Allentown's Vanishing History

Years ago a reader sent me the above image.  It looks down the hill from 7th and Hamilton, north, toward Linden Street. He had been attempting to locate the old Lafayette Radio store on 7th street, because of a pleasant memory from his childhood. By my day the store had moved onto the southern side of the 700 block of Hamilton Street. History is quickly succumbing to the wreaking ball in Allentown. All the buildings shown above, on the unit block of 7th Street, have been knocked down for the arena and Reilly's Strata complexes.  When Salomon Jewelry departed,  Tucker Yarn remained one of Hamilton Street's last remaining businesses from the glory days.

Phil and Rose Tucker opened their first yarn store on N. 7th St. in 1949. That first store can be seen on the left side of the above photo. The Tucker Yarn Company had been at its current location at 950 Hamilton Street for over 50 years. For knitting enthusiasts the endless inventory was legendary. Phil told me years ago how even in May, traditionally a slow month for the industry, Hess's annual flower show kept Hamilton Street and his store busy. A busy Hamilton Street is a memory now, shared only by a couple of surviving merchants. Although many of Tucker's customers were elderly, the business was much more than a time capsule. His daughter Mae, nationally known in the trade, gave classes and operates a large mail order web site, tuckeryarns.com

Tucker Yarn has closed.  In the near future you will see the building replaced by one more new office building.  This blogger will continue his downtown recons, but I will no longer be sitting in a familiar place with familiar faces.

The above image can be found in Doug Peters' Lehigh Valley Transit

reprinted from November of 2019

Abuse Of Power At The Monument Building

The building had begun its life as the 1st National Bank. The second owner renamed it Corporate Center. The third owner renamed it Monument Building.

One morning in early July of 2008, code enforcement descended upon the Monument Building like a swat team.  Every officer, in every department , entered the building at the same time, and spread out looking for every possible violation. Under the previous owner, the same conditions, with the same tenants, were lauded as a rebirth.

Whatever motivated Pawlowski to pull the plug on the new owner, the tenants were lightweights, of no consequence to him. At that time, myself and few other malcontents, like Lou Hershman, would gather early in the morning for coffee at Jerry's Cafe, located on the first floor.

Jerry's was not one of the upstart businesses blessed with a Pawlowski grant at the time. He had to pay for everything, and everything had been inspected, inside and out. His plans had been approved, his electric and plumbing had been approved,  and his expensive grill and hood system had been approved.  While all the tenants were put out of business that day,  Jerry was also financially ruined. 

During this sorry Pawlowski era, he used the code department as a weapon.  Although Pawlowski is gone, some of that same mentality apparently still lurks with some of the code officers.  I wrote about Pawlowski's tactics back then in 2008, and I will continue to defend those currently victimized by such abuse.

The Monument Building would be torn down years later by J.B. Reilly, and replaced by one of his Corporate Towers.

I photographed the code cars that morning lined up for the raid   

reprinted from previous years

The Slandering Of Louis Hershman

Years ago, in a building that no longer exists,  an assorted group of early risers would meet for coffee.  By 6:30, most of us had arrived at Jerry's for the early morning sessions.  Included in this group of civil critics was Lou Hershman.  Lou's rants were almost exclusively centered on the city budget,  year after year, rant after rant.

What takes me back to that coffee shop is a current post on facebook.  A local Black Lives Matter advocate is supporting a local gays rights advocate, who is offended by the adoration being given Lou Hershman, who passed away last week. She claims that Lou was a bigot against gays.  In all the years and all the conversations that I had with Lou, he never once mentioned gays.  As for the young BLM activist,  I'm sure that he never met Lou, and probably never even heard of him before last week.

