Do you remember when the circus used to come to the Fairgrounds?
Do you remember when elders could still drive around Trexler Park or past Muhlenberg Lake, and through Lehigh Parkway from one end to the other?
Do you remember when brides were grateful to be photographed in the Rose Garden, even without a special pavilion or concrete walkways?
Do you remember when the Park System accommodated some recreation, as opposed to the Recreation Department tolerating some park.
Do you remember when we were the All American City, even without having a new master plan for the Park System?
photocredit: molovinsky
Do You Remember When Two Magnificent Weeping Fig Trees and Six Evergreens Stood in Front of the Parkway's Log and Stone House?
ReplyDeleteMy family went to a circus at the fairgrounds this past winter - they have one every winter. We called it the "ghetto circus" - not nice of us, but it was a circus.
ReplyDeleteI remember when you used to see those All-American plates around the city.
ReplyDeleteI used to think they were cool, but I was just a little kid, so, without an education, how could I be expected to know any better.
You are the only one, Molovinsky, the only one who has the ability to recollect anything, or so it seems.
Bad news dude, nothing was fair back in those days and everyone was exploited.
It was all a fantasy.
ironpigpen, i don't quite know how to interpret your comment. i can tell you that all-american city was not a designation of exclusion, or a statement of racism. there were many blue collar jobs, which all paid a living wage. there is no going back in time, but life was better then in allentown for everybody.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I am old enough to recall all of this, during the
ReplyDelete50's and 60's. Problem is (and not only in Allentown), the "good old days" are gone. People are different and I don't care what anyone says, it's true. And I would say that for the most part, people have not necesarily changed for the better. Working, middle-class folks have abanodoned cities and what's left behind are elderly, poor, minorities. Then, after several decades of this, we have what you describe in Allentown. A city of past glory with abandoned store fronts, grafitti, litter and an overall look of dispair. My optimistic side wants to believe that better days are ahead, but I keep seeing Allentown as becoming Camden as a real possibility.
VOR