DAISY WELCH: “Even in a city that prides itself on town
characters, Daisy Welch stands out as one of the most unique women
that Bradford ever knew.”
With that, Bradford Landmark Society begins an article in its
October newsletter about Daisy Welch who was legendary around town
for her “peanut people.”
“Using hand-carved matchsticks for shoes and legs, scraps of
fabric for clothes, dresses, shirts and pants, she painstakingly
fashioned an entire world based on the shape of a particular
peanut. Some of her peanut people sat in chairs, some played
musical instruments, some carried books, purses and peanut babies
while some were fictional, such as Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs.
“Daisy Welch was born in Potter County in 1899, but her family
soon moved to Bradford and she spent the rest of her life here.
“Believed to be affected at an early age with polio, she
nevertheless obtained a teaching degree from Clarion State Normal
School and taught for several years in the Bradford Township School
System before she began creating the peanut people one day in the
early 1930s.
“Before long, her creations were shown – and sold – nationwide.
She exhibited several of her peanut families at the New York
World’s Fair Hobby Hall in 1939, and at an Atlanta toy fair in 1935
and 1948. Several of her peanut people were on permanent exhibit at
the Children’s Museum of Brooklyn, N.Y., and at the state museum in
Springfield, Ill.
“She also composed poetry and songs and was easily identified
all over town by her peanut people and her blue bike, which she
rode everywhere.
“She died on Nov. 6, 1979, at the age of 80. Somehow, her peanut
family band survived and was eventually donated to the Bradford
Landmark Society, where we still marvel at the patience, creativity
and determination it took to create such a community of peanut
people.”
The Bradford Landmark Society is fortunate to have over a dozen
of Daisy Welch’s peanut people, including a family that plays
musical instruments, an old lady in a rocking chair, several dogs
and chickens and, of course, several peanut children.
“One of the most remarkable things about the peanut people is
their construction; our collection dates from nearly 70 years ago,
yet their colors are bright, their glue tight and their condition
is as good as the day they were made,” the article says.
