The "Family Vacation" Story

Brother Steve works on a puzzle with his son Matt.

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting at the kitchen table working on a jigsaw puzzle with my brother Steve.  This particular White Mountain jigsaw puzzle has 1,000 pieces and features an old-time General Store in any town USA.  Steve loves to put puzzles together and will sit in front of one for hours until it has been finished.  Great way to talk about "the good old times" when we were kids growing up on North Queen Street in Lancaster, PA.  

Another puzzle completed.

For the past few years, Steve and Kathy, my sister-in-law, have invited Carol and me to visit with them during their annual fall trip to the Jersey Shore.  We have such a great time laughing and telling stories of our families as well as making visits to different places along the south Jersey coast.  A trip to the zoo, trip to find Cape May diamonds on Sunset Beach, our now traditional trip to the Lobster House for lunch, visits to the beach to bask in the fall sun and trips for shopping fill the days of the week.  I feel I have grown to known my brother and his family over the past few years more than ever before.  

Puzzle completed.

This year we made a visit to the Cape May lighthouse with Steve's son and wife, spent an early evening snapping shots of the sunset, exploring Sunset Beach once again to find the elusive Cape May diamond, went shopping on Washington Street in Cape May, ate evening meals at a variety of restaurants in Stone Harbor and had our lunch-time meal at the Lobster House.  All that, plus sitting at the kitchen table endlessly talking of times past while putting the jigsaw puzzles together.  At times we tend to forget how important family time together can be and our trip to the shore each year now tends to help bring us closer.  I have included a few photos of some of our adventures from our 2016 trip to Stone Harbor. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Shopping on Washington Street in Cape May. 

View northward from the top of the Cape May Lighthouse.

Looking up at some of the 199 steps of the Cape May Lighthouse.

Looking up the outside of the lighthouse.

My brother Steve helping another beachgoer find Cape May Diamonds.

Sunset in Stone Harbor.

I have taken a photograph at this same location every year for perhaps 25 years.

A visit to the Watering Hull for our evening meal.

Steve and me share a taste of my Pina Colada.

The final puzzle of vacation which features locations in Stone Harbor.  Pictured from the left are: Matt, Steve and LDub.

The "House Ornamentation From The Past" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just clicked on my little blue desktop folder titled "Street Ornaments" so I could used the photographs in a story about ... well, street ornaments; for lack of any other nomenclature. This came about after reading a story in the local newspaper written by Jack Brubaker, aka "The Scribbler.  His "Carriages are gone, but stepping stones remain" story reminded me of the many photos I have taken over the past few years of stepping stones, hitching posts and boot scrapers.  Do you know the use of all three of these items?  Well, you know by now, if you have been reading this blog's stories for the past seven years, that I'm going to tell you!  

A carriage stone and hitching post are
both visible in this photograph.

First, stepping stones are placed on pavements along the edge of a street to allow a person to exit a horse-drawn carriage more easily.  Hitching posts are metal posts by the curb that have a metal ring on them that allow the carriage driver to tie the reins of the horse to  during a visit or stop.  Lastly, boot scrapers are usually decorative cast iron pieces that are placed near the front door of a residence to allow residents and visitors the chance to scrap off the dirt and horse poop from their shoes before entering their home.  By now you can see that you aren't going to find too many of these items anymore, especially in more modern cities that were founded after the automobile was invented.  But, for towns such as Lancaster, Pennsylvania, my home town, which was founded on May 10, 1729, you will still find a few of each.  

The decorative boot scraper used to clean boots.

"The Scribbler" talked in his article today about just a few of the carriage steps that still remain in Lancaster and where they are located.  I happened to already have photos of all but perhaps the one that he said was the best-known carriage step in Lancaster.  Well, I just had to hustle downtown and see it for myself.  It is located directly outside what used to be the famous Grape Hotel in downtown Lancaster.  According to the plaque on the wall of the building located behind the carriage step, "It was the meeting place of numerous revolutionary groups and committees and notable among Colonial Hostelries as a center of the Spirit of Independence in Lancaster County." So, follow along with my photographs from the past years and see what an historic city, such as Lancaster, has to offer to travelers from the past.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Boot scraper with some curls on top.

This boot scraper is stuck between planter and sculpture.  More than likely it hasn't been used in the recent past.

Here are two carriage steps at two city homes.

Love this little boot scraper.

This carriage step by the tree has a letter "H" on it.  More than likely the last name of the home owner when the stone was place by the curb.

