Velcome to Vendig and Allentown Photographic

In 1933, with the end of Prohibition, my grandparents(maternal) started operating the Vendig Hotel. They were the working partners, another immigrant family, here longer, were the silent backers. The hotel was directly across from the current Main Street Depot Restaurant in Bethlehem, which was the old New Jersey Line Terminal. With my grandmother cooking, they became well known for crab cakes and other shelled seafood. What wasn't known, was that she was strictly kosher, and never even tasted anything she prepared. As some may recall, my grandparents came from Hungarian Transylvania (now Romania) in the early 20's. Family lore says Bela Lugosi visited the hotel. Lugosi was born in the same area of then Hungary, and started his acting career playing Jesus in Passion Plays. In 1931, after immigrating to America years earlier, he got his big break playing Dracula. Typecast as a villain, Lugosi was reduced in later years to drug addiction and playing in low budget monster films. He died in the mid 50's and was buried in his Dracula cape.
My last uncle, who as a boy lived above the hotel, had no recollection of Lugosi. The partner families would later merge through marriage and 40 years later come to own the old vaudeville theater in South Bethlehem known as The Globe. It too is gone.

My experience with Allentown Photographic in the late 70's, at 12 N 8th Street, was not unlike my grandparent's with the Vendig Hotel. Neither were particularly successful, both only lasted a few years, but provided many memories. Now, Bela Lugosi never came into my shop, but my custom darkroom did attract numerous characters. I printed negatives supposedly smuggled out of Russia of the Romanov Family, while my strange anonymous customer watched by the door for KBG agents.(If they were real, I made no copies, nor did I keep the negatives) I once rented the darkroom to the local Porno King for his art directors to produce Puritan Magazine. His former building is now becoming the new Mayflower Condominiums. I snuck into a local high school to photograph an old circus juggler perform his act, one more time, on the stage. This photo gem, of a midget skating between legs, is from the jugglers' memento's.

posts combined and reprinted from July 2008

Lehigh Parkway Heritage Trail

On Sunday August 8, 1982, Ted Mellin, Senior Editor of Call Chronicle (The Morning Call), proudly wrote that Lehigh Parkway bridle path was designated Trail No. 689, a National Heritage Trail by the U.S. Department of Interior and the National Park Service. It was approved by the United States Congress and signed by the President of the United States March 28, 1982. Among the criterion which qualified the park and trail was the planning by General Trexler beginning in 1924. The area was developed and landscaped as a Parkway during the thirties as a W.P.A. project. J. Franklin Meehan of Philadelphia was the landscape architect for the project.

It should be an honor for any Park Director just to protect and maintain the nationally recognized treasures scattered throughout our diverse park system. Let us come together, at the Allentown Library on Wednesday January 13 at 7:00 p.m., and make sure our heritage is preserved, and not ignored at the expense of new fads and projects.

The Reality of Regionalism

Yesterday, after reading two articles in The Morning Call, I wondered for a moment if there was a wizard behind the curtain. The first article, an editorial by the bureaucrats for regionalism, touted all the benefits; such as water distribution by the Lehigh County Authority, transportation by Lanta, and plans for a bi-county health bureau. The second article, by a reporter, was about the State of Pennsylvania considering whether The Little Lehigh needs some special oversight and protection. That article failed to mention that the biggest threat to the creek was the regional Lehigh Authority sucking out all the water to feed the water bottling industries on route 78. The article does mention that the Authority objects to the creek receiving protected designation. Also mentioned as opposed to oversight was the City of Allentown and Mayor Pawlowski. "The city believes that the department's(DEP) decision will needlessly hinder the economic viability of the city...."

The editorial promoting regional collaboration was written by the Director of Renew Lehigh Valley, Steven Bliss. Among the arrows in his regionalism quiver, it mentions The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. In the creek article, the Planning Commission states it doesn't believe that there is "sufficient scientific justification" for watershed oversight. Bliss cites the quarter million dollar rail study, hawked by Paul Marin to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., as an accomplishment. Close to my heart, he even then goes on to promote bike trails.

Steve, glad you have a job, but if the truth be known, I wish there was a wizard behind the curtain. Years ago people with ties to Allentown, looked after Allentown. People with ties to Easton looked after Easton. Now we have bureaucrats, subscribing to the same national government magazines, seeking grants for the same cookie cutter solutions. It's called mediocrity.

