In an old stone house hidden off of one of Manhattan's busiest boulevards, a dying craft is being kept alive.
It began in Manhattan more than 30 years ago by Jack and Irene Lakin, and is still going strong today because of the efforts of their grandchildren, Steve and Kris Springer.
The Springers own Lakin's Antique Metal Polishing Shop, carrying on the family tradition of an art which is rapidly diminishing in Topeka.
Springer and his wife polish, buff and recreate antiques in a small shop located behind the stone house on Ft.iley Boulevard.
Together, they form a tandem of craftspeople that has been the heart and soul of the Lain family for years.
Springer says he got started in the metal polishing business shortly after he returned from Viet Nam in 1969.
"I was going to school at Kansas State and working part-time in my grandfather's shop," he says.
But it didn't take Springer long to discover he possessed a talent working with metal, and before long, he found himself working full-time in the shop along with his brother, John, who left Manhattan in 1979 to set up his own shop in the Los Angeles area.
While in California, the younger Springer sold Victorian style recreations, and then returned to Manhattan for a year where he helped Steve and Kris with Victorian recreations.
John is now in Springfield, Mo., where he runs another shop.
"We're taking things a step further now by adding brass and copper architectural accent pieces," Springer says.
One of the Springer's most ambitious projects includes working on the restoration of the downtown area. "We're trying to keep some of the things down there as original as possible," he says. "We're recreating a lot of things by looking at photos, and refurbishing the old ones."
The Springers have been responsible for refurbishing all the lights in the Old Wareham Hotel.
Springer says he learned his craft from his grandfather, but before that, the elder Lakin taught his grandson an even bigger lesson.
"He taught me that if you put out a good honest quality of work at a fair price, you're business will always be alright," Springer said. "He was always stressing quality. There were times when he would make me do things over and over again until he was satisfied, then you knew the job was done right."
A product of the depression, Lakin worked side by side with his grandsons until his death a few years ago. But the Springers continued what their grandfather started, adding the business's newest phase - the recreation of antique heirlooms.
Even after the younger Springer left for California, Steve and his wife kept the business going, polishing brass, copper, silver, aluminum as well as other antique metals.
Recently, the Springer's were contracted to do a job at the Custer House in Fort Riley. They polished oak table drawer handles in the House, as well as pieces in the limestone houses, also at Fort Riley.
He says some of his more unusual projects have included polishing a bobby helmet from England and a propeller for a large steamship.
One of Springer's future goals is to establish a local craftman's guild in Manhattan which would be composed of local professional talent in the area.
Springer is also hoping to instigate a local craft show in the spring that would take place in the courthouse plaza.