Back then, fifteen years ago, when I would drive to the coffee shop at 7th and Hamilton at six in the morning, I would always think about how calm town seemed at that time of day.  I knew that as the day progressed, so would the commotion.  Unfortunately,  the streets are considerably more violent now than they were then.  Allentown would be better off if the young BLM leader concerned himself with making the streets safer.  In fifty years, if he contributes as much as Lou Hershman did to Allentown, let's hope nobody slanders his good deeds.  

photocredit: Bernie O'Hare 

The Carnival Of Enid's Candidacy

In addition to this blog, I also administer a Facebook page titled Allentown Chronicles.  Recently, when I announced my current write-in campaign for the 183rd State House District, I also posted the announcement on the Facebook page. Because the page is defined as both local history and politics, I felt it was not inappropriate, and not too terribly self-serving.  Recently, a member had submitted several promotions for Enid Santiago's write-in campaign.  Two of them I removed, because other members objected to the solicitation of names, apparently to be contacted by her campaign. The third piece remains,  a youtube of a parade by Santiago and her supporters.  While in fairness I felt compelled to allow her campaign to be represented in the group,  I must confess to finding the parade beyond tasteless. 

Gender bender Eric/Erica Bickford is being charged with election crimes by DA Martin.  If ever there was a political victim, it is Bickford.  While Bickford admits he darkened some ovals so that the scanner could read them, nobody thinks or accuses him of changing even one vote.  Even though Enid Santiago won the district administered by Bickford, she initiated the charges he now faces. Bickford is low-hanging fruit to prosecute...  He doesn't make himself up very well as a woman.

I've known Eric/Erica for well over a decade.  Long before the current Stevens Park became fashionable, Bickford was there, advocating for it.  He has been a spokesman for the most underrepresented people in this city...the people in the back alleys, with no voice or connections to City Hall.

While I realize that Bickford seems bizarre to some, what I really find distasteful is people running for office beeping their car horns and hanging out windows.

As I write this piece Patrick Palmer and others are hyping Enid Santiago.  They must equate loud noise with leadership.  Justin Simmons says that if DA Martin is filing charges,  they must be proper. They may be proper by the book, but hopefully, a jury or judge will realize the innocence involved with the crime.

A more savvy candidate than me would be leaving this whole topic well enough alone, much less defending a rather eccentric election judge, and criticizing a minority candidate.   

As both a blogger and a candidate myself,  I only have one mission, and that is to simply always side with the truth, as I see it.

The Political Party Machines Of lehigh Valley

As an independent waging a write-in campaign for the 183rd State House District,  the party machines never cease to amaze me.  The mediocracy of your state government is no accident.  Their sole objective is to get elected, and then remain an incumbent.

In the 183rd, the Democratic challenger charges the Republican incumbent with a poor attendance record because of his duty as a reservist.  The incumbent in turn sends out an expensive mailer, claiming that he fights for his constituents both at home and abroad.

My motivation in running is to provide quality representation for a term or two, not support a party platform, or perpetuate a career.   There are numerous bills pending in the house.  While many are just expansions of a definition or terms,  some are of more significance.

I would support all the bills pertaining to financial aid for small businesses suffering from the consequences of the Covid-19 restrictions.  Pennsylvania certainly failed to provide adequate safeguards for our nursing home residents at the beginning of the pandemic.While a 23 year old feels immortal, a 73 year old feels vulnerable. At this point in time,  masks should be mandatory for indoor public venues. Small businesses should be able to operate with reasonable precautions, and customer discretion. 

photocredit: Richard C. Wolfe

The Mad Men Of Allentown

Back in the day, the titans of Allentown would fill the five barberchairs of the Colonial Barbershop, 538 Hamilton Street. That was when the town had three department stores. That was when Wetherhold and Metzger had two shoe stores on Hamilton Street. That was when Harvey Farr would meet Donald Miller and John Leh at the Livingston Club for lunch, and discuss acquiring more lots for Park & Shop. By 1995 all that was gone, but Frank Gallucci, 82, would still give some old timers a trim. The Colonial Barbershop property, closed for many years, has been purchased by J.B. Reilly. It is my pleasure to present this previously unseen portrait of Gallucci, toward the end of his career.

photocredit:molovinsky

reprinted from previous years