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00:25When we were all a great deal younger,
00:26a neighborhood-friendly ballpark offered a real grass, a hand-run scoreboard,
00:32and an intimate setting for not one, but two baseball teams.
00:39Horn and Hard Arts, the original fast food restaurants,
00:42offered hungry patrons a wide choice of delicious.
00:47There was a time when movies were shown in theaters that featured gold-plated waterfowlies
00:53and marble stairways, in addition to popcorn.
00:58And who can forget the thrills and chills of riding the Alps
01:02and the delights of walking the midway at Old Willow Grove Park?
01:07All of these places and many more defined the pleasures of life in the Delaware Valley
01:12in the first three-quarters of the 20th century,
01:15and they are all things that aren't there anymore.
01:45Before the modern theme parks were even dreamt of,
01:48the place to go for thrilling rides, exciting music,
01:54and visits to foreign lands was Willow Grove Park,
01:58the place where life was a lark.
02:00Up there where life is a lark.
02:03You bet, it's Willow Grove Park.
02:16You probably remember Willow Grove Park from childhood visits in the 50s and 60s.
02:21But the park wasn't just in the amusement business.
02:24It was created back in 1896 by the Union Traction Company,
02:28which was looking for a way to increase business for its trolley lines on the weekends.
02:33It was an instant sensation, alternating the speed of the mountain scenic railway
02:38with the sylvan splendor of a man-made lake
02:41and the patriotic melodies of the John Philip Sousa band.
02:44When Willow Grove Park was built, it cost $500,000.
02:50The electric fountain cost one-fifth of the $500,000,
02:56which when illuminated by the powerful electric lights,
03:00produce effects of marvelous beauty.
03:03Anita Smiley is a former schoolteacher turned amateur Willow Grove Park historian.
03:10Venice was a very popular amusement ride at Willow Grove Park.
03:15You rode in a gondola, and you never saw another gondola as you rode through Venice.
03:21As you rode in your gondola and went under the bridge,
03:25a mechanical man tipped his hat to you,
03:27and as you rode past the palace, a lady waved her handkerchief at you.
03:38John Philip Sousa and his band came to Willow Grove
03:41during the concert period of 1901.
03:45They came every year, too, including 1926, except for 1911.
03:50Sousa's last year at Willow Grove Park was during the summer of 1926.
03:56It is noted that over 100,000 people were in Willow Grove Park that evening,
04:01and the very last number he directed in Willow Grove was The Stars and Stripes Forever.
04:14Many people in this area have very fond memories of Willow Grove Park.
04:18Some have met their future husband there.
04:21Some have come on their first date for a rowboat ride on the lake.
04:26And recently, a little lady came up with tears in her eyes,
04:32saying that she had met her husband at Willow Grove Park,
04:36and just seeing those postcards reminded her of all those circumstances.
04:41The late Harold Webster worked at the park for many years.
04:45The basement of his home is a treasure trove of park memorabilia,
04:49maintained by his wife, Rita.
04:53The Willow Grove Park trolley was one of my husband's very, very favorite items
04:58that he's collected over the memorabilia of Willow Grove Park.
05:01This trolley car was purchased by his uncle,
05:06who purchased it when it was first made in 1903 by Lionel.
05:12And someone told me there's only about seven left in the world
05:16that are in the condition that this one is in, and it is running.
05:22Anyone who ever frequent at Willow Grove Park, I am sure,
05:26is very familiar with this sign.
05:28Have your age guest.
05:29There were two particular things you did at this one stand.
05:33You had your age guest, or you had your weight guest.
05:36The crowds around the stand were so great
05:38that everybody wanted to see how much you weighed,
05:40so nobody bothered getting on the scale that much.
05:43They all wanted their age guest.
05:45A day at Willow Grove Park wouldn't have been complete
05:48without a ride on the carousel.
05:50Both young and old all loved the carousel.
05:53The carousel you see here is a replica of the type
05:56that was used at the old Willow Grove Park,
05:58and the music you play is your authentic carousel music.
06:33Willow Grove Park in the northern suburbs
06:36and Woodside Park in West Philadelphia
06:38had one thing in common.
06:40They were built and operated by the transportation companies
06:43to provide more reasons for riding the streetcars.
06:46The Fairmount Park Transportation Company
06:49went into business in 1896.
06:53They built the Strawberry Mansion Bridge
06:56across the Schuylkill River.
06:57That was built as part of the construction
06:59of the Fairmount Park trolley line.
07:02It was very much a warm weather attraction,
07:04very much associated with Woodside Park.
07:09For the first half of this century,
07:11Philadelphia was a trolley town.
07:13By the 1920s, the city boasted a fleet of 2,000 streetcars,
07:18which rode on more than 550 miles of track.
07:23In Center City, Market, Arch, Chestnut,
07:26and Walnut Streets all were lined with trolley tracks,
07:29as well as every numbered street from Front to 23rd.
07:33In those days, streetcars were the last word in travel.
08:03The car that we were on was built,
08:06immediately after World War II,
08:09and was part of a sort of standard model of streetcar
08:12that was developed and produced for perhaps two dozen cities
08:17throughout the United States.
08:19The cars came in many different models.
08:23Some people may remember cars that were what are known as double-end,
08:28with operating controls at both ends.
08:31And either end could be the front or the rear.
08:36As you might imagine,
08:37in the days before the widespread use of automobiles,
08:40getting a group to and from a funeral was a bit involved,
08:45and especially getting to and from the cemetery.
08:48So many transit systems, Philadelphia amongst them,
08:51provided a service where a special streetcar
08:54was fitted out for use by funerals.
08:56The car had a large hatch in the side to allow placing the coffin inside the car,
09:04and then the car was run to the nearest point to the cemetery from the funeral home.
09:12The car was known as the hillside.
09:16Following the Second World War,
09:17streetcar ridership began to decline all over the country.
09:21Once automobiles became more available,
09:23and gasoline was derationed.
09:25Tucker has a theory about all of this,
09:27and it's nothing if not provocative.
