My best find that day was a gross of latex balloons packaged in neat little boxes
For more information about "Bluffton Anthology" click here.
What Rudi Steiner found in a Main Street alley in the 1950s - The alley, which runs parallel to Main Street and Jackson Street, was another of the great Bluffton alleys of the 1950s.
This was the longest of the alleys I travelled. It ran from behind the high school all the way down to Riley Street. This alley always had really good stuff thrown out by Bluffton merchants.
On one occasion I collected all kinds of old bottles, corks, tin containers and pillboxes from behind Sidney Hauenstein’s drug store.
My best find that day was a gross of latex balloons packaged in neat little boxes, which I shared with the Jordan brothers and other kids in the neighborhood.
I don’t know what happened to the other kids’ balloons, but mom confiscated mine. It wasn’t until years later that I discovered why.
This is a sample of the content of "Bluffton Anthology - A creek runs through it." Copies are now available for $24.95 plus tax in Bluffton at:
• Roots by Strattons
• The Food Store
• The Black Lab
• Bluffton Senior Citizens Center
• The Dough Hook
• Polished
Stories Posted This Week
Saturday, October 3, 2026
Friday, October 2, 2026
- John "Jack" Palte, 88, was a farmer
- Nature walk at university Nature Preserve, Oct. 3
- ICYMI: September 2026 Bluffton Icon Highlights
- Walking through Autumn series brings hikers to Bluffton
- Pirate volleyball win vs. Spencerville
- Pirate boys soccer ties Ottawa-Glandorf
- Pirate girls soccer loss vs. Toledo St. Ursula
- Can you bake a winning pie?
- Library seeks Holiday Gift Auction donations
Thursday, October 1, 2026
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
- Pirate volleyball loss vs. Lincolnview
- Village of Bluffton meetings announced, Oct. 1-Nov. 2
- 100 years of being Beavers: 2026 Bluffton University Homecoming, Oct. 2-4
- Check out October 2026 BPL Update
- Final call for for Bluffton photos contest
- Pandora-Gilboa HS crowns Homecoming King and Queen
- Bluffton Council recap: Purchase of Marsh Run acres approved
- Senior Center's October membership dinner
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
- Pirate volleyball sweeps Wapakoneta
- Pirate boys golf 4th at NWC tourney; Meyer places 2nd
- Pirate girls soccer shuts out Lima Central Catholic
- Pirate boys soccer shuts out Lima Central Catholic
- Pirate girls tennis blanks Kenton
- Bluffton Fall Festival overflows with family fun
- Stauber exhibit at Massillon Museum through November 1
- Arlington invites generations of alumni to all-school Homecoming