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Looking Back - Reminiscing with Jack Lebo
‘Remembering Candy Apples, Joe Penner And Langhorne Speedway
Reader Ralph Bernstein of Blackwood, NJ, reminded us about that delicious treat, candy apples, one of our favorites, from our childhood. As I recall, it was a candy-glazed apple on a stick and sold for about five cents.
Ralph says that today, he is in the candy apple business, using the company name, “Ralph’s Candy Apples.” He jokingly calls himself “The President of RCA.” According to Ralph, “I started the business in 1956 in my mom and dad’s house in the Olney section of Philadelphia. This is my 52nd year in the business. Through the years, I’ve sold my product to a variety of stores, including super markets, convenience stores, and most schools throughout the Philly area.”
Continued Bernstein, “During the first years, I’ve averaged about $500, per year. The business has grown quite rapidly since then. In 1977, I moved to New Jersey, and I’m still making my candy apples. I’m still making them the same way as always. I put the apple on a stick, cook the sugar and corn syrup in my old cooper kettle, dip the apple in the mixture, then wrap them for sale.” (Ralph may be contacted at 856-228-4675.)
*
I wasn’t quite a teenager then, but I can recall very vividly lying on the living room floor gathered around our Philco console radio listening to one of the most popular comedy radio shows of the time, The Joe Penner Show. Even the neighborhood kids picked up some of his catch lines like: “Wanna buy a duck?’ and others.
Mostly forgotten today, radio comic Joe Penner was a major craze back in Depression era 1933 and 1934. There was no heavy social significance to his work and certainly no subtlety — just a lot of slapstick silliness that helped audiences forget their troubles and get happy. Folks today equate Penner’s zany, simpering, man-child delivery to that of Pee-Wee Herman or Jerry Lewis.
Born Josef Pinter in Nagechkereck, Hungary, he arrived as a child and passed through Ellis Island in New York City when his family emigrated to America. He changed his name to Joe Penner and became fairly successful on the vaudeville and burlesque circuits as a Lou Costello-like patsy. His catch phrase was “Wanna buy a duck?” Another was “Oh, you NAS-ty man!” as well as his nyuck-nyuck laugh, which made him the first comedy star of the radio era.
He delivers one of the best, and most believable, screen performances in the comedy, “The Day the Bookies Wept.” Penner stars as Ernest, the trainer of a broken-down racehorse named “Hiccup.” It seems that the nag turns into a potential champion whenever he is promised a bucketful of beer.
In another film, Allan Jones, Martha Raye and Penner starred in a wild comedy about twin brothers separated at birth in ancient Greece. Based on Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors,” the film contained many musical numbers courtesy of Rodgers and Hart. Joe Penner was born Nov. 11, 1904, and died in Philadelphia of heart failure on Jan. 10, 1941.
*
Our newshawk in Bryn Mawr, PA, Mickey Green, is a fanatic when it comes to auto racing. He could watch those sleek vehicles go round and round for hours on end. He was wondering just how many folks in this area can recall the old Langhorne Speedway, located on Route One in Langhorne, PA?
We decided to delve into the history of this long-gone sport attraction.
The speedway was built by a group of Philadelphia racing enthusiasts known as the National Motor Racing Association (NMRA), and held its first race on June 12, 1926.
Langhorne is said to be the first dirt track built specifically for automobile racing. The track’s unique circular layout earned Langhorne the name, “The Big Left Turn.”
The NMRA operated Langhorne through the 1929 season, staging 100-lap events on Labor Days and occasional shorter races. Difficulties in track preparation, management disputes, and poor attendance drove the speedway to the brink of bankruptcy until noted promoter Ralph “Pappy” Hankinson took over in 1930. With partner “Lucky” Teeter, Hankinson brought in AAA Championship 100-lap races and continued stage shorter sprint car races on the circular track. One of the first stock car races in the northeastern U.S. was held at Langhorne in 1940.
Both Hankinson and Teeter passed on during World War II, and control of the Langhorne Speedway passed to John Babcock and his family. Then in 1951, Irv Fried and Al Gerber became promoters. During this era, Langhorne hosted races for the United States’ major national series: AAA and the USAC Championship Cars, and NASCAR Grand National.
Catering chiefly to USAC’s Championship Car Division, in 1965, Fried and Gerber changed the track layout to a “D” by building a straightaway across the back stretch, and they paved the surface. However, as suburban growth engulfed the speedway, the offers from developers became too tempting to refuse. Fried and Gerber announced the sale of the property to mall developers in 1967, but the speedway held on through five more seasons. The final checkered flag fell on October 17, 1971.