09:30There was a conspiracy to buy up useful rail transit properties and destroy them.
09:37And that firm was known as the National City Lines Company.
09:41They were owned by the General Motors Corporation,
09:44Firestone Tire and Rubber,
09:46and some oil companies,
09:49and took over the Philadelphia Transportation Company
09:53and sold almost as many assets as we still have today in the SEPTA system.
09:59Several car houses and garages were closed,
10:01sold off a lot of vehicles, and so forth.
10:05This was part of a nationwide program
10:08to reduce the availability of public transportation
10:12and thereby sell more automobiles.
10:17There are still a few trolley lines operating in Philadelphia,
10:20and they're kept rolling by a dedicated army of maintenance workers
10:23in depots all over the city,
10:25like this one at 58th and Callahill Streets in West Philadelphia.
10:29Men like Bob Hughes and his staff
10:31are fond of the old PCC,
10:33or President's Cars,
10:35just like the one we just rode on.
10:36They're sturdy and reliable,
10:38but have been phased out in recent years
10:40by the more streamlined LRV,
10:43or light rail vehicle.
10:45In fact, the last PCC car
10:48rolled out of the barn in September 1992
10:51and into the memories
10:53of those who rode and worked on them
10:55for over 40 years.
11:07Most of the area's old movie palaces
11:09have come down in recent years,
11:11but they were everywhere in the old days.
11:14Center City had more than its share
11:15of these temples of cinema.
11:18Fox,
11:19Stanley,
11:21The Boyd,
11:22and many others.
11:24But two theaters stood out in their day
11:26from all the rest.
11:28The Mass Bomb
11:29and The Earl.
11:32Most people spend their misspent youths
11:35in pool rooms.
11:37I spent my misspent youths
11:39at The Earl Theater.
11:40And going to The Earl Theater
11:42so that you were there
11:44when they opened the doors
11:45at 10 o'clock on Friday morning
11:47and could go in.
11:48The movie started at 11 o'clock
11:50and at 1 o'clock
11:52on came the stage show.
11:54Perhaps you had gone to see
11:56Cab Calloway
11:57and his band,
11:59or Fletcher Henderson
12:00and his band,
12:01or Tommy Dorsey,
12:03or Benny Goodman,
12:04or whatever.
12:05Well,
12:06the inside of the Earl Theater
12:07was just
12:10almost beggar's description
12:11and made great use of marble,
12:15lavish tapestries
12:16in the lounges
12:18and in the foyer.
12:20There was just
12:21a feeling of opulence
12:23all the way through.
12:24And this obtained
12:25even after the kids
12:27began to come in,
12:28the teenagers
12:29following the big band.
12:30We had a kind of a feeling
12:32that it was a hallowed place
12:33in its way.
12:35So nobody took
12:36any liberties with it
12:37and everybody respected it.
12:39And it was indeed
12:40a most opulent place.
12:45The Mass Bomb Theater.
12:47How do you talk
12:48about the Mass Bomb Theater?
12:50It was a...
12:51Well, first of all,
12:52it looked more like
12:53a Greek temple
12:54or a Greek museum
12:56than it looked like
12:57a theater.
12:58On the front,
12:59there were
12:59eight freestanding
13:01Doric columns
13:02and they flung
13:03themselves skyward.
13:04It just was
13:05a magnificent thing.
13:08And one walked in,
13:09for example,
13:10into this huge lobby,
13:11the Fountain Lobby,
13:13which was the greeting place,
13:15the foyer,
13:16and everything
13:18just kind of
13:19circled around there
13:20as far as the first
13:21stage of your
13:22going into the theater
13:24was concerned.
13:25There were
13:25two grand staircases
13:28that looked like
13:29something that
13:29Ziegfeld must have
13:30designed for one
13:31of his shows.
13:32If you didn't want
13:33to walk up the staircases,
13:34there were eight elevators
13:36that took you
13:37to eight different levels
13:39of the theater.
13:42And there were
13:444,700 seats,
13:45so you can see
13:45it was spread around
13:46pretty well.
13:47The men's room
13:49and the ladies' room,
13:50I am told,
13:52were just extensions
13:54of somebody's mansion.
13:58But it was a great
13:59old place,
14:00except for one thing,
14:02it never could make
14:03any money.
14:05In addition to cost,
14:07post-war movie theaters
14:08faced challenges
14:10from television as well.
14:12Worried moguls
14:13from the major studios
14:14decided to give moviegoers
14:16an experience
14:17they couldn't find
14:18at home.
14:19Experiences like
14:20the widescreen cinemascope.
14:22There's no business
14:24like show business
14:26like no business
14:27I know.
14:29The wraparound
14:30Cinerama.
14:36And the ultimate
14:38gimmick,
14:393-D.
14:40Objects seemingly
14:41jumped out of the screen
14:43and into the laps
14:44of audiences
14:45who don effective
14:46but not very stylish
14:483-D glasses.
14:50Producers
14:51and theater owners
14:52also got into the act,
14:53especially in promoting
14:55horror film.
15:02They went as far
15:03as to hand out
15:04vomit bags
15:05to their unsuspecting
15:07patrons,
15:08just in case the chills
15:09became too intense.
15:10The bags
15:11came complete
15:13with very important
15:14instructions.
15:19Despite Hollywood's
15:21best efforts,
15:22movie attendance
15:23declined dramatically
15:24over the years.
15:26In 1941,
15:28Philadelphia was home
15:29to 380
15:31single-screen theaters
15:32of which exactly
15:34five survive
15:35to this day.
15:37The Aldean
15:38at 19th
15:39and Chestnut Streets
15:40is one of them,
15:41known today
15:42as Sam's Place.
15:45Alan Goodkind
15:45remembers the Aldean's
15:47heyday.
15:48He was an usher,
15:49and in those days
15:50it was a job
15:51that was second
15:52in importance
15:53only to the managers
15:54and involved
15:56almost military training.
15:58They assembled
15:59a staff
16:00of ushers
16:02for training
16:02about 60
16:04or 65.
