PHILADELPHIA TRIVIA

The question: In his classic Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia, Penn sociologist E. Digby Baltzell — the chronicler of the ways of the elite who introduced the acronym "WASP" (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) into the language — noted with some lament that Philadelphia's old-money families didn't support its local universities, most notably Penn, of course. However, some of Philadelphia's new money did go all-out for a school in another city: Harvard, whose main library is named for the would-have-been scion of one new-money family. Who was this person, and why was the library named for him? Bonus question: Another member of this same family did devote his life to supporting local higher education. One of the schools on whose boards of trustees he served renamed itself in 1972 in honor of his family. Name that descendant. The answer(s): Harry Elkins Widener. The bibliophile grandson of streetcar magnate Peter A.B. Widener, the 1907 Harvard grad perished along with his father, businessman George D. Widener, when the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage in 1912. His mother, Eleanor Elkins Widener, donated Harry's large library to Harvard, which named its main library for him in return. Bonus question:  Fitz Eugene Dixon. Better known as the man who brought "Dr. J" to town when he owned the Philadelphia 76ers, he also served on the board of the Pennsylvania Military College and its civilian sibling, Penn Morton College, in Chester for four decades, including serving as its chair.   An unverified local legend has it that his contributions to the school saved it from closing in the 1970s, leading the board to rename it in honor of his mother's mother, Eleanor Elkins Widener — Harry's mom. Another fun fact: were it not for him, LOVE Park wouldn't be LOVE Park: When the city couldn't come up with the purchase price sculptor Robert Indiana wanted for his iconic work, Dixon bought it from Indiana and donated it to the city.

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W R I T E R S C L E A R I N G H O U S E * Philadelphia

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS

John O'Hara Weighs in

ARSE-inine?

https://www.thesteepletimes.com/movers-shakers/arse-ass-difference/

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McFADDEN GOES TO CAMBRIDGE

Clare College @ Cambridge University

Book Notes from All Over

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ƒ ON UKRAINIAN REFUGEES ƒ

Whether Black, White, or Brown,

THEY LOOK LIKE US

By Justin T. Carreño

Anyone complaining that we don't give the same outreach and attention

to the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Vietnam, Libya, Iraq, Yemen,

Afghanistan, Kashmir, Rohingya, North Korea, etc., is not considering

culture, genetics, and politics. The issues with these peoples is

perennial oppression embedded in their non-Western cultures that can't

be mitigated by standard government levers. It has nothing to do with

racism nor xenophobia.

It's not that we don't care, it's just that they are way too far gone

to do anything about on a systemic, national level using conventional

means. Ukraine, on the other hand, is an acute attack, and is not only

a Western country, which makes it closer to other Western cultures,

including the US, it is also very close to being saved. As an EMT (which I am), you

have to triage during a mass casualty incident. Save the ones you can!

Other oppressed nations are culturally distant from the Western world,

which makes it more difficult to relate, not to mention oppression and

devastation are part of what makes them the countries they are.

Ukraine is us and we are Ukraine -- they look like Americans, they act

like Americans, they dress like Americans, and they embody the same

Western ideals.

These other people are in a totally different situation. It doesn’t

mean we don’t care. It just means it's not relatable.

LONG LIVE A FREE UKRAINE!

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Whose Worse?

JOHNSON OR TRUMP?

It's all here! Click below:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/opinion/boris-johnson-party-scandal.html?smid=em-share

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DO YOU?

I LIKE IT

January 20, 2022

By Don Merlot/Ron Alonzo

 

Well, I know what they say about good intentions, and since last summer I have been trying to get myself up to date on wines since COVID invaded my world as it has changed my modus operani and I do not recognize myself anymore. Wait a minute, I realize that I will be 80 years old this next June and not only has time and COVID  changed me, but I too am also changing, transitioning, and have changed in many ways too. I love the old Spanish expression— Todo Cambia, Nada Cambia; so here I am following an old paradigm. It seems as if my prime objective is to survive and keep dreaming in silk and then I ask the question, survive what? Staying healthy means several things to me:  eat correctly, drink wines I like in moderation and correctly, exercise correctly; socialize correctly, seeing the Drs that are monitoring my health; track my Apnea and Parkinson’s and walk with a cane to keep my balance with my replaced hip and avoid situations that will alter my little safe world, not much to ask for a bionic man.

 

My intention today is to dive into the contemporary wine world of Don Merlot as I have been tasting new, contemporary wines and saving comments on index cards with tasting notes to see what my palate tells me and review my life journey in what  I call my Marco Polo jaunt since leaving my birthplace of Mexico City in 1958. I am focusing on what I like and what pleases my palate and not trying to sell anybody anything. It is the old story of seeing the similarities but also appreciating the differences.

Acknowledging my perspectives and respecting the perspectives of others because mine are different than others – mine are mine and not absolutely correct just my perspective.

 

In visiting several local wine shops and or ordering wine at local restaurant for my study of contemporary wines,  I notice several changes to cost controls. There is less selection choices: Customer  have to know something about what their wine preferences are or there may be disappointment and expectations will not be met.

 

The Corner House...

Letter from Latvia

A HOUSE OF HORRORS

By Justin T. Carreño

On a recent foray to Riga, I visited what is referred to as “the
Corner House” – the former headquarters of the Soviet KGB secret
police in Latvia, also known as Cheka. I thought this was going to be
another exhibit and tour of spy gadgetry and historical operations
much like the Spy Museum in Washington, DC, but this was nothing of
the sort. Rather it was a poignant and emotional look into the horror
of totalitarianism and repression.

We entered the imposing structure that blended in just like any other
art nouveau building in Riga. It could be an apartment house, or an
office building, or anything else. Built in 1912, it, in fact, was
originally an apartment building, but the interior was modified into a
veritable dungeon.

As I entered it appeared to be an abandoned building inside. There was
no heat, and so cold I, along with my friend, and the others on the
tour, continued to wear our jackets, scarves, and gloves through the
visit. We bought our tickets for 10,00€ each from a young woman behind
a window. She said the (English-language) guided tour started at 11am,
and we had about 30 minutes, so she suggested we look at the exhibits
in the main hall during our wait.

Past Favs

MIND THE GAP

By Richard Carreño

[WritersClearinghouse News Service] Posted 7 August 2014

San Francisco

San Francisco is well known for many things: Steve McQueen's blistering car chase in Bullitt. For the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and huffing and puffing up (and down) Telegraph Hill. Its user-friendly public transportation system (refurbished, retired trolleys and, of course, its hokey cable cars). An odd comestible known as Rice-A-Roni (and its catchy 'San Francisco Treat' ad jingle). Levis are of course synonymous with the city, and so are the 49ers who wore them. And who can forget the still wet-behind the ears Michael Douglas debuting in the TV series The Streets of San Francisco? 

 

But I knew I was in for a different kind of 'treat' as I settled in with my cabin mates for my flight from Philly to SFO. The surrounding businessmen were clearly representatives of a new, evolving San Francisco, and one I hadn't known before. And my last visit was only five years ago. Sporting iPads, iPhones, laptops, ear-plugs, and headsets, these New-Age 49ers where hardly Rice-A-Roni types. My heavily-wired companions, of course, were newly-minted Silicon Valley standard-bearers, and I doubt they were iTuned to Tony Bennett waxing lyrical about leaving his heart in the 'City by the Bay.'

Welcome to San Francisco's corporate world of Google, PayPal, and Facebook -- and generic billion-dollar 'Googlers' from Instagram, Yelp, HubPages, Dropbox, Pinterest, Twitter, and dozens of other Internet sensations. If there were any Levis in sight, they were skinny jean versions, matched with shortie jackets, skinny ties, rectangular-shaped eyeglass frames, and other accouterments pinched from the pages of a recent J. Crew catalogue. Or, rather, this being San Francisco, Gap Inc and Banana Republic, also headquartered here.

