A Small Meat Market In Easton

A lot of posts on this blog start out as an extension of my own experience and/or interest in local history.  Some of the posts grow out of my interest in my family's history.  In addition to this blog, about a year ago I started a facebook group named Allentown Chronicles. Although there were several existing groups based on local nostalgia,  I foresaw a group which went beyond who has the best cheesesteaks.   Enforcing the group guidelines has alienated some people,  but I believe others appreciate the intent.

While the facebook group does have some material seemingly lifted from wikipedia,  original pieces have also been submitted. Among my favorites are people's personal snapshots of growing up in Allentown, or the greater Lehigh Valley.  Where I'm headed to is a post about my father's meat market in Easton, unfortunately with no corresponding photograph.

I often tell younger people that they should ask questions of their older relatives, because the answers will not be around forever. My father was a workaholic, who had no interest or time for such questions.  Although I have researched the history of his Allentown meat market, the one in Easton has proven much more difficult.

The market in Allentown was in the front of a larger building,  with the back portion being a former meat packing house.  The Easton shop, called Melbern, was a small market contained in the first floor of a former row house. The name came from my father Melvin, and his brother/partner at the time, Bernard. It was located at 34 S. 4th Street, near Pine Street, which was then a very narrow alley.  On the corner of Pine was John's luncheonette, which also served Chinese food. Next to John's was Melbern.  The buildings were later  demolished to make Pine into a wider street.  Two partners in another meat business,  Drucker and Young, set up the shop for a meat market. However, they were taken to court by another butcher named Brill, who had purchased their former market on Washington Street, with a non-competition clause.  I surmise that they were forced to not open their new market on S. 4th, and sold the operation to my father and uncle.  Drucker and Young also operated for many years in the Nazareth Farmers Market.

I worked at the Easton market on weekends and summers during high school. Needless to say, I never inquired about the store's history, nor did my father ever mention such things.

The photograph above is of the Allentown meat market, taken after it was closed, but prior to being demolished. To my knowledge, no photograph of the Easton market exists.

State Of The Allentown Parks

Regular readers of this blog know that over the last decade I have devoted much of my efforts to the traditional Allentown park system.  I say traditional, because that system has been compromised over the years, mostly by the unfortunate influence of the Wildlands Conservancy.

In the mid and late 1920's, Allentown benefactor Harry Trexler assembled large tracts of land along the Little Lehigh and Cedar Creeks to create an iconic park system. He commissioned the foremost landscape architect in America to  design the parks, which would garner national attention in the coming decades. Although the stock market crash of 1929 put the plans on hold,  Roosevelt's WPA program, in the mid 1930's, put those plans in overdrive.  Because of those plans Allentown was shovel ready, and four thousand men assembled each morning in the fairgrounds, to be bused to various  projects throughout the city parks.

During the 1940's and 50's Allentown basked in attention, and the parks became destinations. Picture postcards of the parks were mailed all over the country.

Unfortunately during the 1970's, a longtime park director took it upon himself to destroy some of the WPA masterpieces.  Included in the losses were the island and boat landing in Lehigh Parkway.  I took it upon myself, with help from volunteers, to partially dig out a portion of the boat landing.

The Wildlands Conservancy demolished the miniature dam at the Robin Hood Bridge,  which was the last WPA construction in Allentown, meant to provide sound and sight enhancement to the beautiful bridge.  The Conservancy is also responsible for the useless riparian buffers, which block both view and access to the creeks.  The buffers serve no function, because the street water runoff is piped under the buffers, directly into the streams. Because of invasive species, these buffers must be cut down once in early summer,  killing the baby ducks.

Since 2005, when the park and recreation departments were merged, the emphasis has been on recreation.  Several years ago the entrance wall to Lehigh Parkway collapsed from neglect. Part of the wall was rebuilt to allow the road to reopen, and it is my understanding that the remainder of the wall will be repointed.

