When Allentown Worked

Regular readers of this blog know that I often visit Allentown's better days of the past. I even belong to a nostalgia group, where someone recently asked where everyone's parents worked. Many group members are in their 50's and 60's. Here was the question; When we grew up the best jobs for our dad's was the Bethlehem steel and mack trucks unless they were lawyers or doctors or had another profession occupation I know my my mom worked in a factory all her life and I think most of them have closed. Where did you mom and dad work and are the companies are open? Over 90 people responded, actually constituting a survey. In current Allentown, this would be a study, which taxpayers would have to pay for; Here, it's on the house, no charge. Fourteen of the fathers worked at Bethlehem Steel, while five worked at Mack Trucks, and five worked retail on Hamilton Street. The others worked at Allentown's many other industries, one or two here and there. Only two respondents said that their fathers weren't much for working. Twenty mothers were stay at home, while eight worked in various sewing factories. The remainder worked as teachers, nurses, factory workers and various other jobs. One person wrote, "My parents sound like the scene you described. My dad worked at Beth Steel and my mom at Penn State Mills on a sewing machine. They owned their own home and sent me to college where I graduated without the burden of a loan. Thanks, Mom and Dad." Shown above was the General Electric plant on S. 12th Street, just beyond the old Mack 5C.

reprinted from November of 2013.

ADDENDUM October 21, 2016: There is a current proposal to convert the enormous Adelaide Mill into apartments. Although, we hear catch words like loft and middle class, that won't happen; The size and location of the building,  dictate more young, single mothers and children, living in a former factory now broken up into an urban motel. There is something ironic about a former place of production now being a warehouse for people. 

ADDENDUM MAY 25, 2022: The original post was written in 2013. The above update hails from 2016, and here we are again in 2022. In addition to this blog, I now administer the facebook group  Allentown Chronicles. It's another local history group, but I also allow non-partisan politics and social commentary, which in these polarized times occasionally results in somewhat of a commotion. Sometimes people threatened to quit, or even start their own group.

Tonight Allentown City Council is meeting to decide what to do with $39 Million in unspent stimulus funds. Imagine with this happening all over the country, how many $Billions were squandered? Anyway, the public is invited to attend the meeting and speak their two cents. My input would be to amortize it over a number of years and freeze the city tax rate. However, tonight's reality will be a parade of do-gooders, presenting one cause after another...affordable housing, alternatives to police, gender identity equality and any/all other flavors of current social engineering. 

Yesterday's profound tragedy in Texas will put a local violence reduction program front and center, but my preference remains with traditional law enforcement support, moderate gun reform* and enhanced security for our schools.

*Giffords Law Center