16:06And we did
16:07the military
16:09training,
16:10marched up
16:11and down
16:11the stairs,
16:13marched
16:14to our posts,
16:15exchanged
16:16flashlights
16:17in a military
16:18manner
16:18as you would
16:19a rifle
16:20or a guard
16:21on duty.
16:22The flashlight
16:23was held
16:29not grasped.
16:31It was held
16:33slightly
16:33in a
16:36wand position
16:38with the button
16:39up
16:39so that you could
16:40flash the light.
16:42When you escorted
16:44them to the row
16:45in which they were
16:46seated,
16:47you would
16:48indicate by the
16:49flashlight
16:50the row
16:51entrance.
16:53You were never
16:53permitted
16:54to shine
16:55the flashlight
16:56above the tops
16:58of a man's shoe
16:59or above the top
17:01of a lady's ankle
17:02for decorum's sake.
17:04Most of the patrons
17:08that came into
17:09the theater
17:10were well-dressed,
17:13well-behaved,
17:15evenings,
17:17coats and ties,
17:18ladies in their
17:20furs
17:20and jewelry
17:22and every evening
17:24was a real
17:25gallant occasion.
17:29As buses are
17:30on Market Street
17:31today.
17:32In fact,
17:33when another ferry
17:34was launched,
17:34it was a major
17:35civic occasion.
18:17ferries haven't
18:18completely disappeared
18:19on the day.
18:20Delaware, tourists
18:21visiting the New Jersey
18:22State Aquarium
18:23at Camden
18:24can get a taste
18:25of the ferry
18:26experience.
18:27But the only
18:27working ferry
18:28on the river today
18:29plies the waters
18:31between the
18:31Philadelphia Navy Yard
18:32and National Park,
18:33New Jersey.
18:34It's a private service
18:35for use by Navy Yard
18:37workers,
18:37and it's piloted
18:38by Captain Gene Smith.
18:41Along for the ride
18:42on this trip
18:43were members
18:43of the Steamship
18:44Historical Society,
18:45and they had
18:46some yarns
18:47to spin
18:47about the old
18:48days on the river.
18:50One of the great
18:51pleasures of my
18:52young life
18:53was to take
18:53the big yellow
18:54trolley down
18:55to the ferry
18:56on the loop,
18:57get off,
18:58and walk into
18:58that huge cavernous
18:59building which
19:00served the railroad
19:01as well,
19:03and we paid
19:04our nickel,
19:05got on the ferry,
19:07in great anticipation
19:08as the crew
19:09released the hooks
19:10on the end
19:11of the boat,
19:12and you could hear
19:13the bell,
19:13and the engine
19:15began to turn
19:15and whistle-tooted,
19:17and off he went
19:17for this very short
19:18trip across the river.
19:24At that time,
19:25Philadelphia was not
19:26noted for the quality
19:28of its drinking water,
19:29and there was a water
19:30fountain in the
19:31Philadelphia
19:31Ferry House,
19:33and it smelled
19:34and tasted like
19:35the intake pipe
19:36went right through
19:36the floor
19:37into the river.
19:38It was really
19:39pretty thirsty.
19:40You had to be
19:40pretty thirsty.
19:41I can remember
19:42riding a ferry
19:43when I was a kid
19:43in the first place
19:44that I always
19:45headed for.
19:46The deckhands
19:47weren't looking around.
19:49I used to head
19:49right for the
19:50center structure
19:51which led you
19:51down into
19:52the engine room,
19:54and I was always
19:55fascinated with
19:56a steam engine,
19:57and still am today.
19:57If it's still steam,
19:59that's right where
19:59I head,
20:00to heck with
20:00the wheelhouse,
20:01I go to the
20:01engine room,
20:02and once you got
20:03down there,
20:04they let you
20:04walk around
20:05if you made it
20:05down and nobody
20:06stopped you beforehand.
20:08One of the great
20:09pleasures a little
20:10boy could have
20:10would get on a ferry
20:11when you had big
20:12ice flows,
20:12and the ferry boat
20:13would hit those
20:14ice flows and grind
20:15it up and make
20:15a lot of noise,
20:16and that was a real
20:17thrill, and that
20:18would happen once
20:19in a while when
20:20you have enough
20:20ice to come down
20:21and the flows
20:21would be maybe
20:22two foot thick,
20:23three foot thick.
20:24Yes, they used
20:25to do that,
20:25but it never
20:26stopped them.
20:28The completion
20:29of the Ben Franklin
20:30Bridge in 1926
20:32signaled a 26-year
20:33march to oblivion
20:35for the commercial
20:36ferries.
20:36In 1952,
20:38the last of the
20:39ferries took its
20:40final voyage on
20:42the Delaware.
20:43And I remember
20:44it being a fairly
20:45cold, windy night,
20:47and somebody asked
20:49me what the mood
20:49was, and I
20:50have since
20:52came to the
20:52conclusion it was
20:53kind of like an
20:54Irish wake where
20:56there was celebration
20:57going on, but without
20:58getting too dramatic
21:00about it, there was
21:01an overshadowing.
21:02it was the fact
21:03that sadness
21:04and losing a, I
21:07guess, an old
21:07friend, you'd say.
21:09I was on that
21:10last trip and I
21:11hung off the back
21:12rail as far as I
21:13could hang in the
21:14middle of the back
21:14rail so I could be
21:15the last body
21:16across the river.
21:17Somebody else got
21:17the name in the
21:18paper, but I was
21:19the last body.
21:22As Norm says,
21:23it was a sad,
21:24sweet kind of a
21:24moment.
21:34You remember
21:35Horn and Hardart,
21:36the stainless steel
21:37keeper of culinary
21:39delights, the coin
21:40operated window
21:42dispenser.
21:43For a meager few
21:44coins, you were
21:46entitled to choose
21:47from a wide
21:48selection of
21:48delicacies.
21:49Everything from
21:50delicious cherry pie,
21:52hot dogs, to
21:53macaroni and cheese.
21:55Horn and Hardart's
21:56automats meant
21:57less work for
21:59mother.
