In writing this column each week, there are often two stories involved. One story is the published story; the other is the unpublished background which concerns the means by which the information and the pictures for the column have been obtained. Pictures and information are rarely supplied together. More frequently, the writer must seek to relate one to the other. This second “story” is often as interesting as the final combination of pictures and story, as it appears in “Your Town and My Town.”

For some time the writer has had in her possession eight pictures, lent to her by Otis G. Hunsicker, of Conestoga road, one of Wayne’s old-time citizens. Mr. Hunsicker’s memories of the community go back to 1906 when, as a young man, he came here from Conshohocken to drive for the late Herman Wendell.

Recently, Mr. Hunsicker and the writer got together to discuss these pictures, all eight of which obviously portray a big festival of some type, which was held on the school field on a holiday of some year now long past. But what holiday? What year? And where to get more information about one of the largest and most interesting groups of pictures that had recently came our way? Mr. Hunsicker had narrowed the choice of holidays down to the Fourth of July or Labor Day. Beyond that we could not go.

And then came our clue when a magnifying glass showed that the license plate on the grocery and meat delivery truck of T.T. Worrall and Sons was of the year 1912! Your columnist immediately turned to the files of “The Suburban” for that year, and found a complete story that included both the Fourth of July and Labor Day. It seemed that this big, day-long, outdoor event was planned for Labor Day, 1912, because of a feeling of discontent on the part of the townspeople of Wayne that there had been no general celebration of any kind on the Fourth of July.

During July and early August, 1912, a small article appeared in the columns of “The Suburban” each week, all indicative that come Labor Day, which fell on September 6 that year, there would be a celebration that would more than make up for a quiet and uneventful Fourth of July.

In the August 16 issue of “The Suburban” came the announcement that “all arrangements which had been under way for the big event had been completed by the ladies in charge.” It would be “a day given over to sports, beginning early in the morning and continuing all day… events open to all… handsome trophies now on exhibition at LaDow’s drugstore… in the afternoon, Narberth and Wayne will meet in a regular championship baseball game… special feature of the day to be the fine music rendered by the Bryn Mawr Band, under the leadership of Director Giersch… events of the morning to be principally for the children, consisting of hoop and pushmobile races and a ‘bicycle parade.’ ”

Also there were to be “tennis tournaments with men’s and women’s singles… track sports and midget relay races.” And last, but not least, there was to be “a parade of gaily decorated automobiles,” of which vehicles Wayne, in the year 1912, possessed only a few!

Names of the active workers on the committee for the big celebration are those still remembered 43 years later as among the public spirited men and women of their time. Among them were Mrs. W. Allen Barr, Dr. Joseph C. Egbert, S. Warren Hall, Mr. and Mrs. A.N. Hosking, Walter S. Mertz, Mrs. W.A. Nichols, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Randall, Mrs. William B. Riley, Mrs. Parke Schoch, Fred Treat and Walter Whetstone. The list of judges for the events included such well-known men and women as Eugene C. Bonniwell, Major Duval, General W.A. Wiedersheim, Mrs. Thomas A. Walton and Miss Nina Miel.

And as a final publicity-blurb in the August 30 issue of “The Suburban” – The week before the eventful Labor Day – the following had a prominent place in the columns of the paper:
“If visible movement is an indication of life, we may definitely say Wayne is an active corpse. Everyone seems to have a move on since the Carnival idea sprang up. From little folks to grown-ups, they are all sending in their applications.”

(To be continued)

As this columnist reminisced with Otis Hunsicker over a number of old pictures, in preparation for last week’s story on Wayne’s 1912 Labor Day celebration, both recognized at once the man in the picture, shown above, as Philip DeMarse, Wayne’s well-known and popular barber. It is only a few years since Mr. DeMarse retired from active business, after well over 40 years of serving Wayne’s citizens, both as children and as adults. As the writer can full well testify, probably none hold Mr. DeMarse in greater esteem than the mothers of children, with whose antics he always showed such infinite patience.

This Labor Day celebration of 1912 was also, in its way, a personal celebration for Mr. DeMarse, since it was just four years before, on Labor Day, 1908, that he himself first came to Wayne to make his home and to begin his business career. Born in Italy, he came to America when he was seven years old, first settling with his family in New York and later coming to Philadelphia.

His first job in Wayne was with Clement Grasch, who had a cigar store and barber shop on Lancaster avenue. After that he worked in various locations, the last being a shop in the Anthony Wayne Theatre Building, the ground for which he had sold to Harry Fried for the erection of his motion picture house.

The advertisement on the shed back of Mr. DeMarse seems to show that he was selling Crane’s ice cream and soft drinks to the Labor Day crowds.

Mr. DeMarse has identified the small boy standing between the two little girls as his own son, Francis, now Dr. Francis DeMarse of Chicago. The first woman on Mr. DeMarse’s left is Mrs. Edward Fritz, with her daughter, the other little girl being a niece of Michael McVeigh, the proprietor of the shoe shop then located at the rear of the fire house. While he could not name the woman at the end of the table, Mr. DeMarse believes that the one next to her is Mrs. Lynn Fritz.

The wooden shed, just back of the refreshment stand, was one in which the tire company kept various odds and ends. The fire house, without its present additions, is the building next to the shed, facing on what was then known as Audubon avenue, recently changed to South Wayne avenue. The picture clearly shows the rear door which opened onto the school field, thus giving exits both to the east and west for the fire engines.

Mr. Hunsicker recalls, with amusement, the very early days of the fire company, when the horses to pull the hose reel and combination chemical wagon had to be brought from the stables of the R.H. Johnson Company before the apparatus could get under way.

The building to the rear left of the picture is the old Coffee House, which stood on the approximate site of the present high school gymnasium. The building to the rear right is easily recognizable as Masonic Hall, which now houses the Wayne Red Cross Branch on its first floor.

The picture shown above is that of the elaborately decorated automobile of Dr. J.M.L.Ward, one of Wayne’s best known citizens, as it was driven in the Labor Day parade by Dr. Ward himself. Of this parade, “The Suburban” of that week said, “What it lacked in numbers, the parade of automobiles made up in the beautifully decorated machines which participated. Trimmed with bunting and festooned with the choicest floral offerings, hydrangeas, scarlet sage, asters, etc., most of the automobiles were veritable bowers of beauty. When all were so charmingly adorned it would seem almost invidious to make special mention of any particular one. There were several unique features, however, that attracted attention. One, especially, was a float on which was seated Dr. Norman Sinclair, Harold Stilwell and Herbert Lienhardt, representing respective political candidates, Woodrow Wilson, Colonel Roosevelt and President Taft. Another machine which created the greatest amusement was that driven by Douglas Wendell. On the front of it was a gigantic moose head typifying the Bull Moose party. Seated in the auto in addition to the driver, who was dressed as Uncle Sam, was George Long, who gave an excellent characterization of the strenuous Teddy; and Huber Stilwell, who was simply great in his take off of the Common People, the famous cartoon character that Herbert Johnston exploited in the ‘North American.’ ”

(To be continued)

An important part of the big Labor Day parade of 43 years ago was the children’s bicycle brigade, which included a well-disguised young rider wearing a monkey’s head mask, topped off by a small round cap, which we feel sure must have been a red one. On his bicycle, as it is shown in an old picture, is a sign which reads “I’m the Guy who put the Sauce in Sausage!”

In commenting on the parading bicyclers, “The Suburban” of that week says that “the picture the kiddies presented as they gravely passed in review before the judges is one long to be remembered.” Other events of the day for this age group were midget relay races, hoop races, pushmobile races and track sports.

The writer has looked in vain for a picture of the automobile described in a recent column as having “a gigantic moose head, typifying the Bull Moose party” on the front of it; although a big butterfly is a far cry from a moose, here at least is a car with that decoration on its radiator.

The serious youth holding the ribbons has not been identified, nor have the small girls who are almost smothered under their mothers’ hats. However, the small boy at the left is Francis deMarse, who was shown standing by his father’s ice cream stand in the recent column. The identifying “12” on the front of the car may be recognized by some of the old timers among our readers.

