During the summer prior to our reunion, I took several pictures of Denfeld while trying to find a photo of interest for my part of the reunion effort. While going through the photos, something caught my eye – eight words either cast in concrete or carved in stone. One of the words was truly elusive because the light wasn’t right or because the wind shook the camera resulting in an image that was too blurry to find any decent detail. I made several trips back to Denfeld, walking around the building trying to get a good shot of this one uncooperative word - - it became an obsession of sorts. The words are Artist, (the elusive word mentioned before), Devotee, Magician, Master, Philanthropist, Philosopher, Ruler and Scientist. Those who went to Denfeld have looked at these words literally hundreds of times – I have mentioned these words to many who went to Denfeld and they have never knowingly seen them.
Do you know where these eight words are located???
There has to be a story behind the placement of these words – does anyone have anything to offer here?
Bob, there are 4 sides to the clock tower, and each side has a left side and a right side as you face the clock. If your're looking at the clock tower from 4th street, Philosopher is inscribed on the left hand side of the tower across from the clock and philanthropist is inscribed on the right hand side of the tower across from the clock. That leaves the clock tower facing east or 44th avenue, the clock tower facing north or 5th or 6th street, and finally the clock tower facing the west side or Public Schools Stadium. The other 6 words are located on the 3 remaining sides that I have mentioned....Ron Koski
Congrats goes out to Ron Koski for noticing the fine detail, (I thought I was being so clever in finding this.) As a result of this effort, I am now the proud owner of a couple of hundred photos of Denfeld’s clock tower – all digital so there really wasn’t much of an investment here.
Here’s the skinny:
North side, left to right: Artist – Devotee
West side, left to right: Scientist – Magician
South side, left to right: Philosopher – Philanthropist
East side, left to right: Ruler – Master
“Artist” truly was the most difficult word to get in sharp enough focus to be read, (the end result really isn’t all that great either.) Next was the word “Devotee” – for a while I thought it was “Divorcee” and I was amazed at the far reaching vision of those who selected the words – I need some room here, age and needing my eyes checked played a key role in this. The remaining words pretty well jumped out once their presence was known.
Now that we have come this far, which word describes the type of person you have become. Maybe you’re made up of a smattering of more than just one of the words, ie: possibly you are a philanthropic, divorced, (oops! devoted), magician who has been ruled Philosophical Master, (this would be a “PhM”), for your artistic flair while performing scientific acts on stage. Go ahead – express yourself.
On the other hand, maybe there are other words you feel would have been more appropriate on the tower. Just kick back and let your mind wander – then, through this forum, let the whole world know the differences between the thought patterns of the twenties, (when the current Denfeld was built), and the thought processes spawned during the sixties.
