These are the Days to Finally Decide about Musical Gifts
Of Course You Will Decide to Buy at Clarks!
This will be a busy trading point all this week, but enough people will be here to enable you to choose easily and quickly - expert people in every branch to help you choose wisely.
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DEPARTMENT
Charles P Morse, Albert B Bortle, Jonh Revouir, Thomas L. Shackford (These are the Days to Finally Decide About Musical Gifts, "," Marcellus Observer Camillas Enterprise Elbridge Citizen, 20 December 1907; digital images Fulton History (http://www. : accessed 9 November 2013)
Thomas Leon Shackford was born in Syracuse, New York in 1892, to Joseph Edward Shackford and Donna Lovilla Evans. He was 15 years old when he worked in the small instrument department at Clark Music Co on Salina St in Syracuse. He lived at 210 Beard Street so it was probably about a 1 1/2 mile walk to his job.
Thomas was my grandfather who died the year I turned one. My father does not recall hearing about his father's job at Clark's but he remembers hearing his father playing the accordion, organ, piano and other musical instruments very well.
Ron Wray has written about the Clark Music Co on his History of Syracuse Music WEB site and explains that Clark's started in 1859 as a sheet music company, became a popular piano company and closed on August 26, 2012 after being in business for 153 years.
I'm glad that Clark's included the names of their young employees in their 1907 Christmas advertisement as it lets me understand a bit of the life of a grandfather I never knew.
Copyright 2013 Joanne Shackford Parkes