21:59As I recall, for
22:00three nickels,
22:01which you would
22:03put into the old
22:05slots and then
22:06move the crank,
22:08it was two
22:08nickels for a
22:10plate of, or a
22:11pot of baked
22:12beans, and it
22:13was one nickel for
22:14a cup of coffee
22:15or a soft drink,
22:17and you just sat
22:19there and
22:20re-fortified
22:21yourself on baked
22:23beans and say
22:24Coca-Cola.
22:25Joseph V. Horn
22:27and Frank Hardart
22:28found at their
22:29restaurant chain in
22:301888.
22:31and installed the
22:33first automat in
22:34America in 1902
22:36at this location,
22:37currently the home
22:39of a drugstore.
22:42By the 1920s,
22:44Horn and Hardart was
22:44so firmly established,
22:46both in Philadelphia
22:47and New York,
22:48that it entered the
22:49worlds of art.
22:53end of cinema.
23:13One of the tangential
23:16attractions of a horn and
23:17heart was the lady who
23:19made chains in the
23:21middle of every
23:22establishment.
23:23She was known as a
23:24nickel thrower because
23:26of the grime that was
23:27on these nickels, and
23:28they kept tossing them
23:30out hour after hour
23:31with only a five-minute
23:33break, I think every
23:3460 minutes.
23:35They picked up all of
23:37this grime from these
23:39nickels, and they were
23:41the worst sight that you
23:42ever saw.
23:44So when I think of
23:46Horn and Hardart, I think
23:47of the nickel throwers,
23:49and I think of the
23:50statuesque lady, and I
23:51try not to think of her
23:53hands.
23:54I used to do a nickel
23:56throw at a time, and I
23:59never cared for it, but
24:01you would get, they would
24:03put money down, and you
24:04would just flip off five
24:06nickels at a time for a
24:08quarter, and they gave you
24:1050 cents, you'd go into
24:11the next slot and throw
24:12another five nickels, and
24:16by the end of the day,
24:18oh, your hands would be
24:19absolutely filthy from the
24:22nickels, they were so
24:24black, and I only did it
24:27a few times, and I hated
24:28it completely.
24:30All the restaurants seemed
24:32to attract a certain kind
24:34of people.
24:35You had Kensington and
24:37Allegheny, a working group
24:39of people.
24:40You had 15th and Market
24:42across from City Hall, where
24:44you had the lawyers and
24:47the politicians, and you
24:50also had all the gangsters,
24:52gangsters, and the gangsters
24:54were their best customers
24:56because it was a nice place
24:58for them to meet.
25:01The waitresses loved them
25:02because they were great
25:03tippers, and they took care
25:06of themselves.
25:07I mean, nobody touched
25:08anybody in those places.
25:11Then there was another area,
25:12which was 11th Street, which
25:14was the street walkers,
25:17paradise, and they would come
25:19in, and they had their own
25:20table in the restaurant
25:21every night.
25:22I mean, this is just some of
25:24the crazy things that I
25:25remember from Horn and
25:27Hardest.
25:28Do you know there was a whole
25:29section at 818 Chestnut,
25:32which was the original, and
25:34these were jewelers from
25:36Jewelers Row, and it would be
25:38nothing for them to spill a bag
25:39of diamonds on the table, and
25:41they sat around the table and
25:43haggled over what did their
25:46business.
25:47So they came in very handy in
25:51their day for the public
25:52or the artists.
25:54The original automat at 818
25:56Chestnut closed in 1968, with
25:59others following soon after.
26:01With them went a style of
26:03service and cuisine that you
26:05just don't see anymore.
26:10If you had to make a list of
26:12favorite childhood memories,
26:14one of them might be the first
26:15time you set foot in Conte
26:17Mac Stadium and marveled at the
26:19sight of an emerald green
26:21playing field and an outfield
26:23wall festooned with advertising
26:25posters.
26:26The stadium, originally known as
26:29Scheib Park, hosted the American
26:31League Athletics and later the
26:33National League Philly from 1909
26:35through 1970.
26:38The NFL Eagles also called it
26:40home and played the 1948
26:42championship game there.
26:44Scheib Park also hosted political
26:46conventions and other events in
26:48its 62-year lifetime.
26:50It was the nation's first concrete
26:52and steel ballpark, built for the
26:54princely sum of $1 million.
26:58For all of that, Scheib Park fit
27:00neatly into the fabric of its North
27:02Philadelphia neighborhood.
27:03That's a fact that architect and
27:05planner Leon Clemmer should know all
27:08too well.
27:09His grandfather, Joseph Steele,
27:11built the place.
27:12It was a community.
27:14It was a community of Scheib Park.
27:16The players, the groundskeepers,
27:18everybody knew everybody.
27:21They walked to the park, they played
27:23together, they went to the same...
27:25The churches were right around the
27:28community.
27:28This is the great thing about the way
27:30the industrial Philadelphia was.
27:32It was the same as any big industrial
27:35building.
27:36It was a place of work, it was a place
27:38of play, and people congregated around
27:41it.
27:41The people that worked there lived there.
27:44When they coined the term friendly
27:46confines, they meant Wrigley Field in
27:48Chicago.
27:48But they could have had Scheib Park in mind.
27:51The sight lines were excellent in Scheib Park.
27:54No matter where you sat in the main
27:55seats, main stadium, you had tremendous
28:00sight lines.
28:00You could see that ball field.
28:02It was built for baseball.
28:05Babe Ruth used to break windows on 20th Street
28:07with some of his home rugs, and would launch
28:09some of his shots over the roofs.
28:11The neighborhood setting was so cozy that relief
28:14pitchers would sometimes drop by the local taproom
28:17in uniform for a spot of liquid refreshment during
28:20slow ball games.
28:22In the late 20s and early 30s, when the A's
28:25sported some memorable World Series teams,
28:27neighbors across the right field wall on 20th
28:30Street capitalized on the demand for series
28:32tickets by building bleachers on their roofs
28:35and admitting fans for half price.
