This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

This Was Doylestown, 1957

A look back at Doylestown, 55 years ago this week.

Borough workers get $3-a-week raise -

Doylestown Borough Council on Monday night granted all borough employees, including police, street workers, office help and department heads, a $3-a-week across-the-board increase in salary, which amounts to $156 annually. The wage increase for the 20 employees will total $3,120.

Council members unanimously agreed that a wage adjustment was in order at this time due to increased living expenses.

The meeting was called for the purpose of going over the budget for 1957, which amounts to approximately $272,000, a slight increase over last year. The budget will be adopted either at the regular meeting on January 21 or at the February meeting.

Find out what's happening in Doylestownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

About $45,000 has been set aside for the police department for 1957; $53,000 for the water department; $30,000 for the sewer department; $33,000 for the street department; and $16,500 for the street lighting department.

The street lighting increase is due to the fact that the light committee is planning to install a number of street lights in newly developed sections of the borough.

Find out what's happening in Doylestownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Council does not anticipate an increase in the tax rate for 1957.

 

Antique pistols stolen from Mercer Museum -

The theft of 22 antique pistols that were reported stolen from the of the Bucks County Historical Society, 13 days ago, was made public for the first time Tuesday night, when a Philadelphia police department teletype carried the description of the missing guns.

Doylestown Police Chief Felix R. Gowan confirmed the theft and stated that it was the desire of the society's officials to keep the report of the theft out of the newspapers. The local police department wrote letters to various departments giving a description of the missing guns.

Several of the guns stolen could be converted into holdup weapons, several of them being in "shooting condition." It is quite possible that the thieves may be members of an organized gang that has been pilfering museums in the eastern coast area, police said.

Museum curator John Cummings said the guns stolen were known as "rejects" and had a value that would not be more than $75 at the most. The museum has duplicates of the type of pistols stolen, and these are on exhibit in the museum.

The stolen guns included Revolutionary War-type pepperbox pistols, a Civil War flint pistol, several cap-and-ball weapons, percussion muzzle-loaders, two dainty cap-and-ball items known as "muff pistols" and a horseman's pistol 22 inches long.

Two possible male suspects, very well dressed, were in the museum on the afternoon of December 27 with other visitors. They spent most of the time near the section of the museum where the pistols were kept in a box.

Chief Gowan said an investigation disclosed that two men answering the description of the suspects purchased a bolt cutter at a Doylestown hardware store earlier in the day. The box latch had been forced open.

 

Advertisement -

CLEARANCE SALE...100% Wool Sleeveless Sweaters, $2.95 Values, $1.00; Boys' Flannel Pajamas, $1.98 Values, $1.00; Closeout Boys' Striped Dress Shirts, $1.49 Values, 49c...THE MARTY GREEN STORES, Main & Oakland, Doylestown, Pa....Open Daily Till 6 P.M., Thursday & Friday Till 9.

 

Gasoline price goes up a penny -

Gasoline went up another cent on Saturday. If you didn't pay a cent more, chances are you soon will.

The Atlantic Refining Company of Philadelphia on Thursday announced a boost of one cent per gallon, effective Saturday. The increase covers the recent rise in the price of crude oil. Eight Atlantic seaboard states will be affected. Other refiners also boosted their gasoline prices.

Doylestown service station operators contacted by an Intelligencer reporter said the one-cent increase went into effect at midnight Friday. Gasoline costs anywhere from 23.9 to 32.9 cents a gallon, depending on which brand you use and how much it has been specialized.

William Burnside of Bill's Shell Station, West State and Lafayette streets, said his gasoline is selling at 28.9 for regular and 31.9 for high test. Harrar's Sunoco, South Main and Green streets, is selling gasoline at 27.9 cents a gallon.

An attendant at Horace Overholt's Gulf Station, North Main street and Lacey avenue, said regular gasoline costs 29.9 and high test 32.9. Larry Hawk, whose Atlantic station is located along North Main street near the Farmers' Market entrance, said he is selling his gas for 28.9.

Calso Service Station, next to Ed's Diner, West State and Franklin streets, is selling regular gasoline at 26.9 cents a gallon.

 

Banker urges women to plan financial future -

"Women hold rights to almost two-thirds of our wealth and yet as a group are the least equipped to plan and protect their present and future security," Casimir Sienkiewicz of Doylestown, a Philadelphia banker, told members of the Village Improvement Association at their meeting Tuesday at the .

