Lititz Record Express

              The Lititz Record - Express
Serving The Public For Seventy-Seven Years
77th Year
Established April, 1877, as The Sunbeam
(Consolidated with The Lititz Record, 1937) Lititz, Lancaster Pa., Thursday, February 11, 1954
5 cents a Copy; $2 per yr. by mail,
within Lancaster County; $2.50 elsewhere
No. 45
Warren Diehm Being
Considered To Fill
School Board Vacancy
Weds Local Man
Vacancy Must Be Filled
Within 30 Days, Solici­tor
Rules
The ta sk of filling the vacancy
on the Warwick Union School
Board, caused by the resignation
of its president, William Fasnacht,
was taken up in a serious way this
week by the politically-minded of
both the borough and townships.
And, following several caucuses
of the various groups of directors,
it seemed likely th a t the name of
Warren Diehm, of Kissel Hill, lo­cal
shoe manufacturer, will re ­ceive
the appointment—if accept­able
to him.
The resignation of Fasnacht
came as a complete surprise to
fellow-members of the board who
quickly went into a huddle. Town­ship
directors almost immediately
spoke out favoring the naming of
his successor by members from
the borough.
But, with the board’s member­ship
being reduced in number
with each succeeding election, the
ma tte r proved a bit more compli­cated
than it first appeared.
F irs t of all, the board appeared
united in the thought th a t F ran k
Longenecker, who has done con­siderable
work in formulating the
d istric t’s fu tu re plans, should re ­main
on the board. Longenecker’s
term expires next year, however,
when the borough will lose an­other
member on the union board.
And while seeking to fill a va­cancy
th is year—they would like
to find a possible place for Longe­necker
next year. However, if the
present vacancy is not filled with­in
30 days, th e county court will
fill it, it was learned.
Until th is ruling came th ro u g h
th is week from the board’s solici­tor,
Kenneth Shirk, the board had
considered permitting the vacancy
to go unfilled until next year.
Diehm was defeated for a place
on the board last year in a three-cornered
contest in Warwick
Township.
McCLOUD CRUISING
ABOARD USS ANTIETAM
Concert
Review
Paul McCloud is spending two
weeks on a Navy cruise. He is
stationed on the USS Antietam off
the New England coast. I t has
17,000 persons aboard and car­ries
100 planes. The February 8th
issue of “Time” features the ship
and the planes.
Origin Of
Balmer F ire'
Still Unknown
Loss Fixed At $ 5 5 ,0 0 0 ;
Several Clues Being
Investigated
Several mysterious clues were
being run down this week in an
effort to determine th e origin of
a blaze which leveled a large barn
two miles west of this borough a t
a loss of around $55,000 Saturday
night.
The barn destroyed was the
property of Paul Balmer, who with
members of his family, were visit­ing
in this borough when th e fire
broke out. The huge dairy barn
was located along the Lititz-Man-heim
road.
Investigators had not as yet dis­carded
the belief th a t an itin e ran t
may have caused the fire. Balmer
made a practise of permitting itin­erants
to sleep in the barn and
had even given employment to
one who remained with him for
many months, leaving only re ­cently.
Police also were anxious to
question the driver, of a car seen
driving into the farm and out
again, some time before the fire
was discovered by a passerby, Paul
Rohrer, of Manheim, shortly be­fore
10 p.m.
Saved from the burning struc­tu
re were 37 head of ca ttle which
included 20 cows, 16 steers, and a
baby beef. The steers were taken
to a barn on the nearby Je re Cas-sel
farm while the cows are being
cared for on the farms of James
Brubaker and Lloyd Keller. The
(Continued on P ag e 12)
Dealers Issue Statement On Issues
Involved In Borough Truck Dispute
New Manager Of
Harris Store
A statement aiming to clear up
“ a misunderstanding on th e p a rt
of borough council” as a resu lt of
the recent truck-purchase contro­versy
which was climaxed last
week with the resignation of Coun­cilman
John H. Steffy, was issued
th is week by three local automo­bile
dealers.
Their statement reads as fol­lows:
“We, the th ree competitive au ­tomobile
dealers who submitted
bids to the borough for thd sale
of a Model-T truck for th e bor­ough
stre e t department, are jy st
.a s interested in saving the Bor-
|o u g h of Lititz money, as anyone.
We resent the inference th a t to
have accepted any of o u r bids
would have meant this.