“The Suburban” listed the following as having cars in the parade: Mrs. Adolph Gosling, Allan Hale, Herman Wendell, Fred H. Treat, R.H. Wilbur, Walter Whetstone, Dr. J.W.L. Ward, W.B. Riley, Charles H. Quinby, M.C. McMahon, Robert Dornan, 2d, Ira V. Hale, T.T. Worrall and Sons and Rittenhouse Brothers, as well as the Radnor Fire Company’s automobile truck, driven by former Chief Charles E. Clark, and the chemical engine in the charge of Engineer Paul Cummings.

Silver cups were awarded as prizes to the two best entries, chosen by popular vote. They were Charles Quinby, first, and Robert Dornan, second. Doubtless, some of these automobiles appear in the line-up shown in the picture below, with the Rittenhouse Brothers and T.T. Worrell trucks closest to the camera.

In concluding this series on Labor Day, 1912, we again quote from “The Suburban” which describes the “Labor Day Carnival” as “a great success in every particular… Not since the palmy days of the old Merrivale Athletic Association and its successors, the Wayne Country Club and the Radnor Cricket Club, has Wayne had such an enjoyable affair… from early morning until the shades of evening were falling, there was not an idle moment.”

What was it like to go on a honeymoon trip by automobile in 1906? In particular, what was it like to go from Philadelphia to the Catskill mountains in early May of that year, in a chain driven Horsman automobile? The groom had to stop every few miles to repair broken links of the chain, while his bride sat on the porch of a nearby house, on a conveniently located fence, or on the grass along the road.

During the past week, the story of just such a honeymoon was told your columnist by Mrs. Elmer, widow of Dr. Robert P. Ebner, for many years one of Wayne’s best known physicians. Dr. Elmer died on March 4, 1951, after 47 years of continuous medical practice in Wayne and vicinity.

When Dr. Elmer, a native of Bridgeton, N.J., came to Wayne in 1904, he bought the house just opposite the Wayne Methodist Church. One of the Wayne Estate houses built in the 1880’s, it looked then very much as it does today, except for a large addition on the west side of the house.

Here Dr. Elmer established his practice in 1904 in the office he was still maintaining at the time of his death. Beginning with his great-great-grandfather, Dr. Jonathan Elmer, he represented the last of the longest line of physicians in the United States.

When Dr. Elmer first started his round of visits to patients in 1904, he drove “a little Oldsmobile car that would not go up any hill, but had to be pushed and pulled,” according to Mrs. Elmer, who adds, “and then the Doctor read that a Horsman car would climb any hill.” That first Oldsmobile had been a one-seated car without a top, “a very nice looking car” as Mrs. Elmer remembers it. The Horsman, which looked “like a buggy,” as the accompanying picture very plainly shows, was made in the mid-west, one of the earlier American cars to appear on the market.

Imagine the May day, on which the Elmers started on their honeymoon. Roads were narrow and rough, or of the “corduroy” variety. Once they had to cross a small stream, by way of a bridge which was drawn back and forth across the water. In spite of the fact that the bridge had a railing on each side, Mrs. Elmer was fearful every moment of a sudden plunge overboard.

Although they encountered many horse drawn vehicles along the way, Mrs. Elmer does not remember passing even one other automobile during the entire trip. She does recall, vividly, the encounters with wagons and buggies, as every horse had to be led past the Horsman, with most of them rearing wildly on their hind legs to the accompaniment of loud voiced comments on the part or their drivers, who definitely did not like “them new fangled contraptions.”

During the week that it took to reach the section of the Catskills around which many of the happy memories of Dr. Ebner’s youth centered, the young couple had many pleasant and amusing experiences. Once, while Mrs. Elmer was sitting cozily back in the car with all the curtains drawn because of the rain, two farmers came out of the store into which Dr. Elmer had gone for a can of gasoline. (There were, of course, no gasoline stations in those days.) The farmers examined every detail of this strange conveyance, not noticing Mrs. Elmer behind the curtains. Finally, one said, “But whar’s the hoss?’’ And then as they reached the rear of this vehicle without its “hoss,” they saw the license plate bearing the numerals 1776. They broke into loud guffaws of laughter, and one farmer exclaimed, “Why, this here buggy must have been built in 1776!”

