In 2022, the Bussinger Trains & Toys! store planned to relocate to another area in Ambler, and that is currently at North Main Street. The toy store was first opened in 1992 at the old Ambler Train Station. The current location of the store was where the former Ambler Baking Company was.
Ambler Baking Company
Samuel Swartley Gehman (1869-1964) was descended from the Gehman family of Franconia, PA. He grew up on his father's farm until he became a clerk of a merchandise general store in Morewood, PA. Later on he established a business in Souderton that focused on the wholesale confectionary line, and became a proprietor of a bakery. Samuel continued to jump around places to make his business until reaching Hatboro where he managed a bakery, and became president of the Hatboro Baking Company with his brother Vincent as the secretary.
In 1915, the Hatboro Baking Company was sold, and moved their plant to Ambler where they built a two-story building on North Main Street. The first floor has the sales room where they displayed their products. The first floor was also used store flour, specifically King Midas flour, for bread baking. The second floor was where the baking took place. It included the latest and improved machinery were used like the scaling and moulding machine that had a capacity of 2,000 loaves per hour.
The Ambler Baking Company baked 4,000 loaves of bread and 2,000 cakes every day. The company employed 11 men day and night.
In 1917, the company faced concern with the high price of flour, resulting in the Samuel Gehman selling his company. The Ambler Baking Company was turned into a factory for paper cans and containers under a new name: Philadelphia Paper Can Company. W.J. Haerther served as the company's president while Samuel Gehman served as secretary.
The new company made cans and containers out of paper and coated with paraffin, and used for milk, butter, jellies, preserves, vinegar, coffee, lard, sauerkraut, pickles, salads, fruits and vegetables, and so much more.
The Philadelphia Paper Can Company closed down due to bankruptcy in the 1920s. It was unknown what other company or store owner owned the building ever since. Fast forward to the present in 2022, the Bussinger Trains & Toys! moved their showroom to the former Ambler Baking Company building while still operating their shop at the train station in Ambler.
Bibliography
"Ambler Baking Company." Ambler Gazette. November 23, 1915. Page 2. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_7944.
Fibre Containers 2, no. 10 (1917): 12.
"Google Maps Area Calculator Tool." DaftLogic. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-area-calculator-tool.htm.
"New Industry In Ambler." Ambler Gazette. August 9, 1917. Page 7. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_7953.
Simmons' Spice Mill 40, no. 1 (1917): 927.
Swartley, Samuel R. Genealogy Record of Descendants of Elizabeth Gehman and Abraham T. Swartley of Franconia, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. (Lansdale: Samuel R. Swartley, 1916): 32-33.
The National Baker 10, no. 232 (1915): 67.
Tierney, Kevin. "Bussinger Trains & Toys moving showroom to North Main Street in Ambler." Around Ambler. Last modified February 28, 2022. https://aroundambler.com/bussinger-trains-toys-moving-showroom-to-north-main-street-in-ambler/.
"Town Topics." Ambler Gazette. May 17, 1917. Page 5. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_8701.
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