The Rest of the Story . . . Little Known Taber Treasures

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As the calendar moves firmly into October, here is a selection of fall-themed items from our collection.
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As our Bottles & Brews fundraiser approaches, the time seems appropriate to present some advertising materials from the Flock Brewery. What is NOT necessarily appropriate is the nature of one of the advertisements.
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We recently received a schoolyard hand bell, classroom bell, and blackboard pointer from members of the Haag Family, in honor of their mother, Betty L. McMichael Haag.
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Ice harvesting and ice picks were common 100 years ago. Kimball Miller's name was well known in the business.
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As we settle in for winter, our thoughts might drift past visions of digging out cars and settle on more pleasant memories like ice skating at Mountain Beach.
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With the Taber Museum’s “My Favorite Gift” exhibit coming up, here are a few items from our collection relating to gifts.
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As we move into October, here are a few seasonally-appropriate items from our collection.
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These small ceramic pieces have two things in common: they depict local landmarks constructed in the 1890s, and they were all made in Germany.
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In anticipation of our upcoming Coffee Hour program on colonial cooking, here are some of the more unusual food-preparation items in our collection – though these are from the late 19th-early 20th century.
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As we “enjoy” the colder weather that keeps many of us indoors looking for something to do, let’s look at a few of the games in Taber Museum collection.
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A tip of the candy cane to anyone who guessed that we would do a “Taber Treasures” on some of our holiday artifacts in December.
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“E. Keeler Company”, a Williamsport presence for about 130 years, began in 1864 as the West Branch Boiler Works, but changed their name to E. Keeler and Company in the 1870s.
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The Sol Wolf Manuscript Collection is housed at the Lycoming County Historical Society. He was well-known as the head football coach of the Williamsport High School. He once used Knute Rockne as a job reference.
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The Taber Museum owns a very stylish automobile, a 1926 Studebaker five passenger Sedan, courtesy of James and Pat Messner. The car was owned and restored by Jim’s father, the late Fred Messner.
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Sylvania Products began in 1924, making radio tubes in the Emporium, PA area. By 1942, they had gotten into the photography flash business, and opened a plant in Montoursville for developing, testing, and manufacturing flashbulbs, and later flashcubes, used all over the world.
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In 1947, at the Karlton Theater on Pine Street, Williamsport, approximately 20 young women competed in the Miss Greater Williamsport pageant. The winner was Dorothy Gresh, who graduated from Williamsport High School that very year. She went on to the Miss Pennsylvania pageant.
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While many of the typical Memorial Day gatherings will be altered this year, nothing will stop the remembrance of those who gave all in service of their country - those like Paul B. Free and Billy O. Brandt.
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Bobblehead figures go back hundreds of years, but the pop culture wave of the 1950s and beyond brought increased popularity, with baseball leading the way.
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After automobiles achieved wide popularity in the early 20th century, it didn’t take long for toy cars to make their appearance. But kids didn’t have to wait for toy companies; they could make their own cars out of wooden crates and roller-skate wheels.
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Etta Alice Neff enrolled and graduated from the Rochester General Hospital Nursing School and was almost immediately sent to Vichy, France during World War I. Not only was war raging, but the outbreak of the deadly Spanish Influenza had erupted. We don't know about the trials and tribulations she faced! Let's preserve our memories of our experiences in Covid-19.
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We have quite an array of 19th and early 20th century medical equipment in our collection, much of it used by Dr. G. Alvin Poust of Hughesville (one of the co-founders of Muncy Valley Hospital).
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Nellie Tallman! Her 1870 portrait is arguably the most well-known individual artifact in our Museum; when people recall their visits, they usually remember “the model trains, and the haunted painting of the girl.”
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Haircuts are on many people’s minds these days, so here is a barber chair from our 20th Century Gallery. This was the chair of Williamsport barber Ron DeSanto.
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Radios like the ones pictured here occupied a treasured spot in many people’s homes. The radio in the lower left belonged to Dr. Marshall Welch, a local orthodontist, Korean War veteran, and philanthropist.
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Though it may look like an artifact, the large item pictured here is not actually part of the museum’s collection – it’s our boiler, tucked away in our basement! We do have a collection of plumbing equipment given to us by Ralph Mills.