28:38They'd send their children to local vendors to
28:40buy hot dogs for a nickel and resell them to
28:43their rooftop fans for a dime.
28:45Business boomed for these neighborhood
28:48entrepreneurs until 1935, when stadium co-owner
28:52John Scheib decided he couldn't endure the competition
28:56anymore.
28:57He erected a 38-foot addition to the right field fence,
29:01blocking the view from across 20th Street.
29:04The rooftop bleachers were put out of business.
29:09The Phillies' greatest success in their Connie Mack Stadium years
29:13came during the era of the WizKids of the late 40s and early 50s.
29:17A charter member of the WizKids was Richie Ashburn,
29:20who achieved fame with the Phillies first as a player
29:23and later as a broadcaster.
29:26I'll tell you what impressed me about Connie Mack Stadium.
29:29The first time I walked into it was the number of people.
29:33There were about 35,000 people there.
29:35It was a sellout.
29:36I had never seen that many people in one spot before.
29:40And I mean, the awesome size of it and the noise of all those people.
29:45I grew up in Tilda, Nebraska, population around 1,000.
29:50Just the noise and the size and the beautiful playing field
29:59was very impressive to me.
30:01That's one of the most, that was one of the best moments, I think,
30:06in my major league career, really, was that first day in Connie Mack Stadium.
30:10I was a center fielder, of course.
30:12It was a perfect outfield for a center fielder.
30:14It was huge.
30:16Center field cover a lot of ground.
30:18So I had a lot of room to roam.
30:20And once again, the grass out there was just manicured.
30:26You could charge a ball without fear of a bad hop.
30:30And it was probably the best outfield for a center fielder in the league at that time.
30:39Our groundskeeper used to build up the line a little, the third base foul line, a little bit, for me.
30:48So the bunt that went down that line wouldn't roll foul.
30:54And some people would think that's cheating.
30:57I'll tell you what it was.
30:57It was equal time because when I went on the road, they did just the opposite.
31:02They built the line so it tapered so the ball would roll foul.
31:06For all of the WizKids, their most exciting experience at Connie Mack Stadium was the 1950 World Series against the
31:15powerhouse New York Yankees.
31:17It was a great thrill because there hadn't been a pennant one in Philadelphia since 1915.
31:24And, of course, in 1950, that was 35 years later.
31:27It was certainly the highlight of all our careers.
31:32And we were young.
31:33We were called the WizKids, and we were all young.
31:36I was only, I think, 22 years old then.
31:39And one of the oldest guys would have been Dal Ennis, who may have been 25 or 26.
31:44So we, it was disappointing in that we lost four games in a row to the Yankees.
31:54Our club was really beat up.
31:56We won the National League pennant in Brooklyn on the last day of the season.
32:03Now, the Yankees in the American League had clinched their pennant, I think, about two or three weeks ahead of
32:09the time.
32:09So they were strong and well-rested and chomping at the bit, raring to go.
32:14We didn't get blown out of those games.
32:16We lost the first game 1-0.
32:19We lost the second game 2-1 in ten innings when Joe DiMaggio beat Robin Roberts with a home run
32:26in the tenth inning.
32:29We lost the third game 3-2.
32:32And I think the last game that we lost in Yankees still, and I believe this goal was 5-3.
32:37I should remember that, but I don't.
32:39But it was, uh, it was a great thrill, but it was very disappointing.
32:43And I think the greatest disappointment of all was the fact that we never won again.
32:50Ultimately, it was the transportation that killed that site.
32:54You know, you remember as well as I do.
32:56You would park.
32:56You would have some little guy come up and say,
32:59I watch your car.
33:00Yes, you give me five dollars.
33:02It was a real con job.
33:04If you didn't pay it, your car was, it was a terrible thing.
33:08But they didn't have enough parking.
33:09That's why it was moved.
33:10It was the transportation that made the site originally.
33:13It's a funny analogous that one thing made it, and then the same thing killed it.
33:30And I think the reaction by the fans, not after the game, after the game, but even during the game,
33:44it started maybe the sixth or seventh inning.
33:48You know, people said, hey, I'd like to get a souvenir out of here.
33:53By the sixth inning of the game, the sounds of ad hoc demolition could be heard all over the stadium.
34:00And when the Phillies finally won the game in the bottom of the tenth inning, all you know what were
34:05close.
34:06And all of a sudden, everybody is ripping the seats apart.
34:10And maybe where we were, way up there on top, was the safest place to be right then.
34:15And I thought, well, yeah, what are they going to do about this?
34:21I mean, the place is being literally torn apart right before our eyes.
34:27And I thought, these people are crazy.
34:29And then I looked down and saw my two sons down there ripping off a seat.
34:33And believe it or not, I still have that seat.
34:36Let's take another look at that play on instant replay.
34:40It takes four seconds from the moment the winning run is scored for the kid to get his mitts on
34:45home plate in a futile bid for the ultimate souvenir.
34:48You'll see how quickly he realizes that the plate is firmly secured in the dirt and decides to grab the
34:56next item that isn't nailed down.
34:58By the time it was all over, souvenir hunters had taken seats, bats, gloves, baseballs, the sods, snack tins from
35:07concession stands, even toilets and sinks from the restrooms.
35:11It was an inglorious farewell for a grand old park.
35:17And even Saturday was to come for Old Scheib Park.
35:21In August 1971, vandals broke into the stadium and set a small fire just for the thrill of it.
35:29The blaze spread and claimed much of the steel support, the roof and the decks along third base.
35:35Connie Mack Stadium, once hailed as the largest and most perfectly appointed baseball grounds of the world, had become a
35:45derelict, fit for habitation only by rats.
35:49The wrecking ball finally put it out of its misery in 1976.
35:57Today, the site has found new life as the home of the 5,000-seat Deliverance Evangelistic Church.
36:05A temple of faith.
36:18In the old days when you went down the shore, the place to go was Atlantic City, one of the
36:23most glamorous resorts on the East Coast.
36:25It boasted a beautiful beach, a lively boardwalk, and elegant hotels.
