While the cookies, pies, jams, tarts and sausage were consumed when they were fresh, the other gifts made and exchanged more than half a century ago are among the few gifts that still survive as cherished treasures in our homes today. ** Reared on a local dairy farm, former Scottsdale city councilman (1971-76), state legislator (1979-85) and honored oral historian Paul Messinger founded Messinger Mortuaries in 1959.