St. Joseph Angels – 1959

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Jim

A HUGE “thank you” goes out to my friend and frequent “Duquesne Hunky” contributor Lou Andriko! After posting my request for scanned copies of photos of “our Duquesne” that you might have in your possession, Lou came through immediately! THANK YOU LOU and keep them coming.

Lou sent an adorable photo that was taken on the steps of St. Joseph that celebrates the First Holy Communion of 88 children in 1959. (I was blown away with the fact that there were 88 communicants! Kinda reminded me of one of those mass weddings of Rev. Moon!)

Just recently, Lou’s wife Sue found time to scan some old photos. This photo was taken on Mother’s Day, May 10, 1959. I immediately recognized Lou in the first row – 3rd from the left – #79.

I have included the photos for you to check out. The 2nd photo has numbers assigned to each of the sweet faces of youth! If you recognize yourself or any of your childhood friends, please post a comment and let us know. The kids in this picture should be approximately in their early 60’s today (groan.) I also enlarged each side of the group so that you might be able to better identify them.

Lou writes……………..

Oh, by the way and for your information, by the time I ‘graduated’ from St. Joes, the exterior fire escape had been removed, the interior front and rear stairwells were enclosed and brought up to current fire code and the third floor auditorium was abandoned. I seem to recall our eighth grade history class using it ‘on the sly’ to watch a civil war documentary. The windows up there still had those heavy old blackout roll down shades. By then the convent had been razed and the combined new school, convent and cafeteria building was built along Norman St; the classroom windows had venetian blinds that kept the sun out but didn’t keep much light out… Sad to say, that building has been abandoned for many years. It has even been taken off the market, at first being offered as a nursing home or senior center…. Tempus Fugit. Once St Joe closes, (That is coming soon), my parish church will probably end up like Holy Trinity….

Posted in Church and School - St. Joseph | 17 Comments

One of Duquesne’s Beautiful Ol’ Gals

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Jim

September 9, 2012 would have been the 100th birthday of a very important part of many of our lives. In the September 13th issue of The Duquesne Times, an article appeared that annouced the opening of Duquesne’s newest school, Holy Name. 

The opening was heralded as an “auspicious” occasion, with 250 pupils registered on the first day. Considering the fact that only four of the rooms were initially to be occupied, that meant there were over 60 students per room!! Eventually, all rooms of the building were occupied, and came to include high school classes on the third floor.

THE DUQUESNE TIMES – SEPTEMBER 13, 1912

Postcard image of Holy Name School in all its glory –

That building was such a huge part of my life, and I knew it like the back of my hand. I remember: 

  • each and every room of the building from the cafeteria level to the very top floor.
  • the names of each and every teacher that I had during the eight years I attended, from 1957 to 1965.
  • the two principals that were BNOCs (Big Nuns on Campus!), Sister Agnes Eugene and Sister Mary Daniel.
  • First Friday breakfasts in the cafeteria with glass pint bottle of milk, chocolate milk or orange juice and trays of maple rolls.
  • decorating the huge classroom windows at Christmas time with poster paints and then having to scrape them all off after returning from Christmas vacation.
  • standing on the stoop outside the back doors of the school and pounding chalkboard erasers together to clean them, and then discovering that our faces looked like mimes from the chalk dust.
  • the smell of the blackboards after they were freshly oiled before summer vacation.
  • recess during winter with dangeous ice tracks becoming our personal skiing slopes.
  • getting to the church on time to serve at 6 a.m. mass.
  • Sister Delores frantically pounding out melodies on the 7th grade upright piano.
  • the mellow sounds of the small pump organ that was carried from room to room for music lessons.
  • 8th Grade graduation ceremonies in the school hall.
  • The swinging set of doors with glass panels when entering the cafeteria from the side alley.
  • fire drills and having to stand in line in the alley behind the school or on the front sidewalks of 2nd St. and not being allowed to utter a sound.
  • dismissal time and running down the front stone steps of the school
  • being allowed to use the two sets of interior metal fire stairs at the school entrance
  • the nuns eating lunch in the room on the left hand side of the stage, while Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Juliana had to sit among us.
  • the sound of each nun’s oversized rosery beads that would swing from their waist sash.
  • the religious article cart.
  • the school supply store that was set-up outside of the principal’s office on the 2nd floor.
  • the smell of mimeograph fluid that was used in the copy machine along with the blue and white stencils.
  • erasing pencil marks from our books at the end of the year.
  • handing in our $5 “book bill” each year

Our mutual friend, Jim Hartman of the Mifflin Township Historical Society, has provided copies of photographs taken during the demolition of our beloved Holy Name Elementary School.

I happened to be visiting Duquesne the very week that the school was being torn down in April of 2005. I had not heard that the school was to be demolished, so you can imagine my surprise as I parked in front of the post office and just stared. I managed to grab 3 bricks from the heaps that surrounded the demolition site. I still have them, and I hold them very dear.

You will FOREVER be in our hearts. Happy Birthday you BEAUTIFUL ol’ girl!

Posted in Church and School - St. Joseph | 29 Comments

McKeesport’s 5th Ave

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Jim

Depending on where you are living, the mention of 5th Avenue conjures-up different memories:

• To the world’s population, it most likely makes them think about New York City’s famous thoroughfare. The avenue, especially between 49th Street and 60th Streets, is lined with prestigious shops and is regularly ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world. 5th Avenue is home to notable NYC points of interest such as Greenwich Village, Washington Square, the Empire State Building, Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman. Central Park, and the Guggenheim Museum.

• To chocolate lovers everywhere, 5th Avenue simply means the Milk Chocolate Crunchy Peanut Butter Bars were first introduced in 1936 and are currently made and marketed by the Hershey Company.