Today, the site of the once-famous racetrack is home to multiple big-box stores, K-Mart, Levitz, Sam’s Club, The Dump, and most of Langhorne Square Shopping Center, and a future residential development. However, a historical marker has been erected at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Woodburne Road to indicate the site of the past speedway.
*
There’s a gentleman currently residing in Newtown, PA, who sent along some vivid memories of this scribe’s old section in North Philadelphia, Logan. His name is Joe Mallamaci and he calls his contribution, “A Stroll Down Memory Lane in Logan.”
Joe writes: “Within a three-block area of Broad Street, we were very fortunate to have three movie houses, the Broad, the Logan, and the Rockland Theatre. We kids would play games at 13th Street and Wagner Avenue on a property owned by the Dinen Funeral Home, across the street from the Holy Child Church, where Bishop Fulton J. Sheehan, of television fame, came to preach every spring. A few of the games I recall were, ‘Wire Ball,’ ‘Hot Beans,’ and ‘Throw the Wicket.’”
Then, according to Joe, there was the Yellow Cab Garage on Windrim and Lindley Avenue. Sam’s Variety Store was a unique establishment located on Lindley Avenue. It featured an annual custom every Valentine’s Day, consisting of writing your name on a box of Valentine candy for your sweetheart. Joe also recalled that there were three automobile dealerships in that area during that time, John B. White Ford, Bott Chrysler, and Moore Volkswagen.
Joe concluded: “I believe Logan was the best neighborhood in the city, and was happy I grew up there.”
*
Many years ago, before the advent of talk radio, there was a time when all the major Philadelphia radio stations featured their own live house bands.
Former Philly radio personality Ed Harvey tells us that during the late 30’s and early 40’s, KYW had the band of Clarence Fuhrman to provide music for their listener’s pleasure. Others were Joe Fracetto at WIP and Dave Stephens at WCAU. Also at WCAU were the bands of Johnny Warrington and Elliot Lawrence at various times. Then there was the band of Jan Savitt and the Top Hatters at KYW, who made it big with Decca recordings and network broadcasts.
Elliot Lawrence, son of Stan Lee Broza, host of Horn & Hardart’s “Children’s Hour” was also a maestro who became successful via recordings and personal appearances. His band was organized while he was attending the University of Pennsylvania. Once out of college, he took over the post of musical director for WCAU. His broadcasts over the CBS network gave his prestige a substantial boost.
In 1946, Elliot took his band to New York City to play at the Hotel Pennsylvania. The success of that engagement led to bookings across the country in some of the nation’s most prestigious ballrooms and showplaces.
Between engagements, he played every important college date, becoming one of the most popular bands for college proms of that period. His vocalists were Rosalind Patton and Jack Hunter. Today, Lawrence is enjoying huge success as a musical director of various Broadway productions.
Jan Savitt launched his first band in 1935. He had been violinist with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, and later conducted the studio orchestra at KYW. He was born in Russia and his father was leader of the Imperial Regiment Band under Czar Nicholas II. He switched from playing the classics to popular music when he joined KYW.
Jan’s popularity increased due to his recordings and broadcasts. He soon took his band on the road, playing top hotels, theatres, ballrooms, college proms, as well as working in a number of films for Columbia and Warner Brothers. Savitt was one of the first bandleaders to employ an African-American (his vocalist, George Tunnell, better known as Bon Bon). Jan’s best selling recordings were “720 in the Book” and “It’s a Wonderful World.”
*
Do you remember when:
• Boys played kick the can, marbles and mumblety peg.
• Girls played jacks, cut out paper dolls, or organized neighborhood jump rope or hop-scotch competitions.
• Work was work, and we were grateful for any opportunity, no matter how humble, to put food on the table for our families.
• Christmas morning meant exchanging gifts bought with hoarded pennies, nickels and dimes, while sharing cups of hot chocolate and homemade cinnamon rolls with those you loved the most.
• Warm homemade cinnamon rolls that Mom had waiting for you after a long walk home from school on a rainy day.
• Hot, steaming chicken stew with dumpling that Grandma served on Sundays.
• Saturday afternoons when you took your little brother to the movies — a double feature-for only a dime...plus a cartoon and newsreel too! And sometimes, even the latest episode of a favorite serial like Flash Gordon.
• Cozy evenings around the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate and listening to Jack Armstrong, the All American Boy, on the old Philco radio.
*
Looking Back appears each month. Do you have a memory you’d like to share? Drop a line to: Jack Lebo, Looking Back, 37 Locust Lane, Levittown, PA 19054, or call (215) 943-8870, email: [email protected].