Needless to say my advocacy of the traditional park system has not always been appreciated by those with a different agenda. I don't need or seek their approval, my mission is for our youth to enjoy that beauty which inspired those picture postcards of yesteryear.

photo of Union Terrace being built by the WPA in 1935

Opportunist Or Emperor

When Jim Martin just referred to Mark Pinsley as a political opportunist, he wasn't mincing words. Pinsley used his short stint as a South Whitehall commissioner to run for two other offices. Since being elected county controller, he has inserted himself into township, city and county politics. 

Recently, when I was watching a virtual South Whitehall commissioner meeting, I was confused about Mark Pinsley's presence. Although no longer a commissioner, he was participating in the discussion. Township residents know all too well that their opinion can only be presented hours later, at the end of meeting, during discourtesy of the floor. Apparently, those rules are not imposed on Pinsley.

Recently, an Allentown ordinance giving grants to artists was proposed by Pinsley, who was never an Allentown resident.

His current intrusion into county politics questions the ratio of black to white inmates who meet bail.

I don't know when he was made emperor of the Lehigh Valley Democratic Party,  because he's not  listed as an officer.

Barbarians At Allentown Post Office Gate

In the 1930's, the "New Deal" was good to Allentown.  Our park system was enriched by monumental stone construction under the WPA. We also received one of the architectural gems of our area, the magnificent art deco post office. Constructed during 1933-34, no detail was spared in making the lobby an ageless classic. The floor is adorned with handmade Mercer tiles from Doylestown. Muralist Gifford Reynolds Beal worked thru 1939 portraying the Valley's cultural and industrial history.

Unfortunately for history and culture, this architectural gem is now being targeted for NIZ private/public enrichment.  Several architectural treasures were demolished for the arena, along with Allentown's mercantile history. The Postal Service has signed off on the building, and the developer is chomping at the bit. The real tragedy is that the other new buildings are not even full, but with private construction being funded by taxpayers, there is no need to worry about such details as occupancy rates.  Efforts to save this irreplaceable building may start and end on this blog.  The Morning Call, itself a partner in the NIZ,  has taken a back seat on such matters.

The 83 year old photograph, part of my private collection,  is the contractor's documentation of the project's progress. The back of the photo states; Taken Sept 1 - 34 showing lobby, floor, screens, desks, completed & fixtures hung

photograph will enlarge when clicked

reprinted from previous years

Mapping Allentown's Past And Future

The map, partially shown above, was produced by the Nathan Nirenstein Company of Springfield, Massachusetts in 1929. His firm specialized in engineering maps of various center cities on the eastern seacoast. The map is 22X30, and expands out from 7th and Hamilton for 2 1/2 blocks east and west,  2 blocks north and south. The map includes names of both the owner of the building, and the merchant/tenant occupying the space, if different.

While numerous small banks are shown on both Hamilton and the side streets, the coming Depression surely culled that herd. Allentown City Hall and police station are still on Linden Street, while the post office is at 6th and Turner. Two large hardware stores, Young and Hersh, are on Hamilton Street.

The buildings are owned by hundreds of different people.  What will future generations think when they see a 2029 map, and all the buildings are owned by just a few people?

reprinted from 2016

Sign Of The Times

Scott Armstrong, former Allentown School Board member is upset that Phoebe Harris, a current board member, is circulating the above poster on her facebook page.  The discussion and poster were created by a student at Dieruff High.

What the student, and perhaps even Ms. Harris, don't seem to realize is how the police came to be in the schools.  The high schools did use their own security people prior to police, but it was insufficient to quell escalating violence.  There were even a couple of incidents when adults came into classrooms and attacked students.

Talk of signs of the times...Although the country just suffered $billions of dollars in damage from riots and looting,  a sheriff was arrested in California for damaging a paper BLM sign.  Although that sheriff was arrested,  over a hundred people were shot in Chicago last weekend, including children.

Those children in Chicago and our children in Allentown schools deserve to be protected. If there are overreactions from the BLM movement which compromise that protection,  it will not be progress, but a step backwards.

Dancing On Eggshells In Allentown

If you want to picnic in an Allentown park, you need to reserve the table and pay the fee. If you wanted to demonstrate, you needed a permit and to post a bond. However, for the recent protest in the fragile Rose Garden, no permit or fee was enforced.

