With the patriotic holiday of July Fourth approaching, we decided to revisit some items from the “North Penn Photo Revue,” which was published in September 1946 and showcased “The North Penn Victory Celebration” after World War II.

Young and old alike were pressed into service in this area during World War II.

In one photo featured today, we see members of the H.O. Club of Lansdale, as they sew for the Needlework Guild of America.

From left (in back) are Joan Jenkinson, Joyce Boyles, Nancy Cooper, Mary Jane Maguire, Nancy Clayton and Petty Sellers. Seated on the floor from left are Betty Jane Fellman, Joan Worman and Peggy Steel.

In the other photo, we see the American Red Cross Surgical Dressing Group in Lansdale, which was sponsored by the Lansdale Soroptimist Club.

At work in this photo are Mrs. A.K. Steel, Mrs. Leroy Wismer, Mrs. Wellington N. Nyce, Mrs. William Clauser, Mrs. G. Edgar Hirzel, Mrs. Blanche Jenkins, Mrs. Jesse K. Cope Jr., Mrs. Gladys Weisel, Mrs. Elsie Armstrong, Mrs. Louis M. Werner, Mrs. Paul O. Fehnel, Mrs. Bessie Happell, Mrs. Raymond C. Cotter, Mrs. Joseph Kriebel, Mrs. J. Russell Kramer, Mrs. Frank Martin, Mrs. Roy W. Schweiker and Mrs. Lester Fisher.

Bob Davis of Towamencin has shared a few photos with us today that will take you back a bit in military service.

The formal photo shows Alan Yost, serving in the Navy, and Davis, who was in the Army Air Corps. They both graduated from the former Lansdale High School in the Class of 1943.

According to Davis, they both happened to be on furlough at the same time when this photo was taken.

The other photo shows a few area men in a more casual pose, after World War II.

Shown from left are Harry Schmeig, who was in the Marines and was a Class of 1944 graduate; Herb Metz, who served in the Army and was in the Class of 1943; a young boy who was a regular visitor to the parking lot where the fellows worked; Yost; and Davis.

According to Davis, the four local men leased the parking lot at 11th Street and the boardwalk in Ocean City, N.J., charging visitors to park while they enjoyed the boardwalk.

Since only one of the men was needed to take care of the lot each day, the other three went to the beach, Davis noted.

All four were on summer vacation from the colleges they were attending at the time.

Seems like it would have been a pleasant and profitable vacation!

Dolly Musselman must be some softball fan.

The Harleysville resident shared these photos today from a local Inter-Church Softball League in 1950, and she obviously was very taken with the game.

When she was dating her future husband, Richard Musselman, he would go to Pottstown to pick her up and take her to the games, she said.
“I loved to go to see them win,” Dolly said.
But she really got into the games, and “got into a lot of trouble” when she told the umpire that perhaps he should wear her glasses and that then maybe he could see.
“He threw me out of the game,” Dolly said.

But the players enjoyed it when she cheered for them, she said. “They deserved it; they played great ball.”

One photo she has shared shows members of the Christ Lutheran softball team from Kulpsville, which were the Inter-Church League champs for two years in a row.
This 1950 shot shows, in front row from left, Vincent Walt, Harvey Bossert, Royden Walt, Robert Hedrick, Franny Bergey, Harold Landis and Donald Dager.

Standing are Robert Alderfer, Ken Hallman, Paul Ruth, Wilmer Hedrick, Linford Garges, Jimmy Bergey and Richard Musselman — Dolly’s husband.

The other photo shows awards being handed out for the winning year.

Russell Moyer, at right, presents the playoff trophy to Harvey Bossert. Also shown are Frank Stewart, at left, and Charles Kulp.

School days are drawing to a close and, for area seniors, a new chapter in their lives is about to begin.

So today we are featuring a few photos and some information from Ellis Kriebel of Harleysville, about his graduating class from the Towamencin Junior High School in June 1939.

He notes that “a three-day trip to Washington, D.C., was an exciting time for the graduating class. It was the same week that Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt entertained the king and queen of England by serving hot dogs and beer on the White House lawn.”

We don’t suppose the students were invited, but it must have been exciting nonetheless.

One of the photos shows the bus they used for the trip — not quite a luxury coach — and the other shows their Mack bus owner/operator, Mr. Markley from Schwenksville.

Kriebel also has provided the class photo, which he notes was taken at Bartholomew Studio on Main Street, Lansdale.

Members of the class were:

Front row: Ruth Hoefpl Cassel, Myrtle Stevens Waldspurger, Dorothy Boyle Burke, Evelyn Fritz Pfister, Ann Kroker and Betty Springer Butler.

Middle row: Herbert Metz, Nicholas Siomko, Frank Schlegel, Lawrence Overholtzer, Laverne Kulp, Russell Borneman, Jacob Ziegler, William Gehring and Carl Hunsicker.

Back row: Lester Clemmer, Harold Moyer, Harold Kulp, Ellis Kriebel, John Tregea, Earl Ford, Lester Kister and Ralph Keyser.

The girls certainly were outnumbered, weren’t they?