By The Reporter
This week we feature a photo submitted by Dorothy Rhoads of North Wales, who noted that the photo probably was taken about 1961.
The information she included indicated that the photo was snapped as part of an event of the Lansdale Golden Age Club, which was formed in 1949 by the late Fred Young.
There were 24 charter members and the first meeting was held at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Lansdale.
An article accompanying the photo noted that the motto, suggested by Mable Reed, was “Live, Laugh and Be Happy.”
In 1952, the club moved to the Eagles Home and then in 1961 to the Moose Home.
They provided their own entertainment, Rhoads said, and her mother was part of the group.
Looks like everyone was dressed in bridal wear or other finery for this photo in today’s feature.
FROM LAST WEEK:
Last week we featured a photo from the American Chick Sexing in Lansdale, and several people provided more information.
Loretta Gehman Umstead from Lansdale called to let us know that her father worked for American Chick Sexing about 67 years ago, for about 15 years.
Her father, Jacob Gehman, then of Hatfield, went to the school in Lansdale and then worked in areas that included Colorado, Kansas, Iowa and later the Pennsylvania/New Jersey/Delaware region, she said.
According to Umstead, the people doing the chick sexing worked from February to June.
Also, Harold Jenkins called in and left a message, saying he remembered the school was on Line Street in Lansdale, next to the Interstate Hosiery Mill. The students would go out on jobs and then were required to come back for retraining. When they were at the Lansdale school, a lot of them worked for Shelly Brothers in their candy-making operation on Broad Street. The candy company got busy in the fall and they needed extra help to make candy canes. Jenkins said he worked for Shelly’s at that time, in the late 1940s.
Also, by email, George Reese of Rocky Mount, N.C., sent this: “American Chick Sexing was owned by John Nitta. He lived on Lansdale Avenue. His three children, Joanne, David and Glen, went to North Penn High School. I graduated with David in 1962.”
Thank you, everyone!
Contact us
Do you have old photos that you would like to share with our readers?
If so, we’d love to hear from you.
We would like to feature a photo each week that will give our readers a peek at the past — and we hope you may have some photos to share.
Whether you are affiliated with a historical society, are an elected official or simply have some great old photos that we can borrow, we’d love to hear from you.
You may send them to History Photos, The Reporter newsroom, 307 Derstine Ave., Lansdale, PA 19446; e-mail to citydesk@thereporteronline.com, with a subject line of “History Photos”; or call (215) 361-8820 for more information.
Please include as much information with your photos as possible, and a phone number where we can contact you.