36:30And the showplace of Atlantic City was the Steel Pier, the vaudeville center of the boardwalk.
36:36In its heyday, the Steel Pier hosted some of the biggest names in show business, along with exciting daredevil acts.
36:43If you frequented the Steel Pier from the 40s to the 60s, your host was probably a man whose vocal
36:51skills would later make him well-known to a generation of sports fans.
36:56He's Gene Hart, the voice of the Flyers.
37:00Not only that, but he's also married to the lady who rode the diving horse.
37:06So my life was New York school in the winter and then to Atlantic City from Memorial Day to Labor
37:11Day on Steel Pier.
37:14As I matured and got out of the service, I started doing other jobs on the pier.
37:18Instead of being a child fake Hawaiian diver, I became a stagehand, I became a gun holder for a lion
37:26tamer,
37:26became a comedy diver, assistant stage manager to my father.
37:30And that career went on until the pier's demise, so we had pretty much of a 40-year situation.
37:37In fact, my ultimate end was going from the fake Hawaiian diver and the son of the stage manager to
37:43the announcer of the water show.
37:45And I think technically that was the first work that I did as a broadcaster of sorts.
37:49And of course, the other thing was my wife came up from Florida in the late 50s as the diver
37:55of the famed Steel Pier diving horse, and that's where we met.
37:58But after my freshman year in college, I got an audition.
38:02So I came up, went up to the top of the tower on the horse, and that was my audition,
38:06and got the job.
38:07It was still cold out. It was early spring. I was scared to death.
38:10So it does take more than anything courage just to do it.
38:14But the act itself I never thought was that difficult.
38:17What you have to do is just simply get on the horse and hang on tightly and go along for
38:22the ride.
38:23But it was up to the horse. A lot of people think that we either shoved them off, they had
38:27electrical charge or something like that.
38:29Not so. They simply went up there, and when they wanted to go, they went.
38:33Now, when the horse got up, you began to realize as an emcee that they had little idiosyncrasies.
38:38You know, the horse, he'd look out the sea, look down, do things like this, right?
38:42So if you could say it, you'd say, how are things out at the ocean?
38:45The horse would go like this.
38:46How are things at the boardwalk? Everything going okay? You all set?
38:50And people loved that, because you knew the idiosyncrasies.
38:53But always, for all of the years that the Steel Pier Water Show was there, that was the closing act,
38:58and it was the act for which many people came to see you.
39:01That was our life.
39:03It was a tough job, because you worked every day.
39:05And the shows, it's almost how you, remember, on weekdays, there were 2, 4, 8, and 10.
39:10Then on Saturday nights, you would do 2, 4, 8, 9, 30, and 11.
39:15And then on Sundays, you would do 2, 3, 30, 5, 8, and 10.
39:19So we did 5, 5, we did 30 shows a week.
39:26And then that night, between the 8 o'clock show and our 10, 30 show,
39:30we'd go into the ballroom and stand right up at the stage
39:33and look up at Tex Venneker, Glenn Miller, or Gene Cooper, or Carmen Cavallaro.
39:38I mean, every band that was known came in.
39:40I remember one time when I saw Betty Grable come in in a white fur coat,
39:43because Harry James was there.
39:45Well, television came in.
39:47And television, obviously, would pay more for one show on Ed Sullivan
39:50or the Kate Smith show or the Sid Caesar show
39:53than you could make for 30 shows in Atlantic City.
39:55So the concept of Steel Pier became passe.
39:58In fact, she knows we don't even go on the boardwalk where we can see Steel Pier.
40:03It aggravates us.
40:04You know, I say, do you remember what it used to be?
40:06But the important thing out of it all is if it had not been for Steel Pier,
40:11we certainly would never have met.
40:12So not only do we enjoy them and savor the fine memories of those at that time,
40:17but we realize that it was fate.
40:19And here we are because of Steel Pier.
40:23There's another area of town that is looking to recapture its past glory.
40:27From the 40s through the 60s, Kentucky Avenue between Atlantic and Arctic
40:32was jumping 24 hours a day with the sounds of jazz and rhythm and blues
40:38and the aromas of barbecue.
40:40Patty Harris remembers those days when she danced in Larry Steele's Smart Affairs
40:45at the focal point of Kentucky Avenue, the Club Harlem.
40:50We were called the Beige Futes and the Beige Bows.
40:56There's always more girls than fellas.
40:59There's always four fellas and maybe, um, I would say roughly about 20 girls.
41:05And, um, we would do two shows a night,
41:11uh, three on Saturday night, Sunday morning.
41:15We had that wonderful breakfast show, uh, that started at 6 a.m.
41:20And a lot of celebrities from all over, uh, the city would come in,
41:25you know, like Frank Sinatra and work with people like, um,
41:29Jackie Wilson or Roy Hamilton, um, Marvin Gaye.
41:35And the list just goes on and on.
41:37The people would be lined up from Atlantic Avenue
41:43waiting to get in to see these shows.
41:46And even though, uh, it was a black review,
41:49the audience was primarily white.
41:53And, um, the whole street was ablaze.
41:57And we started, uh, rehearsing, uh, in June.
42:00The show would open July, and we worked to September.
42:04All these things were just, uh, just really wonderful times.
42:08The costumes, the hats, the girls, and the food out here on Kentucky Avenue
42:13going to the fishery, and saps for ribs and jerrys for ribs,
42:17and up to Miss Johnson's for soul food.
42:19It was just wonderful.
42:21And then you'd eat, and then you'd go to the beach.
42:23And you'd have beach parties, or just sleep.
42:26So, I mean, I think after working all night,
42:29you're too, really too hyped up to, to go home and sleep.
42:32So you'd go on the beach and probably a little bit more,
42:33and just, you're there for a while.
42:39Kentucky Avenue may well swing again
42:41if Yvonne Doggett's Kentucky Avenue Renaissance
42:43has anything to do with it.
42:45The Renaissance, uh, was held early June.
