By LIB BROWN
Howard M. Baker, the oldest "honey dipper" left, is the way the 81-year-old plumber laughingly described himself in an interview at his plumbing supply shop on West Morgan Street.
"Boots" seems to recall only the humorous things that have happened during his life span. He says he received his nickname because he was so proud of the first pair of boots he owned.
The picture on the left shows Baker when he was 6 years of age. At that time he was making 35 cents a week delivering the Indianapolis Star. His route was the public square and east on "Silk Stocking Row" to the Home Lawn. The paper sold for one cent a copy, both daily and Sunday, and his boss was Star agent "Pete" Miller.
Most of the older population will remember Pete as pushing his two-wheeled cart around to the back door of the merchants on the square to gather up the packing and old boxes that accumulated.
Baker says actually Miller was a very enterprising young man. Not only did he act as Star agent, he met the trains and interurban and transported the mail to the post office. At that time the post office was on the east side of the square in the room now occupied by J.J. Newberry's. He recalled that Pete also was the constable, a horsethief detective and somewhat of a promoter in his time. Once Pete rented the room in the old Parks Building, where J.C. Penney is now, and decided to put on shows for entertainment. For his first show, Miller scoured the county for live entertainment. The people attending asked for their money back. When he started to refund their money he ran out, because the people he had given "comps" demanded refunds too.
When that venture died, Pete opened a skating rink. The floor was plain wooden boards. The skating enthusiasts were not too impressed with the rink, so one night Miller covered the floor with a coating of paraffin. That ended Martinsville's first skating rink.
Baker recalled one day he was not selling very many of his papers, so he met the 5:20 Pennsylvania train when it stopped at the station by the Martinsville Sanitarium. He sneaked aboard the Pullman and dining cars at the rear of the train. The porter caught him and asked who gave him permission to come aboard. "Boots" replied that the conductor let him on the train. The porter didn't believe his story so he asked Baker to come with him to the front of the train and face the conductor. "Now," Baker continued, "I wasn't about to be caught in a lie." The train started to move by this time and he said he jumped off right where Gert Rutledge has his grocery store (now The Cupboard on West Harrison Street). He commented he suffered many bruises and cinder scratches and looking back was surprised he was still here to tell the tale.
Baker was born to Levi Francis "Doug" and Mary Ann Neal Baker on Jan. 25, 1896. His dad and brother Raneous had a plumbing shop at Raneous' house on South Marion Street. When his brother decided to go "plumb" around the Army camps during the war, Howard and his dad opened a shop on the west side of South Main Street on April 22, 1922.
The post office now stands where the Elks Club was. Going south on the west side of Main next came Dr. Gravis' dentist office, the Linville Electric Co., Baker's Plumbing Shop and the Wadley Cream Station on the alley.
Along about this time, someone decided that to be anybody in the upper 500 of Martinsville you had to have a special name for your street. No one remembers who, but somebody named East Washington Street "Silk Stocking Row," so someone "dubbed" the first block of South Main Street off the square "Tony Row." Howard is the only survivor of Tony Row still in business.
The depression hit Baker too. He remembers around 1932 he couldn't pay his shop rent and was thrown out, so he moved across Main Street to the east side by Guy Brown's Shoe Shop.
He recalls without effort the many funny things that occurred around the shop. One day he looked out his front window and saw his dad standing in the middle of Main Street holding up his hand. A "Blue Goose" (now the Greyhound bus) was bearing down on his dad. The bus did stop and his dad continued on across to the shop. Howard said, "Dad, why did you do that?" His dad replied, "Oh, I just wanted to see if the blankety-blank thing would stop."
He remembers the groaning and moaning and yells that used to come from the dentist's office and said that every time those patients would come out of the office they'd say, "It didn't hurt a bit, it didn't hurt a bit."
One of the most vivid memories he has was of the zero morning that Carry Peterson, whose shop was south of him, came in and fired up his pot-bellied stove to heat water for his "barbering." The stove blew up, blew iron fragments clear across Washington Street into the courthouse yard.
He continued by asking if I knew what a frost-free closet was. I did. So he didn't have to show me the one he has in the back room. Now, he continued, this explosion had so much force that it twisted that cast-iron frost-free closet out of shape. (For the youngsters, a frost-free closet used to flush when you sat down it and quit when you got off.) It would not freeze up if the heat in the house died out over night.
