1920s: November 2009 Archives

A friend recently shared these photos of a radio he picked up at a public sale. The Manley Manufacturing Company of York, PA made garage and shop equipment, as it says on the brass label of the radio case. They started out in the 1920s and manufactured items such as hydraulic lifts and jacks. The company eventually became part of American Chain and Cable.

So why does this radio have a plate that says it was manufactured by Manley and is machine no. 1008?

Tomatoes and Shakespeare and York County?

I recently wrote my York Sunday News column on the canning houses of York County, going back to the 1920s through the 1950s when the canneries dotted the county. Local farmers could easily haul their fresh vegetables just down the road to be canned and distributed all over the country.

The fanciful labels were lithographed in tempting color, usually depicting lush produce, but sometimes making you wonder why other designs were chosen. You can see the diversity in the photos shown here.

The Wel-Don bean labels above have a great story behind them.

Utz or Martin's--which is best?

York County potato chips manufacturers are in the news again. It looks like Utz has pulled out of the deal to merge with Snyder's of Hanover.

Before I wrap up my "potato chip series," I want to give a nod to Herr's snack foods, located not too far away in Nottingham. Their sour cream and onion ripple chips are second only to regular Utz in my book. Jim Herr bought a small Lancaster potato chip company in 1946, shortly before marrying wife Mim. They built the business up over the years, surviving a devastating plant fire in 1951. They now make over 340 snack foods and distribute them in 26 states and in Canada.

The chip manufacturers I have been researching had their beginnings in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. In a search for more early chip makers, I checked the Polk's city directories for York County. These directories were issued every two years and covered York city and "all boroughs located on the lines of York Railways Company" [the trolley lines]. York County Heritage Trust doesn't have quite a full run of directories, but I found more than I thought I would. (See below for a sampling of the results).

Who know how many more chipmakers there were out in the rural areas, like my mother and father. Even though my parents didn't stay in the potato chip business and become multi-millionaries, I would love to have one of the little wax paper bags with the imprint of Burk's Potato Chips. I remember some unused ones around the house from my childhood, long after they stopped making chips, but I guess they were eventually discarded. You just never know what might come up at a public sale or antique shop, so if anyone ever locates one, keep me in mind.

Some chipmakers listed in city directories:

Another election has just passed, this one with little fanfare. No federal offices were at stake and only judicial ones at the state level. Many county and local officies were not up for election and some of those who were had only one candidate.

The flier above for the 1924 Republican Party candidates caught my eye when I was looking through a file on elections at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives. The gentlemen certainly look "SAFE--SANE--STEADY."

Even though 1924 was a presidential election year, it wasn't an exciting election. The American Presidency Project shows that Coolidge won with 54% of the popular vote. Democrat John W. Davis carried only the "solid south" and Progressive candidate Robert M. LaFollette only took his native Wisconsin.

Who were these 1924 Republicans and where is the York County connection?