—_ f 3 E PAGE 10—T Thie Wae The Annual School Pienie of Dailac Borough Who are those two Little Lord Fauntleroys on the front row, with their dark suits and wide white fuffled collars? Pretty cute. And that timid little girl with clasped hands standing next. That’s Floyd Hileman in about the middle of the front row, and to his left, in the wide sailor collar is Arthur Rice. Third from the left with the big Windsor tie, hands thrust debonairly in his pockets, is Lyman Ryman. Fifth from the left is Ruth Mott. Floyd's little sister Rita is on the front row, too. The first graders stood in front, and the rest of Dallas elementary school pupils in the back, accord- ing to age and height, when they posed for the photographer at Fern- brook Park, after they had eaten their picnic lunch. Now, it's all yours. The tight knee pants on the boys, and the dresses well below the knee on the little girls, should give you some clue as tothe year. Recognize the teachers? The Mason-Dixon line was set up a century before the Civil War . At least 20 countries have borrowed the tune of “God Save The King” for their national anthem . . . The proprietor of a Shenan- doah, Iowa seed store wins our week’s award for origi- nality with this sign: “After planting our seeds, step back quickly”... Andrew Johnson’s wife taught him to write when they were courtin’ (he was 17) . . . F.D.R. vetoed the greatest number of bills—631 . .. For years, Presidents have had at their disposal a private Pull- man car, armor-plated with bullet-proof windows . . Enjoyed that sign in a Philadelphia store's toy de- partment: “Shoplifters will be spanked” ...Just when do you think 2,000,000 visitors broke Florida’s monthly attendance record? Last July . . . SUPER CHAMP This" * husky shoe has thick, shock-absorbent soles —gives 50% longer wear for pennies - more! $4.45 HUMPHREYS’ nf CHAMPIONS are Amer- ica’s favorites—the best fitting, smartest looking canvas shoes you can buy. Narrow, medium widths. Latest colors. Na. $3.95 fo $4.95 \ Whenever, wherever you find active people } having fun, you’ll find KEps—and for a lot of reasons. KEDS look so great, wear so well, feel so good. They're made with shock-proof arch cushions that absorb the jolts of active play. Washable, too. So step into fun, in genuine U. S. Keps—the Shoe of Champions! Big League oxford for rugged action and foot protection with greater gripping power, .arch cushioned comfort. CHILDREN’S Back Mt. Shopping Center BOOTERY Shavertown OPEN EVERY NITE °TIL 9 | Look for this blue label eR — ue Qe A. -« “%® THE DALLAS POST — THURSDAY, MAY 17, 1962 Cigon Stove ITwdiows (Continued from Page 9-T) Mr. Titman, now in his middle sixties, was, until a heart condition slowed his pace, a familiar figure at every country auction in the east. He still goes to them, but there is hardly any need; for he has most of the priceless weathervanes, Indians, and brass handbells, right there in those two pine-panelled rooms in Tunkhannock! i He probably knows every collector of consequence in the east, and they know him, and get in touch with him when a really important item comes up for sale anywhere from the Canadian border to the. Mississ- ippi. He is a genial, modest man, whose pleasant smile is his trademark — and whose gracious conversation is a hallmark. Mr. Titman is not a dealer. Since the day he started his collection with a small figure that fell off a junk man’s wagon in New York —un- til today — he has never sold an item he collected! Maybe that’s why his collection includes more than 200 brass hand bells, ranging from a foot to a half inch in diameter. That’s also the reason why one whole side of his building gleams with a hundred bells from firehouses and steam operated fire engines. But these are nothing compared to his collection of weather vanes, many of which are priceless. Weathervanes similar to his have sold for as much as $2400 in New York galleries; and he has a standing offer of $1,200 for a belled Guernsey cow, notby a long shot, the most valu- able in the collection. That distinction belongs to an upright copper Indian, bow in hand, a facsimile of the great seal of Massachusetts — the handiwork of some unknown Yankee craftsman! The largest weathervane is a seven-foot Mercury that stood atop a Baltimore medical college until high winds blew it down and fractured its leg. Mr. Titman’s artisans did a better job than the Baltimore sur- geons who thought it was crippled for lifeand sold it. You would never know now that Mercury once was earthbound with a broken leg. Most of Mr. Titman’s weathervanes were in bad shape when he bought them, but like everything else in his collection, have been re- stored to perfect condition —and all gleam from constant care and at- tention. Many as he has, there is still another he would like to add- -an An- gel Gabriel blowing his trumpet! Sometime ago he heard from a Corning, N. Y. collector that there was such a six-foot Angel Gabriel in Bristol, Tennessee. Mr. Titman grabbed his plaid cap