In my first post on the cigar store figure Punch I shared his first known photo, dated from around 1870, and a current photo of him at York County Heritage Trust. My second post showed more of Punch’s stops around York’s Centre/Continental Square in the 1880s and 1890s. The photos
A couple of weeks ago I posted my recent York Sunday News column on the cigar store figure of Punch, which was positioned at various heights in various places on the northwest quadrant of York’s Centre/Continental Square for perhaps 60 years or more. The earliest known photo of Punch in
I have always been intrigued by the large and colorful Punch cigar store figure in the York County Heritage Trust collections. As I relate in my recent York Sunday News column, it is especially interesting that he “moved” around Centre/Continental Square in York over the years. In this and the
Newspapers of the past give a good look at the lives of our forebears. The advertisements can sometimes reveal more than news items. The ad below, from the York Gazette, for Richard Porter’s tavern, store, house with barn and other outbuildings, livestock, farm equipment, furniture and land, including an island
(When looking at early 20th century postcards to illustrate this post, I noticed that many of them include both the Colonial Hotel and the Rupp Building, making the hotel seem even more massive. Note the “day” view above has been changed into the “night” view below with the addition of
The full page ad from Joe the Motorist Friend (see below) is almost exclusively for Lionel trains, a specialty of the Joe’s stores. The address at the bottom of this ad and the toy ad in my last post, both from the December 13, 1956 Gazette and Daily, cite the
Fellow blogger Joan Concilio discovered York countians have lots of memories of Joe the Motorists’ Friend stores, and she has shared them in several of her blog posts. The regional chain sold tires, automotive items and other things, but the toys stand out at Christmas time. I’m sharing two full
My previous post showed a December 1956 Gazette and Daily full page ad for the one-year-old York County Shopping Center. It listed the 28 stores and businesses and stressed the free parking. Downtown businesses did try to counteract the shopping drain that year by placing a real carousel in the
It was Christmas season 1956, and the battle lines were drawn between downtown and suburban shopping centers. The first stores in the York County Shopping Center in Springettsbury Township probably opened in the fall of 1955, since the center celebrated their second anniversary in October 1957 by giving away a
I enjoy looking at art wherever it is—in museums, studios and store fronts. The current project by The Parliament arts organization, displaying art in unused store fronts in downtown York sounds like a great idea. And, it was a great idea 75 years ago, as you can see by the