Steamtown

Canadian national 3254 moves through the yard last Saturday morning. Railfest starts tomorrow, and runs through Sunday.

Carbondale: Hotel American

The Hotel American on Main Street in downtown Carbondale, built in 1893.

Carbondale: Shannon Brothers Building

Shannon Brothers Building, Main Street, Carbondale.

Allen Theatre: Beatles - Away With Words

 

 

One of the more unusual shows came the weekend of  Friday, August 25, through Sunday August 27, 1972; The Beatles Away With Words was a multi-media extravaganza. A few weeks before this a man named Howard Ragland came into the Allen, asking about rental availability. We were sort of skeptical of this guy in a cowboy hat with the southwestern accent as he boasted of sellouts across the country. But when showtime rolled around, mobs swarmed the box office. There were three shows a day, at 8, 10 and midnight on Friday and Saturday, and at 4, 8 and 10 PM on Sunday, all nine were sold out. The show itself consisted of a 360 degree sound system, with the sound set at the maximum level. 26 film projectors and a wall of slide projectors bombarded the film screen with 6,000 slides. The show opened with a brief montage of rock and roll before the Beatles, then a quick Beatlemania segment, before heading into the much longer later Beatle era. Dick Wooten in the Cleveland Press didn’t care much for it, but the crowd did seem to enjoy it. A couple days before the show, when it was time to put the show up on the marquee, Ray was insistent that the Beatles, should be spelled Beetles, and it stayed that way all weekend, I seem to recall Jane Scott poking fun at us in her column. Ragland and his associate, whose name I can’t recall, were sort of shady individuals. On Saturday night they got a few counterfeit $20 dollar bills, which they passed at a local restaurant. By Monday morning, these guys had left town and the phone was ringing off the hook as hotels and other suppliers tried to collect on their bills. We took cash up front, so we did OK.

 

Dick Wootten review, The Cleveland Press, Saturday, August 26, 1972, p. C-2.

Nay Aug Falls

Nay Aug Falls this morning.

Nay Aug Park: Davis Trail

Walking on the Davis Trail this morning.

Carbondale: Main Street

Looking west along Main Street in Downtown Carbondale.

Carbondale: Post Office

The old Carbondale Post Office on Main Street.

Carbondale: 81 Dundaff Street

An interesting looking building at 81 Dundaff Street.

Carbondale: Pugliano Brothers Building

The Pugliano Brothers Building at 96 Dundaff Street, built in 1901.

Carbondale: 27 North Main Street

27 North Main Street. Looks like an old bank building, built in 1908.

Carbondale: Chiellino Building

The Chiellino Building in Carbondale continue to deteriorate. The building was constructed by Salvador & Antonio Chiellino on River Street in 1913.

The Chiellino Building, August 18, 2012.

 Back of the Chiellino Building, August 18, 2012.

 The back of the Chiellino building is up against the Lackawanna River. I have to believe flooding is common. From August 21, 2010

The Chiellino Building, July 17, 2004.

Carbondale: Delaware & Hudson Station

Remains of the Delaware & Hudson station, Carbondale Pa.

Lackawanna Railroad

Lackawanna 664-663 backing train through Steamtown yard last Saturday morning.

Nay Aug Falls

Nay Aug Falls this morning.

Electric City Trolley

Philadelphia Suburban 80 northbound at Connell Junction this morning.

Rock Crusher Pond

The Rock Crusher Pond isn't looking too good with the lack of rain this summer. This was once part of the Meadow Brook Crushed Stone Company, and is near Connell Junction.

Bittenbender Company Building

 The Bittenbender Company Building at 126-132 Franklin Avenue in downtown Scranton. This was last used as Whistles Pub and is currently up for sale.

 Looking closely a fading sign gives a clue to its previous use.

Below an ad from the 1931 Scranton City Directory.

Mt Pleasant Washery

The Mt. Pleasant Washery on Scranton's west side, today this is an office park.

 Back of the card, postmarked in 1907.

Nay Aug Falls

Nay Aug Falls this morning.

Scranton Skyline

Scranton skyline from the Harrison Avenue bridge.

Roaring Brook

Looking upstream along Roaring Brook towards the Myrtle Street bridge.

Cleveland: Greyhound Station

An undated postcard, late 1950's, of the Greyhound bus station on Chester Avenue in downtown Cleveland. Built in 1948, the station is still in use.

Hippodrome: Super Dude

At the Hippodrome, August 29th, 1975. I don't think I ever saw this film.

Marvin Hamlisch at The Palace

Remembering Marvin Hamlisch at The Palace, Saturday and Sunday, July 12th &13th, 1975

 The first “real” show at the Palace was Marvin Hamlisch on Saturday and Sunday July 12^th & 13^th, 1975. A few days earlier the Palace was swarmed with stagehands preparing the theatre for the first live stage show there in years, many of them were ecstatic at seeing names of fathers and grandfathers chalked up in the flies from years earlier. At the time I was living in the Cinerama booth on the main floor and was displaced for the weekend, as a result I relocated to the main projection room at the top of the balcony. Since the fire escapes on the East 17^th Street side of the balcony were removed , only limited seating was allowed upstairs, mostly in the loges. Plus with no real theatre seats on the main floor, chairs were used, this limited the crowd to around 2,000. The vibe leading up to the show was overwhelmingly upbeat and that continued throughout the weekend.

I watched both shows from the projection room at the top of the balcony. The show opened with the Brel cast performing a few selections from the hit show that had recently closed. If I remember correctly, Hamlisch hit the stage and said, “I wrote this when I was 15” and launched into a version of Sunshine, Lollypops, and Rainbows, much to the delight of the crowd. He played selections from The Sting, and A Chorus Line, saying hopefully in the future shows lIke a Chorus Line would appear in the Palace.He showed scenes from The Swimmer and had the audience choose the tryp of music for the scene, fast, slow, etc. I don’t remember wht he closed with but both nights were an overwhelming success.

The top half of Mary Strassmeyer's column in the Plain Dealer, Monday, July 14th, 1975.

The Cinerama booth in 1959

This is what the Palace auditorium looked like in 1975.

Photo by William Gesten/Foto Arts Inc.

Cleveland: Sheriff Street Market

 A 1908 postcard of the Sheriff Street Market.

The Sheriff Street Market opened on December 24, 1891 on what later became East 4th Street, a portion of the market was destroyed by fire in May 1930. This later became the Central Market in 1950, after the original Central Market burned. This operated until 1988 when the building was razed as part of the new baseball park/basketball arena complex.

Nay Aug Falls

Nay Aug Falls this morning, minutes before a heavy rain.

Nay Aug Park

Rainy Day at Nay Aug Park. We were stuck in this shelter for about half an hour.

Playhouse Square: Loew's Ohio

At Loew's Ohio on August 4, 1968. This was in the last six months of operation. On February 9 both the Ohio and Loew's State would close.

Scranton Sunset

Last night's sunset.

Scranton: Mulberry Street

Mulberry Street, looking west from Colfax, last Sunday morning.

Cleveland Worsted Mill Fire

Cleveland Worsted Mills  was located at East 61st and Broadway in Cleveland's Slavic Village neighborhood. The Mill was in operation from 1902 until a lengthy strike in 1956 forced its closure. Afterwards the huge complex was used by a variety of smaller companies until the morning on July 4th 1993 when a fire broke out destroying the complex. The photos below were taken three days later on July 7th, 1993. At one time this was one of the largest worsted mills in the country.