In the spring of 1904 some of the small hotels were open even in May – “many of them quaint and always comfortable,” according to Mrs. Elmer. And Dr. Elmer, who had spent much time in the Catskills, knew the location of these small hostelries and tea houses and various other eating places where good food could be obtained.

And so that May-time honeymoon of 49 years ago, taken in the buggy-like automobile, had a charm all its own, far exceeding any of this May of 1955. The narrow, tree-shaded roads that the Elmers travelled then have become broad and noisy automobile highways, lined with gasoline stations and hot dog stands.

In his search for pictures of old local automobiles, “Ted” Brooks, Wayne’s best known authority on the subject, has obtained for use in this week’s column two unusually interesting pictures. The first shows an old car of the J.M. Dotterer family, while the second shows one that belonged to the W. Allen Barrs. For many years both families were prominent in the life and activities of Wayne.

When it made its appearance on the streets of Wayne in the early 1900’s this car was probably almost as much of a curiosity as it would be if it should make its re-appearance now. Fifty years ago, cars of any kind were few and far between in any community. This shiny black Autocar was a very large and handsome affair, with its big wheels, solid rubber tires and its body high above the ground.

The little girl in the front seat is Mary Dotterer, now Mrs. Howard Harbison who, with her husband, presently resides in Louella Court. Beside her is her brother, Amos Dotterer, now deceased, and in the back seat are two small visiting cousins. The car is parked at the side of the house, at 123 Bloomingdale avenue, which, in 1892, had been purchased from Robert Smith by Amos Dotterer, father of John M. Dotterer and grandfather of the children in the automobile.

The block on Bloomingdale avenue, located between West Wayne and Lancaster avenues, is the first real residential street in Wayne. The elegant mansard-roofed houses on either side of it antedated those of the Wayne Estate by ten years or more, as the former were built in the early 1870’s.

According to Mrs. Harbison, the Dotterer house was originally long and narrow, almost identical with the house across the street from it, now occupied by Captain and Mrs. James H. Bones. Grandfather Amos Dotterer made various alterations and additions to his house after he had purchased it. Following his death in 1900, John M. Dotterer bought the old home from his father’s estate. Until 1910 it was only a summer residence for Mr. and Mrs. Dotterer and their children. After 1910, it was completely modernized for year-round residency – a large and comfortable home for some years for Mr. and Mrs. Dotterer and their three children, Evelyn, Mary and Amos.

In 1946, Mr. and Mrs. Dotterer, two of Wayne’s best known residents, celebrated their golden anniversary in the family home. Two years later Mrs. Dotterer died. Her death was followed by that of her husband in 1953. Their Bloomingdale avenue house is now being altered into a small apartment house.

This picture was taken on Eagle road, near the former home of the late Mr. and Mrs. Allan Barr, on the southeast corner of North Wayne avenue and Eagle road. Later, the Barrs moved to Windermere avenue, where they lived for several years. Located to the west of Windermere Court Apartments, the Barr home has now become a small apartment house.

In the picture shown above, Mr. Barr is seated behind the wheel of his 1913 Franklin touring car while Mrs. Barr is in the back seat. The children standing beside the car are Allen, John and Henry Barr with one of their contemporaries from the J. Wynn family.

Today’s column shows an interesting array of pictures of old-time automobiles, all of which were, at one time or another, familiar sights on the streets of Wayne. These pictures have been gathered from three different sources, the first having been left at “The Suburban” office by Frank Cressman, of Beechtree lane. The second was lent to the writer by Otis Hunsicker, of Conestoga road, for use in this column, while the third came from Ted Brooks’ interesting collection of pictures of old cars.

According to a notation on the back of the first picture, it was taken in 1914. It shows Frank Cressman of Beechtree lane, seated on the running board of one of the first delivery trucks on the entire Main Line. At that time, Rittenhouse Brothers’ Store was located in Masonic Hall, on South Wayne avenue – the building so easily recognizable in the background of the picture, due to the minimum of changes made to the building during the years.

