Introduction
Joseph F. Kobus
JOSEPH F. KOBUS and his brother Henry were the sons of Anthony Kobus, who founded a shoe business at 943 South 4th Street in 1858, which soon was moved to the corner of South 4th and Spruce Streets. Born in Camden in 1863, Joseph Kobus and his brother maintained the business until they both retired in the early 1930s. Anthony Kobus was a principal in the Broadway Trust Bank, and, after his death in 1920, Joseph and Henry Kobus moved the business to a nearby building at 934 Broadway in 1924.
As a young man, Joseph Kobus became interested in crosswords, cryptograms, and other similar puzzles. In 1883 he was one of the charter members of the National Puzzlers League. He held his membership throughout his life.
Joseph Kobus’ second wife Mary Walsh Kobus was one of Camden’s first female politicians. She was elected to the City Commission, and served as the Director of Public Safety in the late 1930s and early 1940s. She also was a nationally recognized puzzler, and was president of the afore-mentioned National Puzzlers League in 1929.
Henry Kobus passed away in April of 1939. Joseph Kobus, who was suffering with kidney problems, took a turn for the worse after his brother’s passing, and died on June 9, 1939. He was survived by his wife Mary, and a son Harry Kobus, from his first marriage.
Red Cross Active in Camden
Philadelphia Inquirer —
The National Red Cross headquarters at New York has sent a charter to the Camden County Chapter and it was stated yesterday offices will be opened this week in the Temple Building. The charter was issued to these directors: Mrs. Augustus Reeve, Mrs. Robert Patterson Finley, Mrs. N. F. Thomson, Mrs. Joseph Kobus, Miss Elizabeth Reeve, Walter L. Tushingham, A. W. Atkinson and Dr. Walter H. Smith. Next Friday night a mass meeting is to be held at the Y. M. C. A., at which the work of the society will be explained.
Club of Merchants to Elect Officers
Camden Courier-Post —
Broadway Merchants to Hold Annual Banquet at Hotel Walt Whitman, Jan. 25
An exciting contest is expected in the annual election of officers of the Broadway Business Men’s Association. The elections, preceded by a banquet, will be held Wednesday evening, January 25, at Hotel Walt Whitman.
Three merchants are candidates for the presidency, which will be vacated by Harry Pelouze. There are J.V. Moran, Walter Friant and Morris Futernick. They were nominated at the November meeting of the association.
Another battle is looked for in the naming of a vice-president. M. Fuhrman and J.W. Holmes are the two candidates while Morris Jaffe is the retiring vice president. Edwin C. Norcross, president treasurer, will be unopposed for re-election. Albert S. Dudley will be unopposed when he succeeds David Tattersdill as secretary.
Representatives from every business in every section of the city have been invited to attend the affair, while every one of the 150 members will probably be present. The principle speaker will be former Judge John B. Kates, of the Broadway Merchants Trust Company.
An address on interstate traffic and its relations to the transportation problems of Camden business will be delivered by J.J. Ruster, head of the transportation department of the Camden Chamber of Commerce. Francis B. Wallen and Loyal D. Odhner, president and secretary respectively of the Chamber of Commerce will also be guests of the merchants.
A comparison of the work of other commercial organizations will be made by several well-known visitors. Benjamin Shindler, William Lipsitz and H. Zbieratski, presidents respectively of the East Camden, Kaighn Avenue and Mount Ephraim Business Men’s Associations, will speak.
The new constitution and by-laws of the association will be adopted at the January meeting. Eighteen directors will be elected; six for terms of three years, six for two-year terms and a similar number for one year.
The candidates for director are Harry Pelouze, Joseph Kobus, J.W. Holmes, Albert Israel, James V. Moran, Walter Friant, Dr. I.S. Siris, Joseph Fuhrman, William E. Cross, S. Abeson, M. Futernick, Howard B. Lee, Fred W. Schorpp, Morris Jaffe, W. Mitchell, L. Markowitz, Joseph Corbett, M. Lasala, P. Thatcher, W. Falture, G. Lockerman and David Tattersdill.
Patrons, Patronesses Announced for First Military Ball
Camden Courier-Post —
Patrons and patronesses for the first military ball of the Camden Post No. 960, Veterans of Foreign Wars, to be held on Friday evening February 3 in the Elks auditorium, Seventh and Cooper Streets, are announced today.
