A Perfect Start To The Day

Vegetable Omelette
Chalet - Mountaintop, PA

I absolutely love diners - especially for breakfast.  There's something about settling in to a comfy booth with coffee, toast, eggs and potatoes as a start to your day.

Runnin' With The Devil Roll

Red Devil Roll
Five Star - Hazleton, PA

This is a made from spicy tuna and cucumber with spicy mayonnaise and eel sauce topped with black pepper tuna, and it's very, very good!

Fire The Zorlon Cannon

Yars' Revenge
Atari (1982)
One of the most creative games for the Atari 2600 was released 35 years ago this month.  Yars' Revenge was designed and programmed by the great Howard Scott Warshaw and remains a fun game to play to this day.

She Was One Tough Woman

Ethel Mae Tom
1936 - 2005
Happy Mothers Day, Mom Mom.  I miss you.

The Birds Were Chirpfully Unaware

Wilkes-Barre Record
March 3, 1947

While doing research to learn more about the old Nardy's TV & Appliances building in Plains, I found this front page headline that sheds some light on the property before it became a television store.  The folks who opened Nardy's bought the property in 1955.  Prior to that, it was a store called Neisner Bros.

It must have been a pretty big store for the area because it took up an entire city block.  The grand opening on Saturday, August 15th, 1925 was advertised in the Wilkes-Barre Record newspaper.  From the looks of the ad, it seems like this was the Wal-Mart of it's day with merchandise that included clothes, kitchenware, tools, housewares, candy, toys and an automotive department which sold an electric vibrating car horn for a dollar.  They also had a luncheonette counter which was advertised as the largest restaurant of its kind in Pennsylvania, with seating for 140 guests.  Unfortunately, the center fold in the newspaper didn't scan, so I can't tell you how much they charged for their roast leg of spring lamb, but you could get a pot roast and spaghetti dinner for 20 cents, and a full roast chicken dinner with all of the trimmings for 35 cents.

The ad for their first anniversary sale from the August 24, 1926 Times Leader has a heavy focus on their music department.  They sold all of the latest hits on record, including Valencia, Bye Bye Blackbird and On The Riviera, at the low price of three for a dollar.  They've also still got their roast chicken dinner with dressing, mashed potatoes and a buttered roll, but it's marked down to a quarter on Wednesday.

From the looks of it, Neisner Bros. had a booming business in Wilkes-Barre for 22 years.  Things took a turn for the worse in March 1947.

 

The fire started in the basement of Neisner Bros. and destroyed not only their store, but it also destroyed or damaged a dozen other businesses and six apartments in the immediate area.

Speaking of which, I have the utmost respect for Mrs. Jane Miller who saved the lives of her dog and three canaries from the third floor apartment where she lived.  She refused to allow herself to be rescued by the fire department until they took the birds to safety.  Mrs. Miller then crawled out of the window of a burning building with her pup under her arms.

The birds were "chirpfully unaware of what destruction transpired" as they rested with the dog with Mrs. Miller at the home of one of her friends.

It seems like Neisner Bros. wasn't able to recover from their loss.  Within eight years, the property was sold and operating as the region's largest tv store: Nardy's.

Nardy's TV & Appliances

Nardy's TV & Appliances
Plains, PA

I saw this old television and appliance shop on the way home from our trip to Plains Antiques & Home Furnishings near Wilkes-Barre.  From the state of the outside of the building, it looks as if it's been closed for fifty years, but I know that it was an electronics repair shop as recently as 2002 because my wife and her brother rented the apartment upstairs at the time.

There's are a few vintage signs still hanging on the side of the building, including one for Philco and RCA televisions.  Also, it's not easy to see from these photos, but the words "Nardy's" and "TV" have neon right tubing in a zigzag pattern going through them.  There are also small neon tubes surrounding the word TV.  It must have looked incredible when it was lit back in the 50's.

Speaking of which, here is the newspaper advertisement that announced the store's grand opening on April 16, 1955:

  

Wilkes-Barre Record - April 15, 1955

And here's one from the following year where they outline their code of ethics:

Times Leader - March 13, 1956

The newspaper ads for Nardy's slowed down significantly in the 70's and 80's, but I found this one from the 1978 holiday season:

Citizen's Voice - December 18, 1978

Based on the advertisements, it looks like the store kept its focus on televisions and home video from 1955 to the mid-80's.  The store seems to have diversified during the late 80's and early 90's, as there are ads with the same address for Nardy's Packing and Shipping, which offered UPS and FedEx services, and some which promoted ceramics classes on the second floor of the store.

