Welcome to Mystic River Toys & Gifts!
We are a family run, retail toys and gifts company, located in Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania. Known as "The Switzerland Of The East," it is part of the famous Pocono Mountains, where people come from all over the world to honeymoon and the final resting place of Jim Thorpe. "The All American"
At Mystic River Toys & Gifts we want to make life more enriching for children, and more enjoyable for the entire family. Our goal is to provide babies, children and their parents with the very finest and safest products available. We search the world over for innovative, hard to find, high-quality products. We take pride in offering outstanding customer service, true shopping convenience, and a complete guarantee on every item we sell. At Mystic River Toys & Gifts, we want our customers to keep coming back, as their children grow.
We know that children are our future and we provide products that provide safety, enhance creativity, explore learning, and encourage independence.
We are excited to provide this online toy store offering both familiar and unique items for children birth to 6 years and beyond.You will recognize many name brands like Little Tikes® and Crayola®. We also offer a line of unique gifts and collectibles. Some for children and some for the child in all of us. We also encourage you to check back often because we are constantly adding new items and expanding our catagories.
If you know of a product that would benefit other children please feel free to contact us and let us know. We welcome all suggestions.
Our mailing address is:
Mystic River Toys & Gifts LLC
148 Danner Road
Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania 18229
Or contact us via E-Mail at:
If you like what you see, please bookmark us and by all means, refer us to your friends.
Thank-you and enjoy your stay........
Michael J. & Deborah A. Abelovsky - Owners
Jim Thorpe History:
The town of Jim Thorpe (formerly known as Coalville and then Mauch Chunk) was founded in 1815 and began as a hub for the railroading, canal trade coal shipping and mining industry and the development of the labor unions associated with it. In the nineteenth century, Mauch Chunk was a thriving commercial center during the heady period of America's Industrial Revolution. Spearheaded by Asa Packer, one of the nation's wealthiest tycoons.
The Molly Maguires:
Beginning in 1842, there were unsuccessful attempts to unionize the miners. During the Civil War, the miners rioted to protest the draft. In 1862, John Kehoe, a miner and opponent of the war spat on the American flag. A mine foreman, F. W. Langdon objected to this act and was stoned to death. Over the following decade, this violence grew and developed into a secret society called the Molly Maguires. Some say Molly Maguire was the wife of the first miner that died. Others say it was the name of a secret society in Ireland. It was rumored that sometimes they would disguise themselves in woman's clothing. In 1869, Frank B. Gowen, a lawyer, became head of the Reading Railroad company. He lead the railroad into the mining business with a policy of scaring the mine operators and destroying the unions. Gowen had the money, the power and the police in his control. His only opposition was a secret avenging group called the Molly Maguires. In order to break the Mollies, Gowen hired Allen Pinkerton. Pinkerton decided to plant an agent, James McParlan, within the Mollies. Over the following two years, McParlan gathered evidence on the Mollies for several murders in Carbon County. The Mollies including John Kehoe were hung. One of the Mollies named Alexander Campbell was found guilty of murder. He admitted being at the murder of John P. Jones, a mine superintendent, but he did not pull the trigger. Although he was only an accessory, the court found him guilty of first degree murder. As Campbell was dragged from his cell, he continued to plead his innocence. On June 21, 1877, as he was taken from cell # 17 of the Carbon County Jail, he placed his hand on the wall and stated that its mark would remain there visible to attest to his innocence.
After over a hundred years and several coats of paint and the best attempts at cleaning, his hand print remains. If you ever come to Jim Thorpe Pa. Ask the sheriff to show you cell #17. The Sherlock Holmes novel, The Valley Of Death by Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired by the story of the Molly Maguires. The Molly Maguires was a major motion picture, filmed in Jim Thorpe and starring Sean Connery. A most complete story of the Mollies is told in The Molly Maguires by Wayne G. Broehl, Jr.
Jim Thorpe:
In 1912, he was at the height of his powers and fame. He took the Stockholm Olympics by storm, breaking record after world record and setting a point total unprecedented in the modern Olympiad. Jim Thorpe won every event in the pentathlon except the javelin throw. King Guastav, in presenting the gold medals, said to Thorpe, "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world." These words are carved for all time on the granite slab in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. But soon after the Olympics, a newspaper reporter discovered that while at Carlisle, the young Thorpe had played a season of professional baseball in North Carolina for $60 a month. Although Jim Thorpe protested that he hadn't realized he was breaking any rules, The Olympic Committee stripped him of his medals on the grounds that Thorpe had forfeited his amateur status.
Thorpe died in 1953, and his widow discovered to her sorrow that his native state of Oklahoma would not assist in developing a suitable memorial to him. About the same time, Mrs. Thorpe learned how the communities of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk were also struggling for economic survival. Spearheaded by Joe Boyle, editor and co-publisher of the Mauch Chunk Times News, local citizens were contributing a nickel a week to an economic development fund. Buoyed by this community spirit, she visited the town and asked for assistance. A group of local citizens thought that this would be an opportunity to end decades of sectional rivalries by merging the towns, naming them in honor of Jim Thorpe, and hoping that the change would give added impetus to positive thinking in the community. In two referenda, the town voted in favor of accepting Jim Thorpe. The name was adopted, and now is he final resting place of Jim Thorpe (1888-1953). Until his death, Jim Thorpe the athlete had no direct connection with this area. He was born in Oklahoma in 1888; a descendant of the famous Chief Black Hawk. As a youth he attended the Carlisle Indian Academy near Harrisburg but there are no records of his ever venturing into the Carbon County community that would eventually become his final resting place. A huge monument where he is buried stands in his honor and thousands of people each year come to visit his final resting place.
I hope you found these little tidbits informative and interesting. American history at its begining stages is truly incredable.