This weekend on social media, a downtown woman complained of fireworks tormenting her dog and keeping her children awake. However, she made it clear that she wouldn't clean up an exploded garbage bag across the street, or involve the police.  In the more livable areas of Allentown,  cleaning up litter and notifying the police is exactly what the neighborhood groups do.

Fortunately, this weekend's Defund The Police march in Allentown probably won't gain too much traction with city council,  two members themselves were former policemen.  However, a couple of months ago city council did throw the fairgrounds' neighborhood under the bus, by passing a noise exemption ordinance for the Maingate Nightclub.  Let us hope that they have the resolve not to throw the whole city away.

The World Of Mirth

Allentown at one time had two very productive railroad branch lines; The West End, and the Barber Quarry. The Barber Quarry, for the most part, ran along the Little Lehigh Creek. It serviced the Mack Truck plants on South 10th, and continued west until it turned north along Union Terrace, ending at Wenz's tombstone at 20th and Hamilton Streets. The West End, for the most part, ran along Sumner Avenue, turning south and looping past 17th and Liberty Streets.

The Allentown Economic and Development Corporation has received a $1.8 million grant, toward a $4 million dollar project, to restore a portion of the Barber Quarry branch to service it's industrial building on South 10th Street. This building housed Traylor Engineering, which was a giant back in the day. Recently it housed a fabricator who President Obama visited on his Allentown photo opportunity mission. The business has since closed, but let's not have that reality stand in the way of grants. Last summer, I fought against Allentown's Trail Network Plan, which catered to the spandex cyclist crowd. The new trail was to be built on the Barber Quarry track line. Not only didn't the AEDC oppose the plan, it's director was an advocate. Now they will be funded to develop that which they wanted to destroy. Where do I begin in Allentown's World of Mirth?

The wonderful photograph above shows the World of Mirth train at 17th and Liberty. World of Mirth was the midway operator at the Allentown Fair during the 40's and 50's. In the background is Trexler Lumber Yard, which burnt down in the early 1970's. The B'nai B'rith Apartment houses now occupy the location.
photograph from the collection of Mark Rabenold

UPDATE: The Barber Quarry branch was not the primary railroad access to the Mack plants on South 10th Street. The branch only provided service to Mack Plant #2 on South 10th and Mack Plant #1 on 7th and Mill Streets which both closed for manufacturing in 1924 in favor of Mack #3,3A,4 and 4A on South 10th. These were served by the Reading Railroad Mack Branch. There was a switchback that connected the Barber Quarry to the Reading west of Traylor Engineering and Manufacturing Co. Yet, that was built by the Reading to serve Traylor and did not provide access for the LVRR to Mack #3,3A, 4 and 4A.

Also the western terminus was not wenz's on Hamliton Street. The branch crossed Hamilton and served several businesses including Yeager Fuel on North St Elmo, several silk mills and Pepsi Bottling at 2100 Linden Street. The bottling plant closed in 1963 which then became a city parks department building. The LVRR sold and removed the track north of Hamilton street in 1969. Accordingly, in 1970, the Wenz company became the western most shipper and receiver on the branch. update information from anonymous comment in November of 2010

Neighborhoods Or Nightclubs In Allentown?

It was disturbing to see an article in the Morning Call,  essentially hoping that all turns out well for the Maingate Nightclub, with its upcoming  suspension hearings with the LCB.  Likewise,  it was disturbing when city council voted for the special noise exemption ordinance to help the nightclub circumvent their continuing LCB violations.

City council never surveyed the surrounding residents for their opinion about the scheme to help out a private bar owner.  We know that they actually blamed the residents of the elderly high-rise for squealing about the club's noise to the liquor control board.  As someone who has been scrutinizing bad city council actions for decades,  the Maingate vote may take the cake for favoritism.

