The Sunday Drive

My family wasn't much for recreation.  My father worked six days a week, from early morning till early evening.  We did go for a long car ride on Sundays.  Back then gasoline was cheap, and having no destination wasn't thought of as wasteful.  Children were more content to sit in back seat and look out the window, now they want a video screen in the vehicle.



Even children's play then involved more imagination and interaction.  Howdy Doody was just a puppet on strings,who spend most of his time talking to an adult, Buffalo Bob, can you imagine?

 Sitting in that back seat in the mid fifties, I might well had



my "coonskin" hat with me.  Fess Parker was a genuine American hero.  It mattered little if he played both Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, both were king of the wild frontier.  The ride probably lasted for two hours and then we would go to a restaurant to eat dinner.  Compared to now, there were very few restaurants.



My mother would cook all the other meals that week, and we probably ate out more than most.  Supermarkets were the new rage in food shopping, but the butcher, baker and candle stick maker were still going strong.  If my father headed west or south, chances are we ended up at Shankweiler's Hotel, famous for chicken and waffles.   They were at the intersection of Old 22 and Route 100.  The building still exists and currently is a bank.  The family also owned another hotel on Route 309.  Both locations also operated adjoining Drive-In movies.



If my father headed north or east,  we would end up at Walp's, which was on the corner of Union Blvd. and Airport Road.  Walp's was a much more urban place.   While Shankweiler's was an old country inn,  Walp's was built as a modern restaurant.  I enjoyed those rides, they were a learning experience.

reprinted from May 2010

Remaining Merchants Pay For Reilly's World

Pat Browne is confident that 2012 is the only year in which the Arena Authority will have to dip into the base state tax, I'm confident it is not. Browne's excuse for breaking the promise not to use those funds was the delay caused by the lawsuit, filed by the surrounding municipalities not wanting to pay for J.B Reilly's real estate empire. Of course they also were promised that their taxes would be returned. Sy Taub, Authority Chairman, said it stands to reason that during the period of the hole, before revenue starts pouring in from completed construction, that there would be a shortfall. He has more confidence in the pending success of both the Palace of Sport and Reilly's Office World than I do. They used up the taxes of the small merchants this year because the NIZ law allows them to do so. Expect more broken promises and excuses in the coming years.                                                                         commentary based on Morning Call report by Scott Kraus and Matt Assad

Allentown's Real Riverfront Story

As readers of The Morning Call are being fed the mayor's version of Transformation at the riverfront, here's the sordid history not revealed elsewhere. In the early 70's, the City and Redevelopment Authority subdivided the Neuweiler property. The actual brewery portion, the front, went to a supposed developer with long time ties to former Mayor Daddona. The rear portion, formerly garages for the Neuweiler trucks, went to a roofer. Under the city's watch, the developer removed windows and exterior walls, braking through to remove the brewing tanks and piping for scrap. All metal, wires and any object of value were crudely ripped out in an orgy of demolition. With a large opening in the back wall smashed out, the basement mysteriously got filled up with roofing debris. Still the building remained iconic, because of it's rich industrial architecture. In 2003, a New Jersey investor bought the building for over $200,000 in the condition shown in the photograph. The building has been in that condition since the late 70's. HIs hope was at some point the City would appreciate the landmark and cooperate in its revival. He must have found the building citations from the Pawlowski administration mind-numbing; Can you imagine being held responsible for carnage committed by a previous owner? Before seizing the property, Pawlowski actually had the hapless new owner jailed when he came to Allentown to discuss the situation. Meanwhile, the roofer was rewarded with an $876,000 buy out. This is how the city reunited the property; Welcome to the Transformation.

Nagy Novelty Company

In Downtown Allentown's commercial years, stores extended 3 blocks out from Hamilton Street. The only remaining remnant of that era is the parking meters, which apparently haven't noticed that the stores have been gone now for over 30 years. A magic shop mentioned in the previous post was on 9th Street, between Linden and Turner. On 8th Street, also a couple blocks off Hamilton, was the Nagy Novelty Company. The dictionary defines novelty as a small, often cheap, cleverly made article, usually for amusement. The Nagy's had thousands of them, floor to ceiling. There were little jokes and gags, sometimes risque, passed around parties in the 40's and 50's. When you pulled " Miss Lola, The Snappy Bubble Dancer" leg's out, your finger got snapped. The Nagy's, an ancient father, son and dog, stayed open till around 1980. I was never sure which one was the son. To me, as an aficionado of the old and curious, the store was a shrine. Items which they sold for a few cents, now sell on ebay for many dollars. They manufactured their own greeting cards. Shown here is the front and inside of an embossed card probably dating back to the 1920's.
reprinted from December of 2008

The Transfiguration of Ed Pawlowski

This post was going to be entitled the Transformation of Allentown, but I think the new title is more appropriate. Last week, in the State of the City Address, Mayor for Life Ed Pawlowski once again touted the Transformation. Although the long term benefit of the arena project remains to be seen, light has surely been emitting from our unchallenged leader. His press agents, Scott Kraus and Matt Assad of The Morning Call, paste up the Transformation Gospel on a regular basis. Scrutiny of the project rests mostly with this blog. Last week, Precious Petty of The Express Times, did quote Jeanette Eichenwald's doubts about some aspects of the arena project. Perhaps Pawlowski's richest statement last week was that arena project involved collective sacrifice. I doubt if he was referring to the displaced merchants, or the children who will not be receiving insurance benefits from the CHIP program this year, because the cigarette tax is being used for Reilly's debt service.

Early Morning In Allentown

Sixty years ago the Soldiers Monument stood over 7th and Hamilton, as it still does. While today businesses limit restroom use to patrons, at that time the city provided underground public comfort stations at the square, staffed by full time attendants. The stores attracted so many shoppers, the police needed a tower for crowd overview. While fifty stores lined each block, lawyers, doctors, accountants and tailors occupied the offices above. Times change. If we find that the Monument impedes traffic flow for the new arena, they can move it to a less inconvenient location.