Interviewees: William Jr. and Susan Tinsman
Date of birth/age at interview: William: 1918/89; Susan: 1922/85
Interviewer: Sally Jagoe
Interview date: 2007
Interview location: Tinsman residence
Interview length: 24 minutes
Time span discussed: 1930s to 1950s
Summary: The Tinsman family has owned (and still owns and manages in 2013) the lumberyard and hardware business in Lumberville for several generations. Bill, with frequent comments from his wife Sue, recounts life in Lumberville, WWII, and some experiences as a Solebury Township supervisor in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Time markers:
00:11 – Bill born Lumberville 1918
00:30 – Greenhill Elementary School, Doylestown High School – $90/year
00:44 – mother on school board in New Hope
01:11 – volunteered for World War II April 1942
01:00 – signed for Air Force
02:35 – wings in Chico CA, shipped to England
03:01 – B17, 23 missions, 9 months in Adleboden, Switzerland
04:15 – married 1943 before he went to England
04:30 – business managed by father during the war
05:03 – social life, fun activities
06:06 – truck garden, canning
06:51 – how Bill and Sue met, canal barges play a part
07:50 – dancing lessons, Phillips’ Mill
08:57 – Solebury Friends Meeting; their participation, offices
09:22 – Bill a Solebury supervisor
10:01 – police in Solebury during the 40s and 50s; story about Christmas tree theft
12:40 – zoning in Solebury: how rules started as a reaction to developers
15:06 – zoning problem
17:08 – floods: 1903, 1936, 1955
20:56 – building their house
22:09 – tax sales of land during depression
