Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: owners

J. M. Trout Owner and operator of fire sand quarries. Also loam beds. Landisville, Penna. G. H. Thomas, western sales agt., Latrobe, Penna. Pluck Print. David Bachman Landis, who designed and printed this business card, wrote about J. M. (Jacob M.) Trout (1858-1935) and his father, Jacob S. Trout, in " Mineral Deposits and Works of the Hempfields ," an artilce that appeared in the Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society , v. 8, no. 8 (June 3, 1904), p. 247: " . . . Jacob S. Trout discovered a valuable bed of silica or 'fire' sand, in 1870. Experiments with this sand demonstrated its superior value in the construction of furnaces and the manufacture of steel and iron. Mr. Trout shortly after opened a large trade for his sand, and regularly shipped from Landisville station many carloads of it to the great works of the Pennsylvania Steel Company, at Steelton, and other steel and iron works in Central Pennsylvania. . . . Since the death of Jacob S. Trout, in the year 1893, his son, J. M. Trout (who resides in the village of Landisville at the present time) has taken up the silica sand business and has been shipping thousands of tons to different iron workers, as far West as Chicago, Ill., and East to Massachusetts." Compare the wiry borders in the design of this card with those used in the return address on an envelope for Charles S. Frantz, Graduate Ophthalmic Optician, Watchmaker, and Jeweler, Lancaster, Pa.

"Lyndhurst Electric Farm, Geo. J. Hoopes, owner." The Lyndhurst Electric Farm was located along the Lincoln Highway in Caln Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, somewhere between the towns of Coatesville and Downingtown. The "Electric Farm" name came about in an obvious way sometime in the early twentieth century: "Township manager Sam Moore, a lifelong resident, remembers the excitement when one farm had its barn wired for electricity. Local residents immediately christened it 'The Electric Farm'" (see Jeff Gammage, " Caln Highway: Extension of History's Path ," philly.com, Nov. 1, 1987). Brian Butko, in his book, The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler's Guide , 2nd ed. (Stackpole Books, 2002), p. 76, mentions that "Lyndhurst was a farm and tourist home operated by George J. Hoopes," but I haven't been able to uncover any additional information regarding the Lyndhurst Electric Farm or its owner.

"John Pecinovsky, the famous Half & Half Man, owner and operator of the Bonair Tavern, 4 miles west and 3 miles north of Cresco, Iowa. We serve Fitger's Beer, Walt Rush, distributor. Ice cream, soft drinks, and candy. Half & Half, Bonair, Iowa. Souvenir post card." As one brief obituary explained, "For years Pecinovsky wore suits in which half of the coat was white and the other black, one trouser leg white and the other black. One side of his face was always kept shaved smooth while the other was permitted to support a luxuriant crop of whiskers" ( Waterloo Daily Courier , April 7, 1942).