The regular meeting of the Wellsville Historical Society was held Tuesday evening, May 19, at the Society's museum on Riverside. Members have been busy getting the museum gussied up for this season. Regular Sunday hours will be starting soon for visitors.
Two new exhibits that will be on display this year are Bill Boyce's collection of brass cuspidors from all over the country and Lucille Hustons' collection of Jeanette Glassware. Both collections are hobbies of the owners and are on loan to the museum.
Cuspidors, commonly called spittoons, date back to the days when it was not unusual for a man to have a chaw in his back pocket. A chaw is a twist of chewing tobacco that was used to cut off a chunk for a "chew". Unlike today's pouches of treated chewing tobacco it was made of leafs of the tobacco plant braided into a twist. It was raw tobacco that was partially dried hanging in a barn, braided and saved for the pleasure of the chewer. Cuspidors were used indoors for the tobacco juice spitters. Accuracy was greatly appreciated by those that did the cleaning chores. Boyce's collection is amazing. You don't want to miss seeing it.
Jeanette Bottle Works began in 1887 in Jeanette, PA. In 1898 it became Jeanette Glass Co. and in 1899 with the coming of the semi-automated glass blowing machine Jeanette Glass began mass producing all types of glass products from kitchen ware to glass building blocks. Treasured by collectors all over is Jeanette Depression Glass. Lucille said she has been collecting Jeanette Glass for years and her efforts make another impressive exhibit that is a "must see".
The summer program schedule has been firmed up and I'm looking forward to seeing all of them. It is as follows:
Saturday & Sunday, June 13 & 14, will see the return of the 4th Armored Division Historical Group. There will be a WWII encampment set up with authentic GI tents, equipment, weapons and vehicles. Their program is called "Remembering Our Freedom". On Saturday at 1300 hours there will be a shooting display of all kinds of weapons that were used in WWII. This is the same group that set up camp at the Riverside location last year. If you haven't seen it you won't want to miss it this year and if you have seen it I'm sure you're eager to see it again. The 4th Armored is camped in Columbiana's Firestone Park this week-end from today through Monday.
On Sunday, July 12, author Wayne Cole will present a program on street cars and buses. Both modes of transportation played an important role in the development and history of the ville.
On Sunday, August 2, Bob Lloyd and Frank Dalonzo will present a program on the rail road which also played a big role in the developement of Wellsville. At one time the ville was a big transportation hub for moving goods and passengers to and from the region via the river and rail road. I think the first train in town was in 1857.
On Sunday, August 16, Jeff Weekly will give a program on the history of Wellsville schools. The history of our school system closely coincides with the history of the ville. The two go together and you won't want to miss this one either.
All programs in July and August begin at the museum at 2:00 and are open to the public and they are free. They are sponsored by the Historical Society for you're learning pleasure.
On June 2 there will be an antique car motorcade stopping at Salineville's Kiwanis Park at 10 A. M.
Pictured above is Historical Society President Brassy Beresford in an authentic Royal Deluxe Stetson hat that was one of this month's donations. The hat was given to one of the members father nearly 50 years ago and was never worn. That father kept it all these years thinking it was too good to wear except for very special occasions. The historical significance to Wellsville is that on the head band embossed in gold lettering is the name of Julius Goetz & Co. Goetz's was a men's wear store that for a long time was located on Main Street. It was "the" place to go for fine men's wear. I'm not sure but I think it was located somewhere on the square.
Also donated by Brassy was his grandfather's Civil War eating utensil. It was a one piece combination utensil with a spoon on one end and a fork on the other end. Brassy said it was carried by his grandfather all through the war. Brassy also donated metal buttons that were on his grandfather's uniform.
Next meeting is Tuesday, June 16. Come on over and join us...
ole nib
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