• To Pittsburghers it was “home”, and to many Duquesners, 5th Ave brings to mind adventures, big city excitement and Christmas displays that rivaled New York. Fifth Avenue is one of the longest streets in Pittsburgh. It begins downtown and moves eastward for over five miles. Fifth Avenue passes by the former Warner Theatre, Kaufmann’s Department Store, Carlow University, the very recognizable Litchfield Towers dormitories at the University of Pittsburgh, the Cathedral of Learning and other buildings of the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland, then forms the borders between Shadyside on the north and Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze to the south. Finally, after passing Chatham University, The Ellis School, and Mellon Park, it turns north and forms the border between Larimer on the west and North Point Breeze and Homewood (Pittsburgh) on the east.

 And then there is OUR 5th Avenue – 5th Avenue in McKeesport, Pa. By big city standards, 5th Avenue in McKeesport would have been considered “small potatoes” but for all of us, it held treasures, experiences and adventures too numerous to count.

I’ve written about McKeesport many times before, but I was once again reminded of how special a place it was to me when Barry Long emailed me a large group of pictures of “Old McKeesport.” The album contained 248 photos and I hope to share many of them in coming posts. There were 3 photos in the group that immediately grabbed my attention however. The 3 photos were taken in different years, but all 3 instantly transported me to the downtown McKeesport we ALL grew to love, remember and think of as our home away from home.

As you can see from the first picture, downtown McKeesport looked very different than it does in recent years. I was struck with the VERY apparent cleanliness of the city. No litter, no debris; just a pristine environment that exuded pride in ownership and community.

As I scanned the storefronts, there were so many familiar names and building facades. In some cases, there were some surprises as well. For instance, although the logo for Jaison’s looks exactly as I recall, the location is not the same and the size of the store is different from the Jaison’s of my youth. By the time I was old enough to remember the store, it had moved and expanded to a large storefront that graced 5th Ave with their familiar logo on a white and yellow woven background.

Just beyond Jaison’s in this photo is a W.T.Grant Co. 5&10 Cent Store. It was located just a few stores west of the H.L.Green 5&10 Cent Store. I don’t recall the Grant’s store at all. By the time I went on shopping expeditions with my mom, there were only a Murphy’s and a Green’s on 5th Ave.

I think we shopped primarily on the north side of 5th Ave since I barely recall the stores opposite Jaison’s. I’m not sure what type of store Neuman’s was, but I immediately recognized the Isaly’s logo next to Neuman’s. There was always a place for selling chipped ham and ice cream cones!

This next photo was probably taken at the same time as the first photo. Since the stores around the tracks were those that were the most familiar to me, I was surprised to see some that I was unaware of. I don’t recall ever going into the Rexall or Thrift Drug Stores. There also appears to be a store named Michael’s that apparently is a clothing store. Again, I don’t recall this store and would love to learn more about it. Just west of the Rexall is the G.C. Murphy 5&10 Cent Store that I remember so well, along with the most distant store shown, H.L.Green.

After a very long career in retailing, I was amazed that there were three home furnishings stores located within the same block on 5th Ave. R.E.Kaplan’s, Hirshberg’s and Ruben’s all sold furniture from what I recall. I suppose they peacefully co-existed for years since they all had a long history on the streets of McKeesport. Of these three stores, I became most familiar with Hirshberg’s. My mom and dad shopped there for most of their major purchases, from lampshades to full rooms of furniture. I don’t remember much about the store’s interior except for the long bank of display windows that lined both sides of the entrance to the store.

The only store visible on the south side of 5th Ave is Samuel’s. I may be incorrect, but I think that Samuel’s was a shoe store. I remember that my mother loved to buy shoes, a recessive gene that must have been passed on to her granddaughters! If anyone has more insight into Samuel’s, please clue me in!

This final picture that shows the removal of the railroad tracks in downtown McKeesport. Although it shows the most chaos, there are so many memories. To the extreme right, the National Record Mart sign is partially visible. I purchased my very first 45 rpm record here. Telstar, by the Tornados, was recorded in 1962 and was one of my favorites. Of course, I was only 11 years old, but I remember playing the record over and over again on my Mom’s new pink hi-fi record player.

NRM became the source for the majority of my 45 rpm record collection, which I still own to this day. The store eventually relocated to a storefront that was near Cox’s on the south side of 5th Ave.

“Book Sale” was always one of my favorite stores during my teenage years. Back in the days of REAL books, and when people actually would READ as a form of entertainment, Book Sale provided a cheap source of reading material. Every wall was lined with rows and rows of wooden shelving, and contained countless paperback books that were separated by category. Since every cover had been ripped off of the paperback books, one would actually have to read a synopsis that was on the back cover in order to determine if the book interested you. Only the spines of the books were visible, whether they were shelved on the wall or housed on the many flat bin tables on the selling floor.

 I believe that they only books that were available that still had a cover attached were the all too familiar “Cliff Notes.” As a high school student, Cliff Notes were often a constant companion for me. They saved me from the daunting task of not only having to read many of Shakespeare’s works, but having to actually understand what in the heck he was talking about. Somehow, Shakespeare and being a hunky was not a good mix.

 As a student at Serra Catholic High School, I think it is now safe to admit that not only did I use Cliff Notes for my English classes, I was a firm believer in using the annotated Latin/English versions of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Hopefully, my high school diploma will not be recalled or invalidated after letting loose with this 43 year old secret!

 In closing, I know we would all enjoy hearing about other McKeesport stores of your youth. I’m sure there are stories about Cox’s and their fashion shows, Immel’s, Kadar’s, The Famous and many more. Please share!

