Rattlesnake Pete (Peter P. Gruber) was respected for his
physical strength and steel-nerved courage. He had survived the
bites of 29 rattlers and four copper-heads. He was a master of
Reptile lore which he learned from the indians.
Some think he was the founder of the Cracker Barrel Restaurant
chain, which is false. But he certainly did hang a lot of stuff
from old guns to saddles, rope, old bones, and other oddities from
the ornamental tin ceiling of his eclectic restaurant and museum
located at 8 to 10 Mill Street in Rochester, New York. The walls
too were festooned with mementos of his rattlesnake hunting days
including numerous rattlesnake skins. In addition there were
mechanical toys, a pipe that belonged to John Wilkes Booth, a stony
corpse of a petrified female, and the "first" electric chair!
Peter Gruber was born in 1857 in Oil City, Pennsylvania. His
parents immigrated from Bavaria and his father, Joseph, ran a
saloon in Oil City. In 1893 Rattlesnake Pete and 25 of his hissing
"pets" arrived in Rochester from Oil City where he opened up a
combination restaurant, although some called it a saloon and a
museum of curiosities. It was billed as the Greatest Curiosity in
the City.
On a regular basis, Rattlesnake Pete would invite the curious to
accompany him on snake hunts. In later years he would set out
dressed in his rattlesnake skin vest in his red Rambler which
featured two brass snakes as hood ornaments! He also claimed to
treat a number of ills with snakes from boils to goiters. The most
curious treatment was performed with a black snake that would curl
around the neck of an unfortunate individual suffering from a
goiter. The constriction of the snake would massage the goiter and
bring relief!
Peter Gruber appreciated mechanical musical instruments and
claimed to own a number of them over his career. Most important of
all, he claimed in a 1912 Wurlitzer testimonial that in 1894 he
constructed the _first_ nickel-in-the-slot piano in the country --
an American mechanical music milestone! And how fitting that he be
an attraction owner.
Later he purchased a Wurlitzer C Violin-Flute orchestrion and
even touted the fabulous Wurlitzer PianOrchestras; see the attached
pictures. It can be said that Rattlesnake Pete was a pioneer in
understanding that mechanical music enhanced the novelty value of
his attraction. He even advertised the fact that he had a NEW
electric piano. He was followed later by notable attraction owners
such as Walter Knott and Walt Disney, among others.
Regarding Rattlesnake Pete's claim of the first nickel piano, I
am sure that Peerless may have grumbled. Wurlitzer certainly did
not. But then who would dare doubt the veracity of a man holding a
pair of hissing and rattling rattlesnakes! (History of Rattlesnake
Pete by Tim Trager).
As an extra bonus check out N 43° 12.825, W 077° 37.507, after
you do the cache. You should be able to drive to this location.
Park by the pond at Seneca Park for a gorgeous 1 mile walk along
the river to the cache or park at the end of Seneca Park Ave on the
rails-to-trails railroad bed. No Parking on Seneca Park Ave
itself!