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

The Dinosaurs of Sumner Avenue

Up to the early 1950's, Allentown was heated by coal, and much of it came from Sumner Avenue. Sumner was a unique street, because it was served by the West End Branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The spur route ran along Sumner, until it crossed Tilghman at 17th Street, and then looped back East along Liberty Street, ending at 12th. Coal trucks would elevate up, and the coal would be pushed down chutes into the basement coal bins, usually under the front porches of the row houses. Several times a day coal would need to be shoveled into the boiler or furnace. By the early 1970's, although most of the coal yards were closed for over a decade, the machines of that industry still stood on Sumner Avenue. Eventually, they took a short trip to one of the scrap yards which are still on the avenue, but not before I photographed them.

photocredit: molovinsky

reprinted from December of 2011

The Coal Yards of Sumner Avenue

The West End Branch train line ran along Sumner Avenue, crossed Tilghman diagonally at 17th Street, then looped back east, at the northeastern end of the Fairgrounds, terminating at 12th and Liberty Streets. The branch allowed this area to become the coal district of Allentown, when city homes were mostly heated by that fuel. In the early 1970's,  I photographed Sumner Avenue. Although the coal era was mostly over, some relics still remained. Shown above is a coal sorter at the Morris Wisser Coal Company, at Fulton and Green Streets.

photocredit:molovinsky

Police Chief Hoopla

Despite a press conference about transparency and public input, sources have told molovinsky on allentown that  three contenders for Police Chief have already been picked, and provided me with the names. All these gentlemen have current or former ties to the Lehigh Valley. I will not reveal their names at this time, so as not to jeopardize their chances. Is it possible that the public is not really part of the decision? Would that be new for Allentown?
UPDATE:Please note that I have changed the word finalists to contenders. My sources state that at least one of contenders would drop out if his ultimate selection is in doubt. They expect Wasserman, the hired consultant, to bring at least three additional applicants to the table, for his fee.  Interesting how the mayor is promising public input this election year for something that is usually an executive decision.  It would have been nice if the public had a voice in the  trash to energy plant, the arena, the water lease or any of the previous decisions.  But,  you won't have a real voice this time either,  even City Council doesn't get that.

The Hamilton Street Bridge

The current Hamilton Street Bridge was completed in 1959, replacing the former steel trestle bridge. With the new Hamilton Street entrance ramp aligned further to the south, a small portion of front street and a few houses were vacated. Additionally, an entrance ramp was added from Union Street, which previously ended at Front Street. The photo above shows a portion of the earlier bridge and the former A&B meat packing plant, beyond their office building.  The office building has been incorporated into the America On Wheels Transportation Museum. lower photo shows entrance to former steel trestle bridge, with entrance ramp skirting A&B Packing House.

O'Hare Fumbles Assist To Browning

In a post last evening meant to bolster Dean Browning against Scott Ott, Bernie O'Hare inadvertingly raises some questions which could end up hurting Browning. O'Hare's premise was that Browning out-raised Ott two to one, and that half of Ott's donations came from local business woman, and County Commissioner, Lisa Scheller. An analysis of Browning's contributions show that half of his contributions came from out of state, and seem to be dominated by the private aviation industry. An anonymous comment on O'Hare's blog reveals that Browning works for Jeff Citron, a financier who received a monumental fine by the securities exchange. Bernie's fumble was that in criticizing a candidate for being supported by a locally respected business woman, it ended up being revealed that his candidate of choice, is supported by a national figure with a controversial reputation. None of this would normally interest me, except for one of my unwritten posts. In that post, never put to words before, I question if there is an attempt to sabotage The Lehigh Valley Airport. The board of directors seems to make one poor decision after another. Recently, they hired the private company director who failed to retain a major airline. They now have invested in a custom station for international flights, when they cannot even be competitive domestically. Cunningham appointed Pawlowski to the board when he knew that Pawlowski's sole interest was selling Queen City. The future County Executive could have a large role in deciding if that airport will ever serve the interests of the public, or just private aviation. I'll let O'Hare pick up the worms, he's the one who dropped the can.

Bernie's Over Enthusiasm

Occasionally, I have to take my fellow blogger Bernie O'Hare to task for his enthusiasm for one candidate over another. Me, I don't like anybody. Long time readers of O'Hare know that he likes Dean Browing, but dislikes Wayne Woodman and Scott Ott. He currently has a post demonizing Woodman's wife, Lisa Scheller, for contributing half of the funds raised by one commissioner candidate, $5,000. In another post today,  he accuses her of trying to subvert democracy, by contributing to the executive branch race, while she's a legislator. If he would apply the same aspersions to Brown's campaign report, he could report that Brown raised $5,000 each from two sources out of state. He also raised $2,500 or more from 14 more people out of state, many from Texas. He could say that Brown raised over $57,000 from interests outside of the state, almost as much as Ott raised altogether. Expect a long defense from O'Hare.