Then, in the late 90's, the ads picked up for a whole new business inside Nardy's:

Times Leader - August 15, 1998

They seemed to have one last hurrah in the late 90's and early 2000's as a pager and phone card shop, but it appears that they weren't able to keep things going long enough to transition into mobile phones.

It's a shame to see the building is in such a state of disrepair today.  When I saw it, there was a pickup truck parked in the driveway.  Hopefully they'll fix the place up and bring back that awesome neon sign.

Schuylkill Mall In The 90's - Pocket Change Arcade

K-Mart wing
Schuylkill Mall - Frackville, PA (1996)
The photo on top was taken between McDonald's (left) and Arby's (right) of the K-Mart wing of the Schuylkill Mall.  Throughout the mall, there were large round skylights that let the sun shine into the mall and onto trees and plants.  You can see the K-Mart anchor store in the center of both of these photos, but the photo on the bottom is much closer.  If you turn left at the K-Mart, it led to a hall past The Peanut Shack and to the movie theater.

The real attraction of this part of the mall was the arcade.  When I was a kid in the 80's, I would come to this mall with my grandparents and make a bee line for the Pocket Change arcade, which you can see on the right hand side of these photos.  It was very close to K-Mart, so I had plenty of time to spend some quarters while my grandmother poked around the anchor store.  To the best of my knowledge, Pocket Change was the first arcade in the area to have a row of Skee Ball machines and a prize counter.  It was a very large and well stocked arcade that had a nice mix of traditional arcade and ticket games throughout the 80's, 90's and early 2000's.

Put Your Paddle In The Air And No One Gets Hurt

Ping Pong Gun

Plains Antiques & Home Furnishings - Plains, PA

Part of me regrets not buying this, but they were charging a bit more than I was comfortable paying.

Sharks, Bandits and German Measles

Plains Antiques & Home Furnishings
Plains, PA
There was way too much at this store to contain it all in a single post, so here are a few of the more interesting items that are available for purchase at Plains Antiques & Home Furnishings.

The Mills Novelty Company made slot machines, jukeboxes and vending machines from the 1800's to the 1980's.  I'm not positive, but I think this bandit model slot machine is from the 1940's.

If I was going to buy anything expensive and ridiculous, it would have been this vintage Pepsi cooler.  I'm not sure what year it's from, but the bottle opener built into the front of the machine means that this was made when cola was sold in glass bottles.  Pepsi didn't start using aluminum cans until the late 60's, so if I had to guess, I'd say it's from the 50's. 

I'm fascinated by the Warren Spahn Whirly Bird game.  It was only $17 and I was tempted to get it.  If it was Steve Carlton instead of the Braves Hall Of Fame lefty, I probably would have.  The part that interests me the most is the "as seen on TV" banner on the top.  Somewhere out there, there must be a recording of the 1957 Cy Young Award winner on a commercial hawking toys to children, and I've got to find it.

The Star Wars score performed by the London Symphony Orchestra on 8-Track caught my eye, but at $45, I wasn't at all tempted.  You can get this for around $5 or $10 on eBay, and I don't even think I'd pay that much.  Don't get me wrong, it's pretty cool, but it's "dollar box at a yard sale" cool.

The old Weis cleaner just struck me odd.  How does something like this manage to sit in someone's pantry for long enough to go from the home to the antique store?

 

After doing some research and photo comparisons online, I found that this Zenith black and white tv is from 1981.  I didn't even know they were still making black and white televisions in the 80's.  I had a set when I was a kid that looked a little like this one, with the VHF and UHF channel knobs above the speaker, but that one was from the late 80's and was a color set.

That's quite a nativity scene they've got there.  We've got a blond Mary and two brunette Marys, and there's Joseph in solemn prayer with Frosty The Snowman standing over his shoulder.

Dang, all caps and an exclamation point?  Calm down, little yellow sign.  You're welcome.

