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Monday, October 31, 2011

Hastings - Cambria County

Schoolhouse at Hastings, Cambria County

Oak Leaf Soap


Another Oak Leaf Soap ad I found in a shoebox full of old pictures.

1889 Flood


Another one of those actual photographs - 1889 Flood - I found in a shoebox.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

October 30, 1942 - Morrellville


I know I posted this last year - but I can't resist - The Kids of K Street - October 30, 1942. Which ones are Cacicia's I don't know, some of the others are probably Bach's and McFeater's.

Dr. F.E. Nichols - Downtown Johnstown

Dr. F.E. Nichols - 544 Main Street - Second Floor (Opp. Nathan's) - Office Phone - 800 - Write if not convenient for you to call - Consultation free and confidential.

Trolley Time

Trolley Time

Want Ads - 1907

Acouple of Want Ads - 1907. When it comes to Chestnut - I might be able to help him - up in the woods where I go exploring - there are a few very large and very dead Chestnut trees - that have beeen there for quite some time. But on the plus side - sprinkled thru the mountain a few saplings here and there.

TV Guide - 1967

Johnstown/Altoona TV Guide - 1967

Saturday, October 29, 2011

First Snow of the Year - Happy Snowy-ween

Today's post is for all you readers in much warmer climates. We folks in Johnstown woke up to this sight. As you can see - some trees still have leaves - as this example in my yard shows.
Barron Avenue
Harris Boyer Building - Barron Avenue
D Street just past the intersection with Barron Avenue
St. Columba Cemetery
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D Street at the bottom of Edwards Hill
Turning back around - my footprints - judging from the look of them -  I must walk like a duck.
 Over by Tennessee Avenue
Tennessee Avenue
The Dirty Bird I write so fondly of along with a little moisture on the camera len.
The Dirty Bird parking lot
This Support Zombies - car magnet caught my eye.
Leo's Pizza - where we order from at least once a week - great food and great prices
A stray shopping cart - one of my hobbies - just taking pictures of them - wondering who the twit was that left it there to become an eyesore
Butler Avenue
Christ the Saviour Cathedral
Old Chandler School now an apartment building
Morrellville Church of the Brethren
Happy Snowy-ween
Third Brethren Church on Spring Street
Spring Street
Molly the beagle looking for gold
And Tanner the Rescue Dog - looking for trouble
RJ with his snowball maker - with Molly showing us her best side
RJ aiming for me - he loves playing in the snow - and I love playing in the snow with him - I, of course made my snowballs the old-fashioned way - by hand - todays snow was perfect for this - and let me tell you - there may not have been but a couple of inches to shovel - but it was heavy

Best of Vintage Johnstown - Cambria City


You are looking at a boarding house (courtesy of JAHA) in Cambria City - right behind the old St. Nicholas Church - which is currently the area where the Penelec building is. I posted this back in November of 2010.

Best of Vintage Johnstown - Luna Park - 1915


I posted this rare image of Luna Park (Roxbury) - 1915 - back in August.
I started this website back in October 2010 - I'd been just posting stuff like this on Facebook and decided to set up a website instead - because it's just easier to keep track of things.

Best of Vintage Johnstown - John's Shoe Repair


Another of my favorite past posts - this is my grandfather - John Cacicia (1892-1968) standing in front of his shoe shop in Cambria City. I wish I could have known him better - he died when I was only 7 - and I missed out on knowing him as a person.

He actually came over to Johnstown from Trabia, Sicily four times before settling down for good in 1917 - coming over with him was his brother Frank and sister Anna (Cacicia) Sunseri. Supposedly their father Onofrio sold the family Olive Grove to raise the funds for the trip.

Happy Anniversary - Vintage Johnstown


You are looking looking up Broad Street from the intersection of Roosevelt Blvd and Power Street in Cambria City - and I chose this image (Courtesy of JAHA) for the kick off of this website - one year ago today.
And there were a couple of reason for it - but the most important at the time was that I was working on a history book of my Hanzel family and this gives a very rare glance at how McConaughy side of Broad Street used to look. The building with the bread sign on the left is the boarding house my great-grandfather Joseph Hanzel stayed at along with his brother John when they first came to Johnstown at the turn of the century. A few doors down on the same side was Holtzman's Department Store. Making your way up towards Morrellville were shops of all shapes and sizes.

The present location is the intersection of Broad Street and Power Street. The present day U-haul and the old Bestform Plant are now located in the area on the left hand side. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Woodvale Olympic Club - 1978


Woodvale Olympic Club - Larry and the Zupanchick Brothers.

Oak-Leaf Soap


Another one of those beautiful old ad sheets I found - Oak Leaf Soap - The Perfect 5 Cent Cake

Farm Equipment

For all your farm equipment needs - A.F. Stutzman

Hammer Time

Even though this clipping from 'The Weekly Tribune' - August 1907 - isn't local - Pike County - I found it interesting. A couple in their 70's get into a fight and the wife ends up whacking her husband on the head with a hammer - killing him - guess that taught him a lesson about going after the old lady with a butcher knife.

Thorofare

Thorofare - It's a Pleasure to Serve You - sent in by reader Robert Schneider.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

South Fork Dam

Found this actual photograph of the old South Fork Dam in a shoebox full of old pictures.

Hmmmm - Vinegar Bitters


Nice old ad for Dr. J. Walker's - Vinegar Bitters - Only Temperance Bitters Known. Found this ad sheet in a box of old pictures I was scanning. This crap could not possibly have tasted good - but this stuff was being pushed by the Temperance Movement as an alternative to actual alcohol beverages. I'm sure one mouthful put hair on your chest - whether you were a man or woman!

Unknown Names


The only name listed on any of these Johnstown photographs is a Jim Mangus in the upper right hand corner.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Portage R.R. Monument


Old Portage Railroad Monument on the William Penn Highway. I have no idea if this still exists along side the road.

Staple Bend Tunnel


Staple Bend Tunnel

Brown Bagging It

Brown Bagging it with an old Thorofare bag - plus S & H Green Stamps. Looking at this - why did stores stop putting ice cream in bags like this - they used to put frozen items and meat products in bags within bags...and now they don't....why?

Page Bedding


Page Bedding - Spring Air - Sleep Products - I think they were located in the Hornerstown area at first.