The Day There Were No Bananas

March 12, 2020 / pinehistoryblog / Leave a comment

An empty banana display. March 12, 2020 at approximately 8:30 pm. Market District Giant Eagle, Pine Township.

As our community preps for coronavirus I wanted to take a minute to revisit the day (for the next me in forty or fifty years): the markets didn’t fare well, all sporting events in this country and many around the world were suspended, and people are fearing the worst. I don’t want to downplay the events of the day in any way but I have been thinking about other major days in our history and how the members of our community today and our foreparents reacted.

Today at the Pine Township Market District Giant Eagle they ran out of toilet paper (like every other place), paper towels, tissues, eggs, chicken, clementines (that to me was the strangest one), and of course bananas. We have no idea of coronavirus is going to be a major event or not but it has the makings of it. The world is reacting to it and we in Pine are living it. One day we may want to look back at today and remember the little things.

An empty clementine display. March 12, 2020 at approximately 8:30 pm. Market District Giant Eagle, Pine Township.

How did Pine residents react after the stock market crash of 1929? The Old Wexford Store certainly carried different items then but what did people feel like they had to have at the start of the Great Depression? When did they react? Days later? Never?

What about after Pearl Harbor? Did people flock to the store to ensure they had essentials? Obviously, during the war plenty of items were no longer available so what did people anticipate?

Stocking up on items isn’t a modern occurrence and these are the little things that I personally like to know and am curious about. So I am asking you, if you’d humor me, share something that you felt the need to stock up on, or something you are going to make sure you have. Leave a comment here or on the Facebook page. Click here for the link.

Empty toilet paper and paper towel display. March 12, 2020 at approximately 9:20 pm. Market District Giant Eagle, Pine Township.

I wanted plenty of carpet shampoo. Giant Eagle had plenty in stock as most people probably aren’t potty training a toddler and a new puppy at the same time. I also was very concerned with tissues. No idea if we will actually get the virus or how it will present but I don’t want a bunch of snot in my house. Thankfully, there were a few boxes left.

Be safe Pine Township.

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The Martin Bomber Crash

April 15, 2019April 14, 2019 / pinehistoryblog / Leave a comment

As different organizations continue to digitize their history archives, more and more information becomes available. A great example is this picture.

Pulled from the online archives of Historic Pittsburgh, I originally published this picture on my blog in May 2018 in the F. Laklia article. Originally, I was drawn to the tiny building behind the horses. I mostly ignored the context of this picture because there was no information included. When I first used this picture it was titled Martin Bomber with a date range of 1920 – 1930. That isn’t much to go on and with no local paper I figured this was a dead-end.

In January 2019, a reader pointed out that on the Historic Pittsburgh website there was a description about a plane crash and the horses will pulling the pieces of the plane. The following is the description currently available for the picture (April 2019):

“During its first flight, a WWI era Martin Bomber biplane crash landed in a field off Wexford -Bayne Road in Marshall Township, Allegheny County, PA. The crew lived with local families while attempting to repair the plane, but repairs were unsuccessful and the plane was returned by rail to its base near Cleveland. The image shows the wreckage being hauled by horse-drawn wagon over what was then a muddy Perry Highway (now Church Road) through the village of Wexford in Pine Township, Allegheny County, PA. Cole’s Hotel and Stable are seen in the background.”

Martin Bombers is a term used to describe an entire collection of planes not one specific plane and as of now, I do not have the information as to what the exact plane was. Regardless, to novice aviation historians like ourselves, this is a good general picture of what the plane probably looked like.

Martin MB-1. Wikipedia. 13 Apr 2019. Listed as public domain.

The Martin Bomber crash in Wexford happened on January 20, 1921 (the article was published January 21, 1921 so I’m just assuming). The only newspaper to report the crash was the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette which was not the major newspaper at the time. Nothing appeared in the Pittsburgh Press which I think is odd.

The plane was on its maiden voyage from the factory in Cleveland to Washington and carried a crew of four. With one engine dead the crew chose the farm fields of Ed Shenot rather than risking to continue the flight. Lt. Melville, the officer in charge of the flight sent word to Cleveland. Repairs were attempted but additional parts were needed.

The crew stayed with M.P. Sullivan of Bradfordwoods for least one night but a few nights seems more likely especially since the picture description says the crew lived with local families.

One correction to the newspaper article: the location was described as the farm of Ed Shenot with the crew staying in Bradfordwoods but then said it was near the Butler Short Line. Ed Shenot’s farm and Bradfordwood is near the old Harmony Line.

Looking at the Pictures

The horses are carrying what I would call the body of the plan. This is the middle section of the plane where the crew would have sat.

This is one of the engines with what I am calling the brackets that attached the bottom wing and the top plane. The Martin Bomber that crashed was a biplane. Another section containing the other engine was definitely moved but there is no picture of it.

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All About the Views: The Observation Deck of the North Park Water Tower

March 25, 2019January 22, 2021 / pinehistoryblog / 1 Comment

I knew there was an observation deck on the top of the North Park water tower but I had no idea that the entire observation deck had such amazing style. If only we were allowed up!

https://www.northlandlocalhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Standpipe-plans-Commemora.pdf

A Short History

The design for the North Park Water Tower was submitted on July 9, 1936 and construction began sometime that same fall. The picture below is of the construction on November 6, 1936.

https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt:20100001-hpicnpl-1191

The North Park Water Tower (sometimes referred to as a standpipe) stands 101.6 feet tall. The storage tank itself is 81 feet tall with a diameter of 25 feet and would hold 300,000 gallons of water.

Courtesy of a friend of North Park.

To reach the observation deck, you would ascend 154 steps wrapping around the water tower itself. From the observation deck, on a clear day, you can reportedly see the Cathedral of Learning, BNY Mellon, and the Steel Tower. (They certainly are tiny in the picture.)

Courtesy of a friend of North Park.

But what I didn’t know until recently is that the observation deck is decorated with an amazing mural.

Architectural Plans

At the center of the observation deck is a circular seat which would afford you a great view from any angle you choose. On the floor of the observation deck is a mural of compass with several of the zodiacs I assume, in the direction of where you would see them in the night sky.