Reader Ralph Bernstein of Blackwood, NJ, reminded us about that delicious treat, candy apples, one of our favorites, from our childhood. As I recall, it was a candy-glazed apple on a stick and sold for about five cents.
Ralph says that today, he is in the candy apple business, using the company name, “Ralph’s Candy Apples.” He jokingly calls himself “The President of RCA.” According to Ralph, “I started the business in 1956 in my mom and dad’s house in the Olney section of Philadelphia. This is my 52nd year in the business. Through the years, I’ve sold my product to a variety of stores, including super markets, convenience stores, and most schools throughout the Philly area.”
Continued Bernstein, “During the first years, I’ve averaged about $500, per year. The business has grown quite rapidly since then. In 1977, I moved to New Jersey, and I’m still making my candy apples. I’m still making them the same way as always. I put the apple on a stick, cook the sugar and corn syrup in my old cooper kettle, dip the apple in the mixture, then wrap them for sale.” (Ralph may be contacted at 856-228-4675.)
*
I wasn’t quite a teenager then, but I can recall very vividly lying on the living room floor gathered around our Philco console radio listening to one of the most popular comedy radio shows of the time, The Joe Penner Show. Even the neighborhood kids picked up some of his catch lines like: “Wanna buy a duck?’ and others.
Mostly forgotten today, radio comic Joe Penner was a major craze back in Depression era 1933 and 1934. There was no heavy social significance to his work and certainly no subtlety — just a lot of slapstick silliness that helped audiences forget their troubles and get happy. Folks today equate Penner’s zany, simpering, man-child delivery to that of Pee-Wee Herman or Jerry Lewis.
Born Josef Pinter in Nagechkereck, Hungary, he arrived as a child and passed through Ellis Island in New York City when his family emigrated to America. He changed his name to Joe Penner and became fairly successful on the vaudeville and burlesque circuits as a Lou Costello-like patsy. His catch phrase was “Wanna buy a duck?” Another was “Oh, you NAS-ty man!” as well as his nyuck-nyuck laugh, which made him the first comedy star of the radio era.
He delivers one of the best, and most believable, screen performances in the comedy, “The Day the Bookies Wept.” Penner stars as Ernest, the trainer of a broken-down racehorse named “Hiccup.” It seems that the nag turns into a potential champion whenever he is promised a bucketful of beer.
In another film, Allan Jones, Martha Raye and Penner starred in a wild comedy about twin brothers separated at birth in ancient Greece. Based on Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors,” the film contained many musical numbers courtesy of Rodgers and Hart. Joe Penner was born Nov. 11, 1904, and died in Philadelphia of heart failure on Jan. 10, 1941.
*
Our newshawk in Bryn Mawr, PA, Mickey Green, is a fanatic when it comes to auto racing. He could watch those sleek vehicles go round and round for hours on end. He was wondering just how many folks in this area can recall the old Langhorne Speedway, located on Route One in Langhorne, PA?
We decided to delve into the history of this long-gone sport attraction.
The speedway was built by a group of Philadelphia racing enthusiasts known as the National Motor Racing Association (NMRA), and held its first race on June 12, 1926.
Langhorne is said to be the first dirt track built specifically for automobile racing. The track’s unique circular layout earned Langhorne the name, “The Big Left Turn.”
The NMRA operated Langhorne through the 1929 season, staging 100-lap events on Labor Days and occasional shorter races. Difficulties in track preparation, management disputes, and poor attendance drove the speedway to the brink of bankruptcy until noted promoter Ralph “Pappy” Hankinson took over in 1930. With partner “Lucky” Teeter, Hankinson brought in AAA Championship 100-lap races and continued stage shorter sprint car races on the circular track. One of the first stock car races in the northeastern U.S. was held at Langhorne in 1940.
Both Hankinson and Teeter passed on during World War II, and control of the Langhorne Speedway passed to John Babcock and his family. Then in 1951, Irv Fried and Al Gerber became promoters. During this era, Langhorne hosted races for the United States’ major national series: AAA and the USAC Championship Cars, and NASCAR Grand National.
Catering chiefly to USAC’s Championship Car Division, in 1965, Fried and Gerber changed the track layout to a “D” by building a straightaway across the back stretch, and they paved the surface. However, as suburban growth engulfed the speedway, the offers from developers became too tempting to refuse. Fried and Gerber announced the sale of the property to mall developers in 1967, but the speedway held on through five more seasons. The final checkered flag fell on October 17, 1971.