 

Posted in McKeesport, Stores and Businesses | 116 Comments

Sweet Memories

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Jim

I try not to be redundant when I post to my blog. However, a few days ago I read an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette regarding the McKeesport Candy Co. which brought back memories on so many levels. The article is included in this post. I’ve written about some of my favorite penny candy before, but feel compelled to resurface the discussion again.

Nothing was sweeter (if you pardon the pun) than when Mom gave me a nickel for helping her with something around the house. That 5 cents was a gateway to a whole lot of fun and pleasure as I would head to either Puski’s, Hilltop Dairy or to Avenue News (aka – Elsie’s) to spend my nickel. There was another candy store that was across from my grandfather’s house in the 800 block of Hamilton Ave.

Although the store on Hamilton Ave. was the one I  visited the least amount of times, I remember the interior better than any of the other places I bought my penny candy.  I had to climb about 6 or 7 steps to reach the door. Once inside, I recall a huge storefront window that flooded the interior with sunshine. The store was VERY sparsely furnished with a few glass front candy cases that were anchored by a dark wooded counter behind which stood the “proprietor.” Since a was just a wee one, Dad would accompany me into the candy store. After the scary man asked me if I wanted help, Dad would usually place his hand on my shoulder and instruct me to answer the man with a polite “Yes sir.”

In a rather shaky little boy voice, I’d tell the man behind the counter that I have a nickel to spend and wanted to buy some candy. I’d always start with the pretzel rods that were kept in glass canisters on the top of the counter. I think they were 3 for a penny. God only knows where this guy got the patience to deal with little kids trying to make up the mind about candy. Spending 5 cents was an arduous talk for me! Like most children, it took me a long time to finally make up my mind. Red licorice coins, red licorice strings, Ben-Hurs, Pixie Sticks were among my favorites.

Eventually I began to buy full size nickel candy bars as penny candy “purveyors” began to diminish. Elsie’s and Hilltop Dairy had stopped selling penny candy altogether and the Hamilton Avenue Store where I used to buy penny closed for good. Dad told me they were busted for being a numbers joint… or so he said. One candy I forgot about until recently was actually one of my favorites. Bonomo Turkish Taffy! In retrospect, I am sure it was responsible to half of the missing fillings in Duquesne.I remember that you had to slap it as hard as you could on a solid surface in order to break it into bite size pieces. I loved all of the flavors, but my favorite was banana.

I was also a big fan of 3 Musketeers, Hershey bars, and Milkways. I was able to find some of the old TV commercials for these candys on Youtube. I guess Madison Avenue was trying to play with the minds of kids as soon as TV became the advertising medium of choice. The links to the commercials are posted at the end of this post.

The following is the article that appeared in the Post-Gazette recently. Besure to check out the vintage commercials following the article. And as Jackie Gleason always said –

                                                                  “How sweet it is!”

                      The McKeesport Candy Company

By Molly Hensley-Clancy / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When the representative from a Madison Avenue jewelry store called the McKeesport Candy Co., she wasn’t craving chocolate. She didn’t want their signature Brach’s candy, or their hard-to-find vanilla Tootsie rolls. She wanted pearls.

Jon Prince, the company’s president, had just the thing.

In the city-block-sized warehouse of the McKeesport Candy Co., Mr. Prince, of Squirrel Hill, keeps a shelf stocked with industrial-sized bags of gumballs. They come in traditional colors like pink and red, but he also stocks them in lime green, shimmer-blue and, yes, even a pearlescent white.

Mr. Prince sold the department store around 200 pounds of them.

For more than half a century, McKeesport Candy, which has been in business since 1927, did business by supplying bulk candy to independent grocery stores. The company also owned several retail locations scattered throughout Pittsburgh.

The advent of the Internet, though, allowed the business to get into a much quirkier game: the selling of retro, novelty and themed candy, like the gumballs that eventually graced the Madison Avenue store’s stylish display.

In late 2001, the company closed its last retail store in order to focus solely on Internet sales, and the decision has paid off.

Today, hard-to-find candies are the backbone of McKeesport Candy’s business, and their website is the top organic result on Google for “wholesale candy.”

McKeesport Candy opened its first website, the now-defunct mckandy.com, in 1998, long before most small businesses had bought into the Internet craze. At the time, the company called itself the “fundraising candy specialists,” and sold almost exclusively to customers in Western Pennsylvania.

Except for some stock images of candy bars and a link to an order brochure, mckandy.com didn’t offer much. The company’s office, said Mr. Prince, wasn’t even equipped with an Internet connection.

Then they got a call from a woman who wanted to place an order. She’d seen the site and wanted some Brach’s ice-blue mints.

“How are we supposed to get it to you? You’re in West Virginia,” Mr. Prince remembers telling her, baffled.

But they packed up the mints and sent them to her via UPS. It was a revelation, he said, about what the business could become. Soon after, McKeesport Candy began offering candy for sale on the Web. Mr. Prince believes it was only the second candy company to do so.

That the company’s first-ever Internet order was for sweets made by Brach’s, one of the oldest candy companies in the country, was a sign of things to come. McKeesport Candy had been carrying Brach’s since its inception, when Mr. Prince’s grandfather, Ernest Prince, operated the business out of the back of his truck.

“We sold retro candy before it was retro,” said Mr. Prince.

When so-called “nostalgic” candy became popular in the mid-2000s, demand for Brach’s surged, and McKeesport Candy’s online business did, too. Brach’s candies, the most well-known of which are candy corn and individually wrapped golden butterscotch discs, are now among the company’s bestsellers.

So, too, are retro favorites like Clark Bars, a onetime Pittsburgh institution now manufactured by Necco, and marshmallow-filled Mallo Cups, which hail from nearby Altoona.

The sales of retro and novelty candy wouldn’t be possible without the innovative design of McKeesport Candy’s current website, which was launched in 2000 to replace mckandy.com.