and started south! But the Bristol Gabriel was a miniature, eighteen inches, six feet from base, overall. It was a disap- pointment, but the trip was worth it; he picked up some other leads. Someday an Angel Gabriel will blow his trumpet above the collection on Slocum Street! Perhaps the most spectacular are the cigar store Indians. All are beautifully colored and made of metal, many of them by the famous De- muth & Company foundries in New York City. Cigar store Indians, or more properly cigar store figures, were most popular in the 1860’s. Many were of wood but those that stood in front of the most exclusive shops in New York City were of metal and custom . designed. Mr. Titman’s collection is so spectacular that Life Magazine sent a photographer to Tunkhannock to take pictures for its Americana series. The staffer wanted the figures removed from the building so that he could take individual shots against a plainbackground. Mr. Titman re- fused. Some of his figures weigh 1,000 pounds. Getting one out would require moving tons of others! Mr. Titman could get along without the publicity, risk of breakage and extra labor! LIFE would have to get along without its pictures! Not long agogthe famous Parke Bernet Galleries in New York sent word that a Texas author was writing a book on cigar store figures. Since Park Bernet never reveals the name of a buyer, they suggested that Mr. Titman get in touch with her and tell her that the figure he had purchased from them was in his collection at Tunkhannock —a Joan of Arc holding a clutch of cigars. He invited her to Tunkhannock and some months later she arrived. With some pride, he was anxious to have her see his collection. Like a traveller to Mecca, she gasped when she saw Joan, squatted reverently on the floor in front of her and for two hours said nothing —soaking in her beauty. She never did get around to the rest of the collection before train time. Joan, just as she appears in the lower left of the Post’s picture layout, will be included in her forthcoming book. All types of collectors visit Tunkhannock. Industrialists, society ma- trons and nostalgic visitors who want to catch a glimpse of America’s Heritage from bygone days. For them there are the quaint store signs such as the burnished cop- per Regal Boot like the one top right in the Post’s layout that once swung dangerously in front of shoe stores. Or the polished brass pret- zel surmounted with the royal crown, top left of layout, that beckoned customers to a Vienna Bake Shop, once the favorite of the Emperor. There are dozens of deceptive high silk hats, that no moth will ever challenge, for they are made of iron. They once graced the entrances to exclusive tailors’ shops. Then there are the life-like figurines that stood in front of packing plant offices, miniature iron steers, pigs and sheep; or the urchin hun- grily consuming a plate of food, the trademark of an exclusive New York restaurant. A detail is shown right center of the Post’s layout, while the entire figure is in another group picture on the same page. Most visitors are intrigued by the squalling bronze child that can’t make way with the flopping rooster in its arms because rooster is teth- ered with a string to a tiny brass cannon, and the string is cutting the youngster’s groin. Who wouldn’t howl? Lower right center of layout. But for those who want a cigar store Indian to be a real Aborigine, none of the figurines compare with the life-size delicately hued feathered Indian and his dog that Mr. Titman obtained from the Drexel Estate. Shown lower right in the Post layout, it is a magnificent piece of work- ~manship and probably one of the most valuable pieces in a collection that is modestly appraised at more than $100,000. To see it, you need pay no fee; but you should call Mr. Titman for an appointment—if you would like to keep a rendezvous with the In- dians who didn’t exactly name Tunkhannock ‘‘the meeting of waters’’ but who, nevertheless, are bringing it fame. by HOWARD W. RISLEY Hong Kong means “Fra- grant Harbor” in Chinese . . . In Phoenix, Ariz., the Admin- istration Committee of ‘the Arizona Senate issued this di- ° rective: “Senators who have no secretaries of their own may take advantage of the girls in the steno pools” . . . In Des Moines, Iowa, a faculty directive to young nurses at Iowa Methodist Hos-- pital reads: “The uniform skirt may not be shorter than two inches below the popliteal space.” That's the back of the knee . . . The call of the marine toad —a deep, booming trill —is off tractor . .. Members of a fifth grade in an Omaha (Neb.) school call themselves “The Unteachables.” Their teacher is Miss Ness . . . Although more than half of the Presidents were in mili- tary service during their life- times, only three— Monroe, Hayes, and Kennedy — were wounded in battle . . . The average life span of the 30 deceased Presidents was 68 years and 181 days. . . sometimes mistaken for a far- - ka
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers