Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1977-11-16 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
Newspaper Article
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
"Twenty-eight years ago, Peter Bierling was helping farmer John Rupke build a new storage barn in the Holland Marsh. Before starting work, Peter carefully wrapped plastic around an old pocket watch his grandfather gave him and placed it in a shoe polish tin. He didn't want to lose it because it was a family heirloom, and he tucked it away in his pants' pocket. A few hours later, Peter discovered to his dismay that the tin containing the watch had fallen out of his pocket. An exhaustive search failed to turn up the watch. Last week, John Rupke was in the process of tearing down the storage barn, and - you guessed it - the shoe polish tin, with the watch intact, turned up. A worker helping tear down the now-old structure found the tin lodged between the walls, in sawdust used as insulation. Mr. Rupke wound the old watch and, sure enough, it ran. He quickly called Peter's son, Louis to inform him of the find. (Peter died a few years ago). The watch had survived almost 30 years, including Hurricane Hazel in 1954 when the barn was half-covered with mud and water. Louis said afterward, "I had always kept the location of the watch in mind. I always thought I knew where it was. I think it's about 100 years old. "It was still in good shape, and it should be - it's had a rest for 30 years," he said. Louis, production manager at Bradford Frozen Foods, plans to have the watch completely overhauled. The shoe tin in which it was found has also become a collectible."
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Language of material
- English
Script of material
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Finding aids
Bradford Witness
November 16, 1977
Vol. 111, No. 46
Pg 1
Microfilm Collection
Microfilm Reel #88
Allied materials area
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Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Peter Bierling (Subject)
- John Rupke (Subject)
- Louis Bierling (Subject)