The following prominent men and women are listed: Mrs. J.W. Connor, Miss C.M. Day, Mrs. J.H. Forsyth, Mrs. H.J. Goodyear, Miss B. Graham, Mrs. R.E. Green, Mrs. E.F. Haines, Mrs. J. Hood Jr., Mrs. W. Hurley, Mrs. J. Jarrell, Mrs. T. Keefe, Mrs. J.F. Kobus, Mrs. L. Liberman, Mrs. F.L. Lloyd, Mrs. M.A. Logan, Mrs. T.P. McConaghy, Mrs. F.F. Neutze, Mrs. L.K. Marr, Mrs. J.A. Pennington, Mrs. M.E. Ramsey, Mrs. E. Truax, Mrs. S.M. Shay, Mrs. W.J. Staats, Mrs. B.G. Tarburton, Mrs. R.W. Waddell, Mrs. E. Watson, Mrs. E.P. Wescott, Mrs. C.A. Wolverton.
David Baird Jr., William T. Boyle, Isaac Ferris, William Hurley, John Hood Jr., John Jarrell, Victor King, William J. Kraft, Thomas Keefe, Joseph F. Kobus, Hon. Edmund B. Leaming, Dr. A. Haines Lippincott, James H. Long, L.K. Marr, Dr. Thomas P. McConaghy, Hon. Frank F. Neutze, Samuel P. Orlando, Albert E. Simmons, Edwin Watson, Ethan P. Wescott.
47 More Men Join League to Aid Baird
Camden Courier-Post —
Professional and Business Leaders Back Camden Man for Governor
Forty-seven more prominent professional and business men yesterday joined the Baird-for-Governor Business Men’s League and pledged themselves to work actively in interest of David Baird Jr., for governor, and add special impetus to his campaign.
The league was organized this week at an enthusiastic meeting of 18 outstanding Baird supporters in professional and business life at the Camden Club, 315 Cooper Street. The league membership is open only to business, professional and industrial leaders who are not holding public office and who are not politicians.
The latest enrollments among community leaders pledging themselves to devote themselves to the Baird cause are the following:
F. Morse Archer, president of the First Camden National Bank; Clinton L. Bardo, president of the New York Shipbuilding Company and of the New Jersey Taxpayers’ Association; George C. Baker, of the Baker-Flick Company; Watson Shallcross, president of the Camden County Chamber of Commerce; Howard J. Dudley, Broadway merchant; Thomas E. French, prominent attorney; J. David Stern, publisher of the Courier-Post newspapers and of the Philadelphia Record; Wellington K. Barto, of the West Jersey Trust Company; Dr. Joseph Roberts, Cooper Hospital; William Clement, of the Clement Coverall Paint Company; Robert Wright, of the Haddonfield National Bank; Arthur J. Podmore, of the Camden Pottery Company; Nathan Leopold, Haddonfield druggist; Dr. J. Edgar Howard, of Haddonfield.
Dr. Alfred N. Elwell, of this city; Edward Preisendanz, Clarence Peters, N. Franks, of Franks & Sweeney; U. G. Peters, Ralph D. Baker, prominent real estate man; Archibald Dingo, George Bachman, Sr., and George Bachman, Jr., Dr. O. W. Saunders, Henry Cooperson, Leon Cooperson, Herman Z. Cutler, Charles Bauman, Harry Rose, George Austermuhl, Walter Gulick, Albert Voeglin, Howard Fearn, John A. Schlorer, Ernest L. Bartelt.
William S. Casselman, George M. Carr, J. Price Myers, Carl R. Evered, former president of the Camden County Real Estate Board; Francis B. Wallen, former president of the Camden County Chamber of Commerce; William H. Alff, Edmund J. Alff, Harry Pelouze, Walter Campbell, Dr. Thomas R. Bunting, Joseph F. Kobus and Henry E. Kobus.
Enrollments, it was announced, may be made through the following committee of the league:
Ludwig A. Kind, Thomas Gordon Coulter, Charles H. Laird, Walter J. Staats, Frank C. Middleton, Jr., Frank J. Hineline, William T. Read, Charles S. Boyer, W. W. Robinson, George R. Pelouze, Paul A. Kind, Dr. Paul A. Mecray, Jerome Hurley, Harry A. Moran, James V. Moran, William J. Strandwitz, former Judge Lewis Starr and Frank C. Norcross.
Merchant Leaders Promoting Camden’s ‘Co-operation Days’ Sale
Camden Courier-Post —
The above business leaders welcomed State Senator Emerson L. Richards to Camden yesterday when he sounded the keynote for the opening of the biggest merchandise sale in Camden in 20 years.
Left to right, back row: Cutler A. McGrew, manager of the J. C. Penney Company; Frank J. Kinsella, advertising director, Courier-Post Newspapers, Edward Callow, district manager Stanley-Warner Theatres; Joseph Murdock, manager Stanley Theatre.
Middle row: W. L. Tushingham, business manager, Courier-Post Newspapers; Samuel Auerbach; Russell Gibbons, Baker-Flick Company; William Rothman, Barrett’s Tire Shops; Joseph Kobus.
