Taylor Tot Strollers were not just any stroller, they were the premiere baby stroller of the 20th century. A story that unfolded on the internet involved a college professor who restored a Taylor Tot though not just any Taylor Tot. The stroller he owned was from his childhood. He had even found a way to copy his front decal. Certain models had 'high-class options' which included "wheel pants" and a foot tray. The wheel pants were groovy little fenders that covered the wheels and didn't let the child's feet scrub on the tires and a tray that was put under the child's feet when the stroller was used as a 'pusher'. There was a date code that was stamped underneath the seat. The stroller had a paper front decal and a seat decal. The wooden roller beads (1956 and up used plastic roller beads) sat on a rail around the package tray that set right in front of the child. They were something for the child to play with when riding the stroller.
The Taylor Tot stroller, known for its vintage design and has a history rooted in the 1940s and 1950s evolving from a functional baby walker to a beloved collectible. Taylor Tot strollers were manufactured by the Frank F. Taylor Company in Norwood, Ohio (just outside of Cincinnati). The company was founded in 1921. While initially designed for practical use, Taylor Tot strollers have become highly sought-after collectibles, appreciated for their vintage charm.
An original unrestored 1940s Taylor Tot stroller.
Red metal with white trim, colored red and white wooden beads with a red wooden "driving" handle.
Decal on stroller seat.
Taylor Tot Stroller with foot tray and those colored beads
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Photo Credit to H. S. Bell Photo Company
Circa 1927
Photo found in a book titled Historic Photos of Palm Beach County
Text and Captions by Seth H. Bramson
The Palm Beach Bottling Works was a soft drink company located in West Palm Beach, Florida in the early 20th century. Historical records and photographs of the company show its operations during the 1920s. The company was known to be operational in WPB in 1927 suggesting a focus on distribution beyond its immediate location.
The exact brands bottled and the company's ultimate fate are not fully documented though the Palm Beach Bottling Works is distinct from other historical bottling companies in the area such as the later Coca-Cola distribution center.
The history of this bottling works is linked to the overall growth and development of West Palm Beach which became the county seat in 1909. The sign on the building reads .. "NuGrape A flavor you can't forget" and on the truck it reads "Phone 250 Orange-Crush".
Monday, November 10, 2025
Dr. John Stith Pemberton
a pharmacist and the original creator of Coca-Cola
(1831-1888)
On May 8, 1886 he developed an early version of a beverage that would later become Coca-Cola, but sold the rights to the drink shortly before his death. He and his son sold the remaining portion of the patent to a fellow Atlanta pharmacist, Asa Griggs Candler for $300 which in 2022 purchasing power is equal to $9,372.88. Candler became the 42nd Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia from 1917-1919.
Asa Griggs Candler, Sr.
(1851-1929)
Charles Howard Candler
1878-1957
Charles Howard Candler was an American businessman and author. He was one of the few people that his father, Asa Candler first trusted with the secret formula used to make Coca-Cola which then included coca leaves.
Believed to be the first coupon ever, this ticket for a free glass of Coca-Cola was first distributed in 1888 to help promote the drink. By 1913, the company had redeemed 8.5 million tickets.
Among communities across America, several Florida cities have historic former Coca-Cola bottlings plants featuring facade reliefs or embedded signs.
In Palatka, an historic building has a vintage Coca-Cola sign in carved bas-relief set into its brick exterior. The former bottling plant, dating to the 1930s is part of the Palatka South Historic District.
Coca-Cola Bottling Company
Palatka, Florida
Circa early 1900s
939 North Magnolia Avenue
Ocala, Florida
In Ocala, the old Coca-Cola bottling plant, built in 1940, has a Mission/Spanish Revival-style bottle. The building's architectural elements include a crest on the front facade featuring the classic Coca-Cola bottle. The building is now an artist hub known as "The Gallery at NoMa".
Circa 1903
In Key West, a building that once served as a Coca-Cola bottling plant, starting around 1923, features the phrase "PROPERTY OF COCA COLA BOTTLING COMPANY" in etched relief at its base.
In Fort Lauderdale another Mission/Spanish Revival-style bottling plant, built in 1938 has undergone restoration. While it did not feature a bas-relief, it did have large windows for viewing the bottling process which has been replicated in the restoration.
