Philip S. Brooks:
Bar Mills' Renaissance Man
by Meg Gardner
How many of you recognize this picture? If you can identify it as the painted curtain hanging in the Saco River Grange, now the Saco River Theatre, you’d be right. And, if you have ever read the interesting local businesses highlighting their wares and services, you might have noticed Philip Brooks highlighting Maytags in the lower right-hand corner.
Who was Mr. Brooks, anyway? Philip Brooks was a local young man who was born in 1879. He was fortunate enough marry his high school sweetheart, Ethel Hill*. The Hills had acquired the old Spofford house, across from the South Buxton Cemetery, through an inheritance. Because Ethel Brooks was descended from both families, she in turn had inherited it. As soon as Ethel and Philip married in June of 1903, they became immersed in community affairs. Mrs. Brooks was a life-long member of the South Buxton Cemetery Association. Both were active in the Grange movement, with Mr. Brooks becoming Grand Master of the Saco River Grange (now renamed and repurposed as Saco River Theatre). Philip Brooks was listed as a farmer on his marriage certificate. That would soon change; he was an ambitious young man with his eye to the exciting possibilities of the new century and the Industrial Revolution.
How many of you recognize this picture? If you can identify it as the painted curtain hanging in the Saco River Grange, now the Saco River Theatre, you’d be right. And, if you have ever read the interesting local businesses highlighting their wares and services, you might have noticed Philip Brooks highlighting Maytags in the lower right-hand corner.
Who was Mr. Brooks, anyway? Philip Brooks was a local young man who was born in 1879. He was fortunate enough marry his high school sweetheart, Ethel Hill*. The Hills had acquired the old Spofford house, across from the South Buxton Cemetery, through an inheritance. Because Ethel Brooks was descended from both families, she in turn had inherited it. As soon as Ethel and Philip married in June of 1903, they became immersed in community affairs. Mrs. Brooks was a life-long member of the South Buxton Cemetery Association. Both were active in the Grange movement, with Mr. Brooks becoming Grand Master of the Saco River Grange (now renamed and repurposed as Saco River Theatre). Philip Brooks was listed as a farmer on his marriage certificate. That would soon change; he was an ambitious young man with his eye to the exciting possibilities of the new century and the Industrial Revolution.
We know that he must have been very intelligent with a flexible imagination, a mechanical bent and a businessman’s orientation. Although we know this partly because several accounts refer to the couple with admiration, the very best clue is the series of advertisements he left behind as he moved through the early 1900’s and its rapidly expanding inventive technologies. We see him announcing “I Am Ready for Business” with a livery stable – and additional items including lime and various machinery. A couple of years later, still in the livery business, he becomes an agent for International Harvester trucks; he also obtains a telephone connection.
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Moving along with the times, though, Phil Brooks doesn’t stick with just horses and stables for long. With the advent of the automobile industry, he is right in front of the crowd as a Buick distributor. But he is not dependent on just one big item. This is farm country and a good-sized herd of dairy cows means big business. What is more logical than offering the very best milking machines to the local farmers?
Pushing further into the realm of technological convenience, he introduces a water pump touted as good for man and beast. This wonderful machine provides easy access to fresh water for livestock and encourages cows to produce more milk (necessitating that milking machine). At about the same time Mr. Brooks advertises the latest convenience: a furnace that eliminates the need for dirty stoves in the house. Put the stove in the cellar where it belongs! Have some consideration for your overworked wife: “Men don’t realize all the work women have to do. Take cleaning...” Truer words were never spoken. Once all the wives in Buxton and Hollis saw this advertisement, there would be no peace until Mr. Brooks installed the furnace. One wonders who wrote his ad copy; do you suppose it was Mrs. Brooks? Note that by now, he has his own telephone number: Bar Mills 8_2.
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The crowning achievement for this pioneering business man, however, may have been his installation of running water inside homes. For this business he commissioned an automobile with advertising on the side.
We are told he installed pumps to bring running water to many homes here. I remember when my grandmother had an old hand pump in her slate sink replaced with a real faucet. I wonder whether Phil Brooks installed this marvelous convenience? As were so many of the people who settled in Buxton and Hollis, Phil and Ethel Brooks had the foresight, energy, and commitment that have sustained and enhanced these communities. We are grateful.
*Full name: Emma Ethel Hill
*Full name: Emma Ethel Hill