I noticed that when the current operator of the Ritz spoke of her closing, she mentioned the Maingate. Discussing slow business before the Covid-19 shutdown, she believes last summer’s shooting that injured the Maingate Nightclub owner and a security guard outside the nearby business was partly to blame.“I think it scared people,” 

City councilman Daryl Hendricks referred to the Maingate area as an entertainment district.  Perhaps if he lived there, and was concerned about his family's quality of life, and his property value, he would realize that it is first and foremost a neighborhood.

photo of residential street being sacrificed by city council

Poor Neighborhoods To Get More Dangerous

When police officers several years ago in Baltimore were castigated for hosting some rough patty wagon trips,  police enforcement, and ultimately protection, took a slowdown in that city.  I expect to see a stand down now around the entire country.

In this current climate of scrutiny by the public, and officials more concerned with their reelection than actual public safety,  a dangerous, thankless job is now becoming a losing proposition.  When coming home from the job requires quick responses,  and everybody is a judge with a surveillance camera,  why would a policeman want to jeopardize himself protecting your property or life?

How ironic is it that "Defund The Police" was a slogan heard at riots and lootings?  Some woke large city officials want to instead divert those funds to social programs.  An activist in Minnesota  said, "We're safer without armed, unaccountable patrols supported by the state hunting black people."

I don't think that they will be safer.  Matter of fact,  I think that life has gotten far  more dangerous in poor neighborhoods in the last couple of weeks.  There will be a few less complaints against the police,  but much less protection against the predators in those neighborhoods.

above photo and caption from CNN

Memories Before The New Dollar General

When people drive by the new Dollar General on Walbert Avenue, few will remember fondly the rather non-descript property that was there before. The previous clapboard house faced sideways, with the front yard extending toward what was later a vehicle storage yard for Supreme Auto Body.  Behind the new store there are houses, which now have been there for many years.

In 1949, Morning Call readers found out about an armed robbery at a private poker game on Walbert Avenue. At the end of the long yard mentioned above, was a separate rumpus room, where my uncle and his associates played cards. The holdup men burst in with shotguns and made off with over $5,000, some serious money back then.

For a boy growing up in a development in South Allentown, my aunt and uncle's property out on Walbert Avenue was almost country. Along the top of the yard, where those houses are now, was a riding ring. Connected to my uncle's rumpus room, were the paddocks. My aunt was my father's oldest sibling, and her children were over 20 years my senior. By the time of my memories as a small boy, both my cousins and the horses were no longer there.

My uncle owned and operated Arlen Vending, which placed pinball machines and jukeboxes throughout the valley. He belonged to the Clover Club, a men's card playing club next to Hotel Traylor.  I know that in this era,  he would be a regular at the casino in Bethlehem.

Shown above in lower left of photo is Arlen Vending, a basement storeroom at 443 Hamilton Street. At any one time he would have 5,000 records for sale from the jukeboxes.

Protest Among The Roses

A Black Lives Matter protest was scheduled for Saturday afternoon in the Rose Gardens. As an advocate for the Allentown parks, this was absolutely the wrong location. The space between the flower beds is very limited.

The park department has erected signs throughout the park emphasizing the need for social distancing. In this emotional aftermath of the George Floyd incident, in this climate of political correctness, the city apparently didn't have the discipline to redirect the event to a more appropriate location.

Just beyond the garden are large open spaces, where such a gathering would be much safer for everybody participating.

I expressed my concerns publicly to both Karen El-Chaar, park director, and Hassan Batts, director of Promise Neighborhoods. El-Chaar responded that she agreed... My conclusion is that her preference was overridden by the city administration.

These are woke times, and this is a sensitive issue.  Never the less, as someone who sees the garden caretaker toiling every day,  it is no place for a large protest, even without the social distancing now recommended.

Hassan Batts responded that although his Promise facebook page hosted the protest announcement, his group is not the organizer.  He stated that he would pass along my concerns to the actual sponsor. As it turned out, he was both a featured participant and speaker at the event.  The official sponsor, although not mentioned on the promotion posters, was Lehigh Valley DSA, Democratic Socialists of America.

Allentown must certainly provide space for public assembly.  The extensive park system has numerous places which can host any size demonstration. In addition to the city administration having an obligation to the public assembly, they also have a responsibility to protect the public infrastructure. In all my years spent at Cedar Park, I have never witnessed the fragile garden submitted to such an activity.  It was a very righteous event in a totally wrong place.

