"Snapshots From the Factory Floor:" Old photo album becomes museum exhibit
CANTON – Kim Kenney was like a little girl without a dime in her pocket when the ice cream truck rolled down her street.
The executive director of the Wm. McKinley Presidential Library & Museum wanted the photo album The Repository had featured in a story in October 2020. Filled with about 1,400 candid photos shot by an employee of a Canton manufacturing plant in the 1940s and 1950s, the piece was quite unique.
"People just didn't take pictures of this kind of stuff," Kenney said.
The snapshots chronicled the people at work at Republic Stamping and Enameling, and in action at company picnics, Christmas parties, and baseball and bowling leagues.
Still, there was a problem.
"We don't have a budget for acquisitions," she explained.
Photo mystery solved: 1,400-image album documents life at Republic Stamping and Enameling
'It's amazing; a special piece.': Canton factory photo album lands at McKinley museum
The museum did manage to put forth an effort to acquire the album — which failed.
But the photos unexpectedly wound up back in Canton anyway.
'Snapshots from the Factory Floor' exhibit opens in Canton
Now, they're featured in an exhibit titled "Snapshots from the Factory Floor: Republic Stamping & Enameling 1943-1952." It opens today in the Keller Gallery. A free reception, catered by Buehler's Fresh Foods, runs from 6 to 8 p.m.
After that, it can be viewed with paid museum admission through Sept. 3. The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Kenney said she spent two months putting the exhibit together. It includes poster-sized reproductions of some images; an assortment of household enamelware, such as pots and pans; and an album with copies of every image.
"Choosing the photos wasn't easy; there were so many," Kenney said.
"'Snapshots from the Factory Floor' captures a slice of life in a mid-20th century factory, when Canton was a national leader in this kind of manufacturing," touts a press release announcing the exhibit.
The history of the Republic Stamping and Enameling photo album
Corralling the album wasn't easy. In early 2020, it had been offered for sale at a New York auction, but the $1,200 minimum wasn't realized. It was returned to a Brooklyn collector who owned it.
The Repository contacted the collector; borrowed and studied the photos; and uncovered the identify of the anonymous photographer as Charles Doyne Reese. He'd appeared in multiple photos, but in those captions he'd identified himself simply as "me" and "myself."
Knowing the museum didn't have the funds, Kathleen Fernandez offered to purchase the album through her Fernandez Hillibish History Fund at the Stark Community Foundation. Her late husband, Jim Hillibish, had worked at The Repository for 44 years as a city editor, columnist and creator of the newspaper's first website.
"Great," Kenney said.
But it was too late.
It had already been sold.
Enter Michael Sponhour of Columbus.
He's a Canton boy at heart. His dad, Thomas, worked at the Timken Co. for 33 years. His mom, Sari, is a local pottery artist. Turned out, Sponhour had read the story about the album and paid the Brooklyn collector $1,500 for it — so that he could donate it to the museum.
It arrived at the museum after Sponhour indexed names of 281 company employees identified in captions.
In researching the company, Kenney leaned on Ralph Schreiber, whose grandfather, Ralph Fawcett, was the company's last president before it was sold to Ekco Products in 1952. She also gathered samples of the enamelware products from local relatives of former employees.
"One of them said she still uses a pan to cook meatloaf," Kenney said.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Republic Stamping and Enameling photos on display at McKinley Museum
