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Noted Boston wood-carver Albert H. Whittekind hand-carved a beautiful
8-column glass and carved panel children's hearse in that still exists
and is mounted on a 1927 1/2 ton Graham Brother's chassis. The owner's, Don
& Linda Cole told TPC that Whittekind took two years to carve it.
The Professional Car, Issue #64 Second Quarter 1992
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Albert Whittekind was a master woodcarver whose intricate designs adorn
many Burlington Vermont buildings inside and out. Coming to the area in
1886 to carve the elaborate interior of Billings library, he stayed on for
the rest of his long career, making his home in Winooski until his death in
1943. In the Billings Library he executed the ornate overmantel panel above
the hearth in the great hall, the boar's head above the entrance door, and
the floral ornament on the soaring hammerbeams of the reading room.
Whittekind carved exterior and interior designs for the Edward Wells
mansion (now Delta Psi), including the two gable ends of the porte-cochere
for which he devised romantic mythological treatments including masks with
flowing floral moustaches, one smiling to greet visitors and the other
frowning to see them depart.
The mask and the moustache motif became a signature of Whittekind's work
on many other commissions in Burlington. His carving can be seen on houses
at 282 Pearl Street, 373 and 384 College Street, and 10, 41 and 301 South
Willard, as well as the courthouse at the corner of Church and Main Streets.
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