Drag Races And Such At Dorney Park

Dorney Park is celebrating it's 125th Anniversary, as noted by The Morning Call. A landmark that old, has provided memories for five generations. As a teenager in the 1960's, friday nights at Castle Rock, a dance hall from the twenties, were literally a Freddy Cannon moment. Park admission was free, and there were many attractions which no longer exist, most victim to fire. In addition to the dance hall, there was also a roller skating ring and a stock car race track. The picture above was part of a large neon sign on Hamilton Blvd., on the northwest corner with Cedar Crest Blvd.

In 2007 John Travolta,dressed in drag, portrayed Hollywood's version of Hairspray, initially made by campy underground film maker John Waters, and shot at Dorney Park in 1988. Travolta's part was originally played by a less wholesome, real life female impersonator named Devine, who died shortly after the movie was released.

In my father's time, you could get the trolley at 7th and Hamilton and take it to Dorney Park. Through the 1980's, you could still drive on the road which went right through the middle of the park. Now, combined with a water park, Dorney has become a regional attraction. Busloads of children and families come from New York and elsewhere, but it will always remain a rite of passage for local youngsters.

reprinted from May of 2009.

UPDATE: The large Dorney Park sign stood on the northwest corner of Hamilton and Cedar Crest.  Historic stone homes,  including the former King George Inn, stood on the other three corners. The intersection was called Dorneyville. At the Dorney Sign there was a diagonal road which also entered the intersection,  and the sign pointed to follow that road to the amusement park.

Images Of Allentown Past

Tillie's Bakery, on the narrow 900 block of Liberty Street, was actually a family factory outlet store. Behind the house, whose living room served as the store, facing an alley called Fountain Street, was Long's Bakery. Long's produced small plastic wrapped shoefly pies and breakfast cakes, which were distributed in local grocery stores throughout Allentown. Tillie Long would open the bakery store several hours each day, and the small selection of wrapped bake goods would quickly be snatched up by knowledgeable neighbors. Peter and Tillie operated the factory and bakery front for the better part of a century. Afterwards, the business was operated by their son, William. The bakery building on Fountain Street is now apartments.

reprinted from May of 2013

Rumble In Harrisburg

Last night the Pa. General Assembly passed a resolution setting aside Governor Wolf's emergency measures concerning shutdowns and re-opens in the state.  While it goes without saying that Wolf will not sign the proclamation,  what rule of law it has seems to be in dispute, and headed for court.

One thing is certain, there has been substantial lost to local commerce because of the virus.  The Morning Call reports that the Bayleaf,  a fixture on Hamilton Street for three decades, will not reopen.  A member of Allentown Chronicles reports that the Ritz,  part and parcel of the fairgrounds, will also be closing.

Locally,  our Harrisburg elected officials voted along their party lines on the resolution.

Shown above was my campaign sign as an independent in 2014.  I ran in the race against eleven term Republican incumbent Julie Harhart and a Democratic opponent.  Pennsylvania doesn't elect independents, and stays with incumbents.

It will be a hard recovery.

An Allentown School Primer

While Morning Call readers learned yesterday that Allentown School superintendent Russ Mayo would not be seeking another contract, molovinsky readers already knew that since early last week. However, today's post is a lesson in recent history. Before Mayo, the superintendent was John Zahorchak. The board that hired him thought very highly of themselves for that choice. Zahorchak was former Secretary of Education under Rendell. What the board didn't realize was that while the Rendell administration was a case study in cronyism, it was not concerned with expertise. Zahorchak came to town and turned the school system inside out, and upside down. He instituted every new concept ever written in the education magazines. Among one bad move after another, he transfered Allen High's very effective principal to desk job on Penn Street. In wake of the mess, the board was then glad to hire Mayo, who was familiar with the system before the chaotic changes.

Allentown School System has been suffering from the same problems which affect all urban systems with high poverty rates.  Why the board thinks that a new superintendent will change the parameters of that reality escapes me.  The district just announced that there will be another year with no tax increase, which would be considered welcome news in most communities.

