Supermarket Comes To Boom Town

The concrete monolith still stands five stories above Lehigh Street at the Parkway Shopping Center. Currently it sports a clock and a sign for St. Luke's medical offices. It was built in 1953 as the modernistic sign tower for Food Fair supermarket, which then was a stand alone store. Behind it, on South 12th Street was the Black and Decker Factory. The shopping center would not be built to decades later, connecting the former supermarket to the bowling alley built in the 60's. Food Fair was started in the 1920's by Russian immigrant Samuel Friedland in Harrisburg. By 1957 he had 275 stores. 1953 was a rough year for the butcher, baker and candle stick maker; the huge supermarkets were too much competition, even for the bigger independent markets, such as Lehigh Street Superette; it was further east on Lehigh, now the site of a Turkey Hill Market. The sign tower also remains at the 15th and Allen Shopping center, which was another stand alone Food Fair. That parcel remains an independent supermarket. Food Fair would eventually absorb Penn Fruit, which had a market on N. 7th Street, then turn into Pantry Pride. When the Food Fair was built, there was as yet no 15th Street Bridge. Allentown only connected to the south side by the 8th Street Bridge and the Lehigh/Union Street hill. (stone arch bridge, near Regency Tower, was route to West End) Allentown was booming and Mack Trucks were rolling off the line, a block east off Lehigh Street, as fast as they could build them. The factories on S. 12th st. are now flea markets. Mack Headquarters is being sold to a real estate developer. Perhaps those concrete monoliths are the monuments to better times, by those of us who remember.

OPEN MIKE

This posting is intended to provide an opportunity to comment on any topic, or on an earlier posting.

Crimes Of Lanta

NEW IMPROVED VERSION
Regular readers of this blog know I don't think much of Lanta. A couple years ago when they decided to sacrifice the Hamilton Street merchants for their own agenda, I got involved with that cause. Their board of directors is a case study in bureaucratic aloofness. From a alternative transportation idealist (currently not serving) to a professional politician in training, every wrong interest is represented, but the common shmo* who rides the bus out of economic necessity. The shmo used to be able to do his shopping, or fill his prescription, between buses on Hamilton Street. He now has been restricted to sitting on a cold bench or eating a stale donut while he waits. But there's big news for the shmo. Lanta has $9.3 million dollars in Stimulus money and now is squandering two of it on a GPS system. They refer to it as a "Monumental Step" toward improving conditions for bus passengers. Although the buses already have radio systems and cell phones for emergency communication, now Lanta will know where each bus is at every moment. Because the buses are on a fixed route with well publicized schedules, this is sort of like putting GPS on a children's ride at the fair which goes around in a circle.

This system will be monitored by the same guy who watches Allentown's crime cameras. He will take a taxicab back and forth between Lanta and Police headquarters. Back to the shmo; while waiting on the bench he will able to see a screen telling him where his bus is now, reducing his anxiety and improving his mental health. Lanta's buying these devices from a small company in State College, on a single bid. A review of their web site, between the lines, indicates they do not manufacture these devices. Can you take Chinese at Allen High? One would think with $7.3 million left over, Lanta might find an alternative to tearing down that baseball field.

* hapless victim of circumstance

Preaching To The Choir

Yesterday, Rendell came to Bethlehem to squeeze the udders of our new cash cow, The Sands Casino. Somehow, through interior design, this money vacuum cleaner is portrayed as having something to do with the former occupant of that parcel, Bethlehem Steel, which actually produced something. Already, we are being primed for table games; their fear is that some people may still have some money left when they leave the parking deck to go home. On the way to the ribbon cutting and his free steak dinner, Bam, he stopped to stroke Renew Lehigh Valley, progressive advocates for regionalism. The sermon was that somehow they and Rendell have a plan to save us money, down the line, by consolidating water systems and avoiding repetition of capital expenses in projected upgrades; and of course they would do all of this, cognizant of "smart growth". Last year, a chemical truck overturned on the turnpike entrance and contaminated a nearby well, one source of South Whitehall's water. Fortunately, our current "dumb growth" still had additional sources. By their recommendations, Trexlertown and Fogelsville could look forward to Allentown's fluoridated water. Now only if those old Dutchmen still had their baby teeth, the fluoride might have done them some good.

UPDATE: NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION

Allentown Baseball Ephemera

In early August of 1942, Alvin Butz attempted to prevail on the Detroit Tigers minor league team not to cancel their scheduled game with The Allentown Wings, minor league team of the St. Louis Cardinals. The game was supposed to be played on August 26th on Fairview Field, currently known as Bicentennial Park. Mr. Butz was president of the ballclub at that time and was also a major contributor of the current stadium built in 1975.

click on letter to enlarge

If Cows Could Talk

If this cow could talk, she would tell you she was made by Greg Weaver in about 1980. Although his wife Fran worked at Bethlehem Steel, most likely Greg secured the steel from one of two scrap yards on Sumner Ave, which graciously tolerated his foraging excursions. Most likely the cow was cut and welded at his Allen Street studio, just west of 9th Street. The building was an old wooden barn type structure, owned by Fred P. Kistler, and no longer exists. (it's a few parking spaces now) Fred didn't get much rent, but he does have some nice Weaver artwork. I recall gathering in the rose garden to celebrate the installation. I repeated the phrase "most likely" because the details blur with time, worse, too many of us there are no longer. The photo was taken by Andrew Kleiner and published on his blog, Remember.

RETRACTION; THERE WAS 'SOMETHING' THAT BOTHERED ME. THE COW IS VERY WEAVERISH, I REMEMBER HE PREVAILED ON THE PARK DIRECTOR FOR A LONG TIME FOR PERMISSION, I REMEMBER THE GATHERING, BUT, I DIDN'T SPECIFICALLY REMEMBER THE COW. I CONTACTED AN ASSOCIATE OF THAT ERA, AND HE TELLS ME THAT GREG INSTALLED A FLOWER SCULPTURE THAT DAY, AND LATER A GATE PIECE. I LEAVE THE POST, AND I BELIEVE THOSE OF US WHO KNEW GREG AND HIS WORK WILL THINK OF HIM WHEN THEY SEE THAT COW.