42:49Uh, I thought that perhaps we could recreate, uh,
42:54that which went on here in Kentucky Avenue.
42:56You recreate the ambiance, the sights, the sounds,
43:00and the smells of this particular street
43:03that meant so much to not just the black community,
43:07but, um, all groups in the community.
43:10Grace's little Belmont has been closed for 17 years,
43:13and now, uh, it opened for the festival.
43:17When you walked in there,
43:18it was as if it had never closed.
43:21There was a band on the bandstand playing,
43:23and they were playing April in Paris,
43:25because that's what was playing in the organ
43:28of the big stage here at the Club Harlem.
43:31I was happy to note at the end when the numbers came in,
43:35uh, that we had over 10,000 people a day,
43:40and they came from the Delaware Valley.
43:42They came from Washington, D.C., from Philadelphia, from New York.
43:46But what I would love to encourage,
43:48as we restore Atlantic City,
43:50we don't lose the, um, the feeling and the heart
43:55and the passion of our community.
43:58It's slow.
43:59Everything is slow, it seems, when you really want it.
44:02But if it's really good, it will happen.
44:06Will the Steel Pier at Kentucky Avenue be reborn
44:09in a rejuvenated Atlantic City?
44:12Maybe, if memories are translated into action.
44:19Today, Market Street East looks a lot different
44:22than it did as few as 10 years ago.
44:25It's still the department store hub of Center City,
44:28but not like the old days,
44:29when the street was lined with stores
44:31like Sparbridge's and Wanamaker's,
44:33which are still there,
44:34and Snellenberg's, Gimbel's,
44:36and Frank and Cedar's, which are not.
44:39Probably the most visually memorable
44:41of all the bygone Market Street stores
44:43was Litt Brothers,
44:45on Market Street between 7th and 8th.
44:47Thanks to Mellon Bank,
44:49which rescued it from the Wreckers Ball in 1984,
44:52Litts still stands
44:53as the home of Mellon's Operations Center.
44:57Actually, Litts isn't one building.
44:59It's a group of several different structures
45:01that the Litt family either purchased
45:04or built starting in 1893.
45:07The result is a giant gingerbread cake of a structure,
45:11the city's largest remaining cluster
45:13of 19th-century iron and stone-fronted
45:16commercial buildings.
45:17And if you looked a little more closely
45:20at the corners of the building
45:21at 7th and 8th Streets,
45:22you'd notice a slogan
45:24which may prove a bit puzzling
45:26to modern-day passers-by.
45:28Hats trimmed, free of charge.
45:31We thought we'd ask a few of those passers-by
45:34just what that means.
45:36I guess it just means
45:38to cut your head
45:39or make an old head look new.
45:43I don't know.
45:45Guys, help me out here.
45:47Hats trimmed.
45:48I don't think I've ever heard that name.
45:51When you buy a hat in the old days,
45:52I think it was just women.
45:55And they would, like, mold the hat
45:57and, like, shape it to the individual's head, maybe.
46:03For those of you who may be mystified still,
46:06let an expert demonstrate how it's done.
46:08Litt Brothers had an excellent millinery department,
46:14and they had something
46:16that none of the other stores had,
46:18and that was the customer would come in
46:21and pick out her hat
46:23and then also be able to choose her trimming.
46:28I'm taking this ribbon
46:30and pleading it in
46:33to a rosette type of a thing,
46:37which you can see.
46:38And then I'm going to put it right here on the hat.
46:43It's like everything else.
46:44It's an art.
46:46Anything that's a little bit different,
46:49you have to have training for it.
46:54We used to use the suede trimmings
46:56and also all kinds of feathers.
47:00Veiling was very popular in those days.
47:03They would take the hat and drape it
47:05so that the veil would come down nose length,
47:09which was very attractive looking in those days.
47:13I see a comeback in millinery
47:16because I noticed in all the fashion shows this year
47:20and practically every model is wearing a hat.
47:24So that looks like a possibility
47:27of introducing our ladies
47:30back to wearing a hat,
47:33which is very feminine
47:35to finish off your outfit, I think.
47:44Now that's hat trimming.
47:50Let Brothers went out of business in 1977
47:53and Gimbel's, another major market street chain,
47:56followed soon after.
47:58Gimbel's won't be remembered
47:59for the splendor of its store at 8th and Market.
48:02What gave Gimbel's its claim to immortality,
48:05at least for two generations of kids,
48:08was its sponsorship
48:09of the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade,
48:12starting in 1920.
48:14Every year, until the store's closing,
48:16the parade would wind its way east on the parkway,
48:20around City Hall,
48:21and east on Market Street to the store.
48:23The grand finale featured the arrival of Santa Claus,
48:27who would receive the keys to the city
48:29and then ascend a fire truck ladder
48:32into the fourth floor of Gimbel's.
48:34It just wasn't Christmas in Philadelphia
48:37until Santa Claus did his thing.
48:41I was a Philadelphia fireman stationed at 10th and Cherry,
48:46and it was the custom that a fireman
48:50would be Santa Claus in the Gimbel's Day Parade
48:54because ladder 23 that was stationed in the firehouse
48:57was the ladder that Santa Claus would climb up
49:01to get into the old Gimbel's building.
49:05And the battalion chief said that I was the fattest guy there
49:11and that I would fit right into it.
49:16And that's how it all began for me.
49:18That was the Santa Claus floats were not of great quality.
49:25They were tied together with clothesline.
49:28They had little casters on the bottom,
49:30and it was just like a pallet that the sled was mounted on,
49:35and you would hold on for dear life.
49:38In the event that the Santa Claus would fall off the sleigh,
49:42the parade could continue,
49:44and the back of Santa Claus would go on.
49:47It was like the show must go on, you know, that kind of thing.
49:50We'd go through the parade,
49:51and you would wave the entire length,
49:53and the Gimbel's Parade would end at Gimbel's.
49:56The queen of the parade would be there,
49:59and she would give the key for the city
50:02to Santa Claus to open up the holidays.
