East Broad Top Railroad

Narrow-gauge track in Three Springs

The East Broad Top Railroad line, a defunct, narrow gauge line, is still observable in Three Springs, Pennsylvania. At its peak the company, which built the mainline from Mount Union to Orbisonia between 1872 and 1874, owned 60 miles of line. Its primary function was to remove coal from the Broad Top Mountain plateau. From the late 19th century until the 1950s, the line hauled coal. With the precipitous fall in coal prices and the switch to oil and gas, the railroad switch to tourist excursions from 1961 to 2011. Although there is a preservation society, it appears that excursions have not ran for the last four years.

Squirt Soda advertisement

On a trip through Three Springs, I took the opportunity to photograph the line and a railroad building with a (seeming) vintage advertisement for the soda Squirt.

August Explorations

Spence and I had a good week exploring some classic Americana sites. We had lunch at Eddie’s Diner, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, that looks like a classic diner that has been remodeled, updated and has had substantial additions. In the original section, there are three booths to the right and a cashier stand with two additional booths to the left. There are 18 affixed stools along the straight counter, with a banner behind the counter noting the 25th anniversary of the diner (in 2012). The primary color scheme of the diner is a dark pink set against the stainless steel fixtures. Eddie’s Diner offered Spencer is first opportunity to try Birch Beer, which I think her enjoyed. The diner was busy and the servers knew many of the patrons by name.

The following day we made our way to Crystal Grottoes Caverns just outside Boonsboro, Maryland. The cave was discovered on 18 September 1920 when workers, excavating limestone to build Route 34, broke through and felt cool air emerging from the ground. After exploring the caverns, excavations were halted with the provision that the cave would be open to the public. The cave’s first day of business was 2 April 1922 when tourists were charged 7 cents to enter. Because no humans entered the cave until the twentieth century, many of the formations are pristine. This small roadside attraction, the only caves open to the general public in Maryland, is both fun and educational.

Just a few miles away stands the first completed memorial dedicated to George Washington on South Mountain.  Washington Monument State Park, located in Middletown, Maryland, was built by the citizens of Boonsboro on 4 July 1827. The more famous monument, the marble obelisk in Washington DC, was built between 1848 and 1884. Standing fifteen feet high at the end of the day, the Maryland monument was completed in September of that year can stood thirty feet. It has fallen into disrepair from time to time and was most recently rebuilt by the Civilian Conservation Corp in 1936.

A fellow visitor at the
Washington Monument

Holsum Bread Advertisement at Keystone Stores

The monument, which you can climb to the top of, offers a beautiful view of the valley below. Unfortunately, on the day we visited, the mountain was shrouded in clouds and fog. Every so often, the clouds would momentarily part to offer a tantalizing view of the valley below.

Our week ended with an exploration of the small borough of Pine Grove Pennsylvania. Among the interesting sites in the town was the Pine Grove Theatre, opened in 1910 and the Keystone Stores, an old grocery store that still has many of the old advertisements in its windows.

Edinburgh Palimpsest

This building on Nicolson Square offers a glimpse into Edinburgh’s not to distance past. The fading painting reads: “N. Martinot / Manufacturer of Baskets Foreign Bask…ugs Mats / Fancy Leather Goods Walking Sticks / Hardware & Woodware”

Chicago Palimpsest 2014

Hobbies Magazine 

Lightner Publishing Corp. 

At 1006 Michigan Avenue, in downtown Chicago, the old Hobbies Magazine Building still retains echoes from the past. Three advertisements on the side of the building (and more on the back of the building) remind us of bygone days when numismatic pursuits still inspired magazine rather than webpages and publishers highlighted their contributions. Likewise, the ideas of corsets is not something that most of us consider as part of modern wardrobes; however, it is the case that specialties shops are more inclined to carry such garments today. After a quick search of the internet, I found that Gossard Lingerie, founded in 1901, continues in business today…at least on the internet, if not in downtown Chicago.

Geographical Publishing Co., 

publishers of maps and atlases 

Wear Gossard Corsets 

They Lace to Front 

Vintage South Loop Chicago

A number of item caught my eyes on a recent trip to Chicago and the following are three that are interesting but I do not have anything particular to write about.   

