Luna by Brian Butko

Posted by on Nov 3, 2019 in | Comments Off on Luna by Brian Butko Luna Pittsburgh’s Original Lost Kennywood by Brian Butko Senator John Heinz History Center, 140 pp., paper $12.95 It’s not often that a history book begins with a graphic description of a lion attack. But in Brian Butko’s latest, Luna, it is the perfect way to set the stage for this enjoyable look at the growth of the entertainment industry in Pittsburgh at the turn of the 20th century. The...
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Other Recent Releases

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Other Recent Releases A Life Well Played: My Stories by Arnold Palmer St. Martin’s Press, 258 pp., cloth $22.99 The last book by the legendary golf pro from Latrobe, Westmoreland County, is a selection of his thoughts, anecdotes and memories about golf, life and business. In the final word, he humbly reveals that he prefers not to be thought of as The King but – like his “hard-nosed golf course...
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Luna Park, Scranton

Posted by on Apr 12, 2016 in | Comments Off on Luna Park, Scranton Luna Park appears to be a magical place in this postcard. In the brief decade it existed from 1906 to 1916 in Scranton, Lackawanna County, it offered entry into another world for the admission price of only 10 cents. Located across a footbridge east of Nay Aug Park along the Roaring Brook, Luna Park was the creation of Pittsburgh entrepreneur Frederick Ingersoll (1876–1927). Ingersoll opened his...
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Kennywood in the Space Age: How a Traditional Amusement Park Raced into the Future

Posted by on May 11, 2015 in | Comments Off on Kennywood in the Space Age: How a Traditional Amusement Park Raced into the Future Every year, at any amusement park, the first thaw of spring brings excitement for the new season. As the days got longer in 1990 Kennywood Park began tearing off the bright blue front of its Racer roller coaster. The goal was to rebuild it in the style of the 1927 original, with lattice work around an archway fronting a curved roof that extended back over the loading platform. For three decades...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on May 11, 2015 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter Names and dates. To some they’re the dreaded stuff of high school history exams. To those of us who study and preserve history, however, they’re essential keys for understanding the past. As we continue our commemoration of the 50th anniversary of The State Museum and Archives Complex at PHMC, a clarification of certain names and dates may be in order for understanding exactly what...
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The Merry-Go-Round Kings

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Merry-Go-Round Kings Murmuring voices and laughter, mingling with the strains of band organ music and the rustling of long white skirts and crisply starched shirts, filled the sum­mer air of 1904 at Philadel­phia’s Woodside Park. A new carousel, one of the finest in America, had just introduced a kaleidoscope of festive color and design to the familiar old amusement grounds. It was, especially, the onset of...
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Lost and Found

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Lost and Found Lost Opened in July 1929, the Hershey Park Pool­ – actually a combination of four swimming pools, including one for toddlers – held nearly one and a quarter million gallons of filtered spring water and mea­sured thirty-five thousand square feet! Virtually an engi­neering feat, the main pool (photographed in the early 1930s) was built in two sections. The handsome bathhouse, with tile...
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message Travel Notes – April 1996, Pittsburgh A series of conferences, meetings, and special events brings me to Pittsburgh for eight days this month and reconfirms the rich historical legacy of this city and region. Despite the enormous changes that have occurred in recent decades, there remains an abundance of physical reminders of the past. I begin my visit, as I always do, at the Forks of the...
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Perry Como (1912-2001)

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on Perry Como (1912-2001) Fame and fortune in popular culture, particularly in the entertainment industry, became a phenomenon in twentieth-century America. Radio and television performer Perry Como (1912-2001), realized his American Dream and became famous, helping define the foundations of early television and popular music. Known for his easy-going and unflappable manner, “The Singing Barber” is proudly...
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Pennsylvania’s Slavic Hero: Judge Blair F. Gunther

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania’s Slavic Hero: Judge Blair F. Gunther Thousands of Slavic refugees and their descendants who have carved out a better life in the United States may owe their lives to western Pennsylvania’s Judge Blair F. Gunther (1903-1966). After Poland faced horrific Nazi brutality during World War II and the murder of thousands of the country’s army officers by the Soviet secret police, Gunther fought to expose the atrocities and...
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