Alan Crawford

A wonderful lady met with me this week to share a rather unique piece of China, a small family heirloom, which is best described by the Yiddish term “tchotchke.” It’s a small pitcher which her family proudly displayed for years.

What is unique is the picture which adorns the pitcher, the Penny Arcade from the Orange Lake Amusement Park! This little souvenir captures one of the main attractions of the park from the early 20th Century. On the bottom, the logo “Wheelock, Made in Germany” and the name J. W. Brundage, Newburgh, N.Y.

The Brundage name was one of the more prominent ones in our Town in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and settled in the colonies in the 1700s. The James K. Brundage family lived in what is now 1269 Union Avenue Extension in Gardnertown around 1860, which I’ve previously written about. James would be an uncle to John William Brundage.

John William Brundage’s business was located at 194 Broadway in the City of Newburgh, just around the corner from his home at 35 Dubois Street, which has been torn down and replaced with a newer structure. I was able to find a photo of the house, however. The main stay of the operation was tobacco products, mainly quality cigars. Along with this they carried items like this souvenir pitcher. You may know it today as Ace Drugs.

The term “Wheelock,” or “Wheelock pottery,” refers to a business developed by the Wheelock brothers Charles, George, and Arthur in South Bend, Indiana, which entered into the souvenir pottery trade in the 1890’s, which was just beginning to boom. They did not produce pottery but imported it from Austria and Germany. They closed their doors in 1909.

J. W. Brundage’s store closed in 1924. By then he had become a local politician with a seat on the city council and other government positions. He passed away on March 6th, 1935.

From the information learned from the history of the businesses, this little pitcher was produced in 1909, or earlier, and would have been sitting on a shelf waiting to become a family treasure, commemorating a visit to the Orange Penny Arcade sometime before 1924. Thanks for sharing, Gayle.