American Graffiti, Philadelphia-Style: I always enjoy watching the 1973 movie, 'American Graffiti'. Set in 1962, it's about a couple of high schools grads who spend on one night hanging out, cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

I can identify with it because of the time frame - I graduated from high school in '61 - but have trouble relating to the California setting and the coolness of the cars in the film.

In the 1950s and early '60s, my East Coast adolescent reality was much different than the 'American Graffiti' kids.

Philadelphia Visit: In June 2011, we took an 18 day trip to the Philadelphia area. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest 33 years ago, I've been back to Philly about 20 times.

Every time we visit, there are fewer people to see (some have died, some have moved away) and the changes to the area make it seem much less familiar.

We decided that this trip would be our last ... (more >>>)

Shuttered History: I just found out that the King George II Inn in Bristol, PA closed its doors last year.

The Inn was an institution in the town for 329 years and said to be the oldest operating business in the country. George Washington is reputed to have slept there, although not as President, but as a young man en route to Connecticut to seek a commission.

When I worked at Rohm & Haas, I used to take meetings there frequently. There was a good view of the Delaware River and the food was excellent.

When my dad was very sick, I took my mom to dinner at the King George to give her some caregiver relief. The folks at the King George made us feel welcome and we had a fine meal and a relaxing respite.

There are ongoing efforts to reopen the historic inn. I hope they succeed. (posted 5/12/11, permalink)

A Touch Of Fame: Last week, the Northeast Times, a weekly Philadelphia newspaper with a circulation of 110,000 or so, did a profile of me.

Writer John Loftus was fun to chat with and wrote a very nice piece, titled 'Spinning a Web of Memories'. (posted 5/10/11)

Choo-Choo Park: Recently, the City of Philadelphia renamed a city park in honor of a great industrialist and humanitarian. Matthias Baldwin Park is located on 19th Street, between Callowhill and Hamilton Sts. The ground occupied by the park was once part of the mighty Baldwin Locomotive Works.

In the 1830s, Baldwin transformed the farms around Broad and Spring Garden streets into an expansive steam-engine manufacturing empire. He later expanded west along a railroad line toward the Schuylkill River.

Baldwin locomotive photographed outside the Philadelphia factory in 1866

By 1900, Baldwin was Philadelphia's largest employer with a workforce exceeding 8,200. In 1907, when employment reached 18,500, the firm moved from its cramped 17-acre, 39 building urban site to a more-suitable, roomier 225 acre site in nearby Eddystone, PA.

Not merely a successful industrialist, Matthias Baldwin was a kind man who treated his workers well and was known for his philanthropic efforts. He was one of the founders of the Franklin Institute, a well-known abolitionist who donated money for a school for African-American children and a proponent of giving black men the right to vote. (posted 4/18/11, permalink)

Oh, No! Philadelphia-based Tasty Baking Co., the maker of Tastykakes, has said that financial difficulties are forcing it to consider selling the company.

At Least He Made Some Lawn Ornament Guy Rich: Philadelphia-born singer Eddie Fisher has died at age 82. He was once a big deal in the music biz; Fisher had seventeen songs in the Top 10 on the music charts between 1950 and 1956. Kinda before my time, although I do remember his 15 minute television show, sponsored by Coca Cola. It was called 'Coke Time' ... ironic considering his later taste for blow.

Every time Fisher appeared on someone else's TV show, he inserted a not-so-subtle pitch for Coke in the dialogue. Obnoxiously so, my ten year-old mind registered.

The music biz only has room for a relatively fixed number of stars, so when rock 'n' rollers appeared, the number of crooners diminished and Eddie Fisher's star dimmed. See also Julius LaRosa, Vic Damone, The Four Aces, Jerry Vale, Johnny Ray, Al Martino, et al. Many of these folks made a fairly good living playing clubs and doing concerts years after their careers peaked. Unlike Eddie, who blew all his money on gambling and drugs (amphetamines, cocaine, etc.) and basically died broke.

Fisher didn't help his popularity by divorcing 'America's sweetheart' Debbie Reynolds (scandalous in the 1950s) and running off with town pump Elizabeth Taylor who later publicly dumped Eddie for Richard Burton. Eddie was married a total of five times.

His daughter Carrie was so offended by Eddie's sexually-explicit autobiography that she declared, "That's it. I'm having my DNA fumigated." Alternatively, she could have donned her Princess Leia outfit, gone back in time and shot his nuts off with her Star Wars Defender Blaster.

Here's what I remember: Eddie's mom lived on Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia in a brick twin home purchased by her son during his hi-fame period. You could easily spot the house because it was the only one on the block with lots of concrete detritus on the small front lawn - mirrored gazing balls on pedestals, birdbaths, statuary, etc.

Eddie supposedly bought them for her, proving that his love for his mother was concrete. (posted 10/1/10, permalink)

A Joyful Noise: In Philadelphia, the city is trying to silence the bell of a Catholic church. "For 104 years, the bell at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in hilly, blue-collar Manayunk has joyfully summoned the faithful to prayer, celebrated marriages and marked the ends of wars.

Now, in a city whose many sacred symbols include a cracked bell, someone has filed a complaint to silence St. John's 5,000-pound bronze casting."

Because someone thinks the bell is too loud.

A letter sent to the church, signed by Roger M. Fey, the Philly's enforcement officer for air and noise pollution, warned "Air Management Services (AMS) has received citizen's complaints of loud amplified sounds from the above premises every day at 7 am. AMS would like to advise you that amplified sound and all other noise ... shall not exceed five decibels above background level measured at the property boundary of the nearest occupied residential property."

Church bells, whether near or far, have always struck my ear as pleasant sounding. I also like ice cream truck bells.