Rob Hamill is a local expert and advocate for The Little Lehigh Creek. He explains the entire situation in an excellent two part article.
PART 1
PART 2

Parkway Plundered

The Allentown Park system has been plundered and neglected for years, by one administration after another. No administration, or park director, has been as clueless as the current crew. Now, for the first time, funds are available (from the Trexler Trust) which could be used to save the important icons, instead of being squandered on recreational schemes. Over the years we have lost so many irreplaceable treasures. Imagine a city which tore down a tropical greenhouse; we did in Trexler Park. Recently, some hard working volunteers helped me dig up the steps leading down to the boat landing. Shown above is the curved portion of the landing which is still covered by earth and trees, and the island. Observe the beauty and tranquility we lost. The stone piers, the difficult and expensive portion for a bridge, are still in place. Imagine a Park Director with the vision to replace that little wooden bridge to the island, instead of spending millions digging up the parks for more bike paths.

Anybody, anytime, can make a macadam path and place an exercise station purchased from a catalog. The little stone bridge, built in 1934 and decaying near the Robin Hood parking lot, can never be duplicated. On January 13th, 7:00 at the Allentown Library, the Park Department is having a public meeting about building more bike paths to connect the parks together. Please join me, and encourage the City to instead preserve our heritage.

photo of landing and island: courtesy of Dan Doyle Collection

The Three Editorials

There is an old saying that no good deed goes unpunished. After having subscripted to The Morning Call for thirty-five years, my penance was to read three editorials, in a row, by our Valley Mayors. In honesty, I only did it for ammunition for this post, I wasn't expecting to learn much from their homilies.

According to Ed Pawlowski, there is a light shining on Allentown. He boasts of no tax increase, but fails to mention that it was only prevented by borrowed money. I wonder if that light refers to those blue surveillance cameras that have failed to provide a sense of security downtown. With the announcement of the Sterling Hotel bar joining its closed neighbors, the vaulted Entertainment District officially died.

John Callahan hawked the development and jobs on the former Steel Property. We all know that the decision on where to place the golden cows, aka Casinos, was a decision far above his pay grade. What he failed to mention, was that Bethlehem's biggest local developer, Lou Pektor, is fighting to keep his company afloat.

Perhaps the most honest assessment was presented by Sal Panto. Although he refers to a promising future, much like the Al Bundy High School Sports Museum he's pitching, he knows their best days are behind them. He admitted that there is not much capital between Easton and Act 47.

In fairness to The Three Amigos, it's their job to put the best possible spin on their respective cities. It's my job to inject some reality.

Before Netflix

There was a time in our center cities when movie theaters dominated the cultural scene. Few of these old theaters still exist, such as the Boyd in Bethlehem. Allentown had no less than six movie houses, either on or directly off Hamilton Street. Several smaller theaters were scattered in different neighborhoods, such as the Allen and Town. On Hamilton Street itself, the Colonial and Rialto dominated. Both large ornate theaters, with balconies.



The elaborate promotion shown above for the movie Grand Hotel dates back to 1932. I have been unable to identify which theater or city is shown. The photograph was taken by a professional photographer named Harris, who worked out of the Farr Building in Easton.

Cheap Tricks By Park Department

You gotta give credit to Greg Weitzel, Director of Recreation(and parks) he knows how to sell tupperware. The newsletter, included with the current City water bill, states;

So far, more than 500 people have participated in this planning process!

If you go to the website provided www.greenways.com/allentown , cycle around, you discover that 50 people attended their meetings and supposedly 450 responded to the online survey, thus we get 500. So far the City has spend over $144,000 with the consultant Greenways Incorporated. There are also three other consultants under contract. The spandex boys want to be able to ride their bike from Lehigh Parkway to Trexler Park without being inconvenienced by traffic or the reality called Allentown.

There will be another and FINAL public meeting Wednesday January 13th, 7:00 pm at the Allentown Public Library. If you believe as I do, that both the City and Parks have more pressing issues to address, please join me that evening.

Christmas Lights

Best Wishes For The Holiday Season


Photocredit: molovinsky