“We believe th e re has been a
misunderstanding on the p a rt of
the Lititz Borough Council as to
what we were going to deliver.
The th ree trucks offered by us in­cluded
as standard equipment,
costly items which would have
been extras on the tru ck the bor­ough
originally proposed to pur­chase.
(Continued on Page 7)
Miss Jean Louise Ludwick, who
became the bride of Robert Mentz-er,
of this borough, a t a wedding
ceremony held Saturday afternoon
in the Christ Evangelical and Re­formed
Church, Bethlehem. She
is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Roy Ludwick, Bethlehem. Mentzer
is the son of Paul Mentzer, this
borough.
Following a reception in the
church social hall, the couple left
for a to u r of New England. Mentz­er,
a gradua te of Lititz High
School and Lehigh University, is
employed by the General Electric
Company a t Lynn, Mass.
To Operate 80 - Ft.
Broadcasting Tower
By Remote Control
Will Broadcast
Worldwide
. By Chester H. Norton
The Lititz Woman’s Club pre­sented
Paul Kessler, New York
baritone with Helen Elser a t the
piano in recital a t Fellowship Hall
last Thursday evening.
The concert was given for the
benefit of the Lititz Recreation
Center and a good sized audience
was on hand to a tte st to th e fact
th a t th e people of Lititz a re will­ing
to support this worthwhile
project. The Woman’s Club, under
th e very capable leadership of
Mrs. William Whitten, is to be
highly congratulated for th e effort
extended to make the affair th e fi­nancial
success it was. A deep
bow, too, to Mr. Kessler and Col­onel
and Mrs. Elser who contrib­uted
th e ir ta len ts and assistance.
The program was a formidable
one indeed, including th e Schu­mann
“Dichterliebe” , Beethoven’s
“Adelaide” , Ravel and Faure
songs and a concluding English
group. The songs were refresh­ingly
unhackneyed.
Mr. Kessler’s voice is a light
baritone and he has very good
enunciation. Mrs. Elser provided
acceptable accompaniment.
The Recreation Center deserves
(C o n tin u ed on Page 12)
Hobby Show Will
Feature P.T.A.
Meeting Feb. 18
A Hobby Show will fea tu re a
meeting of the Lititz P a ren t
Teachers Association, to be held
in th e high school auditorium
next Thursday evening, February
18, a t 8 o’clock.
The hobbies, which will be dis­played
in the school library, will
be viewed before and a fte r the
meeting. Teachers, parents and
students will vie for honors in the
exhibits of crafts, stamp, coins,
dolls, guns, as well as numerous
odd and unusual collections.
The following students will give
demonstrations of th e ir hobbies:
Photography by Glenn Good;
magic as a hobby, Ned Foltz, and
Robert Posey will be spokesman
for Miss Garner’s 5th Grade Hob­by
Club. Nancy Dussinger, a sen­ior,
will dance.
The exhibits should be taken to
the Library between 4 and 6 p.m.
Refreshments will be served afte r
th e meeting.
Linden To
Close Up
March 1
Company Was In Operation
Here For The Past
28 Years
A Lititz industria l plant which
h a s been in operation here more
th an a q u a rte r of a century, will
go out of existence soon. Accord­ing
to announcements posted, the
Linden Underwear will close its
doors on March 1.
Since the notice was posted, the
list of employees has dropped
from approximately fifty to less
than ten th is week. While work
is scheduled to stop on March 1,
according to E rne st Hunter, of
Pottstown, the owner, no an­nouncement
has been made as to
the disposition of the machinery
or w hether th e re are any prospects
of re-leasing the North Broad
Street building.
The company, which almost
solely has manufactured k n it un­derwear,
was organized here
twenty-eight years ago in th e
former Trinity Church building on
South Spruce Street. In 1934 the
large factory building on North
Broad Street, was purchased by
F ran k M. Hunter and for several
years, both buildings were in op­eration.
Later the Spruce Street
plant was closed and the building
sold.
At th a t time th e company’s pay­roll
included more th an a hundred
persons. When F ran k Hunter sold
th e mill to his b rother and moved
to York County several years ago,
the operation of th e plant was
turned over to Harry Grubb, who
died some months ago.
ODD FELLOWS PLAN
LADIES NIGHT BANQUET
Harry J. Sheffy
L.H.S. Students Are Eligible
For P.P.&L. Scholarships
A new scholarship plan fo r high
school students, formulated by the
Pennsylvania Power and Light
Company, was explained to local
high school students here last
week by Elmer Bomberger, of th is
borough, district official of the
company.
