NHAHS Re-Creates 1949 Photo
At 2 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2021, a crowd gathered in front of the Kauffman Building. About 40 New Holland residents dressed in Christmas sweaters and hats, as well as local photographers, took their places with a goal of re-creating a photo from more than 70 years ago.
Steve Loewen, one of the founders of the New Holland Area Historical Society (NHAHS), said that the idea originated in 2019 when a blowup of the original photo was displayed in the historical society museum where Santa Claus was greeting children. The original photo includes a 1948 Mack fire truck and a ladder to a second-floor window. The museum is located in the Kauffman Building, 207 E. Main St., New Holland.
Loewen recalled that he and fellow NHAHS founder Mitch Dissinger along with Ralph Hess, owner of the 1948 Mack truck in the photo, were discussing re-creating the scene. "We were kicking around this idea, and then COVID-19 got in the way," reported Loewen.
Instead, the plans came together in 2021. Hess brought the fire truck and put the ladder up to the window, which had been opened by Dissinger. Photographers set up on the opposite side of Main Street, which fire police closed briefly. After recreating the original, an updated version with those in the picture holding up their cell phones was taken.
The 1949 photo celebrated the arrival of Santa Claus at Kauffman's Hardware Store for a Christmas promotion. Mike Kauffman, son of Ken Kauffman and grandson of Clyde and Evelyn Kauffman, who owned the store in 1949, said that Santa Claus was played by Lloyd Burkhart and that he and Ernie Cedargreen, owner of the New Holland Airport, would fly around eastern Lancaster County tossing event flyers out an airplane window. After landing, Cedargreen would drive Burkhart to the hardware store in a convertible, where the Mack truck was parked outside, and the ladder was positioned for Santa to enter the second-floor window. Mike said the second floor was Toyland, complete with a cardboard hearth for Santa. Santa is not in the photo organizers chose to re-create.
"(The building) has been a hardware store for 200 years," said Loewen, who added that the store was called Renninger's Hardware before being purchased by Clyde. "Clyde married (Evelyn) Renninger," explained Loewen. "Clyde came back from (World War II) in 1946 or 1947 and started expanding the store."
Loewen noted that the scene is different than it was in 1949. The original shows another building close to the Kauffman Building. "Railroad Avenue isn't there (in the photo)," remarked Loewen. "Harris Brothers Department Store was across an alley that went out of town. The department store was torn down in 1958, and Railroad Avenue was built." The New Holland House sat on the opposite side of Railroad Avenue until about five years ago, when it was torn down.
As the crowd began to disperse, Narene Dyer Dowling spent some time looking at the original photo and identifying about 13 people she remembered from 1949, noting they would have been students in seventh grade. She also identified George Houck, whom she said is now 102.
More information about NHAHS may be found at https://nhhistorical.com.
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