Now some older history;  Shown above is Dorothy Taliaferro, as pictured in the 1920 Allentown High School yearbook.  Dorothy was a vocal supporter for woman suffrage, and hoped to become a doctor. She was the first black girl to graduate from Allentown.  Although Dorothy did not fulfill that career ambition,  she had two younger brothers who did become physicians.  The family lived at 450 Union Street, which was later demolished in one of Allentown's misguided urban renew projects.

Thanks to Dan Doyle, for loan of the 1920 Comus. 

UPDATE JUNE 9, 2020: This post is a reprint from 2016, which now seems like the good old days. Under the current superintendent, Thomas Parker, the district is in a financial hole so deep that no tax increase is no longer an option. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused another difficulty, not seen since Dorothy Talisferro attended Allentown High in 1918.

Allentown Money Tree

When Allentown first announced that they would be handing out $ 1/2 million dollars of federal aid to small businesses as part of the Covid-19  stimulus program, I expressed some doubts about how it would be distributed.

The handout is now complete, and the Morning Call linked to the recipient list.  Although I don't have issue with the majority of the beneficiaries,  ten of them do have this tax payer shaking my head.

These ten I consider either professionals, or others not really affected by the shut-down.  I will not mention names, but rather professions.

                                 1. Ob/Gyn MD
                                 2. Optometrist
                                 3. Podiatrist
                                 4. Chiropractor
                                 5. Lawyer
                                 6. Architect
                                 7. Surveyor
                                 8. Radio Station
                                 9. Translator (who works from home)
                                10. Accountant

Each of the above received $5,000 dollars, except the Chiropractor, who got $4,600.

I wonder if a blogger would be eligible?

Accommodating Reillyville In Allentown

Center City Reillyville, aka Allentown, will close the streets to accommodate Reilly's restaurants. With only a few exceptions,  all the restaurants are owned by Reilly's Hospitality Group, contained in Reilly's buildings, and paid for with our state taxes.

There is a small restaurant on N. 2nd Street that I sometimes patronize. Don't except to see 2nd Street closed to accommodate them.  There is a third generation sandwich shop on the south side, which fought for years to get a few limited time parking signs for its customers. Don't expect to see that street closed. Don't expect to see any other restaurant, in any other part of the city accommodated.

When it comes to an equal playing field,  Allentown doesn't even own a level.

The Morning Call is promoting the street closings, as they have every new building by Reilly.  They never question the occupancy rates of the Strata apartments, despite no lights or people.  They never question the state taxes being diverted...  They themselves are now Reilly tenants.

Except for some occasional scrutiny by this naysayer blogger,  all is well in Reillyville.

A South Whitehall Commissioner On The Hot Seat

South Whitehall Commissioner Matt Mobilio got himself in trouble the other day about Trump. He apparently posted on facebook that people who support Trump, should be hung for treason.

Although a number of his constituents requested that he resign because of the statement, he declined. He and others feel that such statements are within his right. I also had an issue with Matt, and I posted about it last week.

During a discussion about Wehr's Dam, he wondered how the commissioners could get out from under the obligation to keep it.

That obligation is from the Wehr's Dam Referendum of 2016, when the voters decided that they wanted the township to retain the dam, even through it would cost $600,000, That figure at the time was based on an engineering estimate of possible repairs, plus a hefty increase. The referendum itself wasn't designed to save the dam, but rather condemn it, with no political consequence to the commissioners at the time. Lo and behold, the iconic dam meant so much to the residents, that they voted to keep it anyway. That vote caused the Wildlands Conservancy to go back to their scheming, and inform the Pennsylvania DEP that they know of more problems and expenses, that could be foisted upon the structure.

The current township director of public works, himself no friend of the dam, but rather the Conservancy, has in turn not defended the structure with the state. With the dam being the property of the township, and the subject of a voter's referendum, that defense should be his mandate.

Anyway, back to the troubled commissioner. Apparently, Matt Mobilio thinks that democracy is a pick and choose menu. He defends his election this past November, but not the referendum from 2016.

