The Starr Tin Shop

The Starr Tin Shop. . , The first tinsmith in Shiremanstown, Lloyd Starr, dates to the pre-1900's and was located on the corner of Locust and Main Street in the rear of his home. He and his wife Ruth raised five children, Harry, William, Gilbert, Edith and Ruth in this home., Starr designed and made dippers, tin cups, coffee pots, cake pans, bread pans, long-handled dippers to hang by the water pumps, drying pans for corn and apple "snitz", stove pipes, pot-bellied stoves, rain spouts and tin roofing, it was said everyone in town wanted a red tin roof., He also made numerous miniature children's tin pieces, including a doll bath tub with a seat and a tiny soap dish on the side for his daughters as well as some of the children of the town. His daughter said he made 20 bath tubs before he was through. Pairs of round glass frames (without glass) then referred to as "specs" that were held in their hands, were made for the children to enjoy., The pot-bellied stove at the tin shop was a place the men of town would gather and spin tales of their hunting and fishing trips, as well as the news of the day., Starr made a large wash boiler for soup-making in mind. When the fisherman would return from fishing on the creek, they would come to his shop and make turtle soup for the entire neighborhood in that wash boiler., The "tin clippings" would fall on the floor, and some of the town's young ladies would come in and get them to use for hair curlers., One of Starr's daughters, while preparing to go Christmas caroling, said to her father that she would not be able to see her music in the dark and was very upset. Her father without saying a word went to his work shop, worked late that evening designing and making a hand-held candle holder for her. The other carolers loved it, so he had to get busy and make 36 more., After the town fire in 1908, his sons Harry and Gilbert constructed a new shop and show room at 6 East Main Street. The business continued till about the time of World War II.