The plan recently was announc­ed
by Charles E. Oakes, P.P.&L.
president, as a means to financially
assist young men and women in
th e company’s te rritory, to reach
higher institutions of learning.
The college or university also ben­efits
through th e plan by receiving
a g rant equal to th a t given the
student.
Each scholarship recipient will
be entitled to $500 to be paid to­ward
his or her tuition during the
scholarship year. In addition, a
like sum will be paid in th e schol­arship
year to the college o r uni­versity
which the rec ipient or
grantee attends . . . th e la tte r
sum to be used “ in what ever man­ner
the college or university finds
will contribute most constructively
toward worthy educational objec­tives.”
In announcing th e PP&L plan,
Mr. Oakes stressed its twofold na­ture.
More th an ever, he said,
America needs college men and
women with the ability to think,
evaluate and build — the type of
people who have contributed so
much to American progress. Here
in our service area are highly-capable
young people whose only
b a rrie r to higher education is in­adequate
funds. One purpose is to
help some of these deserving
youngsters.
Mr. Oakes pointed out th a t
granting of scholarships alone
does not help but can actually
(Continued on Page 12)
Woman’s Club
Will Present
Home Talent
Home ta len t will b^* presented
by the Woman’s Club a t th e ir reg­ular
monthly meeting to be held
on Monday evening a t 8:00 o’clock
in th e General S u tter Hotel. The
program will fea ture musical num­bers
and skits by the members.
The musical ta len t will include,
Mrs. Hazel Moore, soprano: Mrs.
Margaret Mease, pianist; Ray
Kauffman, flute, and Harry Nei-dermyer,
oboe.
Three skits will be presented
as follows: “Old Fashioned
School” , “Mrs. Sad Sack vs. Mrs.
Whistle Balt” and “The Presi­dent’s
Dream” . Miss Dorothy S.
Habecker will serve as narrator.
The entire proceeds of $312
from th e benefit concert was given
to the Recreation Center.
Twenty members of th e Club
met a t th e home of Mrs. J. M.
Leed on Monday evening for ban­dage
rolling.
Mrs. William Whitten, Jr., pres­ident,
will preside a t th e business
meeting; Mrs. Jo h n N. Garber
will introduce the program, and
Mrs. Joseph Carl and Mrs. J.
Lloyd Shaeffer will serve as host­ess.
F.€.C. Grants Sheffy Only
Authorization Of Its
Kind In World
A micro-wave radio relay which
will operate a towering 80-foot
radio broadcasting tower by re ­mote
control, will be erected here
in one of the most unusual radio
experiments ever carried on any­where.
News of the interesting bit of
experimenting on the p a rt of Lit­itz
’ outstanding “ham” radio op­erator,
came with the announce­ment
th a t Harry J. Sheffy, of th is
borough, has been granted author­ization
by th e Federal Communi­cations
Commission in Washing­ton.
T
he authorization permits Shef­fy
to operate the micro-wave-relay
between his home a t 26 E ast Lem­on
Street, and a broadcasting tow­er
to be erected a t his summer
cottage atop a South Mountain
peak beyond Kleinfeltersville.
Through th e use of the remote
control relay, a very small tran s­m
itter will be used a t his home
here and will operate a 1000-watt
tran sm itte r nea r Kleinfeltersville.
In th is manner, Sheffy will be
insured world-wide range in his
short-wave radio broadcasting
which would be an impossibility
if operated solely from his home in
the borough.
Application for the authoriza­tion
was made last November and
was given considerable study by
federal officials before being
granted la st Saturday in Wash­ington.
Many details remain to be
worked out with th e likelihood
th a t the remote control relay will
not be in actual operation until
I la te th is summer.
| This is, as fa r as can be de­termined,
th e only set-up of this
kind in th e world, Mr. Sheffy re­vealed.
As a result, federal com­munications
officials are watching
the local experiments with much
interest.
James Burkholder
A ladies night banquet will be
held by Lititz Lodge, I.O.O.F.,
March 18 in Fellowship Hall, ac­cording
to plans made. The lodge
initiated a class of candidates on
Monday evening.
The lodge also voted a donation
to the endowment fund of the Mid­dletown
Home. The building com­mittee
is holding an entertainment
featuring Dan Williams Blue
Ridge Ramblers in the Akron Fire
Hall, F eb ru ary ’ 27.