Front row: M. Futernick; Harry A. Moran, chairman Merchants Committee; S. Lester; J. Price Myers, and S. Abrahamson.
At right, Senator Richards is shown addressing merchants at the court house plaza.
National Puzzlers to Hold Semi-Annual Session Here
Camden Courier-Post —
Amateur Creators of Brain Twisters Open Three-Day Conclave Tomorrow; Mrs. Kobus To Greet Delegates on Arrival
Puzzledom, that world of crypto-grams, psychology and pseudonyms, will have its capital in Camden beginning and continuing through Sunday. It will be the 105th semi-annual convention of the National Puzzlers’ League, Inc.
Back in 1926, sesquicentennial year of American Independence, the puzzlers held their 86th semi-annual convention here. The fact Joseph Kobus, retired Broadway merchant, is a charter member of the organization, founded in 1883, and that his wife, City Commissioner Mary W. Kobus, is now first vice president, may have had something to do with the selection of Camden for both gatherings. Mrs. Kobus was president in 1929.
Close to 100 members, from all sections of the country east of the Mississippi, are expected. Convention headquarters are to be in the Walt Whitman Hotel. The membership includes, besides amateur puzzle creators, affiliated with regional puzzlers’ clubs, many of the best known contributors of puzzle ideas to magazines and newspapers.
Mrs. Kobus, for instance, is H. S. Law, which is a reverse spelling of her name before marriage, Walsh. Commissioner Kobus— beg pardon, H. S. Law— is chairman of the reception committee which will welcome members as they arrive tomorrow afternoon and night. Many attractive entertainment features will be crowded into the two-day session.
On the convention program for Saturday morning is a meeting of the organization’s board of trustees. Then, following a scenic automobile trip, the opening session of the convention will be held from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. A theatre party and a banquet will conclude the day’s activities.
Features of Sunday’s program, after breakfast and church services, will be a puzzle broadcast from Station WCAM at 11:00 AM, the closing session of the convention in the afternoon, to be followed by award of a cup to the winner of a puzzle contest.
WPA Band to Play
Sunday evening there will be a meeting of the MMM, Minute Men of Mystery, an organization within the league, followed by a dinner and “surprises.” The WPA leisure time band, directed by Joseph Fuhrman, will give a musical program at the hotel for the benefit of the visitors Saturday night.
“It has been generally agreed by discerning critics that Puzzledom, as we know it, received a big upward life toward a higher and better organized plane by reason of a historic meeting here in 1926,” Mrs. Kobus said, “and we hope the coming session will prove just as brilliant.” Other officers of the league are: Charles Jacobsen (Oedipus), of Whitestone NY, president; Paul E. Thompson (Blackstone), Cleveland Heights OH, second vice president; Lewis Trent (C. Saw), New York NY, secretary; John Q. Boyer (Primrose), Baltimore MD, treasurer; Rufus T. Strohm (Arty Ess), Scranton PA, official editor, and J. H. Wickham (Wick O’Cincy), Cincinnati OH, Ohio trustee.
Kobus Named Head of Puzzlers Group as Convention Ends
Camden Courier-Post —
‘Nedmac’ (Spell It Backwards) Elected; Wife Retires as Vice President
NEW WORDS PRESENTED
By THOMAS O’HALLORAN
Joseph F. Kobus, retired Camden merchant, was elected president of the National Puzzlers League, Inc. at the closing session yesterday of its 105th semi-annual convention.
The convention opened Saturday in the Hotel Walt Whitman.
The new president, husband of City Commissioner Mary W. Kobus, was one of the earliest members of the organization, founded in 1883. His nom-de-plume in puzzledom is Nedmac.
Mrs. Kobus, retiring first vice president, is H. S. Law in the world of cryptograms, “flats” and “posers.”
Others elected were: R. P. Woodman (Macropod) of North Quincy, Mass., to succeed Mrs. Kobus; Mrs. G. H. Ropes (Evero), of Detroit, Mich., second vice president; Lewis Trent (C. Saw), of New York, secretary for his 26th consecutive term; John Q. Boyer (Primrose), of Baltimore, treasurer; Rufus T. Strohm (Arty Ess), of Scranton, Pa., official editor, and J. H. Wickham (Wick O’Cincy), of Cincinnati, O., trustee.
Following the business session about 50 members participated in a prize puzzle contest in the junior ball room of the hotel and the M.M.M. (Minute Men of Mystery), a social organization within the league, held a dinner meeting.
C. Saw Gets Bowl.
A silver bowl was presented to C. Saw as a testimonial to his 25 years’ service as secretary of the league. He was lauded in a presentation speech by the retiring president, Charles Jacobson (Oedipus) of Whitestone, L.I.
In the puzzle contest a special prize for solution of a cryptogram in 1 [minute] was won by “Live Devil,” who is William Lutwiniak, of Jersey City, a youthful member of the league.