Today, the site of the once-famous racetrack is home to multiple big-box stores, K-Mart, Levitz, Sam’s Club, The Dump, and most of Langhorne Square Shopping Center, and a future residential development. However, a historical marker has been erected at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Woodburne Road to indicate the site of the past speedway.
*
There’s a gentleman currently residing in Newtown, PA, who sent along some vivid memories of this scribe’s old section in North Philadelphia, Logan. His name is Joe Mallamaci and he calls his contribution, “A Stroll Down Memory Lane in Logan.”
Joe writes: “Within a three-block area of Broad Street, we were very fortunate to have three movie houses, the Broad, the Logan, and the Rockland Theatre. We kids would play games at 13th Street and Wagner Avenue on a property owned by the Dinen Funeral Home, across the street from the Holy Child Church, where Bishop Fulton J. Sheehan, of television fame, came to preach every spring. A few of the games I recall were, ‘Wire Ball,’ ‘Hot Beans,’ and ‘Throw the Wicket.’”
Then, according to Joe, there was the Yellow Cab Garage on Windrim and Lindley Avenue. Sam’s Variety Store was a unique establishment located on Lindley Avenue. It featured an annual custom every Valentine’s Day, consisting of writing your name on a box of Valentine candy for your sweetheart. Joe also recalled that there were three automobile dealerships in that area during that time, John B. White Ford, Bott Chrysler, and Moore Volkswagen.
Joe concluded: “I believe Logan was the best neighborhood in the city, and was happy I grew up there.”
*
Many years ago, before the advent of talk radio, there was a time when all the major Philadelphia radio stations featured their own live house bands.
Former Philly radio personality Ed Harvey tells us that during the late 30’s and early 40’s, KYW had the band of Clarence Fuhrman to provide music for their listener’s pleasure. Others were Joe Fracetto at WIP and Dave Stephens at WCAU. Also at WCAU were the bands of Johnny Warrington and Elliot Lawrence at various times. Then there was the band of Jan Savitt and the Top Hatters at KYW, who made it big with Decca recordings and network broadcasts.
Elliot Lawrence, son of Stan Lee Broza, host of Horn & Hardart’s “Children’s Hour” was also a maestro who became successful via recordings and personal appearances. His band was organized while he was attending the University of Pennsylvania. Once out of college, he took over the post of musical director for WCAU. His broadcasts over the CBS network gave his prestige a substantial boost.
In 1946, Elliot took his band to New York City to play at the Hotel Pennsylvania. The success of that engagement led to bookings across the country in some of the nation’s most prestigious ballrooms and showplaces.
Between engagements, he played every important college date, becoming one of the most popular bands for college proms of that period. His vocalists were Rosalind Patton and Jack Hunter. Today, Lawrence is enjoying huge success as a musical director of various Broadway productions.
Jan Savitt launched his first band in 1935. He had been violinist with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, and later conducted the studio orchestra at KYW. He was born in Russia and his father was leader of the Imperial Regiment Band under Czar Nicholas II. He switched from playing the classics to popular music when he joined KYW.
Jan’s popularity increased due to his recordings and broadcasts. He soon took his band on the road, playing top hotels, theatres, ballrooms, college proms, as well as working in a number of films for Columbia and Warner Brothers. Savitt was one of the first bandleaders to employ an African-American (his vocalist, George Tunnell, better known as Bon Bon). Jan’s best selling recordings were “720 in the Book” and “It’s a Wonderful World.”
*
Do you remember when:
• Boys played kick the can, marbles and mumblety peg.
• Girls played jacks, cut out paper dolls, or organized neighborhood jump rope or hop-scotch competitions.
• Work was work, and we were grateful for any opportunity, no matter how humble, to put food on the table for our families.
• Christmas morning meant exchanging gifts bought with hoarded pennies, nickels and dimes, while sharing cups of hot chocolate and homemade cinnamon rolls with those you loved the most.
• Warm homemade cinnamon rolls that Mom had waiting for you after a long walk home from school on a rainy day.
• Hot, steaming chicken stew with dumpling that Grandma served on Sundays.
• Saturday afternoons when you took your little brother to the movies — a double feature-for only a dime...plus a cartoon and newsreel too! And sometimes, even the latest episode of a favorite serial like Flash Gordon.
• Cozy evenings around the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate and listening to Jack Armstrong, the All American Boy, on the old Philco radio.
*
Looking Back appears each month. Do you have a memory you’d like to share? Drop a line to: Jack Lebo, Looking Back, 37 Locust Lane, Levittown, PA 19054, or call (215) 943-8870, email: [email protected].