Elmira Coca-Cola Bottling Company Works
Elmira, New York
Circa 1939
The location is not longer a bottling plant. It is used by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 139. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
May 23, 1997. The architectural style is Moderne.
A refurbished Coca-Cola advertisement.
Minden, Louisiana
Circa 1943
Sunday, November 9, 2025
Circa 1899
The original Coca-Cola bottling factory was located in Chattanooga, Tennessee opening in 1899 as the world's first franchised Coca-Cola bottling plant. The first Coca-Cola recipe was invented in Atlanta, Georgia in 1886 and was sold at a fountain, but the Chattanooga facility located at 17 Market Street pioneered the mass bottling and distribution system that made the product a national success.
The drink, itself, was invented in Atlanta by pharmacist, John Stith Pemberton (1831-1888) in 1886 at his Pemberton Chemical Company and was initially a fountain drink. His bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, chose the name for the drink and penned it in the flowing script that became the Coca-Cola trademark. Pemberton originally touted his drink as a tonic for most common ailments basing it on cocaine from the cocoa leaf and caffeine-rich extracts of the kola nut. The cocaine was removed from Coca-Cola's formula in 1903. The city is home to the original formula and is where the Coca-Cola Company was founded, but the first dedicated bottling plant was established in Chattanooga.
In 1899, Chattanooga businessmen, Benjamin Thomas and Joseph Whitehead secured the rights from Asa Griggs Candler (1851-1929) to bottle Coca-Cola across most of the United States. They opened the first bottling plant in Chattanooga which became the birthplace of the modern Coca-Cola bottling system. As the business grew, the plant moved to larger locations in Chattanooga before the company's bottling operations eventually expanded across the globe.
Somebody Knew I Was Coming
Circa 1940
Coca-Cola partnered with McDonald's to sell branded soft drinks in 1955, an exclusive partnership that lasted until 2007, when some locations began selling Pepsi products. There is still a strong partnership between Coca-Cola and McDonald's, with Coca-Cola maintaining a separate McDonald's division.
In 1982, the company introduced its low-calorie, sugar-free soft drink, Diet Coke which was originally named Diet Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola has continued to reign as the largest beverage company in the world.
Old wooden crates that held glass Coca-Cola bottles still found in an abandoned Coca-Cola plant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Coca-Cola is the largest beverage manufacturer and distributor in the world, one of the largest corporations in the United States and one of the most successful brands in marketing history. Its headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. The trademark "Coca-Cola" was registered with the U.S. Patent Office in 1893.
In 1958, this nostalgic Coca-Cola bottle sign was on top of a bottling plant at 13th and York Streets in Tampa, Florida.
If you know where it is now, American Pickers will make you a deal you can't refuse!
Saturday, November 8, 2025
Dave Garroway
(1913-1982)
Garroway's signature upheld and while saying "peace" at the end of each Today Show.
Three things come to mind when you mention Dave Garroway: those horn-rimmed glasses, that bow tie and his sign-off .. an upheld hand, palm facing out, accompanied by the spoken word "peace". Where did that come from? Thanks to the Archive of American Television and an old TV Guide article, we know enough to do a little digging and come up with the likely answer!
Charlie Andrews, who was Dave's favorite writer and best friend, told the Archive that "peace" came from a preacher out of Philadelphia. Garroway took a liking to it and adopted it as his own.
Although in Garroway's post-Today years he replaced "peace" with "courage" from a poem by Amelia Earhart that included the line "Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace." Garroway maintained that saying "peace" was supplicating for peace while "courage" was a way to find it.* Be that as it may, Garroway brought "peace" back for the Today anniversary program and officially it was the last word he spoke on national television when he gave the sign-off at the end of the 1982 anniversary show.
*The phrase suggests a distinction between passively desiring or asking for peace and actively seeking or achieving it through courageous action.
Garroway's relaxed and ironic style, along with his memorable sign-off, contributed to the show's success.
The original Today team with Jim Fleming, Dave Garroway and Jack Lescoulie.
Talking with the crowd outside the RCA Exhibition Hall on a sunny Spring morning.