Harris Names
New Manager
Of Store Here
Ephrata Man To Move Here
Soon; Veteran of Army
And Navy
James Burkholder, of E phrata,
has been named manager of the
Harris Variety Store, operated
here on East Main Street by the
Joseph S. Harris Company.
Mr. Burkholder, who has a
wealth of merchandising experi­ence,
will make his residence in
an apartment in the Harris Build­ing
here in th e nea r future. He
presently lives with his wife in a
tra ile r a t Ephrata.
Burkholder will succeed George
Sprecher, who served as manager
of the local store for the past
eighteen years and who, a t sixty-one,
now plans to tak e life a bit
easier.
Burkholder for the past several
years was manager of the Denver
store of the Harris Company, one
of the first serve-yourself variety
stores in the county. P rio r to th a t
he worked in th e Firestone Store
a t E p h ra ta and in a men’s cloth­ing
store there.
He is well known here, having
been employed for a year a t the
Wilbur Suchard Company plant
here.
Burkholder is a veteran both of
th e Army and th e Navy — due, of
all things, to his eyesight. Realiz­ing
th a t his eyesight might prove
troublesome, Burkholder memor­ized
th e eye-chart in order to pass
his te st and to get into the Navy.
His faulty eye-sight was discover­ed
a few months la te r and he was
honorably discharged.
L ater he was inducted into the
Army.
Steffy Refuses
To Re-Consider
His Resignation
FIREMEN TO HOLD
TURKEY PATTY SUPPER
The Lititz F ire Company will
hold a Turkey P a tty S upper a t th e
Firehouse on Saturday, March 6,
from 4 to 7 p.m. Tickets may be
obtained from members of the
F ire Company or th e night of the
supper. This supper is being held
to help defray expenses for the
Children’s Christmas Party.
EIGHTEEN LISTED
AS BLOOD DONORS
The list of persons willing to
donate blood when needed was in­creased
th is week to a to ta l of
eighteen, Leroy Bare reported.
And while th is is an improvement,
more are needed, he stressed. Per­sons
willing to help should give
th e ir names and the type of blood
to either Mr. Bare or Police Officer
Hoffman.,
CARD PARTY TONIGHT
AT THE CENTER
A public card party will be held
a t the Recreation Center th is eve­ning
a t 8:00 o’clock, with pro­ceeds
to be tu rn ed over to the Cen­ter.
Hams will be given as prizes
and cards will include 500, bridge
and pinochle.
Local Youth Will Participate
In Huge Scouting Exposition
By Charles Regennas, Jr.
We’re getting up steam on the
“Exposition S p e c ia l” of Lancaster
County Council R.R. of the Boy
Scouts of America.
In less th an a month, March 5
and 6, In th e Guernsey Sales Pa­vilion,
Lincoln Highway East, we
will raise the curta in on one of
the most spectacular shows ever
held in Lancaster County — The
Scouting Exposition. The main
purpose of th e show will be to
“ sell” Scouting to the public.
It will be a “walk-around show” ,
similar to the sportsmen shows, in
which sixty-six Scout Units are
participating. There will be a com­bination
of booth and stage activ­ities
to give the spectator a tru e
picture of Scouting. Those par­ticipating
have had th e choice of
subjects from any p a rt of the
Scouting program, including the
large merit badge field. Fifty-five
booths and fifteen stage acts have
been selected, covering almost as
many different subjects as the re
are units tak in g part. An inkling
of the variety may be had from
the listing of a few of the sub­jects
such as these: Cooking;
Burro Packing (with a live b u r­r
o ) ; Cub Scout Graduation; arch­ery;
finger printing (they have a
former F.B.I. man for a coach);
reptiles; Indian lore; railroading;
stamp collecting; and th e “Ham-boners”
(of Ted Mack fame).
Our local Scout Units are par­ticipating
as follows: Cub Pack
142, Indian War Dance; Cub Pack
144, Cub Crafts; Troop 42, Track­ing;
Troop 43, Camp Gadgets:
Troop 44, Metal Work; Explorer
Post 342, Monkey Bridge.
Preparations for th is show were
sta rted about six months ago.
There has been a lot of work con­nected
with th e exposition which
can best be told by listing the com­mittees
and th e ir chairmen. They
are as follows: General Chairman,
A rth u r W. Eshelman.
