Monthly Archives: July 2006

Betelle Census Data

All the Census data on JOB. There is exactly one Betelle listed in the USA. He has no memory of James. “Harry” is most likely James, as the birth year matches.

1880 census – Wilmington, New Castle Co, DE,
Film #1254119
NA Film Number – T9-0119
p. 318 D
Occupation
Name /Relationship /Marital Status /Gender /Race /Age /Birthplace /occupation /Fathers Birthplace
John W. BETELLE Self M Male W 33 DE Clerk In Freight Office DE DE
Annie BETELLE Wife M Fem W 29 DE Keeping House DE PA
Oscar BETELLE Son S Male W 8 DE At School DE DE
Harry BETELLE Son S Male W 1 DE DE DE
Emma BETELLE Sister S Fem W 19 DE DE DE

Continue reading →

Office Space

According to my source of all things Betelle:

“Betelle’s offices were in the Chamber of Commerce building Newark. Maybe they have leasing records that show when he occupied the offices, and who took over the office. I can’t imagine that his company simply dwindled to the point he was the last employee. Possibly there were some second hands that took over and reincorporated under a new name. That said, Academic Gothic was truly out of fashion by 1954! He might have just wrapped it up around WWII and called it a day.

“Also, since Betelle lives in Short Hills, I wondered what their library would have. Sometimes people just dump things on the local library. I’d be curious what Betelle’s house looks like. Also, there would have been a will. There was an estate that had to be discharged. Betelle designed the hall of records, it’d be nice if we found the details of his estate there!”

I’ve had this urge to find the exact office where his firm was, and convince the current tenant to let me dig around. You never know what you might find in some forgotten storage room…

Vineland High School, Vineland, N.J.

Betelle designed Vineland High School (now Landis Middle School) in Vineland, New Jersey. There is a good website dedicated to the history of the school, containing a nice overview of the Collegiate Gothic style Betelle employed:

“Exterior style was carefully chosen to blend and harmonize with surroundings. Modified Collegiate Gothic was favored by J. O. Betelle for reasons of scholastic character and other practical points that recommended it for use in a large city school like Landis School. In the Collegiate Gothic style, windows could be as high and wide as needed with a relatively small proportion of wall surface. Also, windows could be arranged irregularly without detracting from the general appearance. Collegiate Gothic was selected for economical reasons as well.”

“Columbia High School, South Orange and Maplewood, N.J.”

James Betelle wrote many articles for educational journals of the day, most notably The American School Board Journal. This one is a brief look at the major features of Columbia High School, which opened its doors in 1927. The article was published in the January, 1928 issue of ASBJ.

COLUMBIA HIGH SCHOOL, SOUTH ORANGE AND MAPLEWOOD, N.J.
Designed by Messrs. Guilbert & Betelle, Architects, Newark, N.J.

It may be recalled that in the special Building Number of the Journal for January, 1926, several of the new grade schools in South Orange and Maplewood were illustrated in connection with an article describing the community and the local point-of-view and objectives in the school-building program. With the grade school situation taken care of temporarily, attention has been given to a senior-high school building, which is located in the geographical and population center of the two communities. This school, known as the Columbia high school, is now completed and occupied, and is illustrated in this issue.

Continue reading →

Great JOB’s Through History

James O. Betelle is referred to throughout this site as JOB, a highly-regarded abbreviation through recorded history. Here we celebrate the Job/JOB/GOBs that have shaped our world.

Job

Job: Biblical dude. “…he is described as a rich, blessed man who fears God and lives righteously. Satan, however, challenges Job’s integrity, and so God gives Job into Satan’s hand, ending in tragedy for Job: the loss of his children, wealth, and physical soundness.” Tough gig.

JOB: “…a popular brand of cigarette paper produced by Republic Tobacco in Perpignan, France. In 1838, a French craftsman named Jean Bardou came up with the idea for a booklet of rolling papers made of thin, pure rice paper. The initials “JB” separated by a diamond became such a common sight that people began referring to them as JOB, thus the brand-name was born.” The fact that the users were stoned had no bearing on the misreading of the label, none at all.

J.O.B.: James Oscar Betelle, a world-renowned architect, with precisely one website dedicated to him.

Steve Jobs: Started a little company. Not much else is known about him.

G.O.B. (Gob): George Oscar Bluth II. Magician. Lover. Father of STEVE HOLT! Is reported to have said, “I’ve got the marriage and none of the good parts. It’s like so far it’s been all chain and no ball.”