Picking up on the popularity of candy nostalgia, Mr. Prince came up with the idea of offering candy sorted by decade, from Brach’s, which is “pre-1919,” to Bonomo taffy from the World War II-era and Pop Rocks from the 1970s.

Mr. Prince said he is constantly updating and changing the website to pick up on new trends, especially the retro candy craze. Most items available for sale on candyfavorites.com are accompanied by a brief history of the sweet. An informational section of the website offers candy timelines, facts and images of nostalgic candy ads.

The “History of Candy” part of the website brings in large amounts of traffic, said Mr. Prince. A page that displays colorful magazine ads for Brach’s from the 1950s and ’60s, for example, links to a page where the wrapped candy can be bought in bulk.

Sales from the website now allow the company, which employs around 20 people depending on the season, to ship out several hundred packages of candy every day.

Though Mr. Prince once balked at a single out-of-state customer, he now ships boxes to every corner of the country and even the globe. A load of hard-to-find red, white and blue Tootsie rolls recently made their way to London for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Though Mr. Prince is the brains behind candyfavorites.com, it is his longtime general manager Tom Griffin, who has been with the company for more than 40 years, who keeps the stock fresh.

“We’ll try anything once,” he said.

He searches catalogues for anything that looks new and exciting, with a soft spot, said Mr. Prince, for whimsy. A whole section of the warehouse stocks strange novelty candies geared towards kids, like candy dog bowls, edible cell phones and even candy toilets.

“The grosser, the better,” Mr. Griffin said.

But the bestsellers are a constant, said Mr. Griffin. “People will always love their Snickers bars and Reese’s cups.”

Mr. Prince cut in. “I’ve never even tasted a Snickers,” he said. “Just never seemed exciting enough.”

Molly Hensley-Clancy: mclancy@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1410.

First Published August 9, 2012 12:00 am

Now, enjoy the following commercial break!

 

 

 

Posted in Food and Restaurants, McKeesport | 18 Comments

Timeless Kennywood!

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Jim

I love the internet. It provides a wealth of information if you know where to look. One of my favorite reference sites is Wikipedia. The information submitted to this site is at times questionable, however, I was able to locate a relatively complete timeline of the many attractions at Kennywood Park since 1898 to the present day. As I read through the information, I was astounded by the age of some of the attractions and the fact that not only do they continue to operate, but that they remain popular attractions to this day!

Be sure to comment on your favorites! I am sure that you have some wonderful stories to relate. Don’t be shy, be a kid again!

Ride/Attraction timeline

  • 1898: Kenny’s Grove opened by Monongahela Street Railway Co.
  • 1899: Park renamed Kennywood, Merry-Go-Round* (G.A. Dentzel carousel), Casino restaurant (now Parkside Cafe), Dancehall
  • 1901: Old Mill (converted to Garfield’s Nightmare in 2004, also formerly named/themed as Hard Headed Harrold’s Horrendously Humorous Haunted Hideaway and Panama Canal)

Isn’t it amazing to think that for 111 years, the Old Mill has been operating in its same location? I wonder how many first kisses have occurred in the darkened canals within the ride? The Old Mill opened as “Fairyland Floats” but was rethemed 5 years later in 1906 as “The Old Mill.”

  • 1902: Figure Eight Toboggan (park’s first coaster, removed 1921)
  • 1903: Steeplechase (removed 1904)
  • 1904: Steeplechase removed
  • 1905: Dip-the-Dips Scenic Railway (removed 1910)
  • 1906: Fairyland Floats (re-themed Old Mill), Figure Eight Toboggan renamed to Gee Whizz Dip the Dips
  • 1910: 1910 Racer (original version, removed 1926), Dip-the-Dips Scenic Railway removed
  • 1911: Speed-O-Plane (removed 1923), Panama Canal (re-themed Old Mill)
  • 1913: Merry-Go-Round** (original G.A. Dentzel carousel replaced by T.M. Harton model)

It appears that the carousel referred to above was the second of three carousels that were part of the Kennywood landscape. It was eventually replaced inh 1927 by the current merry-go-round.

  • 1914: Old Mill (re-themed Panama Canal)
  • 1916: Wurlitzer Band Organ provides music for Merry-Go-Round
  • 1918: Whip* (replaced in 1927)
  • 1920: Jack Rabbit

Do you believe it?!?! One of my favorite coasters has been operating for 92 YEARS!! Even though I know the infamous double dip is coming up, it still is such a thrill, especially if you’re fortunate to be occupying the last seat on the train! During one family trip, my mother-in-law, Jean, decided to take my youngest daughter Abby on both of their first rides on the Jack Rabbit. The good intentions didn’t turn out so well, my daughter “was not amused!” She rolled into the station with a “deer in headlights” look on her face and promptly began lecturing my wife and I for allowing her to ride. Eventually we were forgiven and she road it once agin.

  • 1921: Gee Whizz Dip the Dips removed
  • 1922: Dodgem (removed in 1929)
  • 1923: Speed-O-Plane removed
  • 1924: Pippin (converted to Thunderbolt in 1968), Kiddieland* (located near Jack Rabbit coaster)
  • 1925: Sunlite Swimming Pool (removed 1973)

Again, its heard to believe that Kennywood’s swimming pool opened 87 years ago. Although our beloved pool met its demise 39 years ago, I for one will never forget it. The article below details some of the specifics about the days leading up to the official opening in May, 1925.