Written in faded ink on the back of this picture is the date, “Sept. 15, 1907,” which clearly indicates the car’s antiquity. Mr. Hunsicker tells us that the late Ted Wendell, then a young man, is seated at the wheel of Herman Wendell’s Stoddart Dayton, with the late Mark Heilner beside him. The house in the background is the home of the late John P. Wood, which faces on Radnor Street road, between Poplar avenue and Walnut avenue. This car, originally owned by the Hunter family, belonged to Hyde W. Ballard, of Paoli, when this picture was taken around 1940. At this time it was regarded as a real antique. With the passing of the years, the original body of the touring car (or roadster) had been transformed into a truck. In this picture it is loaded with a large drum of oil.

In his 1926 Cadillac car, which he owned before his present 1912 White touring car, Ted Brooks had driven Mr. Ballard and Mr. Samuel Bailey, of Bala-Cynwyd, to the Folwell farm, on the Maryland-Delaware State line, to pick up the 1909 Packard. All three were members of the Antique Automobile Club of America. On the return trip, when Mr. Ballard and Mr. Bailey were driving the Packard, trouble developed along the road, as this picture taken by Ted Brooks clearly indicates. Mr. Ballard is under the car and Mr. Bailey is standing nearby. Eventually, the trip was resumed and successfully completed, according to Mr. Brooks.

Several weeks ago this columnist commented on the time and patience required to bring stories and pictures together in connection with the series on the big Labor Day Festival, held on the School Field in Wayne, in 1912.

This week’s column is the result of five years of research, however it has required five years to locate the picture shown above, which relates to a story written in “Your Town and My Town” in September 1950. This story described Labor Day, 1913, in Wayne, when several thousand people gathered on Radnor School field to witness a “Society Circus,” the like of which was never seen before, nor has ever been seen since – not in Wayne, at any rate. And because five years is a long time, the highlights of that story will be repeated in today’s column.

Today’s picture, discovered in an album of old pictures belonging to “Ted” Brooks, was as familiar to the writer as if she had seen it before – surely it must be a picture of that “parade” that swung around Radnor High School grounds, making itself heard above the merry-go-round, the animals and the crowd on Labor Day, 1913. And sure enough, when the picture was loosened from the paper, there was the notation on the back, “Dress Parade, Labor Day, 1913.” For even further proof, it was possible to identify one of the central figures, for the story of five years ago had described A.J.D. Peterson as “the bearded lady, very lady-like indeed, in a high waisted silk dress and kid gloves, reaching above the elbow.” Surely, this lady in the picture is “She,” taking great strides at the side of a handsome escort in the parade!

Some of the highlights of the event were the three Wood brothers, Penman, Robert and Thomas, members of the Second City Troop, sons of the late John P. Wood. The three did “horseback stunts on two beautiful horses.” And then there was Theodore J. Grayson, in “a polka dot clown suit” and B.L. Van Schaick, chairman of the circus committee, who performed in a most elegant riding costume. Wallace C. Dickson was a snake charmer with a large snake around “her” waist. Frances Leonard, queen of the gypsy caravan, had three fortune telling companions, Mona Whitlock, Margaret Riley and Mrs. B.L. Van Schaick.

Another entertainer was Dr. Norman Sinclair, “for two years the rage in Paris and Strafford,” who performed in a comedy riding act. Tom Walton was master of wild beasts, while Ralph Weadle was the wild man who escaped from a side show at an inopportune moment, much to the consternation of the audience!

Osgood Sayen was “Moke,” the monkey who stepped on the tail of the lion, George Luigi. William Lynch, the tiger, joined in their merry fracas.

In the side shows, Professor George C. Allen, “P.D.Q.R.S.V.P.,” exhibited his human curiosities. Among them were Crutze, the strong man, known around Wayne as Thomas Hearne, and Lady Winnie, the snake charmer, well-known locally as Wallace Dickson.

The old newspapers from which this story was originally taken were lent the writer by T. Griffith Roberts, who had treasured copies of the now defunct Philadelphia Press and Public Ledger.

Perhaps among other residents of this bygone era there may be some who have pictures of this famous “Society Circus” which they may be willing to lend for use in this column.

Each summer for the past 30 years or more, the rose gardens of Dr. and Mrs. Henry G. Fischer have been among Wayne’s summertime beauty spots. Started in 1920, when the Fischers bought the house on Bloomingdale and Lenoir avenues from the Mather family, their roses were one of Dr. Fischer’s hobbies. Since his death two years ago, Mrs. Fischer has maintained the gardens as a living memorial to her husband, who loved beauty and color in all things.

