Mailbox
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the Mailbox category and the Winter 1992 issue Topics in this article:The Eastern Coast Breweriana Association (ECBA), the country’s oldest organization for collectors of brewery artifacts and ephemera, is updating, correcting, and revising American Breweries for republication in 1994. Containing thousands of entries, this important publication records the names, locations, and dates of operation for known breweries throughout the United States (see “Brewerytown, U.S.A.,” by Rich Dochter and Rich Wagner in the summer 1991 issue). Individuals and institutions able to provide information about brewing companies in their areas are asked to write to the forthcoming publication’s editor: Dale Van Wieren, P.O. Box l13, Worcester, PA 19490-0113; or telephone (215) 699-9032.
Store signs, festival banners, photographs, written or recorded personal narratives and memories, neighborhood newsletters, advertisements, and restaurant menus are being sought by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for an exhibition slated to open in fall 1992. Objects and artifacts should identify a particular neighborhood through domestic life, recreational places, cultural activities, religious institutions, schools, businesses, or community organizations. Individuals and institutions able to participate are urged to write: “Collecting for the Future,” Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19107; or telephone (215) 732-6200 or 732-6201.
Early twentieth century records pertaining to the Torbena Products Company, Inc., of Allentown, Lehigh County, and Cornwall, Lebanon County, are sought for research. The company bottled and marketed a water named “Torbena,” dispensed from a stoneware crock containing radium ore, which was reputed to improve both physical and mental health. Information should be sent to: Richard B. Strattan, Cornwall Iron Furnace, P.O. Box 251, Cornwall, PA 17016; telephone (717) 272-9711.
For a documentation project funded by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission, researchers are seeking information regarding the iron furnaces and forges in the Juniata Valley, including Huntingdon, Blair, Centre, Mifflin, Perry, and Juniata counties. Needed for study are ledgers, correspondence, photographs, drawings, and related documents. Direct correspondence to: Nancy S. Shedd, Huntingdon County Historical Society, P.O. Box 305, Huntingdon, PA 16652; or telephone (814) 643-5449.
The Erie County Historical Society is conducting research concerning the women of the prominent Battles family, which owned the R.S. Battles Bank in Girard (see “The Battles Bank: When Honesty Was Collateral and Chickens Paid the Interest” by Sabina Shields Freeman in the winter 1989 edition). Information pertaining to Delia Dickson, Charlotte Webster Battles, and Charlotte Elizabeth Battles is requested by: Susan Beates Hansen, Erie County Historical Society, 417 State St., Erie, PA 16501; telephone (814) 454-1813.
In preparation for a 1992 holiday season exhibition entitled “Delights and Diversions,” the Chester County Historical Society is researching toys and games that were made, owned, or used by county residents during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Information, including memories of holidays past, may be shared with: Katherine Krile or Meg Bleecker Blades, Chester County Historical Society, 225 North High St., West Chester, PA 19380-2691; telephone (215) 692-4800.
