Glasco, Kansas Birthplace of Paul H. Lahr

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1 Glasco, Kansas Birthplace of Paul H. Lahr Paul and John Lahr in the back yard of Paul s old house. View looking north with the ditch that Paul remembers along the north edge of the property.

2 Glasco, Kansas Birthplace of Paul H. Lahr My father, Paul Lahr, moved from Connecticut to Colorado in the summer of He soon decided that being so close to Kansas, it would be nice to visit Glasco where he was born in 1907 and lived until his family moved to Iowa in On May 23, Jan and I packed the car and picked Dad up at his apartment at the Springwood retirement center in Arvada. The weather was warm as we drove east on Interstate 70. We stopped for lunch in Limon, CO, and arrived in Colby, KS, in time for dinner. The next morning we awoke to what sounded like rain. The weather had turned cold and windy, and soon there was an inch of sleety snow on the cars. We took our time with breakfast at the motel, and by the time we left Colby the storm had passed. We continued on I-70, stopping Salina in time for lunch and by mid afternoon we were in Glasco. We met the town historian, Virginia Struble, at her store-turned-museum, where she has displayed many old Glasco photographs and artifacts. We had contacted her ahead about our trip, and there was a Glasco newspaper from 1911 out on a table waiting for us to look at. Jan and Virginia at the Glasco Museum. Jan and Paul. Glasco's downtown was clearly suffering from the decline in the region's population and few stores along Main Street were still in business.

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4 Looking north-east at the stores along Main Street. Of the four similar stores in the picture above, the one on the far left is currently the home of Virginia's Glasco Museum. Just to the right of the museum is Ruth Cramer's gift shop. Across the street from the museum is the Hodge Podge gift store and soda fountain. Virginia's husband's father ran it as a pharmacy from 1925 until 1959, when Virginia and her husband took it over. After a quick visit to the Hodge Podge, we drove a few miles north-east to the Rustic Remembrances Bed and Breakfast. The B&B is located in a beautiful old two-story house on a working farm. We reassigned sleeping rooms so that the three of us could all be on the first floor, which was only possible because innkeepers Larry and Madonna Sorell graciously offered to have Paul use their bedroom while they slept on the second floor. Rustic Rememberances B&B. In the photo above, note that the fence posts are actually made of quarried limestone, because wood was scarce in the 1800's. This was quite common throughout a large portion of Kansas. Soon we were off to dinner at the Trapper's Restaurant and Bar, which was packed with people on this Friday night. After a good night's sleep we were awaked at dawn by the roosters. I thought roosters just crowed once in the morning, but these roosters started a dawn and then continued for at least an hour. Next Day

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6 Glasco, The Discovery! Prior to our trip, we had asked town historian Virginia Struble about the drug store that Paul Lahr's father, Harry Lahr, operated in Glasco until She thought that the store had probably been burned down in the huge 1911 fire in Glasco. However, as we visited with Virginia at the museum on Saturday, Jan noticed that the indentation of the stairway to the second floor looked like the mirror image of the stairway in the photo that Mary Lahr Maslak (Paul's sister) had sent us of the Crescent Drug Store that her father once ran. Mary received the photograph from Dorothy Lahr Kreider. Crescent Drug Store circa Note stairway indentation on left. From left to right: Roy C. Lahr, unknown clerk, some friends, Orris W. Lahr, and Harry W. Lahr. Jan then looked in the window of the store to the right and found a stairway indentation on the left side, just like in the photo of Crescent Drugs. John pulled out the circa-1910 photo of the drug store to make a close comparison and noticed that in addition to the stairway being in the same location, three of the random end joint between ceiling boards were in identical locations as well. We had FOUND the Crescent Drug Store! Former Crescent Drug Store, John, Paul, and Jan Lahr King Hardware from Became Cramer Hardware in 1915 Ruth Cramer, who is the widow of one of the Cramer sons, runs a decorator store here now. She kindly opened up the store for our visit. Virginia found a newspaper from 1911 and discovered the following story about the Crescent Drug Store and Paul's father Harry.

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8 The Glasco Sun, Friday, May 12, 1911 A Special Display H. W. Lahr has in the window of the Crescent Drug Store one of the best displays ever made in this town. It is on the mechanical order, and advertises the Sherwin- Williams Paints. There is a wheel, a pyramid, a fan, and cutest of all, a miniature painter who wags his head and rolls his eyes while he expounds the goodness and high qualities of Sherwin-Williams Paints. Paint cans are there from large to small, and brushes with which to apply it. There are paints for outside and inside of buildings, finishes, varnishes, buggy paints, wagon paints, and if there is anything else that takes a special kind of preparation in paint, the paint is represented there. The window, besides the mechanical arrangement, is filled with things necessary to the painter's art. Mr. Lahr is quite ingenious and this window displays well his handiwork in such matters in addition to the advertisement of the Paints. Advertisement on the same page: The way to reckon the cost of painting is to put both costs together - the cost of paint, and of putting it on. It costs as much to put on one paint as another; if you use as many gallons of one paint as another the putting on cost is the same. But if you use Devoe Lead-and-Zinc Paint you'll use less gallons than any other paint for the same service. Buy the name: Devoe The Crescent Drug Store, Agt. Next: Looking for the house.

9 The House Where Paul Lahr was Born. Paul walked west on Main Street from the Crescent Drug Store to find his old house, which had a ditch running behind it. Although much has changed along Main Street, the ditch is still there. Paul found a very old house which he believes is the one where his family lived. Unfortunately this house is in very poor condition and is now being used only for storage. Paul and John take a peek inside via a broken window. Next: Visiting Concordia

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11 Glas Concordia, KS We visited Concordia, the county seat of Cloud County, on Saturday and were pleased to find that the historic Brown Grand Theatre was open for tours. This theatre was first opened in 1907, the year Paul Lahr was born! In 1980 it was restored and re-opened. John and Paul in front of the Brown Grand Theatre. The music and dance director interrupted practice for the next musical to show us around the theater and give a brief review of its history. Brown Grand Theatre looking from the gallery. Next we visited the public library in Concordia, KS, where they had copies of The Glasco Sun newspaper on microfilm. Paul and John checking the microfilm for information on the Crescent Drug Store. We found the following: 1 of 2 7/7/2002 3:09 PM

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13 Glas The Glasco Sun June 21, 1907 This was the day after Paul Lahr was born. The Glasco Sun July 12, 1907 The Glasco Sun July 12, 1907 Acid for heart burn??? Back to the beginning 2 of 2 7/7/2002 3:09 PM

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