Hooked on History: Eclectic Taylor Collection goes on display in New Philadelphia
A small portion of the vast array of New Philadelphia memorabilia collected by former Mayor Michael Taylor is now on display on the second floor of the John Knisely Municipal Centre in New Philadelphia.
Three display cases mounted on the wall showcase penny banks from local financial institutions; advertising fans distributed by area businesses, such as the Linn-Hert Co. and the former Kaserman-Naylor Funeral Home from the 1930s to the 1960s; and drug store items, including a hand-written prescription from Dr. Sidney Brister in 1901.
The items will be displayed for the next several months.
Taylor, a former bank, realtor and antique dealer, collected thousands of items over the years that had some connection to New Philadelphia. Some were purchased from all parts of Ohio. Others were given as gifts.
What's in the collection?
The collection is eclectic, to say the least. There are more than 300 pencils that have something to do with New Philadelphia. Some of the larger items include a three-quarter-inch thick square manhole with raised lettering saying, "City of New Philadelphia." Another is a ticket registry from the old Union Opera House. The opera house, which was in business from 1897 to 1957, was located on Ashwood Lane, behind the former Reeves Hotel on North Broadway Street. The registry is a wooden box that opens and has slots for the different seats in the theater.
Taylor, who no longer lives in New Philadelphia, began looking for some organization to take his collection about a year ago.
"He had a buyer for it, but he really wanted it to stay in the county, preferably New Philadelphia. He wanted a group to take it over," said Tom Strickling, a member of the Tuscarawas County Heritage Home Association.
The Tuscarawas County Historical Society did not have space to store and display the items, so the Heritage Home Association stepped in to take the collection.
Strickling drove to Gallipolis, where Taylor was living at the time, to retrieve the items. "I took a cargo trailer down, about a 14-foot cargo trailer, and it was 3 feet of boxes. He had everything packaged and boxed. There was quite a bit. Then we had to go into town to his home to pick up four or five more items he had at his home."
Taylor has since moved to South Carolina.
Something that would be interesting'
Another Heritage Home member, Liz Hipp, then took on the task of sorting through the more than 3,000 items to group similar things together. Then she and George Laurence, owner of Museum Acrylics in New Philadelphia, decided which items would go on display first at the municipal building. Laurence built the three display cases.
"We determined something that would be interesting and kind of fun and different, and it had to fit in the space. And the mayor (Joel Day) was gracious enough to say, yes, let's do that," Laurence said.
He noted, "This is so new for us. It's a matter of just delving into the boxes and seeing what's there. We've just scratched the surface and started a few months ago."
His favorite item from the collection? A 1970s rocket ship bank from the former Reeves Banking & Trust Co., which was located on the courthouse square in New Philadelphia.
Because there are so many items in the Taylor collection, the Heritage Home Association will be looking for other places to display it.
Jon Baker is a reporter for The Times-Reporter and can be reached at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: New Philadelphia memorabilia goes on display at city building