Another small decorative boot scraper.

This carriage step is located in the first block on North Queen Street in downtown Lancaster.  Behind it on the building with the metal-work on the front is a plaque telling the history of the Grape Hotel as I have listed in my story.

The "Appalachian Broom Making By Hand" Story

Display of hand-made brooms that was on
the door of the stable at Landis Valley Museum.

It was an ordinary day.  Walking around Landis Valley Museum's Village and Farm waiting for their lunch period to end so I can visit a few of the houses and buildings on the property along Oregon Pike in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  As I walked past the Landis Brothers' original Victorian house, which was built in the 1870's, I heard a noise around the side of the house.  Shortly I was standing in front of the stable watching Walter Hand making an Appalachian broom.  The Appalachian region of the United States consisted of a 205,000 square-mile region that followed the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi. Walter told me that the broom was invented by the Shakers whose religious sect was established around 1750.  

Walter is sitting on his Schnitzelbank
beginning a cobweb broom.

The broom that he was making was much the same as any broom that was made before the Civil War, since wire wasn't available for use in broom making until after the war.  Walter was sitting on his own hand-made Schnitzelbank which is a "scrap bench" or "chip bench" which used foot power to secure a clamp which held the thread he was using in place as he stitched the broom.  The broom he was making was a cobweb broom which is unique for cleaning cobwebs from the ceiling.  It was thin and lightweight and designed for reaching into corners of the ceiling to remove cobwebs.  He was using broomcorn, a type of sorghum, which is a round stalk that looked to be about three feet in length and slightly under one-half inch in diameter.  

Lacing one broomcorn stalk at a time
onto the handle.  He uses an uneven
number of broomcorn stalks so that
his stitching will be more even and not
overlap too many times.

He had soaked the stalks beforehand so they wouldn't break as they were sewn to the handle.  His handles looked like they were long, straight branches from small trees that had the bark removed and had been sanded smooth.  He began by stitching an uneven number of broomcorn stalks, one at a time, to one end of the handle by running his cord, which can be in a variety of colors, through the clamp on his Schnitzelbank and wrapping it around the handle and broomcorn.  When he finished adding the broomcorn he wound the cord, which is a combination of nylon and cotton, around the broom quite a few times and then knotted it.  He then used a knife to trim the broomcorn evenly around the handle.  Finally he stitched the broomcorn, about a foot and a half down the broom, together using a variety of stitches.  

As he finishes the final broomcorn stalk, he wraps the
cord quite a few times around the grouping of stalks
and ties it a few times to keep it in place.

The broom is not trimmed even as it is in other types of brooms that are made with broom straw, since it is meant to be used for cleaning cobwebs and the uneven lengths are better suited for that chore. Walter has been making brooms of all types for about ten years after learning the craft at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. We got to talking and I found his sons were students where I taught high school, but I never had them in class.  He also lives about a quarter mile from my home in Manheim Township.  After about an hour of conversation and learning broom-making from a master craftsman, I departed and found my way back to my car.  I did learn of a few other stops I will have to make at the museum, but that will have to wait for another trip.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Next he trims all broomcorn pieces to the same length.

And, a final wrapping of cord about a foot down the stalks of broomcorn will make it keep from spreading apart and breaking.  He does not trim the end of the broom even as most all machine-made brooms are like, since it is meant to be used to remove cobwebs on the ceiling and it can get into corners better with the stalks at different lengths.

He has a variety of cord that is part nylon and part cotton.  Years ago it more than likely wasn't as strong since it didn't contain any nylon. 

This is broom straw that is what can be used for the traditional broom you can buy at the supermarket.  

A few brooms he recently finished waiting for a buyer.  Most of his brooms sell for about $20.  A real bargain considering they are well-made and made in Lancaster County by Hand; Walter Hand to be exact!

The "Visit To The Newseum: Part 2 - The Equipment" Story

Part of the Newseum at the Lancaster Newspaper building.

It was an ordinary day.  Walking past piece after piece of equipment that at one time in the history of the Lancaster Newspaper was used to produce the daily, as well as Sunday, newspaper.  The process used today to print the paper is so much different than what is shown in the Newseum, but the purpose of the Newseum is to show the printing processes that existed before the advent of our current technology.  I hope I have helped you to understand what had to be done in order to produce the newspaper during much of my, and possibly your, lifetime.  I still run the offset press for the school district where I once taught Graphic Arts and Photography and realize that the equipment I run is light years behind how it is now produced.  The Newseum follows the printing procedure from hand-set type to what is known as the Di-Litho technique which they used starting in the mid-1970s.  Since then there have been a few more generations of printing techniques, but these are not included in the Newseum.  History is amazing!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

My tour guide, Nathan, standing in the Newseum.

