Friday, January 7, 2011

Photograph of Alice Haynes Horner and Alfred "Uncle Booster" Lee Horner


When my "Uncle Booster" (Alfred Horner) was alive he was a great source of information on anything about the family, New Haven, and the people that he knew there (including information about Ruth, Pete, Silly Putty, and the Block Shop). I am grateful that I spent time interviewing him about these topics before he died. His wife, my Aunt Alice may have been the first family member to come in contact with Ruth Fallgatter and the Block Shop (or maybe it was my Grandma Jane). Aunt Alice worked at the Block Shop for 17 years. While it was closing she was approached by one of the customers (he had first asked Ruth if he could approach her). He offered her a job and she went and worked for him for 40 years. My cousin Ronnie appeared in a Block Shop catalog around 1955-7. Uncle Booster may have worked at Silly Putty during emergencies but he mostly worked at the Winchester Gun Factory.