According to Padamonsky, his fascination with presidential history began when he was a boy, where he would “rush down” to the local library in order to read from their collection of historical autobiographies.

Now, the former Hollidaysburg Area School District administrator has more than 300 artifacts, from early 19th-century ribbon-tied campaign buttons, commemorative awards given by Richard Nixon to freshly minted Donald Trump merch.

His favorite of the lot — a 1930s brass clock depicting Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the “man of the hour,” presides over the makeshift museum in Padamonsky’s den like a king in his court.

“I’ve read a lot about FDR and Eleanor (Roosevelt) … he took a nation that was floundering and on the brink of ruin … and brought it back after Hoover and weathered the war, so I have a lot of respect for him,” Padamonsky said.

Part of William Padamonsky’s collection of presidential memorabilia stands on display in his Duncansville home. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Standouts among the collection are a 1840s campaign button, a Grover Cleveland portrait plate and a George W. Bush jack-in-the-box, which plays “Hail to the Chief” as the crank is turned.

More than 100 items amassed over a lifetime of collecting decorate the room, with a few hundred more safely preserved in plastic totes in the basement.

The bulk of his collection was located during countless auction, flea market and thrift store trips, but Padamonsky said others were given as gifts from his wife, children and extended family.

“My son got me a case of knives, actual knives … were made to commemorate the presidents,” he said.

Even his prized FDR clock was a birthday gift from his wife, Emily, decades ago.

Part of William Padamonsky’s collection of presidential memorabilia stands on display in his Duncansville home. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

After running across the clock in a thrift store while on vacation, Padamonsky decided against buying it at the time, only to regret that decision when he got home.

When he returned to the store to correct his mistake, he discovered that it had been sold before he arrived to another interested collector, the cashier told him.

The mysterious collector turned out to be his wife’s brother, whom she sent to buy the clock for her so she could give it as a surprise gift.

School days

Padamonsky spent the majority of his career in the Hollidaysburg district, beginning as a social studies teacher before promotion to junior high principal and finally to assistant to the superintendent, where he remained until he retired after 18 years in the position in 2004.

Part of William Padamonsky’s collection of presidential memorabilia stands on display in his Duncansville home. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

During his time as principal, Padamonsky said that he decorated his office with dozens of items from his collection, which made for an excellent disciplinary tool with students.

“I used them as a ‘deflector,’ if I got kids sent to me as principal,” Padmonsky said he would let students sit in the office alone for a few minutes before he entered the room, so they would have a chance to take in the collection.

“I’d yell at Jimmy for whatever Jimmy did, then I’d try to give them a bit of a history lesson, and try to get them interested in presidents,” Padamonsky said.

Padamonsky said he would also use the same tactic if he knew a parent was coming in to give him an earful.

“If I saw that some of them saw my presidential stuff, and we’d talk about that, it sort of broke the ice … if they were there to moan and groan about something,” he said.

Padamonsky’s presidential fascination was noteworthy almost from the start, as depicted in a 1989 Mirror article.

The pride Padamonsky has for his collection has not dimmed in the ensuing 36 years, he said.

A framed clipping of this article now hangs on his den wall alongside his other treasured trinkets.

Lessons learned

After more than four decades collecting presidential memorabilia, Padamonsky is left with one regret — his lost Abraham Lincoln mourning ring.

Created in 1865 as a way for the public to express grief, mourning items such as badges, pins and rings were worn to honor the fallen commander in chief.

The cameo ring — which features a relief engraving of the 16th President of the United States’ profile — was given to Padamonsky by his wife after she found it at the jewelry section at the Antique Depot in Duncansville, with a casket-shaped ring box to match.

“That was probably my favorite piece — one Christmas I was showing it to my son-in-law, and we don’t know if it got messed up in the paper and thrown out, and I haven’t seen it since then,” Padamonsky said.

His pace of collecting has slowed in recent years, Padamonsky said, as he has now refocused toward acquiring only rare and hard-to-find items.

This change is correlated with a shift in his overall approach to collecting.

Although Padamonsky may have initially considered portions of his collection an investment, to be sold eventually, he said that he has moved away from that view in recent years.

“Now when we think about it, we think about the fun (Emily and I) had collecting it together, and going to the different auctions and flea markets,” Padamonsky said. “Now when you reflect back, you reflect on those things.”

The importance of his collection has grown beyond its financial value, he said.

“A lot of this stuff, the value of it is not there anymore, what is there is the memories that we have of collecting these things and the people that have come into our lives as a result of it.”

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.