Baker said he couldn't go out to fix things any more, that he was just on the board of directors and head of the advisory committee. While being interviewed, he answered several questions for "do-it-yourself" plumbers who came seeking his advice. His knowledge of plumbing repairs is unparalleled. He will sell new parts and loan his wrenches and if you do it Howard's way it works. I heard him tell a woman who came to his shop how to take a leaky faucet apart. Following his instructions, she backed out the insides, brought it back to the shop where he put on new rings and bib washers. He then loaned her his renew seat wrench, put some "guck" on the end of it and advised her how to put it all back together. It worked and it will if you do it Howard's way.
Irene Prather Baker, Howard's wife, worked in his shop with him until her death in 1968. Their daughter, Genevieve Baker Kelso, widow of Dr. Chad Kelso, is now Baker's right hand who does all the leg work in the shop. Her plumbing knowledge of parts and how to repair is as tremendous as her dad's.
Genevieve said she had been called Mr. Baker's wife, "Little Boots" and settled an argument between two ladies in the shop one day who insisted that she had to be Mr. Baker's sister.
Howard's three brothers and a sister preceded him in death. They were Raneous, Dempsey and Ed Baker, and Mrs. Dolly Baker Brewer. His sister, Bonnie Baker Thacker (Mrs. Charles), lives at 589 Dale St.
After carefully answering questions for a man who came into the shop concerning the installation of a sump pump,
The remainder of the article is missing.
Martinsville Daily Reporter
Howard M. Baker, the oldest "honey dipper" left, is the way the 81-year-old plumber laughingly described himself in an interview at his plumbing supply shop on West Morgan Street.
"Boots" seems to recall only the humorous things that have happened during his life span. He says he received his nickname because he was so proud of the first pair of boots he owned.
The picture on the left shows Baker when he was 6 years of age. At that time he was making 35 cents a week delivering the Indianapolis Star. His route was the public square and east on "Silk Stocking Row" to the Home Lawn. The paper sold for one cent a copy, both daily and Sunday, and his boss was Star agent "Pete" Miller.
Most of the older population will remember Pete as pushing his two-wheeled cart around to the back door of the merchants on the square to gather up the packing and old boxes that accumulated.
Baker says actually Miller was a very enterprising young man. Not only did he act as Star agent, he met the trains and interurban and transported the mail to the post office. At that time the post office was on the east side of the square in the room now occupied by J.J. Newberry's. He recalled that Pete also was the constable, a horsethief detective and somewhat of a promoter in his time. Once Pete rented the room in the old Parks Building, where J.C. Penney is now, and decided to put on shows for entertainment. For his first show, Miller scoured the county for live entertainment. The people attending asked for their money back. When he started to refund their money he ran out, because the people he had given "comps" demanded refunds too.
When that venture died, Pete opened a skating rink. The floor was plain wooden boards. The skating enthusiasts were not too impressed with the rink, so one night Miller covered the floor with a coating of paraffin. That ended Martinsville's first skating rink.
Baker recalled one day he was not selling very many of his papers, so he met the 5:20 Pennsylvania train when it stopped at the station by the Martinsville Sanitarium. He sneaked aboard the Pullman and dining cars at the rear of the train. The porter caught him and asked who gave him permission to come aboard. "Boots" replied that the conductor let him on the train. The porter didn't believe his story so he asked Baker to come with him to the front of the train and face the conductor. "Now," Baker continued, "I wasn't about to be caught in a lie." The train started to move by this time and he said he jumped off right where Gert Rutledge has his grocery store (now The Cupboard on West Harrison Street). He commented he suffered many bruises and cinder scratches and looking back was surprised he was still here to tell the tale.
Baker was born to Levi Francis "Doug" and Mary Ann Neal Baker on Jan. 25, 1896. His dad and brother Raneous had a plumbing shop at Raneous' house on South Marion Street. When his brother decided to go "plumb" around the Army camps during the war, Howard and his dad opened a shop on the west side of South Main Street on April 22, 1922.
The post office now stands where the Elks Club was. Going south on the west side of Main next came Dr. Gravis' dentist office, the Linville Electric Co., Baker's Plumbing Shop and the Wadley Cream Station on the alley.
Along about this time, someone decided that to be anybody in the upper 500 of Martinsville you had to have a special name for your street. No one remembers who, but somebody named East Washington Street "Silk Stocking Row," so someone "dubbed" the first block of South Main Street off the square "Tony Row." Howard is the only survivor of Tony Row still in business.
The depression hit Baker too. He remembers around 1932 he couldn't pay his shop rent and was thrown out, so he moved across Main Street to the east side by Guy Brown's Shoe Shop.
He recalls without effort the many funny things that occurred around the shop. One day he looked out his front window and saw his dad standing in the middle of Main Street holding up his hand. A "Blue Goose" (now the Greyhound bus) was bearing down on his dad. The bus did stop and his dad continued on across to the shop. Howard said, "Dad, why did you do that?" His dad replied, "Oh, I just wanted to see if the blankety-blank thing would stop."
