.
And then there's that jingle.
''Roll on, Big O-o-o-o'' — the song that now haunts the corners of my mind.
One interesting piece of Lawson's trivia came from Chardon resident Jim Short, who says it was his uncle's truck that was used in that Lawson's commercial.
Short said his uncle, whose name was also Jim Short, was a trucker based in Florida and who, along with his son Roger, really did ''get that juice up to Lawson's in 40 hours.''
He hauled juice from Florida for Lawson's for most of the 1970s, and made the trip up and back about twice each week. Short said his uncle's truck was selected for the commercial, but the drivers in the ad (''one man sleeps while the other man drives'') were actors, not real truckers.
''When they went to do the commercial, he was on site and they liked his truck,'' Short explained.
For the record, the 50-year-old Short also was a former Lawson's shopper, where he recalled buying chipped chopped ham and chip dip and, of course, returning pop bottles for pocket money.
If you still haven't gotten your Lawson's fix, I suggest a visit to the Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society Museum at 2083 Cook St.
Curator Liz Cross took me through the other day and there are lots of Lawson's milk bottles, photos and other paraphernalia to look at, not to mention the rest of the history of Cuyahoga Falls, which is equally interesting.
There are even several toy replicas of Lawson's trucks.
It seems Big O will roll on in our memories forever.
Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
