Marker Dedication: Haines Shoe House

There has been so much going on around here lately that I feel a little head-spinny. But before I tell you about my latest adventure out in the world, I do have a fun announcement to make. I was recently contacted by John, the lovely gentleman who runs Mainly Museums, which is a crowdsourced blog dedicated to showcasing museums around the world. He likes my work (yay!) and invited me to do a series of articles about the Pennsylvania museums I encounter in the course of my research. Since blathering about Pennsylvania history seems to be what I do best, I of course said yes and my first article went live yesterday. My regular readers will know that I wrote about Eckley Miners' Village Museum here on the blog last year, and because I enjoyed it so much, I kicked off my MM series with the same subject. I'll be contributing two articles per month to the MM collective, so watch for future links and meanwhile check out the rest of the site; they're still pretty new but they've got a lot of talent in the pool.

Meanwhile, last week I mentioned that my bff Andrea and I were off to attend another marker dedication. I'll tell you about the actual Haines Shoe House in next week's post, but for today, here's everything that went down while we were in York. We met so many cool people!

(Remember - click on any of the pictures to see larger versions.)

I may have goofed up a little bit with this one. I saved the marker dedication in my phone's calendar and specifically noted that the start time was 11 a.m., so we were on the road shortly before 9 with our usual road trip playlist and (for Andrea) a Starbucks drink. We arrived pretty much at 11 on the dot, and soon discovered that the ceremony actually started at noon. I think I probably saved the wrong time on purpose so I would give myself extra time in case of bad traffic or other disruption, and then forgot that I did so. But it worked out in our favor, because we got to participate in the very first tour being offered of the Shoe House. 

For those not familiar with the iconic structure, it's exactly what the name implies - a house shaped like a shoe. I'll get into the full history next week, but in shortest form, a shoe salesman named Mahlon Haines (or, as he called himself, Haines the Shoe Wizard) hired an architect to build a house shaped like one of the shoes he sold. As part of his clever marketing strategy, he would give away free weekends in the house to honeymooning newlyweds or senior couples. Being situated on the historic Lincoln Highway, the shoe was a visible landmark and attracted plenty of attention. Over the years after the Shoe Wizard's death, it served as an ice cream parlor and later a museum, and is now a bed and breakfast (specifically a VRBO).

Our tour guide was Tom Davidson, one of the foremost members of Lincoln Highway Legacy LLC and the one who was actually responsible for submitting the Shoe House's application for a marker. The LHL champions Pennsylvania's portion of this popular travel route, which was established in 1913 and is known as "America's first coast-to-coast Main Street." The full Lincoln Highway connects New York to San Francisco, and Tom is one of those dedicated to sharing Pennsylvania's part of the story. When he heard about what I do and that I would be writing this piece, Tom asked me to tell my readers that there is another marker for the Lincoln Highway, in Lancaster County, which is related to the Shoe House and is the only state historical marker for the route. You can be sure I'll be covering that in the future. Tom also said that before there was so much development, on a clear day, one could see the Susquehanna River from the Shoe House - that's how grand a view it commanded in its heyday.

After we first used the restroom following our long drive (pro tip: the ground floor restroom has a light switch outside on a different wall), we joined the first small tour through the tiny and adorable house. It's full of fascinating relics of the past, not least the shoe-themed stained glass windows; Tom informed us that these were manufactured by Rudy Art Glass of York, which has been making specialty windows since 1892. My favorite is the one pictured here, which is on the main entrance. (The "Shoe Wizard" part is being repaired, but wasn't finished in time for the ceremony.) The ground floor was originally a small garage for the storage of the Shoe House's on-site vehicle, but it has since been renovated into a rec room with a small kitchen and laundry facility. It's also where they keep many of the "shoevenirs" that were once given away to promote the Haines shoe stores, and where you can still buy a few things for yourself - Andrea got a magnet and I got postcards. 

