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180 Thompson Street

 North Tonawanda, NY

Placed on the National Register of Historic Places April 18, 1985.

The Allan Herschell Company, founded in North Tonawanda, New York was the fourth in a series of companies in the community which manufactured carousels and other amusement park rides.  Allan Herschell had previously been a partner in the earliest of the area's carousel firms:  the Armitage Herschell Company in 1873 and later with the Herschell-Spillman Company in 1901.  The Spillman Engineering Company operated from the 1920s through the 1930s in competition with its founder.

The Allan Herschell Company, the most prolific maker of carousels, specialized in producing portable machines which could be used by traveling carnival operators.  The company produced over 3,000 hand-carved wooden carousels and out produced all of its rivals in the carousel industry.  Each hand-carved wooden carousel featured striking yet simple horses.  

The star attraction at the museum is the beautifully restored 1916 Number One Special Carrousel.  With 36 hand-carveed wooden horses and more than 500 twinkling lights,  this ride spins to the sounds of a vintage Wurlitzer band organ.  Built in the former factory, it's a rare chance to experience a working piece of American amusement history with no theme park required.  

North Tonawanda, once an industrial powerhouse with 150 lumber mills was the longtime home of the Herschell Company, which led the carousel industry from 1883-1970.  Today, visitors from around the world come to ride the fully restored carousel.

A major employer in the community, the Allan Herschell Company had a worldwide reputation for quality rides.  Carousels from this company were shipped throughout the United States and Canada, as well as to all parts of the world including South Africia, India, Tahiti and Mexico.

Of the 148 antique, hand-carved wooden carousels still in existence in the United States and Canada today, 71 were manufactured in North Tonawanda in one of the four Herschell companies.  The Allan Herschell Company had a major influence on the development of the American amusement ride industry, where this influence continues to be felt.

Beyond the Carousel

Over the years the Allan Herschell Company expanded its line of amusement park rides and pioneered such concepts as "Kiddieland", a specialized group of rides designed for small children.  It also introduced adult thrill rides such as the Twister, the Hurricane and the Sky Wheel which was a double Ferris wheel nearly 90 feet tall.  Much of this growth occurred under the ownership of John Wendler and his family, starting in the 1930s. 

The company maintained its North Tonawanda operation until the late 1950s when it moved to Buffalo.  It continued as a locally owned firm until it was sold in the early 1970s to Chance Manufacturing of Wichita, Kansas, a rival maker of amusement rides.

Many of the popular rides today can trace their origins to the company. Nearly every person who has visited an amusement park at some time in their lives has experienced the thrill of riding on one of the Herschell rides.   

An interesting sidenote is that the word, carousel is spelled as carrousel with two r's at the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum. If you call the museum, the Education Director when providing their website address over the phone, that person must interject with "We spell it with two r's" or they will not get the right page. 

When the carousel came to America it went through a few changes.  American carousels rotate in the opposite direction of their British cousins

www.carrouselmuseum.org

The Lead Horse on a Carousel

The Lead Horse is often called a King Horse.  Positioned on the outside row, often right behind the chariot, if one exists.  The horse is typically the largest, most ornate and most heavily decorated (often with armor or jewels) to serve as a marker for operators to count revolutions.  It is generaly a "stander" (three or four feet on the ground) and is the most elaborately carved.  While "Lead" or "King is the generic term, famous examples exist such as "Jingles" on the King Arthur Carousel at Disneyland.  The Lead Horse is often the most sought-after horse by collectors. 

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The Worth Avenue Clock Tower

One of the most iconic landmarks in Palm Beach, Florida is the famous clock tower that caps the ritziest shopping district known as Worth Avenue. Standing at 25 feet tall, the Worth Avenue Clock Tower was built in 2010. It was part of a $15.8 million renovation of Worth Avenue aimed at restoring the area's grandeur which included new landscaping and improvements to the shopping district.  The tower is made from coquina stone and cost $600,000.  It was designed in the Moorish Revival style reminiscent of the Mediterranean architecture brought to the area by architect Addison Mizner in the 1910s.  

