The STAMP Museum(s)
by Jim Stamp on January 27, 2022.
I come from a long line of savers of memorabilia. Some would disparagingly call it hoarding!
My Great-Grandpa James Stamp had two old maid sisters, Ruth
Ellen (Ella) and Zillah. Ella and Zillah worked in Salem for the
Oriental Store. The Oriental Store must have been the Walmart
like store of its time. They sold produce, groceries, boots,
clothing, tools, china, silverware, small kitchen appliances, tea,
coffee, dry goods, spices – about everything.
September 28, 1914 – The Salem News
By 1919, the owner of the Oriental Store had made the decision
that he wanted to concentrate on the grocery and produce side
of the business and he sold the rest of his inventory to Ella and
Zillah Stamp. Thus began the Stamp Store. The receipts that
I can find indicate that Ella and Zillah paid $15,100 for the inven-
tory – including 6% interest. January 13, 1936 they ran an ad in
the Salem News announcing their closure and that everything
was to be sold. They were the first women in the United States
to be awarded a Maytag Distributorship.
Richard Stamp (my Grandpa) worked for his aunts and drove
the delivery truck. His good friend, Sam Bennett also worked
for the Stamp Store. (sidebar: Richard had a son named Elmer
and Sam had a son named Glenn. Elmer and Glenn were BEST
friends and double dated in the late 30’s and until Glenn left
for the Army. Glenn was killed in action in WWII and there is
a memorial park named for him in Winona) Sam Bennett
would later buy the Winona General Store.
January 13, 1936 – Salem News
Ella and Zillah had acquired a treasure trove of rare items. When
they died, Grandpa Stamp was their executor and at the auction
of the estate, he acquired some of those items. One of those
items was the set of ocean maps from the yacht of Kaiser Wilhelm. History!
When Grandpa died, my Dad (Elmer) inherited a lot of these
items and he maintained and protected them until he had a sale in 2015.
Some of Dad’s key collection
More keys – many antiqued
Our childhood sleds
A couple of the antique lamps
A candle lamp made by Levi Stamp
Large artillery shells (active) from WWII
From the yacht of Kaiser Wilhelm
Model ship
Our Surrey with the Fringe On Top
Studebaker wagon
People came from 100s of miles to see these antique posters. The
posters (15 of them) sold for $2,000 each! A unique piece of
Columbiana county history. Our Great-Grandpa J. Hoopes was
Fair Board President in 1900
Dad kept all of the burlap and cloth feed sacks that came from
the mill for decades. They were laid out at the auction and it was
amazing to see how people would find a bundle and then stake
their claim… Dad could have sold a few thousand sacks if he had them.
Great-Grandpa Hoopes was active with the Lisbon Fair. The
posters promoting the fair were pieces of art. The company
that printed these posters is still in business. I contacted the
company to see if they could run off prints and how much it
would cost. Over the past century, ownership of the company
has changed several times. I spoke to the current owner to see
if they had the ability to reproduce fair posters. He asked
“WHY”. He said we print them by the hundreds…he was
talking about block letters on white poster board that are about
12 X 12. I sent him photos of the posters I was talking about
and he almost fell off his chair. He planned to come to the auction but his wife got ill so he didn’t make it.
For the 1900 fair, Great-Grandpa Hoopes was President of the Fair Board… see below
Jim Stamp, January 27, 2022