The Washington Press No. 5 was used to print the Lancaster Journal in 1929.  It is an iron press that operated much the same as the Franklin Press, but with all metal parts instead of wooden.  Two men could print 150 copies of the four-page newspaper in an hour which was twice as fast as on the Franklin Press.  The Washington Press was patented by Samuel Rust of New York in 1821.

This is a cabinet full of California Job Cases which are drawers which hold fonts of metal type.  Originally the drawers will filled with movable wooden type, but later lead replaced the wood on making the pieces of type.  This cabinet looks exactly like the two cabinets that were in my classroom at Manheim Township High School.  Each drawer contained one font of type which may have been 12 point, 14 point, 18 point, etc. and in a particular typeface such as Times Roman.  The person who would set type manually was known as the compositor and had to have the case memorized as to where each letter, piece of punctuation, etc. was stored.  That was one of the first tests I gave my Graphic Arts students.  They had to know the job case in order to set type in a timely manner.  

A closer look at what a type drawer would look like.

This is a proof press.  In order to check to see if the type you set in your composing stick was done correctly and to check for spelling you would make a proof on the proof press. When type is composed, it is done so backwards, so a proof is necessary to make sure you have done it correctly.  The hand-set type would be placed on the bed of the press, inked, paper placed over it, and run through the roller system to take the proof.  Here you can see type sitting on the bed of the proof press.  Click on the photo to enlarge it.  In this case, the type that is being proofed is from a Linotype Machine rather than being handset.  The next photo shows the Linotype machine.

The Linotype machine is used for composing lines of type.  Needless to say it is much faster than doing it by hand.  The Lancaster Newspaper began using them in 1900.  The operator sat in front of the keyboard and typed the copy.  Letters, numbers, spaces, etc., all called matrices, were released as the keys were struck.  The matrices moved along an assembler until a full line of type accumulated.  Molten metal was injected into the procedure and struck the line of type and hardened instantly into a "slug."  All the slugs next to each other formed the story.  They were placed in a metal tray called a galley and taken to the proof press to check for mistakes.  A machine could produce 7 lines of type in a minute.  I received the offer of one of the newspaper 's linotype machines when they were upgrading and it was delivered and placed in my print shop.  My students were so excited to give it a try, until the school's insurer saw it and nixed the idea due to the molten metal.  In the photo above you can see, to the far left about a third of the way down from the top, the silver lead bar that lowers as it is needed to melt and flow into the matrices. 

Here you can see the lines of type that are produced on the Linotype machine.

Here you can see lines of type set in place to form a page in the newspaper.  It weighs several hundred pounds since it is lead.  It is placed in a metal frame called a chase which is the size of a page in the newspaper.  It is sitting on what is called a turtle.  When the page was proofed and ready, it was pushed to the mat roller.

A flexible mat, which was pliable, was placed on top of the type and run through the roller which would take the shape of the page.  It hardened, but was still flexible.  It was placed in a casting box, and a semi-circular lead plate was made from the mat.  This plate was then placed on the press cylinder to print the newspaper. 

This may help you understand what I just said.  Behind the circular metal plate is the mat.  The plate would be attached  a cylinder inked and printed on paper.  What you are looking at, as well as the hand-set type used to print the paper, is called relief printing or printing from a raised surface.  Also known as letterpress printing.

In 1976 Lancaster Newspapers stopped using the letterpress printing process involving the mats and semi-circular lead plates.  It then changed to a new process called Di-Litho where thin metal plates were used.  The plates, as seen here, were wrapped around a cylinder and tightened.  Ink and water were applied to the plates with water spread on the plate and ink applied to it.  The ink would only stick to the areas that had print or photos.  Paper was pressed against the plate to receive the images.  This is different from offset lithography since offset printing uses an additional roller that receives the image and offsets it to the paper.  The plate above has a reversed image which will be right-reading on paper.  In offset, the image right-reading, then transfer to a composition blanket where it is reversed, then onto the paper where it is right-reading once again.  

The "Visit To The Newseum: Part 1 - The Background" Story

Lobby in the Lancaster Newspaper, Inc. building.