The tower commemorates the former site of the Palm Beach Pier which was initially named Rainbo Pier.  It was built in 1925 by Danish immigrant, Peter Gustav Jordahn also known as "Captain Gus".  However, during the Great Depression, Captain Gus would sell the pier and it would be renamed.  The pier would become a favorite attraction featuring a coffee shop and cocktail lounge.  After getting battered by hurricanes in the 1940s and 1960s, the Palm Beach Pier was eventually demolished for safety concerns in 1969.  

The tower features 4 clock faces .. one on each side.  Locals gather at the tower every New Year's Day at sunrise for a community photo continuing the spirit of celebration associated with the former pier.

 

Creation by The Gooch

thegoochshop.com

Valentine's Day is one of those holidays that carries layers of meaning, depending on where you're standing in life.  At its simplest, it's a day set aside to honor love and connection.  It's a day with heartfelt messages, roses and chocolates.  For some it's a joyful and affirming yet for others it can feel bittersweet when love has been lost, changed or complicated.  The day doesn't just celebrate love; it exposes how much we value it.  

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At its best, Valentine's Day is less about grand gestures and more about intentional care which could be a phone call, a shared memory or a simple kindness.  Love doesn't stop existing when it's quieter, older or shaped by absence.  In fact, many people discover its deepest meaning then.  In that way, Valentine's Day isn't only about who you're with, it's about what love has meant to you and still does. 

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"It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all."  

Alfred Lord Tennyson

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched..they must be felt with the heart." "What we have once enjoyed we can never lose.  All that we love deeply becomes a part of us." 

Helen Keller

"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get .. only with what you are expecting to give .. which is everything."  

Katharine Hepburn

"Nobody has ever measured, even poets, how much a heart can hold."  

Zelda Fitzgerald

"Love is like the wind, you can't see it, but you can feel it."  

Nicholas Sparks

"Love isn't something you find.  Love is something that finds you." 

Loretta Young

"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other."  

Audrey Hepburn

"Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.  

Robert A. Heinlein

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If watching a movie with your sweetheart is in your plans this Valentine's Day, here are a few swoon-worthy film choices.  Love Story starring Ryan O'Neal and Ally McGraw (1970) where we recall the famous quote, "Love means never having to say you're sorry." 

The Notebook starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams (2004).  In the Notebook what really brings on the tears is the relationship between their older characters played by James Garner and Gena Rowlands.  

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Sleepless in Seattle (1993) starred Meg Ryan (Annie Reed) and  Tom Hanks (Sam Baldwin). 

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In 1987, Dirty Dancing appeared on the silver screen starring Patrick Swayze (Johnny) and Jennifer Grey (Baby). So grab your favorite dance partner and have the 'time of your life' with this '80s favorite flick.  

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If your movie interest is with a classic perhaps the film, Casablanca (1942) starring Humphrey Bogart (Rick Blaine) and Ingrid Bergman (llsa) with the famous lines .. "Of all the gin joints in all the town in all the world, she walks into mine." .. "Here's looking at you, kid."

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Another classic movie was An Affair to Remember (1957) starring Cary Grant (Nickie Ferrante)and Deborah Kerr (Terry McKay). 

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And last, though certainly not least, Titanic (1997) starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. 

An iconic scene

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Happy Valentine's Day

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Sweet Beginnings

Circa 1876

The telephone was invented.  America celebrated its 100th birthday.  And in 2018, the Chase Candy Company celebrated its 100th birthday. Chase Candy Company was created leading to the invention of the beloved Cherry Mash. Dr. George Washington, at the urging of his son, Ernest, made his first batch of candy and sold it among wholesale items in his G.W. Chase and Sons Mercantile storefront.  This was the beginning of Chase becoming known throughout the Midwest for its fine-quality peanut candies and hand-dipped chocolates.

Cherry Mash Is Born

Circa 1918

The very first Cherry Mash was concocted in St. Joseph,  Missouri.  The candy was more than four ounces when it was first introduced and was sold unwrapped in a box.  Customers would often take the candy back to their business and put it in a glass candy display case.  

Cherry Mash is an American candy bar consisting of a soft, cherry-flavored center containing maraschino cherries.  It was originally called Cherry Chase and then Cherry Chaser before becoming known as Cherry Mash.

Chase Headquarters Is Built

Circa 1922

To accommodate Cherry Mash's growing popularity, Chase built a four-story plant in downtown St. Joseph .. Fifth Street at Sylvanie .. that employed more than 400 people.  One entire floor was designated to the chocolate dipping crew.