Mrs. Fischer’s neighbors and friends in the community know that they are always welcome to visit the gardens. This year the roses blossomed earlier than usual, so it was on the last Saturday in May that the writer received an urgent call from Mrs. Fischer to stop by while the roses were at the height of their bloom.

Because there were few other guests on this busy Saturday afternoon, the two of us had an hour or so of leisurely walking around the grounds, surrounding the house, carefully landscaped by Dr. Fischer more than 30 years ago. After that there was still time left for an inspection of the downstairs of the 75-year-old home, so large that it is only this first floor that the Fischers retained for themselves after they remodelled the structure ten years ago.

At the request of the writer for any interesting pictures or documents, Mrs. Fischer had on hand a deed executed in 1881 “between George W. Childs of the City of Philadelphia, Publisher, and Emma Bouvier, his wife, of the first part, and Harry E. Corrie, of the Township of Radnor in the County of Delaware, in the state of Pennsylvania, Book-keeper of the second part.” The pictures included three fairly recent ones, among them one of the Fischer house after a snow storm, as shown in today’s column. The other two are of the garden and of the brick wall with its fountain, which will be shown in a later column.

As the writer walked from Bloomingdale avenue that Saturday afternoon, she remembered that Mr. and Mrs. George Corrie had been the grandparents of Mrs. Malcolm G. Sausser and her two sisters, Mrs. Frederick H. Jiggens and Mrs. William Scott, all of whom still live in Wayne. They are the daughters of the late Mr. and Mrs. William D. Hughs, who lived in the old Cleaver house, located on the site of the present Caley Nursing Manor. So it was to Mrs. Sausser, who has been of help to this column in the past, that we turned for a picture of the Fischer house as it originally looked.

Although the old picture at the top of the column is faded with time, it shows the front of the house as it was before additions had been made at the back, and to the south and north. The harmony of the architecture was maintained, after the additions, by retaining the mansard roof line, popular when the house was built.

Mrs. Sausser has identified the people sitting in front of the Corrie house as her grandfather and grandmother (both seated) with a cousin, Mrs. Kate Oakford Brooks, standing. The small girl seated on the ground is another cousin.

(To Be Continued)

(Continued)

The extensive rose gardens shown in the top picture grew from a small planting of bushes already on the old Eldredge property, on the north-west corner of Bloomingdale and Lenoir avenues, when the Fischers purchased it from the Charles T. Mathers more than 30 years ago. The gardens grew, bit-by-bit, under the thoughtful planning of the late Dr. Fischer, of whom his wife says, “He always beautified everything he touched.”

From the small beginning which was their heritage from former owners, the Fischers developed two long rows of bushes which extend almost the complete length of their deep lot on the north side of the house. Just visible in this first picture is the wall which is shown in more detail in the second picture published today.

Made of stone and framed with old brick, grown mossy with the passing of years, the wall has in its upper center a satyr’s hand, carved by Dr. Fischer from a design of his own. Gifted in art in its various forms, he studied painting under Thomas Eakins at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. His skill in sculpturing was self-taught, however, and his work in various art media became “a wonderful hobby for him when the garden was asleep in winter,” Mrs. Fischer tells us.

As Mrs. Fischer and the writer stood in the midst of the lovely roses late in May, our voices did not in the least disturb the birds who came to the fountains and bird baths. Here can be seen woodpeckers, cardinals, thrushes, robins and many others, in addition to the ever-present sparrows and starlings. In winter small chickadees join the ranks of feathered visitors.

Although the adjoining picture suggests the luxurious mass of bloom as it appears in late May and early June, it can only leave to the imagination the glorious coloring. There is the red of “Crimson Glory” and “Etoile de Hollande,” the pure yellow of “Golden Dawn” and “Eclipse,” the pinks of “The Doctor” (named for Dr. Horace McFarland) and of “Pink Dawn,” and the varying tints of “Condessa de Sastago,” “Angelo Mateo” and “Madame Henri Guillot,” to name but a few of the varieties with their infinite shadings.

