1944 and 1948: KUSER FARM AND THE HARTLEY TOY MFG. CO.

During the past two days I have been going through a large 13 x 9 inch envelope filled with Glover family photos. My family's relationship with the Kuser family goes back to the mid 1930's. My brother Bud worked for Fred and Edna Kuser from 1938 through 1945 when he went into the Navy, at which point I and my best buddy Don Slabicki took over the chores at the farm, and when we entered the military, my little brother Donny and Ken Slabicki for a short time. The above graphics tell an interesting story. The photo above on the lower left shows the Kuser tennis house and in front of it, the old Kuser chicken coop built back in 1901 by Christian Mack. To the graphic on the right is a scan of one of my MERCER MESSENGER  "Hamilton Scrapbook" graphics relating to the Hartley Toy Mfg. Co. Below that is a rare 1947 or 1948 view of the Glover vegetable garden showing the Kuser chicken coop on the right in the photo, next to one of our two chicken coops.I was a 15 year old helper in disassembling that Kuser structure. I remember carefully using a crowbar to lift off the wooden shingles, dis-assembling the 2 x 4 frame and carting the parts across the field and across Newkirk Avenue to the Glover property. I also remember that there were a number of snakes under that old building. The concrete foundation of that old Kuser coop is still to be seen at the entrance to what we called Kuser's Pond.