 

At first glance, I thought that these stuffed toys were supposed to be poo or ice cream, but they're Nestle Toll House Morsels.  The one on the left is Semi-Sweet Chocolate (the tag identifies the character as "Semi Sweetie").  The one on the right didn't have its original tags, but based on the Scottish clothing, I believe it's supposed to be a butterscotch morsel.  I was tempted to buy these for work, but not for what they were charging.

I'm not expert, but I think this German measles quarantine sign is a replica.  It looked too new and unworn to be over 100 years old.  Still, it might be a pretty good way to keep missionaries and other unwanted guests from knocking on your front door.

Hmmm... I can't say that I was expecting to find a condom vending machine at an antique store, but I guess it does tell the history of the early days of the disease in the early 80's.  This thing is destined to hang in a frathouse bathroom.

 

Out of everything in the antique store, this is the one item that I was the most tempted to buy.  It's nothing fancy - just a plastic chess set with cool faces on the pieces, but I was very excited to see it.

This chess set is identical to the one that my grandfather and I used when he taught me how to play when I was a kid.  I couldn't have been older than 6 or 7 years old at the time.  He beat me at every game until I was a teenager, but he showed me how the pieces moved and taught me the strategies that he knew.  I was certainly no Bobby Fischer, but for an elementary school kid, I could hold my own.  Playing chess with my Grandpa at the kitchen table is one of the happiest childhood memories that I have.

I'm 99% positive that I have the chess set that we played on back in the 80's in a shoebox in the attic.  I know I don't have the original box (that was pretty much wrecked when I first laid eyes on the set as a kid), but I didn't think it was worth spending $45 for a duplicate set just because this one came with the box.  If I had the extra money to burn, I would have, but there are bills to pay, and if I ever come into some spare cash, I know where to find it.

This was another temptation, but the price they were charging was more than I was comfortable paying (hint: it wasn't 20 cents a pack).  Rocky is one of my all-time favorite films, and Rocky II was my mother and father's first date.  If I ever find a set of these that isn't too expensive, I'll probably pick it up, but I had to pass on these unopened wax packs.

Last, but certainly not least, is this little guy.  I really wish I would have bought him.  My cousin does sculptures like this, and I've always really liked them.  It may not have been my favorite thing that I laid eyes on at the flea market, but it's the one I regret not buying.  However, I came here with a budget, and if it's a choice between a cool little sculpture and a baseball signed by Richie Ashburn, Harry The K and By Saam, the baseball is going to win out every time.

No Credit, No Drinking, No Escaping The Wall Fish

Plains Antiques & Home Furnishings
Plains, PA
We visited this antique shop in Plains for the first time ten days ago.  It's a deceptively large shop where I found an awesome autographed Richie Ashburn baseball.  I was very happy to find the ball, and it was very reasonably priced, but it pretty much took up all of the spending money I had budgeted for the day, but I still had a great time looking and taking photos of the random oddities they have for sale. 

I wouldn't call the place cluttered, but they did take advantage of every square inch of the place, including these shelves behind the front window of the store.

Long have I looked for a store where I can purchase a Phillies jersey, a giant shark head, a framed Life magazine featuring a woman wearing a wolverine coat and Christmas decorations from the 50's.

 

I'm thinking that yellow thing in the top left hand corner is a sign to buy a bus ticket to Salt Lake City.  It's right above a god awful piece of artwork made out of bottle caps.  There are also a hell of a lot of fish hanging on the wall around here.  And why am I craving a cold, delicious Snapple right now?

I guess that means I'm turning right.

If I ever start my own bar with no parking that sells Pennzoil on the side, I know where I'm coming to buy signs.

This may be the best cash register I've ever seen in my life.  It's a window built into an room that looks like a little building within a building.  There are two ways for the employees to get to the office: the beaded curtain, or the door that is covered in newspaper clippings.  The icing on the cake is the massive Stegmaier Christmas sign hanging on the faux shingles.  If the zombie apocalypse ever comes, I might live here.

 

Judging by the size of the signs, I'd be better off cracking open a cold one than asking to apply for a Plains Antiques & Home Furnishings credit card.  I wasn't planning on doing either, but I can't lie, they kind of put the idea in my head.