As Tom guided us through the house, he spoke at length about the details of the structure. The house is 48 feet long and 25 feet wide, with curiously shaped bedrooms to work with the shoe shape. The bathrooms still have the original tile from when the building was constructed in 1948. Some of the rooms have fanciful names painted on their doors, like Ankle Abode and Shoelace Space, giving us an idea of where we were in the house with relation to the shape. The little kitchen and dining area still retain a 1950s aesthetic, though the house is of course outfitted with modern wiring and kept up to code. Tom added that when couples would stay in the house during the Shoe Wizard's time, they were provided with the services of a maid and a female chauffeur, who shared quarters in one of the bedrooms. The current owners, Naomi and Waylon Brown, keep the house sparkling clean, but they don't drive guests into town. The house also features a shoe-shaped doghouse behind it; pets are no longer permitted at the house, but in the Shoe Wizard's day, he had a Great Dane named Countess who lived on the property and kept guests company. (Her house today is occupied by a stuffed animal.)

Following the tour, we headed back out into the July heat, where the event planners had thoughtfully provided coolers full of bottled water. Andrea and I sat in the shade and watched the arrival of a number of dignitaries and guests, ranging from the mayor of the nearby community Hallam to PHMC commissioners to a Mennonite family to Mahlon Haines's granddaughter Anna. Just past noon, things got started with short speeches and commentary. As seen here, Naomi Brown first introduced Julie Wheeler, President Commissioner of the York County Board of Commissioners. She was there in an official capacity, but also had a very unique connection to the Shoe House - as it turned out, her cousins John and Liza Baum were the first couple ever to stay in the house. After telling the story of how she learned this fact, she presented the Browns with a formal proclamation from the county.

Tom Davidson, our tour guide, spoke next. He talked about the history of the Lincoln Highway and how iconic the Shoe House became over the years, both as a destination and also as a landmark for those driving past. He then turned the 'floor,' so to speak, over to Nancy Moses, chairwoman of the PHMC, who talked about the marker itself. She observed that "This marker celebrates joy," and that we need more of that in our lives. She was joined by three other members of the commission - William Lewis, Philip Zimmerman, and Ophelia Chambliss. I heard someone refer to William Lewis, who follows MarkerQuest on Facebook, as "the marker guy" and I wish I'd had the chance (and the guts) to approach him. Philip Zimmerman, when invited to say something, made one of the best/worst puns I've heard in a while; he remarked that other houses have been constructed around the Shoe House over the years, and that while they may be considered higher-end, "they don't have sole."

Left to right: Nancy Moses, William Lewis, Philip Zimmerman, and Ophelia Chambliss of the PHMC

With the speeches concluded, we followed the event organizers across the lawn to where the marker stood waiting under its canopy. You'll see it next week. After that, everyone was invited to go back across the lawn to a truck run by Beck's Ice Cream of York; in tribute to the time the Shoe House spent as an ice cream parlor, everyone was being treated to free ice cream. I am not one to say no to ice cream, especially when it's free and especially when it's that good. (They had chocolate marshmallow, my favorite.) As seen here, Tom continued providing guided tours of the house for the occasion. The Shoe House is not normally open for tours - if you want to see the inside, you have to rent it for the weekend - so naturally, just about everyone at the event wanted to take advantage of the unique opportunity this presented.

I made some interesting acquaintances during this time. The first was John Qualley, who runs a Facebook page called Stuff That's Gone. We were both keenly interested to learn about each other's work, and since our meeting he's made a short video on YouTube about the marker dedication, so I encourage you to check that out. If you enjoy learning about things which are no longer with us, and especially Pennsylvania things, you'll want to look at his Facebook too.

I also had a bit of a fangirl moment when I noticed one woman wearing a name tag identifying her as being from Preservation Pennsylvania; more specifically, it identified her as Mindy Crawford. She wrote a book called Historic Pennsylvania: A Tour of the State's Top 100 National Landmarks, which I've used as a reference on a number of blog posts. Once I realized why her name was familiar, I had to speak to her and tell her how much I really enjoyed her book. I could relate to her excitement when she exclaimed, "Someone read my book!" We traded business cards, and she looked at my nametag and said she thought she recognized my name but she wasn't sure why. Turns out she reads the blog! Definitely check out her Facebook page as well, which is found at Preservation, Pretzels & Yarn.

With the celebrations winding down, Andrea and I headed back to the car. We weren't about to drive all the way to York County without popping in on our dear friends at Moon Family Studios, so that was our next destination. But we certainly found the Haines Shoe House to be a wonderful experience, and I can't wait to tell you all about the house itself next week!

Special thanks to Tom Davidson for his assistance with this article.

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Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.