When A Mack Factory Made Trucks And A New Page

In yesterday's post, I called Site Selection magazine's praise of business in center city Allentown distorted.  It's based mostly on J. B. Reilly's poached tenants from surrounding areas.  Now the Morning Call cites the same article with a piece praising a recycling business in the former S. 10th Street Mack Factory.  They fill the building with contruction debris, and then sort the trash.  While the former factory once employed 1500 men,  the Morning Call portrays that using a former factory for a dump, with less than 20 employees, constitutes some sort of success.

In the past I have posted about the Mack factories on S. 10th Street, and their part in Allentown history. They produced trucks for WW1, and also played a part in WW2. Hundreds of men would use the WPA steps everyday on their way to work.

Although there are several Facebook groups about Allentown, I decided to fashion and start another. Like this blog, the group will focus on local history and politics, but with a markedly different tone.... It is intended to discuss the city's past, present and future in a non-partisan manner. It will neither be liberal nor conservative. It is not a nostalgia site for the best pizza, nor a gripe site about the worst city council member. Posts will not be restricted to Allentown, but anywhere in the Lehigh Valley. Unlike this blog, most of the posts will be submitted by members other than myself. While I start out as the default moderator, I may be joined by others with a local history background. You're invited to join. The group is named simply ALLENTOWN, and another link can be found on my facebook page.

photocredit:Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call

Cummingham's Used Cars

If ever there was a successful used car salesman, it has to be Donny Cunningham.  I saw an article on WFMZ about how successful the Lehigh Valley has become.  Needless to say, the article quotes both Donny and J.B. Reilly.  What it doesn't reveal is that all the new tenants in downtown Allentown were poached from suburban Allentown. What it doesn't reveal is that this transfer of jobs from taxes previously going to Pennsylvania,  to the taxes now going to Reilly's debt service, has actually created a massive tax loss to all citizens of Pennsylvania..  Furthermore, even Allentown itself has not benefitted from the new construction...the city just experienced its own tax increase.

The article was based on some business magazine article, which took its data from Reilly and Cunningham issued publicity...  Now Reilly and Cunningham are citing the article as proof of the success they are sponsoring.

Trump And The Media

I'm continually astounded by the media and Trump. From my point of view,  the media, especially CNN and The Washington Post, have set their sights on the president. The front third of CNN every day centers on Trump, and what he supposedly did illegally. A column in the Washington Post accused Fox News of casting aspersions against legitimate inquires. While this scrutiny of Trump has been going on since the inauguration in 2017, now the news is the news.

The Morning Call, which is essentially in a search for readers and survival, featured the Washington Post's Opinion piece. I suppose, with the mid-term election results, that their bet might make business sense.

Ce-Ce Walks The Walk

Ce-Ce Gerlach is running for Allentown City Council.  My first encounter with Ce-Ce was in September of 2013, when she organized a fundraiser for school uniforms.  The post below appeared at that time.


Ce-Ce Gerlach rocked South 16th Street this afternoon with a block party to raise funds for school uniforms. The block was packed with people enjoying several carnival attractions, music and food. From all reports, the new Allentown school uniform policy seems to have gotten off to a good start, but one issue is the cost of the clothes.  With a large, low income student body, this can become a family hardship.  I'm sure Ce-Ce's organizing abilities will help with this problem.  I've had a couple of conversations with Ce-Ce this past month, and I believe she will be a factor in Allentown's future. (reprinted from September of 2013)

Israel In Today's American Politics

These are trying times for American support of Israel.  As Democrats and the media obsess against Trump,  that vilification is being smeared on Netanyahu, and Israel itself. The media is delighted by corruption charges against Netanyahu, and paints him and Trump as brothers from the same mother.  Between Netanyahu being described as Trump's friend,  and new critics of Israel in Congress,  American support is being tested.

This new packaging of Israel by the left creates a dilemma for American Jews, who overwhelmingly vote Democratic.  I'm sure that support of Israel will remain as part of the party's platform,  but historical canards about Jews and Israel will only increase in the new climate.

Voting Machine Madness In Lehigh County

The old voting machines were 800 pound monsters. They resembled old time photo booths found in arcades. In Lehigh County, these heavy steel booths would be trucked and placed in the various polling locations by prisoners of the county jail. When the county was mandated to replace them with  electronic machines for the 2006 election, I felt it was unnecessary. When they immediately disposed of the old machines, I knew that was a mistake. Those old monsters were reliable, foolproof and verifiable.

Governor Wolf has decreed that votes must now have a physical receipt. Although, Tim Benyo, Chief Clerk of Elections, claims that the new paper ballots are not going back in time, it sure seems that way. Some off the old mechanical machines, in addition to tallying the votes, also had a adding machine type of paper verification. Of course the expense of replacing those old mechanical wonders would now be prohibitive. So the new plan is paper ballots, which will then be electronically scanned.

The old mechanical machines were hack-roof.  The current electronic machines are also hack-roof, not being connected to the internet.  Their replacement and disposal will be another knee-jerk reaction.

Flights Of Fancy

Readers of this blog can learn from my search engine, (right sidebar of web version) that I'm a long time critic of projects at the Lehigh Valley International Airport. The fact that there are few flights that hardly go anywhere, never stops them from expanding the underused facility. In my previous criticism, I took them to task for planning a separate transportation hub, when convenience of the existing one was one of their few advantages. When the airport's largest incoming flight arrived yesterday, no taxicabs were on hand. The airport will have a new transportation hub, with no transportation.  Now they want to build a hotel?

What people want are flights and destinations. What this airport needs is a new executive director, and a new board of directors.

Allentown Photographic

My experience with Allentown Photographic in the late 70's, at 12 N 8th Street, was not unlike my grandparents 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 at night 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 juggler's mementos.

reprinted from 2014