Canada’s oldest Postmaster consigns advertising treasures from her original general store
Gas globe lenses, trade signs, dye cabinet, old lithographs
91 year-old Eileen O’Krafka, Canada’s oldest Postmaster, sitting at the desk of her Rostock Ontario Postal Outlet. Her husband purchased the store in 1969, loaded with contents from all previous owners.
Eileen O’Krafka, who’ll be 92 this summer, is Canada’s oldest working Postmaster. Five days a week she sorts mail into the 68 post office boxes, collects outgoing mail, sells money orders, weighs packages and keeps the books balanced.
For the past 50 years, she’s been working out of a small post office in a former general store she and her late husband, Joe, bought in 1969 – a store which dates back to the turn of the century. Located in the tiny village of Rostock, Ontario, roughly 50 kilometres east of Kitchener and 150 kilometres west of Toronto, the store has been closed since 1990, but the post office and Eileen remain firm fixtures.
Not only has she been keeper of the village mail for half a century, she’s also been safeguarding the historic contents of the general store – contents which have recently been consigned to Miller & Miller Auctions, slated for their Advertising & Nostalgia sale on April 6th.
Eileen and her husband saved everything, literally every bill of sale, every piece of advertising and every ledger, including the contents gathered and left behind by previous store owners.
Some of the items featured in the auction include two scarce “new-old-stock” sets of glass gas globe lenses issued by British-American Oil. The lenses were designed to fit both sides of an illuminated globe fixed to the top of a gas pump, which served as a beacon for motorists ‘running on empty’. These ones were originally mailed to the Rostock Garage, whose gas pumps were on the same site as Eileen’s general store, which is where they ended up. Luckily that’s where they stayed, even though the lenses were generally considered property of the company that supplied them, destined to be replaced once the brand of gas being offered was changed. (Lots #177 and #178)
These British-American Oil advertising lenses were intended to be fastened to an illuminated globe fitted to a gas pump, circa 1940s. These ones, found in Eileen’s outlet, were never used.
Also in the sale are wooden trade signs, including the one made for the Rostock general store when it was first built and opened by Ludwig (Louis) Wettlaufer in 1902. Painted “L. Wettlaufer” on a single pine board in an attractive script commonly used by sign painters of the time, it’s in a matching painted and stencilled frame. The sign is completely intact, original and untouched, having been safely stored in the same place for well over a century. (Lot #179)
A wooden painted trade sign made for Ludwig (Louis) Wettlaufer in 1902. This sign was safely tucked away in Eileen’s general store since it was removed from the building. Estimate $1200-1500.
There’s a Dyola Dyes countertop cabinet with accessories, circa 1920s. It’s a front and rear loading cabinet with a tin lithograph advertising panel on the front. The cabinet’s design allowed the merchant to retrieve inventory, but also allowed the customer to self-serve without swivelling the cabinet around. These chemical dyes, popularized in the late Victorian era, succeeded the poisonous organic dyes of the early 1860s. Clothing coloured with the earlier dyes, made of ‘natural’ ingredients such as arsenic, led to skin ulcers, hair loss, and in extreme cases, blood vomiting and death. Commercial dyes safely brought the thrill of colourful garments to the masses and lengthened both the lifespan and the personalities of what was for most people a very limited wardrobe. (Lot #174)
A Dyola Dyes countertop cabinet with accessories, circa 1920s, stored in Eileen’s general store since the day it was delivered. Estimate $200-300.
At one time, general stores in small towns and villages like Rostock were bustling places of business. Generally speaking, the bigger the business, the bigger the cash register. A 15.5-inch metal plate (39 cm), embossed with “Amount Purchased”, is also part of the sale. It would have been fastened to the top of a very large circa 1900 cash register made by the National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio. Ludwig Wettlaufer would have used this substantial cash register when he was operating his general store. Safe to say business was brisk. (Lot #167)
A 15.5-inch metal cash register topper from an early 20th century cash register. It would have been fastened to the top of Ludwig Wettlaufer’s till, the original owner of Eileen’s current postal outlet. Estimate $100-200.
Harkening back to the golden age of Chef Boyardee are six Heinz advertising lithographs, circa 1963. These are among a fabulous cache of commercial, food-themed lithos that were safely preserved in the O’Krafka’s general store and date from about 1957 to the mid-1960s. Back in the day and at significant expense, companies like Del Monte, Aylmer and Heinz would mail store owners elaborate advertising materials, showcasing their product lineups for the year. (Lot #163)
Several mid-century advertising lithographs like these Heinz posters, circa 1963, were stacked away from the heyday of the Rostock general store. Estimate $200-300.
Eileen O’Krafka says “it was just time” to pass along these historical treasures through Miller & Miller. As for any retirement plans, she won’t say.
When Eileen turned 90, her family organized a surprise birthday party and her employer, Canada Post, was part of it, drumming up a 1927 stamp (the year she was born), letters of congratulations and a special service pin, all of which were framed and presented as a commemorative montage. The entire village was invited to the event and relatives flew in from Newfoundland and the west coast to surprise her. But it was tricky keeping it a secret. Clearly all the invitations had to be hand delivered. If they’d mailed them Eileen would’ve known something was up. After all, as the village postmistress she knows everyone and everything postal.
For 50 years Eileen has been keeper of the mail in Rostock. “It’s who she is,” says her daughter Lynda. “It’s a big part of her identity. For someone on the outside looking in at my Mom and her work it may seem small, but she’s played a very big role in this community.”
Story by Diane Sewell
Auction Details: Advertising & Nostalgia - April 6th, 2019. 10 am.
Live Auction Location: 59 Webster St. New Hamburg, Ontario. N3A 1W8
Did you enjoy this article? Feel free to share it using the buttons below.