Circa 1957
David Cunningham Garroway was an American television personality. He was the founding host and anchor of NBC's Today Show from 1952 to 1961. Garroway has been honored for his contributions to radio and television with a star for each on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame, the city where he spent part of his teenaged years and early adulthood.
Garroway began his broadcasting career at NBC as a page in 1938. He attended NBC's school for announcers and following graduation, he landed a job at Pittsburgh radio station KDKA in 1939. His early reporting efforts earned Garroway a reputation for finding a good story, even in unusual palaces. The "Roving Announcer", as he was known, worked his way up to become the station's special-events director while still attending to his on-air work. After two years with KDKA, Garroway left for Chicago.
June 16, 1961 was Dave Garroway's last day on the Today Show, one of television's most enduring programs. A WWII veteran and seasoned radio reporter, Garroway became one of television's first TV personalities as host of an experimental variety show, Garroway at Large, broadcast from Chicago.
In 1952, Garroway began hosting the newly-created morning show, Today, the brainchild of NBC president and television pioneer Sylvester "Pat" Weaver. Nicknamed "The Communicator" for his ability to clearly explain complicated stories, Garroway possessed an easy-going manner that resonated with viewers. His willingness to work with his chimpanzee co-host, J. Fred Muggs couldn't have hurt, either.
During his tenure on Today, Garroway also hosted various radio and TV programs including the Sunday afternoon show, Wide Wide World.
Sadly, unbeknownst to viewers, Garroway battled depression and toward the end of his Today career, Garroway's condition reportedly worsened. Shortly after his second wife died, Garroway announced his intention to leave Today as soon as his contract ran out, if not sooner. He said goodbye a few weeks later, four months before the end of his contract.
The 30th Anniversary Broadcast of the Today Show
with Brian Gumble and Jane Pauley.
January 14, 1982
A longtime automobile enthusiast as a concours judge at Watkins Glen, New York.
Circa 1969
At the wheel of his beloved Jaguar.
His Autobiography
simply titled
peace
Six months after he appeared on the 30th Today Show's anniversary broadcast Dave Garroway took his own life on July 21, 1982 in Swarthmore, PA.
Thursday, November 6, 2025
Bradley Park
343 Royal Poinciana Way
Palm Beach, Florida
Completed in December 2017, the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach's $42.7 million beautification project at Bradley Park was the result of a public-private partnership with the Garden Club of Palm Beach and Town of Palm Beach. The project activates a formerly underutilized 4.4 acre public park located on the town's historic main street and showcases its historic and natural features.
Formerly the location of Colonel E. R. Bradley's Casino and Beach Club and personal residence the land was donated to the town in 1946. The Gilded Age buildings were demolished with the exception of the historic tea house and Artemis Fountain.
Previously lacking a comprehensive landscape design, the refreshed park is now a gathering place and a source of pride for the community that marks the northernmost entrance to the town. The project encompasses every aspect of the Preservation Foundation's mission to preserve the architectural and cultural heritage and unique scenic quality of Palm Beach.
Enhancements include a quarter-mile-long meandering crushed shell path that incorporates benches and leads pedestrians through a series of garden rooms separated by tall hedges. The historic tea house was restored and a broken coral stone terrace installed with a restored Artemis Fountain at its center. An existing restroom east of the tea house was demolished and replace with a new facility. Chinese screens and hand-made tiles decorate the facae and reference the Chinese fireplace located inside the tea house.
Five interpretive panels were installed inside the tea house to educate visitors on the history of Palm Bach. The history of Palm Beach's indigenous people is recognized for the first time on the island with this installation. Local students were also able to participate in an archaeological dig during the project. The four additional panels cover the eary pioneers, Standard Oil tycoon Henry Flagler, Colonel E. R. Bradley and the Preservation Foundation's beautification project.
Increasing accessibility, a new entrance was added to the northeast corner of the park to mirro the existing entrance at the southeast corner. The Lake Trail was extended along the existing sea well and an overlook structure, inspired by the demolished Casa Bendita tennis pavilion was constructed. Permanent open space, dedicated by this project in the center of the park, was leveled and resodded. A collection of shade trees, additional landscaping and lighting completes the project.
Bradley Park is a serene oasis in Palm Beach featuring a butterfly garden, nature play area and stunning Intracoastal Waterway views looking across the water to West Palm Beach.
