PAGE FOUR
OCTOBER 10, 1953
^yr
MRS. POLLY HARBIN, secretary to General Manager Harold
Mercer, and her husband, J. G. Harbin, are the proud owners of the
8-room ranch type home, above. The Harbins with their children,
Jimmy 15, and Gail 14, have lived in their home at 606 Carolina
Avenue for about a year, but still consider it a new home. The
spacious living room, measuring 24 by 15 feet, is the focal point of
attention inside. Branching out from it are 4 bedrooms, kitchen,
dining room, den, and two full baths. Walls and ceilings are wall
papered over sheet rock; floors are hardwood except in kitchen and
baths which have rubber tile. The full basement houses garage and oil
automatic heating system.
Sixty-Six Antique Automobiles
Participate In Ohio Cavalcade
SIXTY-SIX antique automobiles owned by Ohioans participated
in the Cleveland-Columbus-Toledo-Detroit national Glidden Tour re
vival from September 13 to 19, according to the official registration
list released by Jerry Duryea, Vice-Chairman of the tour and son of
the pioneer car builder.
The 1953 tour visited Ohio as aO
part of the State’s celebration of
its sesquicentennial and was the
largest and finest collection of
antique automobiles ever assembl
ed in the nation. Three hundred
and forty-one cars registered for
the tour, which included parades
in Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo.
The cavalcade included 93 dif
ferent makes of cars representing
23 states and two Canadian pro
vinces. Those traveling the far
thest came from California, Nevada
and Colorado.
JAMES MELTON, noted tenor
of opera, radio, television and con
cert, and owner of one of the na
tion’s best museums of antique
automobiles, as past President of
the AACA and Chairman of the
tour, headed the motor cavalcade.
The same type tires that were
used in early day Glidden Tours
were on the wheels of most of the
341 automobiles entered for this
year’s event. Faithfully restored,
even to the famous molded “Non-
Skid” tread lettering used on
vehicles of that day, the polished
brass of the mechanical wonders
of the first two decades of the
century outshone the chrome of
modern cars. Adding a nostalgic
atmosphere to the cavalcade, many
of the motorists were attired in
dusters and period costumes.
FARMER Louis Bromfield booms out a giddy-up to antique-car
owner James Melton on the crank as the nationally known author
and singer join in a day of fun at Loudonville, Ohio, during the
national antique-car (Glidden) tour of Ohio and Michigan. 335
polished brass showpieces of two generations ago began their tour
from Cleveland on Tuesday (September 15) to Columbus, Ohio, and
Detroit. At Columbus they joined in a parade celebrating Ohio's
Sesquicentennial celebration and at Detroit they were entertained
by General Motors and Chrysler and participate in the 50th anni
versary celebrations of the Ford Motor Company. Revivals of the
Reliability Tours, first sponsored by the AAA in the early 1900’s,
have been made possible by Firestone’s production of long obsolete,
high-pressure tires with exact duplication of the tire treads used
before 1920. The car is a 1907 “Silver Ghost” Rolls-Royce owned by
Melton.
What’s Your Hobby?
Employee Makes and Collects Miniature Shoes
MRS. ROSINELLE GUFFEY, creeler in Plastic Dip, has a problem. Unlike “the old woman who
lived in a shoe, and had so many children. . . Mrs. Guffey’s problem has to do with shoes and not
children. She has several hundred more shoes than she has space to put them—display space that is.
They re the kind, for the most part, you pick up and admire; never put on and wear.
Collecting miniature shoes hasO-
been Mrs. Guffey's hobby for sev
eral years. “It started,” she says,
“in a very small way when I would
buy a miniature shoe as a remind
er of the places I visited during
vacation. The thing, like Topsy, has
just grown and grown until now I
can’t keep nearly all of them on
display.”
The group she does display in
her home at 312 Ellebee Street,
make up what is probably the best
collection of miniature shoes in
Gastonia. (Her nearest rival would
be her good friend Mrs. 0. A.
Ammons, wife of Second Shift Su
perintendent O. A. Ammons.)
From a collection totaling 600, she
has sorted out the prettiest haK
for her display cabinet, which can
be seen as one enters the Guffey
home.
“I would be a world travrl^r by
now,” she chuckles, “if I hac’
been in every place represented by
these shoes.” With that she pro
ceeded to list the places of origin o^
some of her “imported” souvenirs:
“From Germany I have 20 indi
vidual shoes; from Holland, 12; and
a few each from Austria, England.
France, Spain, India, Arabia.
Australia, Japan, Guam, China, the
Philippines, Canada, Mexico, and
South America.”
Some of her shoes, like the
wooden models she has from Hol
land are made to wear, and have
been worn, by Dutch people. Mrs.
Guffey knows the personal history
of the wearers of certain of these.
There are others too, with a story
attached, that came from the other
side of the world, the Philippines,
American servicemen, friends of
the Guffeys, supplied the shoes and
the stories in such cases.
* * *
COLLECTING is not Mrs.
Guffey’s only interest, though it
still holds the spotlight as far as
her hobbies are concerned. She
can make her own ceramic minia
ture shoes and has the results of
her handicraft mingled with the
“store bought” variety in her dis-
nla'- Fhelves. (She makes them at
the Rpc.reation Denartment’s Cpra-
mic Class, or in her home where
she has a kiln and other ceramic
equipment.)
“Which one do you like best?,”
she was asked.
“Well let’s see.” A careful hand
picked up one then another. . . .
“I like this one Mrs. Kfessell
brought me from Spain, then
there’s this one right here that I
made myself. . . . yes, and this
one—a real antique I picked up in
Murphy. ... Oh well, just say I
like them all!”
MRS. ROSINELLE GUFFEY holds a miniature shoes she made
at the Recreation Department’s Ceramics Class. Beside her are shelves
containing part of her 600-piece miniature shoe collection.
Safety Slogan Contest
To Begin November 2nd
SAFETY DIRECTOR L. B. Mc-
Abee has announced a Safety
Slogan Contest to start November
2 and end November 28. He states
that 13 cash awards will be given
to the persons submitting the best
slogans relating to safety and con
taining no more than 10 words.
Complete details and rules will
be published in the next issue of
Firestone News. Entry blanks will
be made available the latter part
of this month to all employees who
wish to enter the contest.
New Courses Offered
I
NIGHT CLASSES in a new series of Industrial Management
courses got underway in the Gaston Technical Institute, shown
above, on Tuesday, October 6.
SEC. 34.66 P. L. & R-
U. ^5. POSTAGE
PAID
GASTONIA, N. C.
PERMIT NO. 29