UPDATE: The Morning Call has an excellent article on Wednesday's meeting, where Mobilio faced public and peer criticism of his ill fated statement about Trump supporters.

Devining Trump From Scheller

One would have thought that Trump's endorsement would have had more weight in the Scheller/Browne primary than it did. It was a very close race, with the margin of victory much less than expected.

On paper, Scheller's gender and financial self-sufficiency should have been formidable enough to take on Wild for her party.  Add the President's backing,  and Scheller should have been able to rest easy Tuesday night.  Since that was not the case,  would she had faired as well or even better without the endorsement?  Although I cannot devine that answer,  I think that this primary result doesn't bode well for Trump come November.

It is thought that Pennsylvania is essential for Trump, and that the Lehigh Valley is essential for Pennsylvania.  If Trump's weight helped Scheller so little,  how strong will he be here in the fall?

Between now and then, Trump is facing a historically steep hill.  With unemployment above 16% and a hostile media,  he needed some positive feedback.  Scheller's win on Tuesday didn't deliver on that.

Light Rail, Circa 1935

The Lehigh Valley Transit Company ran a trolley between 8th and Hamilton and just outside Philadelphia between 1901 and 1951. In 1913 the company completed the 8th Street Bridge, which remains one of Allentown's icons to this day.



The Liberty Bell functioned as a trolley as it stopped in Coopersburg, Quakertown, Sellersville and the different towns along the way, but approached speeds of eighty miles a hour on the open track between them. At the last station in Upper Darby, passengers could transfer to a different company to complete the ride into center city Philadelphia.










Here in the Valley the company transitioned to buses by the early 1950's, and became part of Lanta in 1972. Lanta and Easton officials might take notice that the Allentown Ticket Office, shown in above photo, is only 75 feet from 8th and Hamilton, which was the center of the business district. The intercity rail beds are pretty much gone now. The same people who now advocate light-rail, couldn't wait to tear up the tracks and make bike paths.

reprinted from May 2010

Using A Bad Lesson Well Taught In Philadelphia

Back on May 4th, before the death in police custody in Minneapolis, I wrote about Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw.  She instructed the police force not to arrest for minor infractions, like theft and prostitution, during the virus crisis. Large groups of young people were running amok in center city Philadelphia convenience stores,  scooping up everything their backpacks could hold. Meanwhile at City Hall, woke mayor Jim Kenney stayed silent about this decline in civilization. Only after a couple weeks, after a merchant and citizen backlash, did Outlaw and Kenney finally reverse policy.

Philadelphia inner city kids were taught a bad lesson by their police commissioner and mayor. 

Perhaps with that lesson fresh in their mind, some of them may have graduated to the looting this past weekend.

My first reaction to the looting on Walnut and Chestnut Streets was that the police must have stood down. How could looters smash windows and enter a Wells Fargo Bank without being stopped? How could all that theft and destruction only result in 13 arrests Saturday night?

I realize that there are a limited number of police and that Philadelphia is a large city. While I can't pass judgement on the police response, I will on the looters shown above. I do not believe that their thinking centered on George Floyd and institutional racism, but rather about what they could steal.

Here in the Lehigh Valley, the mayors and police chiefs conveyed their commitment to social justice.  But more importantly,  the local protestors expressed their hopes and solidarity in a lawful manner.

photocredit:Steven Falk/Philadelphia Inquirer

Allentown's Jewish Band And Scrap Iron

In 1915, Allentown's Judaean Band was the first Jewish band in the United States.  It had started with a group of young men at a 6th Ward soda fountain.  Many of the original members didn't have, or even know how to play an instrument.  Jacob Max, the Tilghman Street scrap dealer, took the group under wing, and sponsored the music lessons, instruments and uniforms. The band had great  success for a few years, until its ranks were depleted by service in the Great War.

Among the members was Harry Molovinsky, my grandfather's youngest sibling, and Jakey Max, a prizefighter who became Allentown's first Jewish firefighter.

Jakey worked at the extended family scrapyard for a short while, after both Jacob and his son were killed in separate traffic accidents. The scrapyard stayed in the Max family until 1972.  Today it's called Liberty Recycling.