Yesterday was Veterans Day. The wife and I drove an hour to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania for a look at the antiques at the Old Engine Works. This is one of our favorites haunts. In 1993, antique dealers took over the old brick building used as a machine shop beginning 1903. From their website, we can learn a bit of the shop's history: " In the early years they built large steam powered hoists that were used for bridge building, quarrying and many other heavy industry applications. During WW II they built hoists that were used to load and unload the Liberty Ships. After the war the principal operation developed into building winches for Shrimp Boats. These hoists are used to pull in the nets and you will find Stroudsburg Engine Works hoists on boats all over the world. For many years, if you built a Shrimp Boat, you put a Stroudsburg Hoist on it! Winch production ended in 1989 and the business continued as a machine shop until November 1992. "
The photo shows a large American flag hanging from the rafters. It's always there, not only on holidays. The people who work at the place make shopping a pleasure; they're friendly and helpful. Believe me, the missus can ask a ton of questions.
Our parents could be classified as veterans having gone through four years of Japanese occupation in the Philippines. My folks were hardly teenagers, but my wife's folks were in their late teens if not early twenties. They did not bear arms, but I know that my dad helped pass messages between guerilla groups. The story goes...The Philippines was a colony of the United States at that time.
Did you know that more American soldiers came from Pennsylvania than from any other state during World War 2? Double-check me on that, but that is my mental note.
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The other is Pocono Peddlers Village and is located on 611 South in Tannersville. I'd say its about 8-10 miles outside of Stroudsburg. Its probably about the same size as the Engine Works - huge!