Strange Laundry: Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard
Gwinnett Braves (2017)
After spending 13 years with the Philadelphia Phillies, 37 year old Ryan Howard signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves.  He was assigned to their Triple A affiliate in Gwinnett in the hopes that the Braves could call him up to utilize as their DH for interleague games.

Things didn't go as planned for Howard or the Braves.  He played a total of 11 games with the Gwinnett Braves, batting .184 with two walks, a single home run and 11 strikeouts in 42 plate appearances.  He was released by the Braves earlier today.

Schuylkill Mall In The 80's - Spencer Gifts

Spencer Gifts
Schuylkill Mall - Frackville, PA (early 1980's)
This was always one of my favorite stores in the mall.  As a kid, I gravitated toward the posters, stickers, toys and pranks.  There was no better place to go if you wanted to pick up a Guns N' Roses poster and a package of fake vomit.

Schuylkill Mall In The 80's - The Peanut Shack

The Peanut Shack
Schuylkill Mall - Frackville, PA (early 80's)
This was a nice little candy and snack shop on the corner near K-Mart on the way to the movie theater.  It remained in operation until 2001.

Wolfgang Mozart Down The Road That I Must Travel

NEPA Philharmonic - Masterworks IV: A Season's Grand Finale
FM Kirby Center - Wilkes-Barre, PA

I had a very nice time at the Kirby Center tonight; however, I made a couple of faux pas that I won't live down any time soon.

The first occurred when we took our seats and I heard music coming from the stage.  I thought we arrived in plenty of time, so I rushed and got settled in.  I'm not at all knowledgeable about classical music, but it didn't sound very good.  After a few minutes, I leaned in whisper to Angie that the music wasn't as good as I hoped it would be.  When she was finished chuckling, she let me know that the musicians were tuning their instruments, and the lights would be dimmed before the concert began.  Whoops.

 

The second happened just a few minutes later while I sheepishly reviewed the program.  The way it was written, I thought that they would be performing Mozart's Requiem in D Minor, and then after that, they were going to perform the list of other songs that appeared below.  I got excited when I saw Kyrie and I told Angie that I was surprised to see that they're doing a modern song.  It was then that I learned that the NEPA Philharmonic would not be performing the 1985 pop song from Mr. Mister, but would instead continue with the second section of Mozart's Requiem, which happens to also be called Kyrie.

You can take the boy out of the 80's, but you can never take the 80's out of the boy.

I Find Your Lack Of Chicken Disturbing

Star Wars Chicken Soup
Campbell's (2017)
I found this can of soup in my cupboard.  It's got a best buy date of June 2017, so I probably bought it last year.  I'm normally a Progresso or Campbell's Chunky Soup guy, but the pull of Lord Vader was too strong to resist.  May the Fourth be with you!

As Good As Two Guys From Italy

Cafe Europa
Laurel Mall - Hazleton, PA
When I was a kid, there was a pretty awesome restaurant in the Laurel Mall called Two Guys From Italy that I have to write more about one of these days.  The food at Cafe Europa reminds me a lot of that place, especially the pizza.  It's by far the best and most authentic pizza in town.

Pork Passport

Official Iron Pigs Pork Passport
Coca-Cola Park - Allentown, PA
The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs are the Triple A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.  They play their home games at Coca-Cola Park, one of the newest and most beautiful parks in minor league baseball.  However, if the sights and sounds of the ballpark aren't enough to get you out to the game, perhaps the Pork Passport will.

Fans are given stamps for their pork passport for every pork item they consume at the ballpark.  For every five pork items that you purchase, you'll be given a free pound of bacon.  After your tenth stamp, you earn the status of "Most Valuable Porker" and a free limited edition baseball cap.

Menu items include a quarter pound of deep-fried bacon, a quarter pound slab of bacon on a stick that has been candied in maple syrup and brown sugar, chocolate covered bacon, pork mac & cheese parfait, and the "three little pigs" sandwich, which includes barbecue pork, fried ham and bacon.

Bring the kids for a night at the ballpark to feast on the meat of your team's mascot and you can return home with a pound of bacon and a swell hat!

Nuts For Nintendo

Nuts For Nintendo
20/20 - ABC Television (1988)
Uploaded by Steven Hertz from a VHS tape recording.
News segment that focused on the new Super Mario Bros 2 and Zelda 2 for the NES.