  • 1926: 1910 Racer removed
  • 1927: Merry-Go-Round(T.M. Harton carousel replaced by current William H. Dentzel model, Wurlitzer Band Organ is moved to new carousel), current Racer, Tumble Bug, larger 16 car Whip**, Kiddieland** (moved from near Jack Rabbit coaster to former location of original Racer coaster)
  • 1928: Brownie Coaster (removed 1953 or later), Tilt-A-Whirl* (removed 1934)
  • 1929: Dodgem removed
  • 1930: Auto Race, Laff in the Dark (removed 1965)

Laff in the Dark was one ride that always freaked me out as a kid. I don’t think it was the ride itself as much as Laffin’ Sal who stood in the ticket booth. I still recall dreams of her chasing me through the park at night!

The Auto Race is still in operation and is still enjoyed by thousands each day. I love the ride and can’t wait until my grandson is old enough for me to take him on the ride!

 

  • 1931: Tickler (roller coaster, removed 1952)
  • 1935: Teddy Bear (roller coaster, removed in 1947), Skooter (removed 1979)
  • 1936: Noah’s Ark (re-built in 1996), Loop-O-Plane* (removed 1950)

One of the grand old rides and a landmark of Kennywood!

  • 1937: 13 Spook Street, Kiddie Old Mill (Swan Boats, removed mid-70s)
  • 1938: Ridee-O (removed 1959)
  • 1940: Rockets (Traver circle swing added to island in lagoon, removed 1978)
  • 1941: Daffy Klub (replaces 13 Spook Street)
  • 1945: Olde Kennywood Railroad
  • 1946: Original facade on Racer loading platform replaced
  • 1947: Teddy Bear removed
  • 1948: Little Dipper (remodeled in 1958, removed in 1984), hills removed from Auto Race and car bodies replaced with current style bodies, Tumble Bug cars replaced with turtle-looking versions
  • 1949: Tilt-A-Whirl** (removed 1963), Tumble Bug renamed Turtle
  • 1950: Roll-O-Plane* (removed 1969)
  • 1952: Octopus (removed 1965), Tickler removed
  • 1953: Sunlite Pool closes to swimming due to maintenance problems and turned into U-Drivem boat concession
  • 1955: Rotor* (removed 1958), Sunlite Pool reopens after rehab, Kiddie Cadillacs, Daffy Klub removed

I LOVED the Rotor. I’m sure I couldn’t handle it today, but I remember turning upside down and having a great time on this ride.

  • 1957: Round-Up* (replaced with new model in 1964)
  • 1958: Wild Mouse (removed 1960), Little Dipper remodeled and renamed Dipper
  • 1959: SkyDiver
  • 1960: Wild Mouse removed, facade on Racer loading platform redesigned
  • 1961: Bandshell destroyed in fire, Calypso (removed 1987), Old Mill gets new boats
  • 1962: Kangaroo (only Flying Coaster flat ride in existence)
  • 1964: Tornado dark ride (from defunct Freedomland, removed 1966), Round-Up** (replacing original Round-Up; damaged by the June 19, 1975 fire and replaced with Super Round-Up)
  • 1965: Rotor** (removal date unknown), Popover (removed in 1976), Laff in the Dark removed
  • 1966: Turnpike (Electric cars added in 1987)

I remember the distinctive clacking sound of the gas engines when the ride first opened. The smell of all the exhaust fumes had to have been a problem for the poor kids who operated the ride!

