In June 1986, workers renovating an old office building in Doylestown Township discovered a locked and long-forgotten safe. The building, known as Building G , had served as the county almshouse from the 1860s until 1966, when the county nursing home was built. It was a Remington Rand safe, an enormous 5-by-8 feet, with twin combination locks.
But what was in it?
Speculations ranged from "about four paint cans" (assistant county administrator August Baur) to "money ... hopefully not Confederate money." (county commissioner Carl Fonash).
There was no record of the combination, either. Remington Rand was long out of business.
Luckily, a locked safe was no challenge for Holicong Locksmith president William Kroche Jr.
At around 11 a.m. on June 25, surrounded by a crowd of curious onlookers, the locksmith deftly worked his magic on the safe's combination dial.
Slowly, for the first time in who knows how long, its heavy steel door swung open ...
... And inside was almost a parody of a history geek's raciest fantasy.
July 24, 1986
The Daily Intelligencer
County 'mystery safe' yields treasure of Mercer material
By Jack Shandle
Calkins Newspapers
The "mystery safe" Bucks County officials found in the basement of what was once the county's almshouse has yielded a treasure of articles about Doylestown inventor Henry Mercer.
During the three weeks since the safe was opened, four historians have been busy inventorying its contents.
According to David Driscoll, the county's curator of historic properties, the most significant items are more than 500 photographic plates illustrating tiles, buildings and trips Mercer took in the early 1900s.
Of particular value to historians, he said, is the photographic plate containing the image of Mercer's pottery kiln. The kiln was constructed on the Aldie estate in Doylestown, which has been razed.
Mercer worked on the Aldie estate until he completed construction of his existing tile works. Two other photographic plates contain images of Interior views of Indian House, Mercer's early studio, which also was built on the Aldie estate.
The photos show Mercer's studio with many of his museum artifacts hung from the walls and ceiling.
More than 250 of the plates illustrate tiles in the floor of the state Capitol in Harrisburg.
Terry McNealy, librarian for the Bucks County Historical Society and a member of the inventory team, said the opportunity was rare and exciting.
Noting that no one knew the safe contained fragile glass photographic plates when it was discovered, McNealy praised county employees for their handling. "If they had let it fall off the forklift, we would have had nothing but a big pile of broken glass," he said.
The county plans to stage an exhibition of the safe's contents in the fall, according to county Commissioner Lucille M. Trench.
Estimates for the cost of the exhibition range as high as $10,000, she said, and the county will conduct a fund-raising program among corporations and museums to defray those costs.
In addition to the photographic plates, the Remington Rand safe contained 483 copper-plated printing blocks used to publish halftone pictures In Mercer's tile catalogs. It also held bones, beans and bird nests.
Numerous account books and business correspondence found in the safe will provide insight into the kiln's dally operations and reveal more about Mercer's tile designs and his clients, officials said.
Driscoll and McNealy were joined on the inventory team by Cleota Reed, a Mercer historian from Syracuse, N.Y., and John Deley of the county's historical society.
The safe opened June 25 contained the following:
• 18 books of check stubs of the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, 1900-1952.
• 26 account books, receipt books, kiln books, notebooks, checkbooks, production books and passbooks pertaining to the tile works.
• 56 manuscript files containing correspondence, advertisements, blueprints, sketches, work sheets, bills and so forth.
• 571 glass photographic plates in 19 boxes, including 264 views of tile mosaics used in the state Capitol's floor; 32 views of Mercer's archaeological work; 37 views of stove plates; 76 views of tiles; and 162 miscellaneous photos.
• 483 copper-plate blocks for printing half-tone Illustrations, including 41 tile arrangements; 53 tile mosaics; 14 illustrations for the magazine Cement Age; 347 used to illustrate tile works catalogs; and 28 miscellaneous blocks.
• 83 other items, including animal bones, bird nests and cigar boxes.
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