Political Prisoners In America

Although the first post of the week is usually on a Monday,  I went ahead and published on Saturday.  You can either scroll back to the previous post, Political Prisoners In American, or use the link.

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Political Prisoners In America

Diviners of this blog know that I'm conservative, but not partisan.  I recently received a call complaining that my recent posts were too nostalgia driven,  with not enough local politics.  Although, I'm planning to address that complaint in the near future,  today's post takes us national.

As one who does not suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome,  I can still appreciate the theatrics of Trump ending the shutdown, juxtapositioned with the arrest of Roger Stone.  Add Stone doing the Nixon salute,  and the weekend was setup for liberal madness.  I almost expected to see dancing in the streets,  Rio style.  When Stone came out of his arraignment in Fort Lauderdale, and stated that his arrest was political,  while the liberals in the street were shouting lock him up, he seemed to have a point. When the FBI raided his house at 4:30AM, SWAT style, and CNN was there, Stone seemed to have a point.

As I write this early Saturday morning,  I'm sure that the writers at Saturday Night Live are up and at it also, unless they too were tipped off... then they probably started the rehearsals earlier this week.

Jennie Molovinsky Was A Quiet Neighbor

For nearly a hundred years the Wenz Memorial Company had a tombstone factory at 20th and Hamilton.  Their parcel extended from Hamilton Street back to Walnut Street, across from the home of former mayor Joe Daddona.   Years ago, large granite slabs would be delivered by railroad, using the the Barber Quarry spur route.  During the Phil Berman era,  the facilities were also used to produce large stone sculptures.  Behind the office and production building, most of the property was used for storage of tombstones.  Some of the stones were samples of their handiwork, and others were old stones that had been replaced with new ones, by family members.  Such was the case with my great grandmother's first stone, which has laid at wenz's for several decades.  The row houses and their front porches on S. Lafayette Street faced this portion of Wenz's, and it was very quiet, indeed.

Some readers may have noticed that Wenz's has been demolished, and the parcel will now contain a bank,  Dunkin Donut, and Woody's Sport Bar.  The residents of Lafayette Street,  experiencing complete quietness for all these years, attended the zoning hearing as objectors.  Their previous view, a dark, quiet lot, would now be replaced with a lit parking lot, with bar patrons coming and going.  Although I will not comment on the zoning issues,  residents were supposedly told by the zoners that the development would improve their quality of life.  It's one thing to have the quality of your life degraded,  it's another to have your intelligence insulted, to boot.  Perhaps the zoners need some training in sensitivity.

reprinted from May of 2016

Ice Skating At Union Terrace

The skating pond at Union Terrace was a rite of growing up in Allentown.  Putting aside climate change, the pond was frozen every winter.  Maybe the park department intentionally slowed, or even shut off the flow of water.  A fire was kept burning in a metal barrel by the southwest corner of the ice rink.  Benches lined the south side where a kid could put his skates on.

While Albeth Ice Ring on the east side was a skating option for the serious skaters,  Union Terrace was the choice for us less graceful, but more interested in socializing.  There were no iphones or youtubes,  just kids interacting with other kids.

The center city and west end kids walked home from the pond.  There were no cell phones to call for a ride,  and nobody would want to be seen getting into their parent's car.

At that time the park department was a significant part of growing up in Allentown.  Come summer each part of the city had its own pool.  For some things, like Allentown and its park system, going backwards wouldn't be a bad thing.


molovinsky on allentown is published early morning every weekday.

The Sunday Drive

My family wasn't much for recreation.  My father worked six days a week, from early morning until 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 the 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 September 2017

MLK Day At Shiloh

In 1945, when the Shiloh Baptist Congregation took over the former Episcopalian Church on the corner of 21st and Church Streets,  it was in the heart of South Philadelphia's black middle class neighborhood.  With two large Baptist congregations, and the black run Philadelphia Tribune paper nearby,  the congregation filled up the massive Frank Furness designed church with various groups and activities.

As the years progressed,  many middle class blacks moved to more suburban areas, and the neighborhood became poorer.  Lately, the congregation's membership has been challenged by the gentrification of the area,  further reducing the congregation.

In its effort to keep the lights on, the church now houses both a dance and theater group in its massive facilities.

The church is led by Rev. Edward Sparkman, who is also a lawyer.  Yesterday,  they celebrated Martin Luther King Day by offering free legal advice to the community.

Shiloh Baptist Church is my second exploration of Philadelphia's historic middle class black neighborhood.  An assistant pastor kindly explained their current outreach mission.

Protest In Fountain Park

Long time Readers of this blog know that I have been an advocate for the WPA structures for over a decade, with some modest results.  Recently, my research discovered an old newspaper article from 1935, which adds another dimension to my understanding of that period.

Lehigh Parkway, Union Terrace and Fountain Park are the WPA masterpieces in Allentown.  In Fountain Park, there is the stairway which leads up to Junction Street, and then continues through a tunnel in the massive wall on Junction Street,  up to Spring Garden Street.  After the steps were completed, hundreds of workers would use these stairs every day,  to go from their center city row houses to the Mack and Traylor factories on S. 10th Street.

On September 11th, 1935 there was a protest involving the 400 WPA workers assigned to the stairwell and wall construction.  The rally took place by the creek, and was led by the Lehigh County Unemployed League, Keystone Workers Association and the Citizens Welfare League.  Although there was no violence, tools were tossed into the creek.  The protest centered on the $55 monthly wage, and the 35 hour work week.

The concept of workers during the Depression being upset with conditions frankly never occurred to me.  I just assumed that they were grateful for the job, and whistled while they worked.  Next time I walk those steps,  my thoughts will be somewhat more informed.