  • 1967: Road Runner (Cuddle Up), Ghost Ship (Replaced Tornado, Both rides destroyed in fire on June 19, 1975)
  • 1968: Thunderbolt, rebuilt from Pippin. The four drops in the ravine and the lift hill remain intact from the original coaster. The new Thunderbolt track had a small hill in the inner helix that was removed in 1969.
  • 1969: Noah’s Ark remodeled, Loop-O-Plane** (removed 1983)
  • 1971: Roll-O-Plane** (removed 1985)
  • 1972: Bayern Kurve*, Le Cachot Name means “The Dungeon” in French, replaced Safari dark ride. (removed 1998), Monster* (removed 1974)
  • 1973: Gran Prix, Sunlite Swimming Pool removed
  • 1974: Hardheaded Harold’s Horrendously Humorous Haunted Hideaway (theme change of park’s Old Mill), Kenny Kangaroo makes his debut as park mascot
  • 1975: Log Jammer (first multi-million dollar ride in the park’s history) Carousel is completely stripped, and repainted, Wurlitzer Band Organ is completely rebuilt
  • 1976: Tilt-A-Whirl*** (removed in 1988, moved to Idlewild), (Super) Round Up*** (moved to Idlewild 1985), SkyDiver replaced with new model and renamed Paratrooper
  • 1977: Monster**; Nearby West View Park closes
  • 1978: Enterprise (renamed Volcano in 2003), Rockets removed
  • 1979: Monster***, renamed Monongahela Monster (removed 1989), Garden Stage (removed in 2006)
  • 1980: Laser Loop.(Removed in 1990)
  • 1981: Gold Rusher (removed in 2007), Paddle Boats
  • 1982: Pirate, Wonder Bread trains on Racer replaced by new PTC models
  • 1983: Ranger (lasts only one season)
  • 1984: Wave Swinger, Swing Around* (removed at end of season, but returns five years later), Bayern Kurve** (original replaced), Dipper removed
  • 1985: Raging Rapids, Super Round-Up removed
  • 1986: Wonder Wheel (removed in 1999), Bayern Kurve** removed, geysers and waterfall added to Raging Rapids
  • 1987: Musik Express, electric cars added to Turnpike and directions cars face on track reversed, Kennywood designated National Historic Landmark
  • 1988: Flying Carpet (removed in 2006), Rotor*** (removed in 1994, eventually moved to Lake Compounce), Tilt-A-Whirl removed, Kennywood Memories is filmed and premieres 28 Sep. 1988
  • 1989: Swing Around** (removed in 2005), Monster removed
  • 1990: Great Balloon Race (removed in 1995, moved to Idlewild), Laser Loop removed, original facade on Racer loading platform restored
  • 1991: Steel Phantom (quickly tops top 10 list, rebuilt as Phantom’s Revenge in 2001), Wurlitzer Band Organ undergoes extensive repairs
  • 1992: Tri-Star (lasts only one season, moved to Idlewild in 1998), Old Mill (Haunted Hideaway renamed)
  • 1993: WipeOut (removed 2009, relocated to Lake Compounce)
  • 1994: SkyCoaster, Bayern Kurve*** (Removed in 2005)
  • 1995: LOST KENNYWOOD expansion in former location of Sunlite Swimming Pool – Pittsburg Plunge, Phantom Phlyer (Removed in 1996, moved to Lake Compounce), Roll-O-Plane*** (removed in 2003), Whip and Wave Swinger moved to Lost Kennywood, Great Balloon Race removed
  • 1996: Lil Phantom (Kiddieland), Kenny’s Parkway, Noah’s Ark remodeled, Phantom Phlyer removed
  • 1997: Pitt Fall (Removed in 2011)
  • 1998: Kennywood celebrates its 100th anniversary, Centennial Midway (one season), Le Cachot removed
  • 1999: Exterminator, Wonder Wheel removed.
  • 2000: Aero 360, Dancing Waters relocated across from Grand Prix, Garfield and Odie added as park mascots
  • 2001: Phantom’s Revenge (rebuilt from Steel Phantom), Crazy Trolley
  • 2002: Garfield’s Pounce Bounce, Phantom Fright Nights debut
  • 2003: King Kahuna (formerly Top Spin from Lake Compounce, removed 2010), Ham-on-Rye (removed in 2005), Volcano Valley themed area, Volcano (theme change from Enterprise), Roll-O-Plane removed, Miniature Golf removed
  • 2004: Garfield’s Nightmare (theme change from Old Mill)
  • 2005: New front gate structures built, Bayern Kurve*** and Swing Around removed, Merry-Go-Round undergoes a complete overhaul and is rebuilt, Wurlitzer Band Organ is repainted
  • 2006: Swing Shot
  • 2007: Cosmic Chaos, SS Kenny, roofing over the escalators to lot 2, Gold Rusher removed.
  • 2008: Ghostwood Estate,[16] new Kiddieland games building.
  • 2009: Bayern Kurve****,[15] WipeOut removed, original Phantom drop and second hill retracked
  • 2010: Sky Rocket, A New Steel Roller Coaster,[14] Turnpike Removed and placed in storage with intent to be reinstalled. King Kahuna Removed.
  • 2011: Kandy Kaleidoscope is remodeled, Parkside Cafe is remodeled and becomes the park’s first air-conditioned food service location, Kiddieland restrooms are rebuilt to include a refreshment stand, Star Refreshment stand is renovated, Merry-Go-Round horses are refurbished, Pitt Fall Removed, Holiday Lights debut, Wurlitzer Band Organ on Merry-Go-Round is completely rebuilt.
  • 2012: Black Widow ride to replace Pitt Fall [13]
  • .
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  • Asterisks (*) indicate number of times a ride was replaced or re-introduced.
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Posted in Kennywood | 9 Comments

A Few of my Favorite Things

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Jim

I was watching a show on TV’s Food Network a few days ago. A young chef was explaining his style of cooking and what had inspired him to become a chef. He spoke about his family, his village in Mexico, his culture, and about the food that was native to his land. He described in detail, the specific meals and foods that he loved as a child. He recalled them with such passion, you would almost swear that he had just eaten them hours before!

I began to think about a few of my “favorite things” that I always enjoyed as a child of Duquesne. Certainly, many of the items I thought of are still available, but somehow I always remember them tasting better as a kid. Nonetheless, when I think about them, I still get a smile on my face and a longing to chow down on any one of them in the company of my famility, friends and neighbors by long ago.

Here’s to good ol’ Duquesne food……

  • Pizza from Irene’s Pizza on Grant Avenue
  • Jim’s Hot Dogs
  • Hucksterburgers from Huckster’s Bar on Crawford
  • Sugar donuts from Dawn Donuts in West Homestead
  • Chipped Ham from Isaly’s piled high on white bread with mayo
  • Ice cream cones from Dairy Queen (Remember the commercial? – “With a B and a BI and a BO and a BOP, its Dairy Queen with a curl on top!”
  • A&W root beer from the A&W Drive-in on Rt. 30 across from the Great Valley Shopping Center in North Versailles
  • Mission Orange and Mission Grape Pop from Green Valley Beer Distributors in East McKeesport
  • Freshly baked bread from Vienna Bakery on Bowman Blvd in East McKeesport
  • My mom’s city-chicken, creamed corn and mashed potato dinner.

A writer from the Post Gazette wrote an article and offered area recipes for city chicken recently. Click the following link to reminise along with them – http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sectionfront/life/pittsburgh-sticks-with-loving-city-chicken-305208/

  • An Isaly’s skyscraper cone with vanilla ice cream with chocolate jimmies mixed into it
  • A giant fish sandwich from the Croatian Club on Wilmont Street
  • My Uncle Lou’s hot sausage with tons of onions and peppers
  • The smell of the macadam that covered most of the walking surfaces in Kennywood Park
  • Fresh Kennywood popcorn
  • Ice cold water from the green Fiesta® pitchers in the old Kennywood Restaurant and how they would sweat with condensation from the warmth of the restaurant
  • Kennywood French fries served in a cone with lots of ketchup and salt
  • My dad’s garlic ring bologna, fried in REAL butter and onions
  • Jelly donuts from Bud and Jerry’s Donut Shoppe on First Street
  • Eating at the lunch counter in ANY of the 5 & 10 Cent Stores in McKeesport, Eastland or Duquesne Village
  • Buying cookies by the pound from the cookie counters at Murphy’s or H.L.Green’s 5& 10
  • Lick ‘em Ade, Pixie Stix and those little wax soda bottles with the ultra- sweet fruit juices insude
  • My dad’s “combination sandwiches” made with chipped ham and eggs on white toast with ketchup
  • Maple rolls and the little glass bottles of milk that were served to the students of Holy Name School on First Fridays

Do you have some other favorites that you’d like to share? Please add yours to the comment section…….

