1893 Shadyside Road Coatesville, Pennsylvania 19320
On November 12 through 19, 1995, National Grange met in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at the Hilton Hotel. Earlier in 1995, my
wife and I asked permission to set up a display of our Chester
County, Pa., memorabilia. We received permission and were told, at
that time, that no one had ever asked to put on such a display and
that this would be a first at National Grange.
We set up the display on Sunday on behalf of Chester County
Pomona Grange Number 3 and our own Marshallton Grange No. 1394.
Among the items displayed were a Sharpies gasoline engine of 1916,
and a Sharpies cream separator of approximately the same date,
rigged to a battery operated pump (probably the only time either of
these items were ever on carpeted flooring).
Also in the display were Pennsylvania items: an advertising
broadside of a Pennock grain drill (Kennett Square) dated 1848; a
salesman’s portable horse feeder patented in the 1880s
(Cochranville); a cast iron waffle iron made before 1876 in
Springville, now Spring City; a Sharpies spawn bottle (mushroom
seed, Kennett Square); a broom maker (West Bradford) used by a
traveling broom maker between 1865 and 1890; and a 1922 Chester
County Fair Loving Cup for raw milk won by William I. Reeves (my
grandfather).
We also had five display cases set up. One case contained
Sharpies memorabilia which involved a model Sharpies cream
separator and many Sharpies advertising items. Another contained 25
post cards of Quaker meeting houses dating back to 1690.
A third case contained a photograph of the 1907 Pennsylvania
State Grange Convention banquet, held in West Chester. The banquet
was hosted by P.M. Sharpies, and held in one of the company’s
new buildings before Machine No. 4 was set up in one end of it. Mr.
Sharpies gave banquet tickets to each of the delegates who
attended.
We also had some Sharpies advertising cards in that case.
The last two cases contained literature on miscellaneous
agricultural events dating from 1830 to 1920, and sales catalogs of
agriculture related items.
We handed out an eleven page information booklet of other
products manufactured in Chester County from 1822 through the early
1900s. Visitors from 23 states signed our guest book, and
represented about 175 families.
We had a great time talking to all the Grangers and others who
just happened to be passing through on their way to somewhere. It
was a great week and we were very pleased that we had been given
permission to have our display at the hotel.
