I remember driving through Pittsburgh on Route 30, (which also went right through the little borough in the eastern part of the state that we lived in at the time) back in the '50's with my Mom and Dad and on our way to Ohio to visit relatives. I remember seeing all the Steel Mills and driving on brick streets. The best part was driving up on a hill and seeing the "Golden Triangle."The house I was born in overlooked a fine view of the city of Pittsburgh. It was 1943. I remember being told, in later years how strange it was to see the city "disappear" in the black-outs. I liked to joke about remembering being checked in my crib with a flashlight. growing up, we had a platform on a hill-top that held an air-raid siren, that went off at Noon. Us boys liked to fly our kites on that hill.
Wasn't short wave a lot less regulated back then? I mean couldn't you pick up on many things banned today?I was born in '39, so I don't remember the war years. But, I still have my Mom's ration card, and as kids we played in a neighbor's bomb shelter. War surplus stores were common and had a lot of neat stuff. Here is my ARC-5 shortwave receiver and the little table where I spent many an hour listening to it.
Don
Oh, I remember going up on Mount Washington to see the Golden Triangle. I knew Pittsburgh was called Steel City and that’s how the Steelers got their name. Tell me, do they still make Steel City beer?@oldman - Pittsburgh, was known the Steel City, and the surrounding area , which includes a ride up Mount Washington on the Duquesne Incline (there were 32 at one time). We lived in a Northside hilltop Neighborhood. There was a railing at the corner,where we lived, overlooking an old quarry (Softball field). There was a giant flagpole at the corner, I was always told, this was cut for scrap and the war effort.
But the Armored (tanks) Division were the real heroes, IMO.
That is fascinating and I remember the war surplus stores and all the neat stuff like six cell flashlights.I was born in '39, so I don't remember the war years. But, I still have my Mom's ration card, and as kids we played in a neighbor's bomb shelter. War surplus stores were common and had a lot of neat stuff. Here is my ARC-5 shortwave receiver and the little table where I spent many an hour listening to it.
Don
No candy or chocolate bars either. .Popcorn but no Cracker Jack or bubble gum. What a mess they made. The early versions stuck in your hair what the bubble broke.
It was probably more regulated. During the war Ham radio was banned. They were worried about spies. In the fifties, Hams were careful to be polite and follow the rules or they could lose their license. Now, you hear all kinds of crap. There were lots of international broadcast stations, but they are almost all gone. The internet made them redundant. There are still rules today, but I don't know of anything being banned that follows them. There are so called number stations that just read out numbers, and nobody seems to know their real purpose. There used to be unlicensed pirate music stations, but I don't know if any still exist. The Soviets used to blast out noise to jam the Voice of America and other stations they didn't want their people to hear.
I think you're referring to Iron-City Beer. "The Iron City Brewing Company (also known as the Pittsburgh Brewing Company) is a beer company that until August 2009 was located in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. On June 11, 2009, it was reported that the brewery was "moving" to Latrobe, Pennsylvania. That move was completed and Iron City is now produced in the former Latrobe Brewery that was once used to produce Rolling Rock. "
Collecting scrap metal and selling it was how we paid for a movie. Aluminum was premium. The man we sold it to was very nice. He used to paint the stuff with an X we brought in because some of the wise guys would steal it back and try to sell it again. But sometimes he would see there wasn't enough money for the sale and make it up. 10 cents for a movie and four guys would need forty cents. Survival of the fittest.@oldman - Pittsburgh, was known the Steel City, and the surrounding area , which includes a ride up Mount Washington on the Duquesne Incline (there were 32 at one time). We lived in a Northside hilltop Neighborhood. There was a railing at the corner,where we lived, overlooking an old quarry (Softball field). There was a giant flagpole at the corner, I was always told, this was cut for scrap and the war effort.
