Hagenbuch’s Meat Market of Bowmanstown

by Andrew Hagenbuch · December 5, 2023

Hagenbuch's Meat Market Screwdriver Detail

Detail of a photo of a screwdriver printed with "Hagenbuch's Meat Market." Credit: eBay.com/trouty17

I’m always amazed by the family-related ephemera that appears on eBay: an old family photo, a receipt printer, and a Fraktur to name a few. Recently I found another curious item—a small, promotional screwdriver. On it was printed the following text:

HAGENBUCH’S MEAT MARKET
Bowmanstown, Pa.
Ph. Pal. 5482

I wanted to know more about Hagenbuch’s Meat Market, when it was in business, and who owned it. I initially thought this task would be easy. I started with a quick search of Google and then another in a database of newspapers. Surely one of these would return a hit. I did locate a Hagenbuch’s Meat Market in Eudora, Kansas. This was run by Henry J. Hagenbuch (b. 1847) around 1900, but it was in the wrong city and state. I kept looking.

Two images of the screwdriver promoting Hagenbuch’s Meat Market in Bowmanstown, PA. Credit: eBay.com/trouty17

The phone number seemed to be an important clue. However, I didn’t immediately understand its format: the text “Pal” followed by the numerals “5482.” After researching early phone networks, I learned that “Pal” was the code for the central office of the Palmerton Telephone Company—where switchboard operators would manually route calls. The company had an interesting history and was formed in 1912 by the New Jersey Zinc Company. The Zinc Company had an ore processing factory in Palmerton, Pennsylvania and numerous office phones. When the people living near the factory wanted phone service too, the company saw an opportunity to expand its network and enter the telecommunications business.

By the 1940s, the Palmerton Telephone Company offered phone service to several thousand homes and businesses in the region, including those in nearby Bowmanstown. Switchboard operators had been replaced by automatic call switching equipment. Callers from outside the local area would dial the three letter code “PAL” followed by the number “5482” to reach Hagenbuch’s Meat Market.

Yet, even with these details, I still came up empty. Searches for this phone number yielded no results. Nevertheless, it did help me narrow down when Hagenbuch’s Meat Market was in business. The Palmerton Telephone Company had only reached 1,000 service subscribers by the 1940s, meaning it didn’t need four digit telephone numbers until that decade. Guided by this knowledge, I began to scour census records for Bowmanstown from 1940 and 1950. My hope was to find a Hagenbuch who worked as a butcher or was employed at a market.

Norman and Esther (Deppe) Hagenbuch on their farm in Bowmanstown, PA

At last I had some success! On the 1950 United States Census, I found Norman A. Hagenbuch (b. 1908) who was listed as the owner of a butcher shop in Bowmanstown. The census also noted that he lived with his wife, Esther, and two children, Kathleen and Karl. Norman’s name was familiar to me, since my father, Mark, had previously written an article about his daughter, Kathleen Lois (Hagenbuch) Courie (b. 1936). His family line is: Andreas (b. 1715) > Henry (b. 1737) > John (b. 1776) > Reuben (b. 1805) > James Monroe (b. 1854) > Howard Harrison (b. 1887) > Norman Andrew (b. 1908).

Hagenbuch's Meat Market Advertisement 1948

Advertisement for Hagenbuch’s Meat Market. Credit: “The Morning Call,” August 10, 1948

A bit more digging revealed additional details. Using a different newspaper archive, I was able to locate a small advertisement for the opening of Hagenbuch’s Meet Market on August 11th, 1948. The ad revealed the address of the business to be “4th and Forge Sts., Bowmanstown, Pa.” I couldn’t find this address on a recent map (there is no 4th Street in Bowmanstown), but I had a hunch that the streets may have been renamed.

The next thing I found was an announcement for an auction at the home of Norman Hagenbuch that was held on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1987. The sale included household items, farm tools, and butchering equipment such as knives, saws, and a walk-in cooler. The announcement listed an address: “the corner of Forge & Franklin St, Bowmanstown, PA.” This address does exist and was once a small farm. It appears to be the same place where a picture of Norman and Esther (Deppe) Hagenbuch was taken around 1960.

Advertisement for an auction at the farm of Norman A. Hagenbuch. Credit: “The Morning Call,” November 20, 1987

Finally, the origin of the promotional screwdriver came into focus. Late in the summer of 1948, Norman A. Hagenbuch opened a butcher shop on his farm in Bowmanstown, PA. He named the operation Hagenbuch’s Meat Market, placed an advertisement in the paper, and had the business name printed on small screwdrivers. These may have been kept in a container on a counter and were handed out to customers who purchased meats. It’s unknown for how long Norman ran the business. His wife, Esther, died in 1973 and Norman died in 1992, about five years after the auction. They are buried at Dinkey Memorial Cemetery in Ashfield, PA.

I always enjoy a genealogical challenge, particularly one that starts with a small, seemingly insignificant item. While researching the promotional screwdriver, I learned about early telephone systems and phone numbers. But, what I found to be even more fulfilling was discovering the tool’s history and how this helped to tell the story of Norman Hagenbuch’s family.