Physical arrangements, J. F er­ry
Garber; floor layout, Paul G.
Kutz; electrical, Andy Anderson;
public welfare, O. A. DeCroce:
properties, Wm. Rice; program,
F ran k Altdoerffer; booths, Nevin
Stauffer; finance, Henry K. Long;
printed program, P au l Dellinger;
reception committee, Edgar A.
Yale; publicity, Mike Seitz; tick-
(Continued on Page 7)
Charlotte Mathers
Wins National
Poster Contest
Miss Charlotte Mathers, local
high school student, has been de­clared
the winner of a poster con­te
st sponsored by the International
Chiropractic Association of Dav­enport,
Iowa, it was announced
th is week.
The local girl entered the con­te
st through Dr. Mary A. Howell,
local chiropractor. Judges who de­clared
h e r poster th e best of those
entered in the contest consisted
of delegates to the annual public
relations conference which was
held in St. Louis, Mo.
Miss Mathers will receive a $50
savings bond and her poster will
be displayed in the Chiropractic
Association offices a t Davenport
until National Posture Week in
May, when it will be placed on
display here.
JIM BUCH RETURNING
ENLISTS IN MARINES
Robert L. Stief, 18, Rothsville,
has enlisted in th e Marines and is
taking his basic training a t P a rris
Island.
Storm Causes
Traffic Havoc
East Of Boro
Monday’s sudden snowstorm
which piled up from four to eight
inches by early evening, slowed
down traffic everywhere, but cre­ated
havoc for motorists along the
Rothsville Road east of the bor­ough.
For some reason, motorists re­ported,
the sharp incline at
Shimp’s Hill leading to the War­wick
Road intersection, became
more hazardous than other sec­tions.
Shortly afte r the snow had
covered the highway, several cars
became entangled.
From this moment on, for sev­eral
hours, minor collisions were
occurring a t intervals of every
few moments. Constable Fred Neis
hurried to the scene and was kept
busy endeavoring to keep the en-snarled
traffic moving — as well
as noting the names and addresses
of drivers figuring in the series
of fender-bending crashes.
The most serious of the many
collisions was th a t in which a car
operated by Walton Bricker, this
borough, crashed into a guard­rail
and was considerably dam-
(Continued on Page 7)
Name Workers
In Osteopathic
Hosp. Drive
$350,000 Building Fund
Campaign To Start
Here Monday
Lititz Workers who will partici-
| pate in the $350,000 building fund
I campaign of the Lancaster Osteo­pathic
Hospital, which begins next
Monday, were announced this
week.
A to ta l of 13 teams of workers
will complete the canvass through­out
the borough. The campaign
will continue for a two-week per­iod.
No quotas have been set for
the various communities.
Workers named are as follows:
Robert Trimble, c ap t.: Archie
Rosenberg, Mrs. Peggy Moore,
Simon Fickinger, Dr. and Mrs.
Siegel.
James Johnson, capt.: Mrs.
Irene Sensenig, Monroe B. Mun-dorf,
John Reifsnyder, Irvin Shen-enberger,
Mrs. Laura Hershey,
Elmer Keller.
William Klunk, c a p t.: Mrs. Paul
Seaber, Fred Haggerty, Joseph
Zahm, F ran k Showers, Sr., John
Martin.
Russel Peiffer, capt.: Mrs. Paul­ine
Roth, Jean Dennis, John Hel-te
r, Mrs. Marguarite Keath, Mbs.
Pauline Buchter.
Charles Krushinski, capt.: Rus­sel
Markert, Sara Long, John
Ross, William Oehme, Mrs. Wil­bur
Miller.
F. R. McFarland, capt.: Mrs.
Carl Risser, Raymond Landis,
Donald Crowthers, Mrs. C. S. Zart-man.
Guy Reidenbaugh, capt.: Max
Hoaster, Clair Rhoads, Mrs. Chas.
Lehman, Herman Reedy, E arl
Reist. .
William Scatchard, capt.: Dor­othy
Evans, Fred Weaver, Mrs.
(Continued on Page 6)
Council Held Special Meet*
ing Friday; McElroy
Mentioned
The upheaval in borough conn
cil which resulted in the resigns
tion of Councilman John Steffj
as reported in la st week’s Record
Express was checked off as s
“closed issue” , th is week.
Councilman Steffy’s resignatioi
reached President of Council Men
no Rohrer last Wednesday a ft«
council had reversed itself on tin
purchase of a tru ck for th e stree
department and had rejected al
bids submitted.