The cryptogram was submitted by a New York detective fiction magazine.
Mrs. Kobus, who was chairman of the convention reception committee, introduced several members as speakers on a broadcast program from Station WCAM in the morning.
They were Robert Anderson (Fort Sumter), of Jersey City, a charter member, Jacobson, Boyer, who spoke on cryptograms, and Louis C. Macaran (Zoroaster) of Stonehurst, Pa.
Organization Recalled
Anderson recalled the organization of the league by a group of young men who met in Pythagoras Hall, on Canal Street, New York City, July 4, 1883. The hall has since been razed to make way for the Williamsburg Bridge over the East River. He said that of the 36 present about 10 survive. After the meeting, he said, the members celebrated by walking across Brooklyn Bridge, which had been opened only a few weeks before.
At yesterday’s business session David Shulman (Ab Struse), of New York City, proposed that the league officially endorse as proper words for use in puzzledom “ismer” and “poorich.”
“Ismer” was suggested by George H. Pryor (Miss Fitts) of Baltimore and “poorich” by Boyer (Primorse), the former to indicate one who is given to an “ism” as, for instance, a “braintruster,” the latter to indicate that both poor and rich are not always to be sharply differentiated but may have interests in common.
The suggestion was referred to the educational committee, of which Boyer is chairman. He revealed later he had been instrumental in having the word “carefree” placed in Standard and other dictionaries when he discovered several years ago that the word, though in common usage, had never been listed by lexicographers.
It is the rule in puzzledom that in building up word forms no word can be used that is not in a recognized dictionary or is not officially endorsed by the league if newly coined.
Boston was selected for the 106th convention which will be held September 5, 6 and 7.
Joseph F. Kobus Dies at Hospital
Camden Courier-Post —
Husband of City Commissioner Succumbs After Long Illness at 76
Joseph F. Kobus, retired shoe merchant and husband of City Commissioner Mary W. Kobus, died at 10:23 o’clock last night in Cooper Hospital. He was 76.
Although in ill health several weeks Mr. Kobus, a life-long resident of Camden, was taken seriously ill on May 17, the day after he attended the installation of his wife and other members of the city commission at City Hall. Death followed a kidney condition from which he seemed to rally several times. On Wednesday morning he had a sinking spell and his physician, Dr. Thomas M. Kain, rushed from Atlantic City, where he was attending a convention of the Medical Society of New Jersey.
Several hours later he rallied and recognized his wife, who had maintained a day and night vigil at his bedside since Tuesday. He spent a comfortable night and again yesterday he sank into a coma. At the bedside were his wife, a son by a previous marriage, Harry Kobus, other relatives and Dr. Kain.
Long In Shoe Business
Joe Kobus was one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of Camden. He was a son of the late Anthony Kobus, founder of the original Kobus shoe store, which was started in 1858 in an unpretentious little building on South Fourth near Spruce street.
Later the business was moved to the corner of Fourth and Spruce streets, where a larger store was built. Following the death of the father in 1920, Mr. Kobus and his brother, the late Henry C. Kobus, continued the business. Both had worked in their father’s store as young men.
Mr. Kobus often said he “was almost born in the shoe retailing business.”
The old Kobus shoe store was known as a “family store.” Those whose shoes were bought there by their parents later bought their own children’s shoes at the Kobus store.
The business was moved to 934 Broadway in 1924. The two brothers had the modern store, with apartments on the second floor, built to meet the demands of increased business.
Mr. Kobus and his brother retired from business four years ago. The death of the brother six weeks ago was a severe shock to Mr. Kobus. He began to fail shortly after.
After attending Camden schools, Mr. Kobus entered LaSalle College, Philadelphia. He continued to assist his father, and after graduating joined the firm with his father and brother.
Affectionately known among his many friends and former customers as “Joe,” Mr. Kobus was of a retiring disposition. He never took an active interest in politics, but he was one of his wife’s political advisers and he took great pride in the splendid administration of Commissioner Kobus as director of public safety.
Both Mr. Kobus and his wife were active members and former officers of the National Puzzlers’ Association.
For many years he was an active member of SS. Peter and Paul’s R. C. Church, a parish his father aided in establishing. When he and Commissioner Kobus moved to 429 Haddon avenue, he became a member of the former Church of Immaculate Conception, now the cathedral of the diocese of Camden.
When the brothers moved to the Broadway store they gave their Fourth and Spruce streets property to their church.
Funeral arrangements are being completed.
Photos
Mary and Joseph Kobus lived at 429 Haddon Avenue (the right-hand part of the twin home pictured below). Photo of 431 & 429 Haddon Avenue taken June 15, 2003.
429 and 431 Haddon Avenue, June 15, 2003