Posted in Food and Restaurants, Stores and Businesses | 52 Comments

Colors of Kennywood

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Jim

For some reason, today I am really having an “I miss Kennywood” moment. I’m sure it started as I began to consider a subject that I wanted to write about today. Since we are having a rather overcast and gloomy day here on the shore, I thought about how, not matter the weather, Kennywood would always  radiate bright colors and excitement.

 I recall the fantastic job the groundskeepers did in maintaining the landscaping around the park. It was often cited as bearing a strong resemblance to Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli Gardens (or simply Tivoli) is a famous amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on August 15, 1843 and is the second oldest amusement park in the world.

 In spite of the age of some of the older rides like the Racer, Jack Rabbit or Turtle, they would always gleam from layers and layers of enamel paint in the brightest of colors. The canopies and the posts that held up the entrances to many of the rides showed their age by reveling cratering from previous layers of un-sanded paint. Instead of being something that would be considered unsightly, the cratering actually added character and charm to the park.

 I decided rather than write a post today, I would rather provide you with some visual fodder that should stir your memory of Kennywood Park. The photos are ones that I took during my last trip to Kennywood, so they must be at least 10 years old. Enjoy!

The Windmill near the entrance into Kennywood

 The Old Mill

The Racer Entrance

Noah’s Ark

Merry-Go-Round Face

Merry-Go-Round Horse

Auto Race Sign

Gardens Near Restaurant

Entrance to Kiddieland

Posted in Kennywood | 25 Comments

Enjoying the Weed

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Jim

Enjoying the Weed – What a Difference a Generation Makes!

July 4th was a scorching hot day for me. I find it increasingly difficult to deal with blindingly sunny days and heat indices past 100°! I spent the day in the house with the air conditioning pumped up and just relaxed all day. I was able to find a station that was airing “Yankee Doodle Dandy” with James Cagney, so needless to say, I enjoyed that bit of nostalgia for part of the day.

As I sat with an ice cold bottle of water, I began to think once again about how we dealt with the hot summer days of our youth. That’s when I began thinking about “weed,” and realized that the word “weed” has taken on a whole new meaning since I was a kid. With the passing of one generation, “weed” has gone from a source of frustration for gardeners, to a source of illicit enjoyment to an entirely different community of people.

To the kids in my neighborhood, “enjoying the weed” had yet another meaning. Allow me to explain:

As you know, my childhood home was on Thomas Street, across from Kopriver’s on Kennedy/Texas Ave. There were only 11 homes on the street which ended at the entrance to St. Joseph’s Cemetery. If you were to view the cemetery today, you would find that the unused fields that lead to the crest of the hill are kept neatly trimmed and leveled.

This was not the case when I was growing up. Those same fields were overgrown areas of weeds. Some sections of weeds were trampled and cleared by kids in an attempt to create an area to play baseball, whiffle ball and other field games. However, the majority of the remaining space was an overgrown home to every type of weed imaginable.

I recall that on some of the hotter days of summer, we would retreat to an area along the west side of the cemetery that was partially shaded by the trees growing in the backyards of the homes along Mellon Street. There, we would spread out a sheet or old bedspread that one of our mother’s gave us to use, lay down on the covering and enjoy its coolness as we stretched out. Occasionally, one of our moms would give us a plastic pitcher with water and some ice and some Dixie cups. We’d ration  out the water since we were planning to stay put and beat the heat all afternoon.

As we lay on our back staring up at the sky with its blazing sun, we would often begin our respite by trying to identify shapes in the clouds. You really had to have quite an imagination to visual some of the shapes we came up with, but that was half the fun. It wouldn’t be long before we tire of that game and just turn over onto our stomachs.

Once we were lying on our stomachs, our hands would start to explore the grassy area surrounding the blanket. That would normally signal the time that we would start to enjoy the weeds that grew in abundance throughout the cemetery. Someone would inevitably tear off a blade of a weed that I have come to learn is called a Giant Foxtail. They would sandwich it carefully in between their two thumbs and raise it to their mouth. After a few adjustments and some well-placed spit and a steady blowing, the make-shift instrument would begin to produce a sound similar to a kazoo. Not to be outdone, we would all grab a blade of foxtail and go through the same process to be able to join in the fun.

We would sit there and try to synchronize and harmonize to some tune we might all know. Since this was prior to any of us being interested in the Top 40 hits, our repertoire would be limited to a song such as Farmer in the Dell or Old Suzanna. Most of us would play the tune and some “unfortunate one” among us would have to sing.

 

braidedBuckhorn Plantain seemed to be everyone’s favorite weed. Of course, we never called them by that name; in fact I don’t think we ever called them by any name. They were just weeds to us. We never had to stray too far to grab a bunch of these weeds. We would proceed to have a mini war with each other with our newly found “weapons.” We would wrap the stems around the heads and then proceed to pop the caps off at each other. I’m sure that if our parents saw us doing this, we would have gotten into trouble for spreading weed seeds far and wide. If we happened to be playing with any girls in our group, while the boys focused on mortal combat, the girls would carefully craft braided bracelets out of the stems.

Milkweed plants, as mentioned in a previous posting, were also a source of entertainment. We would try to gather enough of ripened milkweed pods that were on the verge of popping open to spew their seeds across the fields. We would gather together to begin popping the pods open in unison in order to create something that resembled a summertime snowfall with all of the seeds wisping about!

Newly developed pods were not safe from our probing little hands either. We would gather the new pods onto our blanket and systematically proceed to peel the outer casings to reveal “innards” that resembled a scaly fish. Our quest was to be the one to find the pod that contained the biggest “fish.” As we

opped open the pods and dug out the “fish” inside, our fingers began to get increasingly gooey and sticky from the white sap that ran through the plant. A quick trip to one of the faucets that were spread throughout the cemetery was in quick order after we were done with our contest and had declared a winner of our big fish contest. 

As I was trying to find appropriate pictures of milkweed pods, I came across a blog where I learned that milkweed can actually be eaten. The blog’s author described the taste as follows:

“Flavor-wise, milkweed pods are really a lot like asparagus. Soft and just slightly sweet. They’re very earthy and “fresh” tasting, and obviously very… vegetable. Stuffing the pods is just one way to enjoy this mid-summer treat.”

Actually, they look pretty tempting; however I could only imagine bringing a basketful of these to some hunky grandma in Duquesne and asking her to make dinner with them!! But then again, milkweed stuffed with cheese, kielbasa on a bed of halushki…..mmmmm, maybe? If you would like to check out more about using milkweed as a food source, just CLICK HERE

When it came down to imagination, we certainly were able to kick ours into full gear during those hot, lazy, summer days. Fresh air was our constant companion, and the thought of spending a day indoors was pure torture for us. Video games, computers, and TV with 100’s of channels have stolen the healthy joy of outdoor play for today’s youth.

When you think about it, its not hard to understand how generations were able to extract such delight from just paying with weeds instead of smoking them!

 

 

 

 

Posted in Church and School - St. Joseph, Playing and Games | 2 Comments

Duquesne’s Hot Fun in the Summertime

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Jim

I spent the better part of yesterday at my office. The heat was so unbearable, that I decided to chill inside rather than attempt to get into my car and drive home. When I finally decided to go home, I glanced down at the outside temp surrounding my car and was shocked to see it registering 108°!!

 I wondered to myself “how did we manage days like this back in Duquesne?” Quite honestly, I don’t ever recall being as hot. During the day when most of us now are sitting comfortably in an air-conditioned room, as a child, we would be out and about and playing in spite of the heat.

One of our favorite places to beat the heat was at the playground behind the Hungarian Reform Church on Kennedy Avenue. I remember attempting to use the slide, swings or merry-go-round and practically sautéing the backs of my legs if I happened to be wearing shorts! I swear the metal and hard rubber surfaces got hot enough that you could fry up a plateful of halushki! Although most of the playground equipment stood in bright sunshine throughout the afternoon, there was always respite at the tables that were located under the huge trees located on the north end of the playground.

Sometimes, when we weren’t working on some type of craft project, we might be enjoying a small lunch that Mom had packed for us. It might have been as simple as a butter and jelly sandwich, but being able to eat it outside with friends somehow made it extra special and a real treat.

I came across some articles from the Duquesne Times that I thought you’d enjoy. They certainly harken back to those hot summer days in Duquesne!

JULY 7, 1957……………………

JULY 9, 1959……………………………………..

 JULY 1950……………………………..

Posted in Playing and Games, Summertime | 6 Comments

The Ice Block

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Jim

Here’s a quick memory jolt for you. Since our freezer was about the size of a breadbox when I was a child, the production of ice was limited to those little aluminum ice-cube trays. As a result, every very summer picnic, excursion, reunion or bar-b-cue usually meant a visit to a very familiar stop in McKeesport.

I used to always make the trip with my dad to Lysle Blvd in McKeesport in order to buy one or two giant blocks of ice. The vending machine was located relatively close to the McKeesport Hospital area directly on Lysle Blvd. I remember eagerly awaiting the huge block of ice to be ejected from the inner depths of the machine. After a lot of groans, moans and belches from the old machine, a gloriously clear and sparkling perfectly formed block of ice would shoot out from behind a black curtain that was made of strips of rubber. The block had to be around 14 or 16 inches square. Dad would always have an ice chest or an aluminum washtub to place the block in for its trip home.

Once we arrived home with the block, Dad would begin breaking down the block with an ice pick and a hammer, and create the perfectly sized chunks to ice down metal laundry tubs full of bottles of beer and cases of Regent pop, Mission Orange pop, and Mission Grape pop. By the time the event started, every bottle was perfectly chilled and ready to be enjoyed by family and friends.

One of my favorite songs of summmer is by Nat King Cole. I think the songs sums up the entire summer season in just a few versus. Too bad he didn’t mention anything about Kennywood!

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer                                                                      Those days of soda and pretzels and beer                                                                                     Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer                                                                        Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer

Just fill your basket full of sandwiches and weenies                                                                Then lock the house up, now you’re set                                                                                        And on the beach you’ll see the girls in their bikinis                                                                    As cute as ever but they never get em wet

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer                                                                      Those days of soda and pretzels and beer                                                                                      Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer                                                                              You’ll wish that summer could always be here

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer                                                                          Those days of soda and pretzels and beer                                                                                     Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer                                                                         Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer

Don’t hafta tell a girl and fella about a drive-in                                                                              Or some romantic moon it seems                                                                                                 Right from the moment that those lovers start arrivin                                                           You’ll see more kissin in the cars than on the screen

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer                                                                      Those days of soda and pretzels and beer                                                                                      Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer                                                                              You’ll wish that summer could always be here

You’ll wish that summer could always be here

You’ll wish that summer could always be here

Posted in McKeesport, Summertime | 7 Comments