No sooner had th e resignatioi
been received th a n members o
council called a special meeting fo:
Friday night. At th a t time, mem
bers individually endeavored ti
convince Mr. Steffy he shoul<
withdraw his resignation and con
tinue to serve out his term ii
office.
When the lengthy meeting clos
ed, it was revealed th a t Mr. Steff;
had stuck by his guns and de
cided to withdraw.
The issue developed, a fte r thi
Lititz Springs Garage, th e lowes
of four bidders, had been givei
the contract for th e purchase o
the truck, when other competini
dealers branded the purchase il
legal. A sta te law makes it illega
for a member of a governing bod;
to purchase anything from him
self, they claimed.
The fact th a t members of th'
Lititz council have a t no time ac
cepted any pay for th e time the;
devote to borough affairs does no
change this, the borough solicito
la ter ruled.
Since then, the names of severa
candidates to fill th e vacancy oi
council have been considered
Among names being mention«
prominently this week was th a t o
Glenn McElroy, local pharmacist
and one-time candidate for th
borough school board.
James Buch, who has spent the
past year and a half in France and
Germany, is being re tu rn ed to this
country ' for his honorable dis­charge
from the service, according
to word received here th is week.
BROWNIE BAKE SALE
A bake sale will be held Satur­day
beginning a t 9:00 a.m., a t the
F ire House, sponsored by Brownie
Troop No. 91. Mrs. Robert Thomp­son
is the leader and Mrs. James
Yerger, assistant.
LOCAL ART DISPLAYED
IN OXFORD HOTEL
The Octorara Art Association is
sponsoring a showing of the Vil­lage
Art Association including 16
pastels, water colors and oils in
th e Hotel Oxford. They en tertain ­ed
the Lititz group a t a Dutch
tr e a t on Saturday evening.
High School
Honor Roll
Is Announced
Lititz High School’s honor rol
looked as though h it by a mid
winter slump when announced th i
week, showing only two Senior
and only four Sophomores on th
preferred listing.
The honor students for th e sc
mester, as announced by SuperviE
ing Principal Marlin Spaid, a re a
follows:
Seniors—Glenn Good and Ron
aid Runk.
Juniors—In-Sook Choi, Donah
Good, Ronald Good, Dawn Hofl
man, Ruth Long, Nancy Newcom
er, Constance Sharp, Doris Whit
craft.
Sophomores — Virginia Gear
h a rt, Marilyn May, Carolyn Muse
er, Marcia Wagaman.
Freshmen—Shirley Boyer, Su
san Myers, Marilyn Zartman, Mar
Alice Diehm, Dorothy Forresl
Alice Gundrum, Robert Keitel
Elizabeth Martel, Ju d ith Rueti
man, Joan Eckman, Donald Fuhr
man, Gerald Kemper, Williar
(Continued on Page 6)
SPORTSMEN WILL
MEET MONDAY
The Lititz Sportsmen’s Assocls
tion will hold a meeting th is Mon
day evening a t th e Recreatio:
Center a t 8 o’clock. An inte restin
program has been arranged.
The Association has secure
pheasants for stocking. Whoeve
gives a $3.00 donation to th e clu
may have two birds. Contact Fro
Royer, John Helter, Walter Bar
or Harold Zander.
Recalls Days When Wheat
Was Coffee Substitute
Ralph Buch th is week found one
possible solution to the coffee
shortage and high prices when he
recalled th a t in Lititz many years
ago, it was a practise to roast
wheat and brew it as a drink.
A number of these antique
roasters still are to be found in a
few local attics, the former Record
editor and local historian, assert­ed.
The la st one he remembers
having seen was owned by Dr. C.
E. Lane.
“Back in th e post-Revolution
and pre-Civil War days, coffee was
a mighty scarce item,” Buch de­clared.
“The men and women who
founded Lititz used wheat, whlc
they grew themselves, a s a subst
tu te in order to escape th e hig
price of coffee.
“The wheat was roasted an
ground almost identically th e sam
as coffee. I t made a drink simils
in ta ste to postum.”
As in other communities, Litil
consumers felt th e pinch of hig
coffee prices with cans selling a
high as $1.1,7 a pound. At loci
re stau ran ts and coffee bars th
price-remained th e same as i t ha
been fo r months, ranging from
nickel to a dime with seven eeni
a cup the happy medium.