Blue Star Auto Parts sign – 2001 South State Street 

Universal Pluming – 1815 South State Street 

Yellow Cab sign painted on the side of a building as seen from South Wabash 

between Cermak Road and East 21st Street 

Vintage Advertisement (Moravia, NY)

A vintage advertisement appears on the side of the building at 148 North Main Street in Moravia. The Gold Medal Flour sign is in very good shape, but because of its location it is difficult to photograph. There is a gap between the building and the one to the immediate left where one can walk between and get a good look at the sign; however, it is not conducive to photographs.

Vintage Advertisements (McAdoo, PA)

Postie’s Beverages – 55 South Manning Street, McAdoo, PA.

It appears that Postie’s was once a local soft drink maker and distributor that have evolved into just a distributor today. I did find some examples of old bottles for sale online, but relatively little other information.

As I was finishing my photography of the building an older man stuck his head out the door and yelled at me, “What the hell are you looking at?” I explained that I was a traveler, interested in old buildings, and just taking a few photographs. He replied, “A traveler, uh?” I went on to apologize if I were disturbing him in any way. He looked around, still not sure of me, “I thought you might be the bank, looking to repossess me.” I assured him I was not, which seemed to placate him. The encounter made me disinclined to enter the store. Although the next time I am passing through I will, more than likely, stop in.

Vintage Advertisements (Auburn, NY)

This sign for Pillsbury was observed on my way to Falcon Stadium during the middle of a tremendous downpour. It is on the side of a building that is located at the corner of North Division and Wall streets.

Vintage Advertisements (Greencastle, PA)

At 8 East Baltimore Street, adjacent to the town square in Greencastle, there is a brick building once occupied by Carl’s Drug Store. The painted sign, high above the other surrounding structures, remains easy to read as if the drug store may still actually exist. Currently, however, the building is occupied by E.L.M. Department store that covers a number of buildings on the northeast corner of the square. My guess, completely unsubstantiated at this point, is that Carl’s was a place to go after school or on Friday or Saturday evenings for ice cream and soda. Given its location in the center of town, I am willing to be that it was a local social gathering place for young people.

Another interesting artifact is the building at 24 South Carlisle Street. Currently it is Kerm’s Card Shop, specializing in sports memorabilia and cards. But it is clear from wording on the window that the building was a former grocery store. There are signs, which appear to be affixed to the windows, advertising Coca-Cola, meats, and self-service groceries. The signs catch my eyes because they are (and the store itself) is similar to the neighborhood grocery that was just down the street from where I grew up in Louisville. My Mom would sometimes send me down to Fanny’s to get thinly sliced bologna or a carton of Pepsi. In the days before he discovered he was a juvenile diabetic, my Dad would have a 16-ounce bottle nearly every day when he came home from work. I was afraid of Fanny, she often yelled at us kids for seemingly no good reason. I remember one time, when I was about five or six, I was sent to the store for a carton of soft drinks and, after my purchase, she yelled at me because I was slouching as I carried the eight-pack of 16-ounce bottles. When I said they were heavy, she told me that I needed build muscles. I sure she made somewhat of a cogent argument but I was too scared to hear and no longer remember. Another time, because of my fear of Fanny, I convinced by friend Mike to go in and buy bologna for my mom. Mike and his brother Allen were the only kids Fanny ever liked in the neighborhood. Apparently she asked Mike how he would like the bologna sliced and he told her he did not know because it was for my mom. Fanny came out found me waiting around the corner for Mike and started berating me for not purchasing my mom’s order. She knew my mom liked her bologna sliced thin. 

I would never think to eat bologna today; however, I do remember how good it seemed to taste back then.

Vintage Advertisements (NYC)

When I see them, it is almost as if they are urban archaeological artifacts. Painted on the sides of buildings, often faded and difficult to read, these advertisements hearken back to previous days when name brands did not necessarily have a global reach. Strange

Gre-Solvent

names and products fascinate me and I enjoy the puzzle of determining what these old signs mean:

1. Gre-Solvent – West 50th Street (near 9th Avenue)

Gre-Solvent was a hand cleanser popular in the 1920s and 1930s that was used particularly by those engaged in manual labor. A company by the same name still exists in Britain. On the advertisement the catch phrase, “cleans them clean,” is still very legible. 

2. Hotel Rooms / Cigars – 8th Avenue (between 46th and 47th Streets)

Located on the side of the New York Inn, this advertisement offers rooms that features steam heat, housekeeping, and hot and cold water. It appears that the hotel advertisement was painted over an older advertisement for cigars, which is more difficult to decipher. 

Hotel Rooms