He remembers the groaning and moaning and yells that used to come from the dentist's office and said that every time those patients would come out of the office they'd say, "It didn't hurt a bit, it didn't hurt a bit."
One of the most vivid memories he has was of the zero morning that Carry Peterson, whose shop was south of him, came in and fired up his pot-bellied stove to heat water for his "barbering." The stove blew up, blew iron fragments clear across Washington Street into the courthouse yard.
He continued by asking if I knew what a frost-free closet was. I did. So he didn't have to show me the one he has in the back room. Now, he continued, this explosion had so much force that it twisted that cast-iron frost-free closet out of shape. (For the youngsters, a frost-free closet used to flush when you sat down it and quit when you got off.) It would not freeze up if the heat in the house died out over night.
Baker said he couldn't go out to fix things any more, that he was just on the board of directors and head of the advisory committee. While being interviewed, he answered several questions for "do-it-yourself" plumbers who came seeking his advice. His knowledge of plumbing repairs is unparalleled. He will sell new parts and loan his wrenches and if you do it Howard's way it works. I heard him tell a woman who came to his shop how to take a leaky faucet apart. Following his instructions, she backed out the insides, brought it back to the shop where he put on new rings and bib washers. He then loaned her his renew seat wrench, put some "guck" on the end of it and advised her how to put it all back together. It worked and it will if you do it Howard's way.
Irene Prather Baker, Howard's wife, worked in his shop with him until her death in 1968. Their daughter, Genevieve Baker Kelso, widow of Dr. Chad Kelso, is now Baker's right hand who does all the leg work in the shop. Her plumbing knowledge of parts and how to repair is as tremendous as her dad's.
Genevieve said she had been called Mr. Baker's wife, "Little Boots" and settled an argument between two ladies in the shop one day who insisted that she had to be Mr. Baker's sister.
Howard's three brothers and a sister preceded him in death. They were Raneous, Dempsey and Ed Baker, and Mrs. Dolly Baker Brewer. His sister, Bonnie Baker Thacker (Mrs. Charles), lives at 589 Dale St.
After carefully answering questions for a man who came into the shop concerning the installation of a sump pump,
The remainder of the article is missing.
Martinsville Daily Reporter
By LIB BROWN
Howard M. Baker, the oldest "honey dipper" left, is the way the 81-year-old plumber laughingly described himself in an interview at his plumbing supply shop on West Morgan Street.
"Boots" seems to recall only the humorous things that have happened during his life span. He says he received his nickname because he was so proud of the first pair of boots he owned.
The picture on the left shows Baker when he was 6 years of age. At that time he was making 35 cents a week delivering the Indianapolis Star. His route was the public square and east on "Silk Stocking Row" to the Home Lawn. The paper sold for one cent a copy, both daily and Sunday, and his boss was Star agent "Pete" Miller.
Most of the older population will remember Pete as pushing his two-wheeled cart around to the back door of the merchants on the square to gather up the packing and old boxes that accumulated.
Baker says actually Miller was a very enterprising young man. Not only did he act as Star agent, he met the trains and interurban and transported the mail to the post office. At that time the post office was on the east side of the square in the room now occupied by J.J. Newberry's. He recalled that Pete also was the constable, a horsethief detective and somewhat of a promoter in his time. Once Pete rented the room in the old Parks Building, where J.C. Penney is now, and decided to put on shows for entertainment. For his first show, Miller scoured the county for live entertainment. The people attending asked for their money back. When he started to refund their money he ran out, because the people he had given "comps" demanded refunds too.
When that venture died, Pete opened a skating rink. The floor was plain wooden boards. The skating enthusiasts were not too impressed with the rink, so one night Miller covered the floor with a coating of paraffin. That ended Martinsville's first skating rink.
Baker recalled one day he was not selling very many of his papers, so he met the 5:20 Pennsylvania train when it stopped at the station by the Martinsville Sanitarium. He sneaked aboard the Pullman and dining cars at the rear of the train. The porter caught him and asked who gave him permission to come aboard. "Boots" replied that the conductor let him on the train. The porter didn't believe his story so he asked Baker to come with him to the front of the train and face the conductor. "Now," Baker continued, "I wasn't about to be caught in a lie." The train started to move by this time and he said he jumped off right where Gert Rutledge has his grocery store (now The Cupboard on West Harrison Street). He commented he suffered many bruises and cinder scratches and looking back was surprised he was still here to tell the tale.
