The other day I noticed a ball peen hammer head for sale. It was stamped 521 N 7 Allentown PA Although I've seen machinist stamp their tools with their initials and even work ID numbers, usually a stamping like this means that the hammer was made at 521, or at least sold there. Allentown has a long tradition in iron, steel and hardware. In the next block, C.F. Wolfertz, knife maker, was in business from 1862 to 1989.
Although I have yet to identify the hammer head, 521 has its own story. Over the years many people lived in the apartments over the store. Although I won't mention people by name, there were births, deaths, accidents, robberies, marriages and arrests. Although the walls don't talk, the newspaper archives do.
Over the years many people worked in the storeroom, in many businesses. In the mid 1940's, Clements Variety Store had about everything, but I suspect the hammer is from before then. In 1958 a business called Niagara offered a good living to good salesman, but apparently you had to apply before learning what you sold. I suppose not that many people applied, because the storeroom was for rent in 1959. By 1961 Melody Organs gave the space a try. However, by 1962 you could buy a whirlpool by Jacuzzi there. In 1963 a dry cleaner gave it a shot. The 1960's must have been slow on 7th, because the space was again vacant in 1964.
In 1971 the building was offered for sale at $22,500. Filmlab operated there throughout the decade and into the 80's, until they moved up to the corner on Liberty. Today that storeroom, at 445, is owned by Peter Lewnes, current 7th Street Development Director.
Back at 521, rough times were coming again. In 1991 Unique Treasures opened. Apparently, the merchandize wasn't unique enough, because by 1993 it was the People's Choice Store. They were ahead of the times by about 25 years, and were dispensing marijuana, until the police thought better of it. Years later, in 2012, a barber shop fronted for an after-hours club in the basement.
Peter Lewnes is doing a terrific job managing the street. Over the decades I had many favorite eating spots on 7th Street. I look forward to the continued development of the street, and I will learn more about that hammer.
reprinted from May of 2020
So did you ever learn more about the hammer?
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the 500 block of North 8th, and that block of 7th is relatively familiar to me. Originally the buildings on both sides of 7th in that block were all standardized row homes, built in the 1880s or 1890s or so. Over the years, the end buildings at first became commercial properties. There were neighborhood saloons/bars on the corners of Allen street which I think are still there. The southwest corner at Liberty became a gas station after some homes were torn down to create the lot for it to be on, and the southeast corner was a small grocery store for many years. It actually was the first American company chain grocery (Now ACME) store before ACME dropped corner markets and became a supermarket chain. It was then a hardware/paint store for a long time, and now it's some other kind of business. Sears tore down some of the homes in the 1940s to put up their farm store, as well as their auto service facility. That later became Coleman Electric in the late 1960s.
ReplyDeleteSome of the homes in that block over the years were also turned into commercial stores over the years, such as the one you wrote about at 521 North 7th. Actually I believe the Iacocca family also lived in that block, the one of Yocco's fame as well as Lido (Lee) who went on to an automobile career. Today the block is still a mix of private row homes and small businesses.
It is not an easy place to operate a business however, as there really isn't anywhere to park along 7th Street. Most people on 7th drive south, being oblivious to the few stores there, well until recent years when a lot of the merchants displaced by the development on Hamilton Street moved into that area. That's probably why Coleman electric was torn down to make a parking lot for the businesses who moved there.
Anyway, that's a little history of that block of 7th street. Good luck in learning more about your hammer. I doubt if it was made there however, it may have been stamped with the address of the hardware store at that location for advertising purposes.
anon@8:06: thank you for the informed commentary. You're correct that the displaced merchants from Hamilton have created new commerce on 7th, which had not been seen for many decades. The 600 block, with New York Fashion and Supremo is quite active. I now visit that block more than Hamilton Street. I'm afraid that further research on the hammer head will have to be done by another, rather than me.
ReplyDeleteThe "Niagara" company you mentioned was, I believe, The Niagara Cyclo-massage Chair dealership owned by my late Great Aunt and Uncle, Dottie and "Muncy" Geisinger. They folded the business and moved south to Orlando sometime in the late 60s when the area was a sleepy little burg, long before Disney transformed the area into what we know today. An I-4 bridge towered over their home which was spared imminent domain removal by the skin of it's teeth. Sunny Florida agreed substantially with them both and they lived to very ripe old ages.
ReplyDeleteThe building which Peter Lewnes owns was many things, but the latest I know of was Gehringer-Harlacher Auto parts store, of which my Father's cousin Julius (or Julie, as we knew him) was a partner/salesman till that folded, date unknown. My Grandfather dealt there all his life beginning when they had a car dealership at 610-612 Washington.
The area was quite the place to reside, full of the movers and shakers of the time, including Max Hess's family and an Arborgast of A&B Meats fame, to name a few off the top of my head.