Chase Candy Turns 50

Circa 1926

After 50 years in business, Chase had made more than 500 different kinds of candies including an extensive line of candy bars.  Chase's famous mascot, the "Candy Cop" was prominently featured on most of the candy bar wrappers.  Cherry Mash was the most popular in its iconic red and white wrapper, a design that has remained the same since 1930.  The company wraps each Cherry Mash at a rate of up to 200 per minute.

"The only part of the process we'd ever rush."

The Great Depression

Circa 1930s

The Depression years of the 1930s hit the candy business especially hard.  If you had any money, you spent it on food for sustenance, not for your sweet tooth.  Chase Candy Company experienced a huge decrease in sales and profits and an extensive cutback in the number of candies it produced. 

Chase Candy Is Purchased

Circa 1940s

During WWII, sugar was rationed by F.S. Yantis and Company, which invested in several Pepsi bottling companies in the Midwest, purchased the Chase Candy Company.  By doing so, they acquired a large share of sugar rations to help keep the bottling companies operating.  Fewer kinds of candy were made in the late 40s and early 50s. 

Chase Candy Company

795 Hedding Street

San Jose, California

Circa 1952

The "Cherry Mash" Plant

Circa 1960s

In the early 1960s, Chase Candy Company moved to a different plant built in St. Joseph to exclusively produce Cherry Mash because it was in such high demand. 

Chase Candy Today

Circa 2005-Present

Chase Candy Company continues to operate in St. Joseph, the city where Cherry Mash was first created 100 years ago.  The company functions out of a new, purpose-built candy factory that opened in 2005. 

Candy Mash Production Data

200,000 pounds of peanuts per year.  200,000 pounds of chocolate coating per year 30,000. And 30,000 pounds of cherries per year. 

And for those of you familiar with The Gooch seen on FB whose slogan is

"If I can do this, you can do this."

"First time trying this and now I'm hooked."

 

Jordan Marsh

Boston, Massachusetts

Exterior of the former flagship store in Downtown Crossing

Circa 1950

Jordan Marsh was an American department store chain founded in 1841 by Eben Dyer Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh.  It was headquartered in Boston and operated throughout New England.  The destruction of the historical flagship store on Washington Street in Downtown Crossing, built in 1861 and demolished in 1975, contributed to the creation of the Boston Landmarks Commission.  The suburban store at Shopper's World in Framingham built in 1951 and replaced in 1993, was a local landmark because of its large exterior dome. 

Allied Stores (1935-1992) opened the first Jordan Marsh in Florida on Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami in 1956.  It competed with Burdines in this market and was comparatively more upmarket than local competition.  The regional flagship in Miami, advertised as "the store with everything, with a Florida flair", featuring a swimming pool and boating dock to attract affluent customers.  Allied operated the Jordan Marsh Florida division separately from the New England stores and it expanded to 13 stores in the Sunshine State.

Exterior of the former Jordan Marsh store at the Palm Beach Mall

West Palm Beach, Florida

Circa 1971

Eventually, Jordan Marsh was converted to Burdines in 1991 and Federated Department Stores dissolved Jordan Marsh and converted stores to Macy's in 1996.

The Enchanted Village

From the 1940s until 1972 and again in the early 1990s, Jordan Marsh's flagship store in Downtown Crossing in Boston was home to The Enchanted Village, a lavish Christmas display which at its height consumed an entire floor of the department store and was spotlighted in the store's display windows. The display's centerpiece, besides Santa Claus was an eight-set Lionel electric train display.  This train display featured a large vintage-style train which is a staple of the holiday exhibit.  It included the traditional Lionel electric trains operating within the restored display.  

Christmas train layout at Jordan Marsh 

Circa 1957

Fifth Floor Annex was the toy department with the Lionel/American Flyer train layouts.  Always packed with kids and parents during the holiday season beginning at Thanksgiving for all ages.  It was "New England's Largest Toy Store."

"Jordan Marsh's Enchanted Village is an old Boston tradition.  Do you remember the excitement of riding the train into town and the anticipation for this annual event?  In the 1950s and 1960s, going to the Village was something everyone did, and of course, there was some last-minute shopping involved in hopes of picking up a box of Jordan Marsh's blueberry muffins from the bakery in the Annex!"