Baker was born to Levi Francis "Doug" and Mary Ann Neal Baker on Jan. 25, 1896. His dad and brother Raneous had a plumbing shop at Raneous' house on South Marion Street. When his brother decided to go "plumb" around the Army camps during the war, Howard and his dad opened a shop on the west side of South Main Street on April 22, 1922.
The post office now stands where the Elks Club was. Going south on the west side of Main next came Dr. Gravis' dentist office, the Linville Electric Co., Baker's Plumbing Shop and the Wadley Cream Station on the alley.
Along about this time, someone decided that to be anybody in the upper 500 of Martinsville you had to have a special name for your street. No one remembers who, but somebody named East Washington Street "Silk Stocking Row," so someone "dubbed" the first block of South Main Street off the square "Tony Row." Howard is the only survivor of Tony Row still in business.
The depression hit Baker too. He remembers around 1932 he couldn't pay his shop rent and was thrown out, so he moved across Main Street to the east side by Guy Brown's Shoe Shop.
He recalls without effort the many funny things that occurred around the shop. One day he looked out his front window and saw his dad standing in the middle of Main Street holding up his hand. A "Blue Goose" (now the Greyhound bus) was bearing down on his dad. The bus did stop and his dad continued on across to the shop. Howard said, "Dad, why did you do that?" His dad replied, "Oh, I just wanted to see if the blankety-blank thing would stop."
He remembers the groaning and moaning and yells that used to come from the dentist's office and said that every time those patients would come out of the office they'd say, "It didn't hurt a bit, it didn't hurt a bit."
One of the most vivid memories he has was of the zero morning that Carry Peterson, whose shop was south of him, came in and fired up his pot-bellied stove to heat water for his "barbering." The stove blew up, blew iron fragments clear across Washington Street into the courthouse yard.
He continued by asking if I knew what a frost-free closet was. I did. So he didn't have to show me the one he has in the back room. Now, he continued, this explosion had so much force that it twisted that cast-iron frost-free closet out of shape. (For the youngsters, a frost-free closet used to flush when you sat down it and quit when you got off.) It would not freeze up if the heat in the house died out over night.
Baker said he couldn't go out to fix things any more, that he was just on the board of directors and head of the advisory committee. While being interviewed, he answered several questions for "do-it-yourself" plumbers who came seeking his advice. His knowledge of plumbing repairs is unparalleled. He will sell new parts and loan his wrenches and if you do it Howard's way it works. I heard him tell a woman who came to his shop how to take a leaky faucet apart. Following his instructions, she backed out the insides, brought it back to the shop where he put on new rings and bib washers. He then loaned her his renew seat wrench, put some "guck" on the end of it and advised her how to put it all back together. It worked and it will if you do it Howard's way.
Irene Prather Baker, Howard's wife, worked in his shop with him until her death in 1968. Their daughter, Genevieve Baker Kelso, widow of Dr. Chad Kelso, is now Baker's right hand who does all the leg work in the shop. Her plumbing knowledge of parts and how to repair is as tremendous as her dad's.
Genevieve said she had been called Mr. Baker's wife, "Little Boots" and settled an argument between two ladies in the shop one day who insisted that she had to be Mr. Baker's sister.
Howard's three brothers and a sister preceded him in death. They were Raneous, Dempsey and Ed Baker, and Mrs. Dolly Baker Brewer. His sister, Bonnie Baker Thacker (Mrs. Charles), lives at 589 Dale St.
After carefully answering questions for a man who came into the shop concerning the installation of a sump pump,
The remainder of the article is missing.
Martinsville Daily Reporter
Howard M. Baker, the oldest "honey dipper" left, is the way the 81-year-old plumber laughingly described himself in an interview at his plumbing supply shop on West Morgan Street.
"Boots" seems to recall only the humorous things that have happened during his life span. He says he received his nickname because he was so proud of the first pair of boots he owned.
The picture on the left shows Baker when he was 6 years of age. At that time he was making 35 cents a week delivering the Indianapolis Star. His route was the public square and east on "Silk Stocking Row" to the Home Lawn. The paper sold for one cent a copy, both daily and Sunday, and his boss was Star agent "Pete" Miller.
Most of the older population will remember Pete as pushing his two-wheeled cart around to the back door of the merchants on the square to gather up the packing and old boxes that accumulated.
Baker says actually Miller was a very enterprising young man. Not only did he act as Star agent, he met the trains and interurban and transported the mail to the post office. At that time the post office was on the east side of the square in the room now occupied by J.J. Newberry's. He recalled that Pete also was the constable, a horsethief detective and somewhat of a promoter in his time. Once Pete rented the room in the old Parks Building, where J.C. Penney is now, and decided to put on shows for entertainment. For his first show, Miller scoured the county for live entertainment. The people attending asked for their money back. When he started to refund their money he ran out, because the people he had given "comps" demanded refunds too.
