Category Archives: History

World War II History Comes to Pittsburgh – The USS LST Ship Memorial

: Image via Wikipedia

On Friday, we posted a photo of the very large ship that is docked in the river next to Heinz field. This is the USS LST ship – it served in World War II. The USS LST is usually docked in Evansville but it has been out making a tour this summer. The USS LST is in Pittsburgh September 1-7th.

More details about the USS LST and it’s visit to Pittsburgh are available here

: Image by boodie131 via Flickr

www.lstmemorial.org

Here is an article from the Post-Gazette about the USS LST – “World War II landing craft due on North Shore for 6-day appearance” – which includes an interview with a Pittsburgh resident who served on this ship.

Do I really want to tour a World War II boat? Well I asked that same question last summer – I was visiting an old Pittsburgh friend who lives in Honolulu – after we visited the Arizona Memorial – (which is free to visit and fascinating) – one of my fellow travelers suggested we visit the Might Mo – the USS Missouri. The USS Missouri was where Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces on September 2, 1945. Continue reading →

Oh My Gosh – It's Frothingslosh! The 15th Annual Iron City Brewing Oberbrau Haus Beer Collectibles Show

: Image by garboden via Flickr

Looking for some friends who also like to collect beer stuff – well it turns out that Pittsburgh has a club for that too. Olde Frothingslosh is a Pittsburgh beer can and breweriana collecting club and they are always open to new members. I want to join because they have such a great name. In case you weren’t sure about the legitimacy of this organization – please note that Olde Frothingslosh happens to be the 11th 11th Chapter of the Brewery Collectibles Club of America (BCCA) and a Chapter of the National Association of Breweriana Advertising (NABA).

A little history on the name “Olde Frothingslosh” (thanks to a comment on Flickr)

Image by shannonpatrick17 via Flickr

Long story. A popular KDKA morning drive-time DJ named Regis Cordic had this gag about a beer with the foam on the bottom. He did fake radio commercials for it for several years, until the Pittsburgh Brewing Company (makers of the long-defunct Tech Beer line – yes, the name references Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon) decided to actually market the stuff every Christmas. The parody label changed annually.

More information about the beer Olde Frothingslosh can be found here.

Continue reading →

Grandview Park Celebrates 100 Years – Celebration Saturday, October 3!

: Image by Jeff Pang via Flickr

For the past 10 year a group of dedicated volunteers has been working to bring back the grandness to Grandview Park – and the timing is perfect. The park will celebrate its 100th birthday this Saturday, October 3rd with a big community birthday party.

From 15211.org:

The Friends of Grandview Park will host a birthday celebration in the park (499 Bailey Ave., Mt. Washington, 15211), on Sat., Oct. 3, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be activities for all ages ranging from artists and food vendors to musicians and children’s entertainment. Kids will be able to climb to the top of a life-size fort to see the city.

More info on the Park and the birthday Celebration from the Post-Gazette and the Green Tree Times

Grandview Park is part of the larger Grand View Scenic Byway Park.

Some Park and Parking History & Friday is Park(ing) Day in PittsburghParking

: Image by JessyeAnne via Flickr

This is a neat event that is another creative way to think about our city, transit and how cars fit into the urban landscape. It fits well into the conversation we have been having about if you need a car in Pittsburgh on the post about Zipcar.

Last year, I posted about Parking Day 2008 and recieved this interesting comment that I wanted to share – which puts some historical perspective of how cars have fit into Pittsburgh over the past centruy or so.

I have a nineteenth century “History of Pittsburg” which lists the word “parking” in the index. I thought this odd as I couldn’t imagine someone parking a carriage. When I looked it up, the word meant the placing and creating of parks in the city which was not done until after the Civil War.

Park(ing) Day, Friday, September 18, 2009 is being coordinated by Mattress Factory, the Office of Public

: Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

Art and the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh.

More info about Park(ing) Day and some great photos of the parks from last year is available at http://parkingdaypittsburgh.blogspot.com/ Continue reading →

THE BURGH STANDS FOR VICTORY!

Last month I made it to the end of Viper Soul Club at the Shadow Lounge and one of the last songs of the evening was about Pittsburgh but I wasn’t able to get all of the details from DJ Juddy about this Pittsburgh song.

Well this video popped up on YouTube today – with the entire song and a great slide show of phoos from Vipers Soul Club in January. The lyrics seem quite fitting for today too.

The song is “The Burg” by Larry McGee was origionally released in 1976 by the label Boogie Band Records and was reissued in 2005 by Licorice Soul Records. You can purchase an origional copy of this record for $200 here.

You can check out Larry McGee’s MySpace page here.

Check out our other posts on Vipers Soul Club here.

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