On the eve of the festive day the workmen in a body brought their master a torchlight procession, which, after passing through the whole of the gaily decorated premises, came to halt in the courtyard of Mr. Faber’s house, whereupon the workmen’s singing club performed three partsongs composed expressly for the occasion.
A deputation of workmen consisting of men who had been longest in the factory then handed the master, together with an appropriate address made by their senior member, a handsome and tasteful album as a festive present from them, and a parchment roll on which were printed a dedication composed in verse, then the speech which a workman made in the most spirited manner previous to the presentation of the album, further the songs performed and a list of the names of all the workmen and women. This was certainly one of the most affecting moments and even those men, who had become grey in the service of the factory were unable to restrain their tears of emotion and gratitude.
Lothar Faber in his reply dwelt particularly upon how he valued the proofs of love, attachment, gratitude and faithfulness shown to him as being not merely intended for himself alone but likewise for his whole house and more especially for his two brothers standing so faithfully by his side, and how he wished that these sentiments of the workpeople might ever spread among them and be manifested to him and his family for all time.
On the morning of the sixteenth of September all the workmen and women assembled at the house of L. Faber in order to receive the festive present appointed for each person as also a commemoration medal coined expressly for this festival, having on the one side the arms of the family with the legend: “Founder: Kaspar Faber † 1784; Successors: A. W. Faber † 1819; G. L. Faber † 1839; J. L. Faber”; and upon the Obverse the legend: “In remembrance of the Century Jubilee of the Leadpencil Manufactory of A. W. Faber at Stein near Nürnberg.”
The festive clang of bells now summoned all present to the special divine service, which was destined to form a worthy commencement to the festival and all the factory hands arranged themselves in a stately procession, which, headed by the members of the Faber family, moved towards the church in order there to give vent to the feelings of gratitude in a pious and christian manner. A sermon was preached, the text being taken from the 90th Psalm, verses 16. 17 and at the conclusion of the service all the workpeople male and female assembled at eleven o’clock at the workmen’s dwellinghouses in the village of Stein built by L. Faber, from whence they started in a procession, headed by the band of the fourteenth regiment of infantry stationed at Nürnberg, for the park of L. Faber, one portion of which nearest the dwellinghouse had been specially arranged for the festival partly for the entertainment of the numerous guests and partly for various amusements of play and dance, and which, by its elegant decorations and appropriate mottoes, bearing upon the past and present of the Factory, made the most agreeable impression upon every one. Arrived upon the festive grounds the entire body of workpeople about four hundred in number partook of the dinner provided for them, the regimental band performing agreeable music the while. The repast concluded, L. Faber mounted a tribune especially erected for this occasion and ornamented with lifesize busts of the departed ancestors, and in a short speech set before them the chief features of the history of the manufactory, impressing upon them, on the commencement of the second century of its existence, the value of that order and carefulness which are so indispensably necessary for the prosperous career of a large establishment in the requirements of our age, and concluding with a cheer for the existence and welfare of the Factory in which all joined vociferously.
The two youngest boys of the family, Wilhelm the son of L. Faber ten years and Ernst the son of his brother Johann, seven years of age hereupon ascended the steps and while the former greeted his father with a poem in the name of the four surviving brothers and sisters of L. Faber, the latter presented him with a silver goblet also in their name as a souvenir of the festival.
By three o’clock the number of the guests had increased to nearly six hundred. They amused themselves with all sorts of games, to which the drawing of prizes lent an especial charm, and with dancing round the lofty maypole erected on the grass plot, or with wandering through the park, which was entirely thrown open, while the band charmed the ear with its performances. In the midst of this lively scene of rejoicing, which partook of the appearance of a national gathering, the Master of the Factory L. Faber, together with all others present were surprised in the most agreeable manner by the arrival of a gracious autographic missive from His Majesty the King, which read as follows: