The Repair Shop: Kerrville Edition

A Kerrville photograph from the 1890s, before and after
a visit to Joe's "Repair Shop."
Click on any image to enlarge.

My morning coffee friends Lora and Mark recommended a British television show, available on YouTube, that I’ve enjoyed watching. It’s “The Repair Shop,” which was originally broadcast on the BBC, and began in 2017.

In each episode, folks bring by family heirlooms for repair. The items range from broken pottery to a frayed World War II bomber jacket, from dolls to clocks. The show features experts with various specialties. There’s an expert book restorer, a fine art conservator, furniture craftsmen, jewelers, luthiers, and even a two-woman team specializing in dolls and stuffed animal toys.

The key point: the items have sentimental value, not monetary value. While some of the items might fetch a pound or two at auction, it’s not like PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow,” where estimates of value are given. There are no appraisers in the cast, and no one is hoping the vase they found in Grandma’s attic will fetch enough fund their own retirement.

Further, the owners of the heirlooms are not charged for the repairs.

In all, watching the show is a pleasant way to spend three quarters of an hour, and the repairs are often quite remarkable.

Recently, I found among my collection of historical items from Kerrville and Kerr County an old photograph. It had obviously seen much better days. The glass in its unique frame was cracked diagonally, and decades of grime had covered the glass, penetrated the fractured glass, and damaged the photograph below. The frame, too, was damaged, having been knocked around for a very long time. It was covered with scratches and scrapes, and its mottled finish was missing in some areas.

Beneath the dirty glass, the details of the photograph could not be seen clearly.

It was time to put on my imaginary “Repair Shop” apron, apply my expertise, and bring this old photograph and frame back to life.

Getting the photograph out of the frame was tricky; it was nailed shut over 100 years ago. I was fortunate the photograph had not adhered to the glass over that time, and once I’d gotten the back off of the frame, the photograph came out quite easily.

From watching “The Repair Shop,” I knew the first step was often just cleaning an object. The glass was not salvageable and would have to be replaced, but the frame and the photograph itself could stand a good cleaning.

Cleaning the photograph was fairly easy; the grime came off with a little bit of water applied carefully with a cotton swab along the stain. The intricate frame took a little more time, because it had a lot of “teeth” along several layers. On the frame, and on the advice of another morning coffee friend, Randall, I used a diluted dish soap, again using a cotton swab. I rinsed off the soap the same way. The frame cleaned up nicely.

Touching up the color on the frame, I considered several options, but settled on an oil-based tint which closely matched the original color.

Now that the photograph was freed from its grimy frame, and its stains cleaned up, I could scan the image.

Here’s what I learned:

The photograph was of a commercial establishment: H. Nuernberger Merchandise. I did not know if the store was in Kerrville or Kerr County – but the name H. Nuernberger was very unique, and that’s where I started.

It turns out there was a Heinrich “Henry” Nuernberger (1855-1915) who lived in Kerr County. In the 1880 census, he’s 25, and living on the family farm in the Cypress Creek community. In the 1900 census, he’s moved to Kerrville, living with the Boeckmann family, as a boarder. His occupation in 1890 was listed as ‘grocer.’ In the 1910 census, he’s married and his occupation is ‘roadmaster,’ which I think meant he worked locally on the railroad. (This is a guess.)

So, we might infer the photograph of “H. Nuernberger Merchandise” was taken sometime around 900.

Mr. Nuernberger was listed as married for the first time in the 1910 census.

Interestingly, it turns out Mr. Nuernberger, who was listed as a lodger with the Henry Boeckmann family in the 1900 census, married Emma Bell Boeckmann (1859-1916), the widow of Henry Boeckmann (1843-1901).

Of the two Henrys she married, she was much closer in age to her second husband; Henry Boeckmann was 16 years older than Emma; Henry Nuernberger was a little over 3 years older. Emma was only 15 when she married her first husband, and 45 when she married her second husband.

Emma is buried between the two Henrys at Kerrville’s Glen Rest Cemetery, near Schreiner University. She died about a year after her second husband, Nuernberger.

All three have matching grave monuments, made of a dark pink granite, and all three are carved in the same style.

While it probably means little or nothing, I did notice Emma’s grave marker was slightly closer to her second husband’s grave marker. Very slightly closer.

Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who is thankful to Lora and Mark for recommending “The Repair Shop.” I’m happy to recommend it to you, as well. This column originally appeared in the Kerr County Lead June 12, 2025.

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