When that venture died, Pete opened a skating rink. The floor was plain wooden boards. The skating enthusiasts were not too impressed with the rink, so one night Miller covered the floor with a coating of paraffin. That ended Martinsville's first skating rink.
Baker recalled one day he was not selling very many of his papers, so he met the 5:20 Pennsylvania train when it stopped at the station by the Martinsville Sanitarium. He sneaked aboard the Pullman and dining cars at the rear of the train. The porter caught him and asked who gave him permission to come aboard. "Boots" replied that the conductor let him on the train. The porter didn't believe his story so he asked Baker to come with him to the front of the train and face the conductor. "Now," Baker continued, "I wasn't about to be caught in a lie." The train started to move by this time and he said he jumped off right where Gert Rutledge has his grocery store (now The Cupboard on West Harrison Street). He commented he suffered many bruises and cinder scratches and looking back was surprised he was still here to tell the tale.
Baker was born to Levi Francis "Doug" and Mary Ann Neal Baker on Jan. 25, 1896. His dad and brother Raneous had a plumbing shop at Raneous' house on South Marion Street. When his brother decided to go "plumb" around the Army camps during the war, Howard and his dad opened a shop on the west side of South Main Street on April 22, 1922.
The post office now stands where the Elks Club was. Going south on the west side of Main next came Dr. Gravis' dentist office, the Linville Electric Co., Baker's Plumbing Shop and the Wadley Cream Station on the alley.
Along about this time, someone decided that to be anybody in the upper 500 of Martinsville you had to have a special name for your street. No one remembers who, but somebody named East Washington Street "Silk Stocking Row," so someone "dubbed" the first block of South Main Street off the square "Tony Row." Howard is the only survivor of Tony Row still in business.
The depression hit Baker too. He remembers around 1932 he couldn't pay his shop rent and was thrown out, so he moved across Main Street to the east side by Guy Brown's Shoe Shop.
He recalls without effort the many funny things that occurred around the shop. One day he looked out his front window and saw his dad standing in the middle of Main Street holding up his hand. A "Blue Goose" (now the Greyhound bus) was bearing down on his dad. The bus did stop and his dad continued on across to the shop. Howard said, "Dad, why did you do that?" His dad replied, "Oh, I just wanted to see if the blankety-blank thing would stop."
He remembers the groaning and moaning and yells that used to come from the dentist's office and said that every time those patients would come out of the office they'd say, "It didn't hurt a bit, it didn't hurt a bit."
One of the most vivid memories he has was of the zero morning that Carry Peterson, whose shop was south of him, came in and fired up his pot-bellied stove to heat water for his "barbering." The stove blew up, blew iron fragments clear across Washington Street into the courthouse yard.
He continued by asking if I knew what a frost-free closet was. I did. So he didn't have to show me the one he has in the back room. Now, he continued, this explosion had so much force that it twisted that cast-iron frost-free closet out of shape. (For the youngsters, a frost-free closet used to flush when you sat down it and quit when you got off.) It would not freeze up if the heat in the house died out over night.
Baker said he couldn't go out to fix things any more, that he was just on the board of directors and head of the advisory committee. While being interviewed, he answered several questions for "do-it-yourself" plumbers who came seeking his advice. His knowledge of plumbing repairs is unparalleled. He will sell new parts and loan his wrenches and if you do it Howard's way it works. I heard him tell a woman who came to his shop how to take a leaky faucet apart. Following his instructions, she backed out the insides, brought it back to the shop where he put on new rings and bib washers. He then loaned her his renew seat wrench, put some "guck" on the end of it and advised her how to put it all back together. It worked and it will if you do it Howard's way.
Irene Prather Baker, Howard's wife, worked in his shop with him until her death in 1968. Their daughter, Genevieve Baker Kelso, widow of Dr. Chad Kelso, is now Baker's right hand who does all the leg work in the shop. Her plumbing knowledge of parts and how to repair is as tremendous as her dad's.
Genevieve said she had been called Mr. Baker's wife, "Little Boots" and settled an argument between two ladies in the shop one day who insisted that she had to be Mr. Baker's sister.
Howard's three brothers and a sister preceded him in death. They were Raneous, Dempsey and Ed Baker, and Mrs. Dolly Baker Brewer. His sister, Bonnie Baker Thacker (Mrs. Charles), lives at 589 Dale St.
After carefully answering questions for a man who came into the shop concerning the installation of a sump pump,
The remainder of the article is missing.
Martinsville Daily Reporter
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