50:06And when all that publicity stuff was done,
50:09Santa Claus would put a bag of toys on his back,
50:12and he would climb up the ladder.
50:14And this is something that very few people
50:17will ever be able to vision, what I've seen.
50:21I would go up a half a dozen rungs on the ladder,
50:24turn around, and look over Market Street
50:27in any given direction,
50:30and it was covered with people
50:32from down as far as 7th Street at one end,
50:37at the other end as far up as probably 10th or 11th.
50:41It was nothing but people.
50:47I purchased for my own personal use
50:49a pair of Santa Claus glasses,
50:52like the old Ben Franklin kind.
50:55And this one year,
50:57I happened to forget to take the glasses with me
51:01when I left the house.
51:03And the makeup man said,
51:06just wear the ones you have worn,
51:07which are very similar to what I'm wearing now.
51:10He said, they'll look perfectly fine.
51:13Not thinking that these glasses were photo gray glasses.
51:18We got to the end of the parade,
51:21and they're photographing,
51:22and all of a sudden,
51:24they're asking why Santa Claus is wearing sunglasses.
51:28Never thinking that I was wearing photo gray glasses.
51:31Well, that was my last year of doing Santa Claus,
51:34because I really don't believe
51:36that Commissioner Rizzo appreciated Santa Claus
51:39wearing sunglasses.
51:40And I feel that that was one of the reasons
51:43that I kind of lost my job.
51:47To be Santa Claus,
51:50and to be Santa Claus for a long time.
51:52It was one of the highlights of my life, really.
52:19Every week, a group of salespeople, secretaries,
52:22bankers, and housewives
52:23gather at the Aztec Club
52:25on Delaware Avenue
52:26to do the Bristol Stump,
52:28the Twist, and the 81.
52:30There are a few of the dancers
52:31they used to do as teenagers
52:33at Wagner's Ballroom in North Philadelphia.
52:35And the man spinning the discs
52:37at the Aztec today,
52:39just as he did at Wagner's 30 years ago,
52:42is the gear with the heater,
52:44the boss with the hot sauce,
52:47Jerry Blamond.
52:49In 1962, at 5810 Old York Road,
52:52there was a ballroom known as Wagner's.
52:55And up until 1962,
52:57this place was probably the hottest ballroom
52:59in America for adult dancing.
53:01But then in 1962, something happened.
53:04We went in there with some of these kids
53:06that you see here today.
53:07And for nine years straight,
53:10Wagner's Ballroom became the hottest teenage dance hall
53:13in America with 2,000 kids every Sunday afternoon.
53:17These beyond teens, as we say,
53:19when they were kids that were called yawn teenagers,
53:22met, fell in love at Wagner's Ballroom
53:25at Broad and Hollily.
53:27It was the place that people could go.
53:29If you didn't have a lot of money,
53:30you could always go to the dance
53:31and have a ball for hours.
53:32And there were tons of kids there.
53:33You didn't even have to know anybody.
53:35You could just go there and jump in
53:36and get in a line, dance, and have a ball.
53:38We met in Nicetown.
53:39And I talked her into going to Wagner's with me.
53:41She said, no, I can't go there.
53:42I said, come on, go with me.
53:43We went there, fell in love with the faith,
53:45fell in love with the people, and it's history.
53:47You got the lips to head on,
53:48I'm mad about that.
53:50I got the lips to head on,
53:52I can't have it.
53:52Come on, walk, walk up.
53:54I'll be wild about me.
53:58We used to dance so much
53:59from the beginning to the end
54:00that we all used to get soaking wet and sweat
54:02and the mirrors around Wagner's Ballroom
54:04would steam up.
54:05And people would say, well,
54:06when we'd walk outside, is it raining?
54:07No, it's not raining.
54:08We're just having a ball
54:09and having a wonderful time.
54:10We would name all of these wonderful dances
54:12that these kids came up with
54:13from the spot that they were dancing.
54:16And at that time, it was Wagner's Ballroom,
54:17so we called it the Wagner Walk
54:19or the Chebu Walk
54:20or the Riviera Roll
54:21or the Jerry Strut.
54:28Jerry, that was also a way
54:29that kids dealt with competition.
54:31Instead of having fights,
54:33they danced it out.
54:34This one was better than that one
54:36and they would dance it out, right?
54:37On the boardwalk,
54:37whether it was down the shore
54:38or on the corner
54:39or at the dance halls.
54:40That's how they competed with one another.
54:41Rather than with fists,
54:42they did it with the dance techniques.
54:46That was also another way
54:47the girls and guys got together
54:48because sometimes the guys
54:49would make up a dance,
54:50but they didn't want a bunch of guys
54:52going out there by themselves.
54:53That wasn't done in those days.
54:54So they needed girls to go out with them
54:56so we would meet and get together
54:57and do it with them.
54:58So one of the requirements
54:59to really meet a guy
55:00had to be a good dancer, folks.
55:01If he couldn't, listen,
55:02if he couldn't dance,
55:03there was no romance.
55:04And I must tell you something,
55:05I think we have to go back to those days
55:07because I think that kids today
55:09need a Wagner's Ballroom
55:11and more than need,
55:12they themselves are looking
55:14for the camarader
55:16to meet new kids
55:18other than the neighborhood kids
55:19and see the way other kids live.
55:22You became their friends
55:23because of the dances
55:24and you saw the way
55:25that they lived in those days.
55:26Anything to me
55:28I'm a loaded frog
55:31I ain't got a load
55:33Ready?
55:49I tell you something,
55:51you're really a terrific TV audience,
55:53I mean that sincerely.
55:54Let's give them a big hand,
55:55and a big hand over here
55:55for these people, huh?
55:57Thank you, thank you.
55:58Very, very, very much.
56:03We put this program together
56:05because there's nothing more fun
56:06than remembering the old days
56:08and because there's no place
56:10in the country richer
56:10in happy memories
56:11than the Delaware Valley.
56:13We're sorry that those things
56:15aren't there anymore,
56:17but we're glad that we were around
56:18to enjoy them when they were.
56:20This is Bill Campbell.
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