It was an ordinary day.  Standing inside the Lancaster Newspaper building on West King Street talking to Nathan, my tour guide for the morning.  For years I have driven, as well as walked, past the newpaper's Newseum, which is located on South Queen Street, and enjoyed looking at the display of equipment that had been used in the production of the newspaper since it was established in 1794.  A month or two ago I attempted to take some photos of the Newseum, but the reflections from the windows stopped me.  

A very non-descript entrance into the Newseum.

So, I made a few photo calls ... and Nathan has just given me my ID badge to wear throughout my time in the LNP building.  Years ago, while teaching Graphic Arts and Photography in high school, I made quite a few trips to the newspaper with my classes so they could see first hand how the newspaper operated.  Trips through the newsroom, where the reporters worked, trips through the darkroom, where the photographers were processing film and making prints, and trips through the pressroom to see the actual printing of the paper, helped my students see what they were learning was practiced in a real-life situation.  Well, how the newspaper was printed back in the late 1960s and up until I retired in the late 1990s is quite different than how it is printed today.  Lancaster's newspaper isn't even printed in this building anymore, but outsourced to a printing company in another town.  But, my journey today isn't to see how the paper is now printed, but to see how it used to be printed.  

A wooden press such as this was used to
print the first 500 copies of the Lancaster
Journal in 1794 by William Hailton and
Henry Willcocks.  The press that they used
was imported from England about the same
time the Continental Congress was fleeing
Philadelphia from the British.  All newspapers
of the day had four pages.  The first and fourth
pages were printed on one side while the other
two pages were printed on the reverse side.
The single sheet of paper was folded to create
the newspaper.

And, I am enjoying myself tremendously!  The memories are flooding back as I walk, blue booties on my feet so as not to create any dust, past press after type cabinet after typesetting machine after proofpress after ...  And, I used to teach students how to use this stuff!!  A machine like the one piece of equipment on display, the linotype machine, which produced lines of lead type used for printing and later for making molds to make poured metal cylinders, once sat in my shop at Manheim Township High School, but was never used, since the school found out that I was going to have a pot of molten lead and nixed that idea before the students could use it.  In tomorrow's story I will include photos of some pieces of equipment that I saw today that I thought might interest you.  I haven't posted photos of all pieces of equipment, since it would be impossible to do so as well as it wouldn't help you understand the process any better.  I hope what I will post will give you a better idea as to how printing technology has changed since Johannes Gutenberg first invented movable type around 1450.  Amazing is all I can say after walking past all the items in the Newseum.  My thanks to LNP and Nathan for giving me the chance to relive history and some of the most memorable years of my life.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "Believing In Transmigration Of Souls" Story

Wheatland, the home of James Buchanan, taken from Buchanan Ave.

It was an ordinary day.  Stopped once again at Wheatland, home of James Buchanan who was the 15th President of the United States, to take a few photos.  It was a holiday and the grounds were deserted.  

This photo of the rear of the mansion shows the garden.

The reason for my visit today is to try and find the pond on the property that is fed by one of the freshwater springs on the property.  I have visited numerous times, but never realized there was a pond of any size on the property.  

I can just imagine the President of the
United States climbing out of his wagon,
using the carriage stone in the foreground
to step down, and wiping his boots on the
boot scraper next to the stairs, before he
enters the large front door of his mansion.

Since I knew what my  mission was, I noticed the pond immediately as soon as I turned into the main driveway to Wheatland.  Pulled to the side of the driveway and grabbed my camera.  Beautiful little pond that had a few pond lilies which were blooming.  Took a few photos and then discovered a small sign covered with shrubs that told the history of the spring and pond.  Seems that the pond, which is about 12 feet by 4 feet, at one time had a majestic willow tree next to shade it's visitors in the summer.  Buchanan would often take visitors to see his pond as well as visit it to relieve the stress and tension of the day.  It also seems that on the day of his death, he requested of his Dr. that a glass of water be brought to him from the spring. Later Dr. Foltz, the President's family doctor said that Buchanan said, "If there is any truth in the oriental teaching of the transmigration of souls, I want to return after my death and inhabit the body of a frog, and live in this beautiful spring." Well, I must admit I looked everywhere for a frog, but didn't see a single one.  Not sure what I would have done had I found one other than to have called, "Mr. President, is that you?"  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The steps which are off the driveway lead to the pond.

Pond flowers and koi fill the pond which is fed by a natural spring.