Leaving the rose garden on this afternoon in May, Mrs. Fischer took your columnist to other parts of the grounds. Behind the stone wall is a picnic spot with small wooded paths, fireplaces, rustic tables and benches, all in cool shade for, while Dr. Fischer has removed some trees, there are still many left, and there are always birds in the large pool, in what Mrs. Fischer calls the “spring garden.”

Here the “Duchess of Wellington” rose bush, a rare species of yellow bloom, may well be called her particular pride; there are also yellow pansies and blue forget-me-nots, although white flowers predominate. On this particular May afternoon, a gentle wind made a lovely blending of color against the glossy green of rhododendron and laurel.

Dr. Fischer was much concerned in the growth and development of both the Wayne Art Center and the Garden Club; in the annual exhibition of the latter his flowers were always prominently shown. In looking back over the story of the Art Center as written several years ago in these columns, it is interesting to read that “in June 1933, came the first garden party of the many that were to be sponsored by the Wayne Art Center. It was held in the garden of Dr. Fischer and of Mrs. Fischer… the party featured an outdoor exhibition of the work of students in addition to its many novel features of entertainment… these affairs came to be big summer events for children as well as adults… they were always held on a Saturday afternoon in June.” And, while more than 20 years have elapsed since that first party, there are many who still remember that it was held in the Fischers’ gardens.

In all Wayne there are perhaps no two pictures that illustrate as strikingly the changes that the last 75 years have wrought in our community as do the two shown with this week’s column.

The first is that of the Charles T. Mather home, recently sold to the Bell Telephone Company, as it looked in the early 1880’s. It belonged then to Mrs. Mather’s parents, the Theodore F. Ramseys. If plans go according to the Telephone Company’s schedule, as recently announced by Herbert J. Bruder, district commercial manager, the construction of a new dial office on this site will begin today. Completion of the building is scheduled for December, 1956. The first step in the building program will undoubtedly be the demolition of the Mather home to make room for the new building.

The original owner of this handsome Bloomingdale avenue house, with its mansard roof, so typical of the homes of the latter part of the 19th Century, was Dr. Wilson, who had purchased it from George W. Childs and Anthony J. Drexel, of Philadelphia. These two men, who foresaw the possibilities of suburban housing for Philadelphia business men and their families, might well be called the first real estate promoters of Wayne. They were responsible for the building of all the original homes on both sides of Bloomingdale avenue, between Lancaster and West Wayne avenues. Concentrated in this area, the homes antedated the well-known Wayne Estate houses by about 10 years.

Her father, according to Mrs. Mather, “farmed most of what is now North Wayne.” However, the inconvenience of driving along unpaved roads, when wagons were “hub deep in mud” made a more conveniently located home almost a necessity.

When Dr. Wilson was forced to sell his Bloomingdale avenue home at sheriff’s sale, the Theodore Ramseys bought it for $3,500! Seventy years later this is an almost unbelievable figure, in view of current Lancaster avenue property values. When the Ramseys bought this house they were living on their farm on the corner of Beechtree lane and Bellevue avenue, now owned by Miss Dorothy Finley, who has given space in it for the Headquarters and Museum of the Radnor Historical Society.

The picture in this column shows the Ramsey home as it looked during the first years of its occupancy by the family. The woman shown sitting on the steps of the front porch is Mrs. Ramsey, with her baby daughter, Ada, now Mrs. Mather. Later changes in the house provided more depth, with the old-fashioned kitchen made into a dining room and a new kitchen added to the rear, with corresponding second floor changes. The steep, narrow staircase that led almost directly from the front door to the second floor was widened and a turn made so that it led into the living room.

In 1907, when the Ramsey estate was settled, Mrs. Mather bought the share of it inherited by her sister, Mrs. DeWitt Pugh, who now lives on Croton road. The Mathers lived continously in the old home until its recent sale to the Bell Telephone Company. The new $325,000 structure planned by Bell will be fire-proof construction with brick walls. It will house the dial central office utility area, lunch facilities, meeting room and service center. It will also have a cable vault below street level.

Residents owning pictures, old deeds or other information that will aid Mrs. Patterson in continuing the story of the Bloomingdale avenue houses, can contact her at Wayne 4569.