LETTERS
to the Editor
From an Old Spring Rises a New ‘Reader’ Dear John, Enclosed find a picture of your youngest reader (my great-great-granddaughter) Willow Joyce Baker, age 18 months. She picked up your magazine and looked at it for a long time, evidently studying the art as she obviously cannot actually read. We all do though! I don’t know who your oldest reader is, but thankfully it is not me. I remain your advocate, Paul (and Darlene) Lang Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania Editor’s note: “Roaring Spring?” Sounds interesting. We noticed, per Wikipedia, that the village was established around the Big Spring in Morrison’s Cove, “a clean and dependable water source” vital to the operation of a paper mill. Prior to 1866, when the first paper mill was built, Roaring Spring had been a grist mill hamlet with a country store that led to the mill near the spring. The grist mill, powered by the spring water, had operated at that location since at least the 1760s. By 1873, the borough contained 170 lots and 50 buildings, which included the paper and grist mills, three churches, a company store, a schoolhouse and one hotel. It is home to the only remaining original Pennsylvania Railroad station in Blair County. The village core retains only a few shops and professional offices, but still holds the Roaring Spring Blank Book Co. and the Roaring Spring Water Bottling Co. and all of the historic church buildings. The Roaring Spring Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
Like many of us, Willow Joyce Baker likes to hunker down with AB&GC every month.
Places in 1995. The most prominent natural feature, Wikipedia adds, is the Big Spring, or Roaring Spring, an eightmillion-gallon-a-day limestone spring that emerges from a hillside in the center of town. OK, now our No. 1 question: Are there any old bottles from the spring? Please let us know.
A Year of Challenges Hi, John, It has been a difficult year, in so many ways. Right now we are all working through COVID-19. If you live in Northern California like I do, you are working through a huge fire season. Oh, of course, our major bottle show in Reno, was cancelled. Many local shows have been cancelled. Through it all, in my book, a major unhappiness for our group was the passing
of Mark Vuono, a really super guy and an asset to our bottle group. I hope that Andrew, his son picks up for his Dad. Best wishes to all the Vuono family. Jay Jacobs Napa, California
New History on Old Bottles Dear John Panella and Joe Widman, My name is Henry Thies. I just retired as a pharmacist of 39-plus years in June of this year. I have been a bottle collector of almost 50 years. I enjoyed your Peruna article (Medicine Chest, April 2020). When I started working, I paid attention to products still on the market that I had old bottles for. In June of 1989, I ordered a bottle of Peruna from our wholesaler to go along with the Peruna bottles of the past. As a historian, I know how hard it is to find last dates of operation.
