Jim Koepke
12-04-2016, 3:55 PM
Candy and I had been feeling cooped lately so we decided to get out for a day.
This got started because of my wanting some new calendars for 2017. My old calendars are saved and reused. One thing to change this year was commercial on TV for OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware). They started in 1931 in the San Jose, California area. When living in the area they were often the go to hardware store. One of the nicer things they did was to give away free calendars in December. That got me thinking and sure enough, when I called them they had calendars so we went out and did a bit of shopping.
I noticed on the map we could take a road that we have passed a few times that has raised my curiosity. A fun trip through the hills brought us to our destination.
Interesting bit from wikipedia how the president of OSH, at the time more of a cooperative venture thought outside of the box, or in this case outside of the boxcar, to get his way against the city for signage:
In the early 1960s, the City of San José denied Al Smith permission to install a sign along Auzerais Street to promote his Orchard Supply Hardware store because a sign for the store already existed facing San Carlos Street. Undeterred, Smith bought a railroad boxcar from Southern Pacific, painted the car with the OSH logo, and placed it at the end of the spur track behind his store and alongside Auzerais Street. It remained in that spot for nearly 50 years, and was occasionally featured in OSH’s promotional material. Recognizing its historic relationship to the San José community, OSH donated the boxcar to the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation in 2013 for display in a museum setting.
After checking out the store and finding an incredible deal on some spring bulbs we left with our calendars, Christmas ornaments, various hardware and 85 daffodil bulbs.
On the return trip there were a few other things I wanted to look into. We haven't snooped around all the small commercial districts we have driven by in the past. One place that piqued my interest was St Johns outside of Portland. We didn't find much there but a lot of taverns and restaurants. There was a small little shop called "What a Deal." We went in to take a look. There was a half round rasp that looked to be hand stitched in with a bunch of other tools marked $8. There didn't appear to be any makers mark on it. Talking to the man at the counter he said he could knock of 25% for a senior discount. Okay, so it was set on the counter while more exploration took place. Well, that was the only thing we found.
Here are some pics:
348829348830
Today while cleaning it up the handle was knocked off. It sure looked like there might be some letters in there some place.
It was a bit of a surprise:
348831
I didn't know Disston made rasps. It seems to be a good worker even though it is a lightly worn.
jtk
This got started because of my wanting some new calendars for 2017. My old calendars are saved and reused. One thing to change this year was commercial on TV for OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware). They started in 1931 in the San Jose, California area. When living in the area they were often the go to hardware store. One of the nicer things they did was to give away free calendars in December. That got me thinking and sure enough, when I called them they had calendars so we went out and did a bit of shopping.
I noticed on the map we could take a road that we have passed a few times that has raised my curiosity. A fun trip through the hills brought us to our destination.
Interesting bit from wikipedia how the president of OSH, at the time more of a cooperative venture thought outside of the box, or in this case outside of the boxcar, to get his way against the city for signage:
In the early 1960s, the City of San José denied Al Smith permission to install a sign along Auzerais Street to promote his Orchard Supply Hardware store because a sign for the store already existed facing San Carlos Street. Undeterred, Smith bought a railroad boxcar from Southern Pacific, painted the car with the OSH logo, and placed it at the end of the spur track behind his store and alongside Auzerais Street. It remained in that spot for nearly 50 years, and was occasionally featured in OSH’s promotional material. Recognizing its historic relationship to the San José community, OSH donated the boxcar to the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation in 2013 for display in a museum setting.
After checking out the store and finding an incredible deal on some spring bulbs we left with our calendars, Christmas ornaments, various hardware and 85 daffodil bulbs.
On the return trip there were a few other things I wanted to look into. We haven't snooped around all the small commercial districts we have driven by in the past. One place that piqued my interest was St Johns outside of Portland. We didn't find much there but a lot of taverns and restaurants. There was a small little shop called "What a Deal." We went in to take a look. There was a half round rasp that looked to be hand stitched in with a bunch of other tools marked $8. There didn't appear to be any makers mark on it. Talking to the man at the counter he said he could knock of 25% for a senior discount. Okay, so it was set on the counter while more exploration took place. Well, that was the only thing we found.
Here are some pics:
348829348830
Today while cleaning it up the handle was knocked off. It sure looked like there might be some letters in there some place.
It was a bit of a surprise:
348831
I didn't know Disston made rasps. It seems to be a good worker even though it is a lightly worn.
jtk