In what started as a marketing gimmick, Enchanted Village quickly became a legendary Boston tradition and an annual mainstay of the city's holiday season. It originally appeared at the Jordan Marsh in downtown Boston starting in 1958, featuring intricate, bustling scenes with moving figures, teddy bears, Christmas characters and wintery, holiday-themed landscapes.  It was a nostaligic experience that transformed a department store floor into a magical, animated storybook town. Many nostalgic New Englanders enjoyed it during the Christmas season. 

In 1998, Macy's discontinued The Enchanted Village when it moved to City Hall Plaza.  On June 16, 2009 The Enchanted Village, including all its props and figures was sold at auction to Jordan's Furniture in Avon, Massachusetts located at 100 Stockwell Drive after the City of Boston said it no longer could afford to sponsor the annual event.  Jordan's Furniture restored the surviving pieces in 2009 and continues to display the village to this day.

Eliot Tatelman is the co-founder and retired president of New England furniture retailer, Jordan's Furniture.  Since 2009, the chain's Avon location has served as home to The Enchanted Village, a walk-through Christmas exhibit allowing patrons to re-live The Enchanted Village when it was enjoyed by Filene's patrons for many years.

 

 

What it takes to be part of Punxsutawney Phil's Inner Circle

A. J. Dereume, Phil's Handler

My dad was in the club, my grandfather was in the club and so I got lucky enough to be around a lot.  Someone's going to have to do it and I didn't know if I had the time as it's a lifetime appointment.

A. J. Dereume

Gearing up for Groundhogs Day is no easy task and it takes dedication and commitment to become a member of Phil's Inner Circle.  The Inner Circle members are appointed for a lifetime or until they choose to not be in the club anymore.  To become a member, one must prove their passion for Punxsutawney through promotion and service. After being appointed, members work 364 days to prepare for the one big day where Phil makes an appearance.  

Gearing up for Groundhog day and throwing one of the greatest parties on the planet is a lot of work.

Thomas Dunkel, president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club

Some of the Inner Circle members come from a long line of members.  Dunkel has been a member for 12 years and his father was also in the Inner Circle. The hard work that is put in is rewarded with one special moment every February 2nd and the Inner Circle is always pleased with the crowd and their energy on that day.

 

Punxsutawney Phil

He saw his shadow therefore .. six more weeks of winter!

The 140th Year

This is no ordinary morning.  Across these hills a legend stirs.  Punxsutawney is awake, united, waiting.  Because today isn't just about a forecast it's about the spirit of a town that believes in the impossible.  It's a tradition older than most can remember. A promise kept for generations.  Groundhog Day is not just about a day .. it's a heartbeat.  It's an unbroken chain of joy, laughter and hope.  A little town on the map with a mighty story. And at the center of it all .. one mysterious, magical  groundhog .. Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers who carries with him the weight of winter, the promise of Spring.  Through snow, through sun, through rain we gather, we believe because Punxsutawney isn't just a place, its an idea.   A belief that even in the heart of winter there is a light that guides us forth.  

Today is our day, the day we show the world that a little magic, a little tradition and a whole lot of heart can bring hope to even the darkest mornings.

 

Punxsutawney .. Dawn is Coming!  

AND WE ARE READY!

Indeed .. a little town on the map with a mighty story!

Groundhog Day is a tradition brought to the United States by European settlers, with the first official event in 1886. According to legend, Punxsutawney Phil is over 100 years old kept immortal by a special "groundhog punch".   In Punxsutawney, 1886 marked the first time Groundhog Day appeared in the local newspaper.  The following year brought the first official trek to Gobbler's Knob.  Each year since then has seen a steady increase in participation of the celebration from people all over the world. 

Groundhog Day Where Legends Wake 

Produced February 3, 2025 and narrated by a voice that captures the anticipation of the annual Punxsutawney Phil tradition.  The video sets the scene for the event, highlighting the magic and tradition of the morning.

 

"I Can Feel It Comin' in the Air Tonight."

sung by Phil Collins 

"Groundhog Day isn't just a day ... it's a heartbeat".

Punxsutawney Phil