Manayunk is a neighborhood in the northwestern section of the city of Philadelphia, located on the banks of the Schuylkill River. Once a working class place full of textile mills as well as soap and paper factories, the area has become gentrified with lots of loft apartments, upscale shops, bars and restaurants.

Nevertheless, Manayunk retained its small-town charm with its small two- and three-story row homes, cobblestone paving and hilly streets. But, on weekend nights, the streets are full of loud, upscale drunks and gentrified boors. Have any of them ever been presented with a letter from Air Management Services?

Back to the bell: Speedy Morris, head basketball coach at St. Joseph's Preparatory School and a lifelong parishioner at St. John's said, "No one's ever complained before. With people leaving the bars and urinating on the streets, anyone complaining about church bells is ludicrous."

I wonder: When was the last time that Philadelphia's Mr. Fey sent a threatening letter to, say, a mosque for those five-times-a-day, loud, caterwauling calls to prayer?

Just askin'. (posted 9/13/10, permalink)

I'd Like To Suggest A Place Where I'd Stick My FOOT. A news article about Brigantine, NJ begins, "First it was Bennies, then Shoobies. Now there's another derogatory nickname for summer tourists who visit the Jersey shore: FOOTs. It's an acronym for "Out Of Towners" preceded by an obscenity."

Bumper stickers appeared recently on a few cars at Brigantine City Hall with the slogan "I Ain't No FOOT." That prompted memos reminding city workers about appropriate behavior.

"Many locals have long resented summer visitors, blaming them for noise, trash and traffic, while overlooking the added revenue they bring. In northern shore towns, they're called Bennies (an acronym for "Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark and New York" or variations thereof.) In the south, "Shoobies" refers to the days when New Yorkers and Philadelphians packed their lunch in shoe boxes for trips to the shore."

Brigantine is an island city, just north and east of Atlantic City, covering a mere 6.4 square miles of land. It has neither casinos, a real boardwalk nor an amusement park to draw day-hoppers, so it remains a fairly sleepy town. It has no industry to speak of and its entire economy depends on tourists and the trade of summer residents, most of whom come from Philadelphia and its suburbs.

I last visited Brigantine in October 2008 and, as usual, the post-Labor Day economic blues were easily discernible - most everything was closed.

The place where I spent my summers as a teenager was nearly unrecognizable. The Brigantine Country Club's flagship edifice - a stately, two-story clubhouse built next to the bay in 1927 - had been demolished. Twelve "luxury homes" were to be built on its site - someday. I once painted that clubhouse and worked many summers on the golf course, piloting a Ferguson tractor along the fairways.

The Island Diner, where many a Turkey Platter was consumed by yours truly during his formative teenage years, was abandoned. And the fishing and amusement pier at 14th Street North (later known as Brigantine Castle Pier) was gone as well. It burned down in 1987.

These whining Townies - as we used to call them - fail to realize that, without the tourists, their insignificant strip of sand would dry up and blow away.

Hey Brigantine, respect your visitors - they pay your bills and keep your little burg alive. (posted 9/12/10, permalink)

The Return Of The Giant: Remember Gino's Hamburgers? Gino's was known for high quality hamburgers such as the Sirloiner, which was made from sirloin steak, and the Gino Giant, which predated and later competed with the Big Mac.

Gino's pioneered indoor seating at its fast food outlets and in the early 1960s and was more popular in Philadelphia area than McDonald's.

In those days, Gino's advertising slogan was: 'Everybody Goes to Gino's', repeated in print and in radio jingle form.

This East Coast regional fast-food mainstay had over 300 company-owned locations when it was acquired by Marriott Corporation in 1982.

Marriott discontinued the brand, converting stores to Roy Rogers Restaurants.

Now Gino's is making a comeback.

New restaurants will open this year, serving burgers, chicken sandwiches, hand-cut french fries and hand-spun milkshakes. Gino's plans to make its burgers to order from fresh beef.

Initially, the chain plans to open locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

In charge is Tom Romano, who worked for 20 years with the company and was COO in 1982 when the chain was sold.

Cofounded by Baltimore Colts defensive end Gino Marchetti, Gino's was the preferred choice of my buddies and me during our younger years.

My wife and I once had dinner at Gino Marchetti's in the Baltimore area - it was an upscale steakhouse, owned by the same Gino. (posted 7/30/10, permalink)

Book Review: 'You Can't Get to Heaven on the Frankford El' by Thomas J. Lyons II

If you're of a certain age, you'll really enjoy Tom's memoir about growing up in the golden age of postwar America and finding his place in the turbulent, fast moving 1960s. It is an affectionate and nostalgic look back at the late 1940s through mid-1960s. Tom's book is set in Northeast Philadelphia; if you're a Philly native, the names of old hangouts and NJ shore stuff will make you smile and nod. As will the tales of the Frankford El, Philadelphia's ancient, rattly crosstown elevated transit line.

If your ancestry is ... (more >>>)

Philadelphia Trolleys - 1955: Recently, I was looking at a video with the title: 'Philadelphia Trolleys - 1955'. It was 45 minutes worth of footage (transferred from nicely done 16 mm color film) shot in the period 1955-57 by a trolley car enthusiast. While I like trolley cars, I didn't really buy this video to watch trolleys. I wanted to observe the street scenes of Philadelphia to see if the film matched my memories of growing up there in the 1950s.

The most interesting things about the video were ... (more >>>)

Another Reason To Feel Old: The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is closing two venerable Catholic high schools in June: Cardinal Dougherty and Northeast Catholic High School for Boys. They are the latest casualties of the archdiocese's perennial problems in the city of rising costs, falling enrollment and competition from publicly-funded charter schools.

Enrollment at coed Dougherty, once the largest Catholic high school in the world, soared to nearly 6,000 students in 1965 - nine years after it opened. The number of students has plunged more than 43% during the last decade.