Mr. Sienkiewicz went on to explain that although women show keen interest in social and cultural aspects of living, they show little interest in the nation's and their own economy.

"We are living in a credit economy, and government expenditures, taxes and its huge debt of $275 billion touches everyone's pocketbook," he emphasized. "Men work hard to make money, save it, perhaps to gain power... but women, as a group, consider money primarily for what it can buy. By nature they are charitable, generous and trusting, often to their own hazard."

With the life span of men shorter than that of women, a woman is often left to fend for herself when her husband dies, the banker said.

"The acute issue for the husband and wife is to plan and manage family affairs over the years as to secure comfort for both the rest of their lives," he pointed out. "The financial crisis comes at the husband's death, when the assets he has accumulated fall into the widow's hands. Most likely, she is not prepared to handle the situation and her security becomes exposed to economic and human vagaries."

Mr. Sienkiewicz said widows can turn to a bank for help.

"Banks are perpetual institutions, and can protect widows in three ways: custodianship, advisory services for investment purposes, and a living trust service to earn as good a return for the widow's money as is possible," he said.

Editor's note - In 2006, a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission marker, sponsored by the Doylestown Historical Society, was erected outside the former home of Casimir A. Sienkiewicz (1890-1974) at 202 E. Court St. The text reads: "Prominent economist and banker who emigrated from Poland in 1906. He was an adviser to federal, state, and local governments, an active civic and community leader, and was also a well-known impressionist painter. In 1964, he was named first chairman of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), one of the largest urban mass transit agencies in the nation. He resided here, 1938-1974."

 

Advertisement -

GREAT OFF-SEASON SALE in Heirloom Sterling...Buy 3 Place Settings and Get 1 Free. Place Settings Only $28.00 Each in Most Patterns, Fed. Tax. Incl...Offer Ends Feb. 4th, Act Now!...HOWARD'S JEWELRY STORE, 35 E. State St., Opposite County Theatre...Phone Doyl. 4675.

 

Land purchased for Doylestown Township school addition -

Doylestown Township School Board on Monday night purchased six acres of land at $1,000 an acre from Pauline Zadrow, of Edison, to build its new $200,000 addition.

Mrs. Zadrow, a widow, sold the land as part of her husband's estate. The new addition, comprising four classrooms and an all-purpose room, will be built adjacent to the present Doylestown Township Elementary School [now ].

Paul W. Kutz, supervising principal, said the $200,000 addition project has not been formally approved by the Department of Public Instruction in Harrisburg. He explained that Roy Cleaver, of the Department of Public Instruction, recently visited the six acres and gave the land purchase the department's approval.

"We have been most fortunate in being able to procure the badly needed six acres adjacent to the school," said Kutz.

The present school site on Turk road contains six acres, and it was mandatory to buy six more before the building project could win state approval.

 

Retiring railroader makes final run -

Christian H. Miller, of Hillside avenue, Doylestown, made his "last run" before retirement Wednesday morning on a Reading Railroad train from Doylestown to Philadelphia [the same line is now used by SEPTA trains].

Miller, who is 68 years old, actually completed 47 years of railroading Dec. 28, 1955. Since that time he's been on sick leave. Now much improved, he was honored at the Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. Top Reading Company officials congratulated him and presented him a service pin and flowers.

Miller began with the Reading Company in 1909, making his first run from Ivyland. He became an "extra" on the Doylestown run in 1910. Most of his 47 years in railroading were put in on the Doylestown branch. Short runs to Ivyland, Hatboro and Jenkintown rounded out the day's work.

Since 1926, Miller worked as a conductor. He never figured in any wrecks nor any serious accidents.

Miller has seen railroading make gigantic strides. First, there were steam locomotives. Now, there are few steam engines; practically all are electric or Diesel units now.

"I got $2.55 a day for a 12-hour day in 1915," Miller recalled. But, he added, "I worked every day through the greatest Depression the United States ever had in the 1930s."

Mr. and Mrs. Miller have four sons and a daughter. Their oldest son, John E. Miller, who was in the Air Force, was killed Jan. 2, 1945 while on a raid over the Philippine Islands. [Miller Avenue, in the Maplewood section of Doylestown, was named after him.]

"I'll stay around home for a while," said Miller, between puffs on his pipe. "I'm tired of riding trains."

 

From The Daily Intelligencer, Week of Jan. 6-12, 1957

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?