Rick Bacmanski

Here’s a neat story about another addition to my collection of “Treasures”.
Last month a family friend, Marcie Baer came up from her home in Maryland & spent the weekend. For a few years she had mentioned that she had a surprise for me, something that she had from a long time ago. She brought up with her an old piece of oak & glass furniture, an old retail umbrella sales & display case. It was in her Dad’s basement for many, many years until he died only a few years ago.
This case was manufactured by the Oscar Onken Company of Cincinnati, Ohio at the turn of the 20th century. Umbrellas were used a lot more back in those days, and were considered a vital and necessary part of every well dressed persons wardrobe. These cases were usually found in most clothing stores and haberdasheries. They were also commonly found in the general stores or local gathering places of smaller communities that sold tobacco, confections, newspapers, etc. So much for the description of what this piece was in it’s past life.
So Marcie knows I collect and appreciate historical items, and knowing that she did not have any practical use for this thing…it now became mine!
It was in terrible shape. It was watermarked, dirty, full of cobwebs, had 2 broken panels of glass. Despite all of this, I saw a real gem inside!
Over the past month, I cleaned it up, hand rubbed it all with Tung Oil, had the missing glass panels replaced, and in general brought this beauty back to life, as these images beautifully show. I actually use it now to hold the many umbrellas that I use here in my Studio. But the neatest thing about this whole story is that this case started out it’s life in the early 1900’s in one of those above mentioned little shops….a place called H.A. Messings – A store selling men’s furnishings – tobacco, magazines & books. It later was sold and changed names into Rudy Baer’s Corner, right on the corner here in Hanover Square, just two blocks away from where my Studio stands today, and where that case will now call home, at least until I retire!
Welcome home to an old friend, back home in Horseheads, NY…..where you began….where you belong!