Featured

SPANISH RIDING SCHOOL

 

VIENNA

Click below

https://ginamc.blogspot.com/2017/01/richard-carreno-philadelphia-junto.html?m=1

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PROMOTIONAL COVER

AVAILABLE IN 2022 FROM PHILABOOKS|PRESS

The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially or by contributing editorial content via PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com. Empowered by WritersClearinghouse | S.P.Q.R. 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor Copyright MMXXI. All Rights Reserved.

Liverpool Learned Society Praises New Book on Local Art Collector John H. McFadden

John H. McFadden and His Age: Cotton and Culture in Philadelphia

Richard Carreño 304pp.19 black and white illustrations. Camino Books, Philadelphia, 2021. Available from Amazon £18.69 hardback. ISBN: 978-1680980394.

I consider myself a reasonably well-read amateur Liverpool historian but confess that, until recently, I had never heard of John H McFadden. And, I suspect, neither had any of my fellow local history friends. This despite the fact that he and brother George headed up the biggest firm of cotton dealers not just in Liverpool during the late Victorian and early Edwardian era when the city was indisputably “King Cotton”, but on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Like John Howard McFadden’s life itself, this is a book of two halves covering his early and later years in Philadelphia and his two decades or so in Liverpool when he was at the height of his cotton dealing powers. In spite of his business success and the great wealth that went with it, McFadden largely lived his life under the radar. So, it is thanks to Carreño that he has managed to tease out so much of the detail of his life. Aside from dealing in cotton futures, McFadden had three main passions, and the money to indulge them: medical research (of which Liverpool was a major beneficiary), polar exploration (and in particular Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton) and assembling an outstanding private collection of 18th and 19th century British paintings by the great masters, including one by Liverpool horse painter George Stubbs. 

LIVERPOOL'S LITTLE-KNOWN ART WORLD

THE TOFF OF LIVERPOOL

John H. McFadden and His Age

By Richard Carreño

Camino Press (2021)

BOOK'S STARTLING REVELATIONS

GET ACCLAIM FROM LOCAL AUTHOR

By Ron Jones

Amazon.com

This is no hagiography. Where there are skeletons in the cupboard (and there are), Richard Carreño relishes dragging them out into the light of day. I consider myself a reasonably well-read amateur Liverpool historian, but confess that I had never heard of John H. McFadden. And neither had any of my fellow local history buffs, despite the fact that he and brother George headed up the biggest firm of cotton dealers not just in Liverpool during the late Victorian and early Edwardian era when the city was indisputably “King Cotton”, but on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Like John Howard McFadden's life itself, this is a book of two halves covering his early and later years in Philadelphia and his two decades or so in Liverpool when he was at the height of his cotton dealing powers. In spite of his business success and the great wealth that went with it, McFadden largely lived his life under the radar. So, it is thanks to Carreño that he has managed to tease out so much of the detail of his life. Aside from dealing in cotton futures, McFadden had three main passions, and the money to indulge them: medical research (of which Liverpool was a major beneficiary), polar exploration (and in particular Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton), and assembling an outstanding private collection of 18th and 19th century British paintings by the great masters.

 

Whilst McFadden largely amassed his fortune during his days in Liverpool, it was his birthplace of Philadelphia that was the main recipient of his largesse. Having spent the greater part of his life buying British masterpieces, what to do with them with life drawing to a close? The answer was to donate them to his hometown. But the canny McFadden had one stipulation: the “City of Brotherly Love” must first build a fitting gallery in which to display them…and build it within a challenging timespan. Hence the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Carreño has undertaken impressive research into this whole saga, which rightly takes up a goodly part of the book.

In other hands this biography might have resulted in a worthy but rather dull account of an extraordinary man leading a fairly ordinary life, but in Carreño’s hands it comes to life, mainly because it is so well-researched and entertainingly written.

Ron Jones is a journalist based in Liverpool. He is the author of The American Connection: The Story of Liverpool's Links with America from Christopher Columbus to The Beatles. 

MOUNTAIN HIGH

The Author

By Justin T. Carreño

Spent a few days exploring Zugspitze in the Bavarian Alps -- the highest point in Germany, straddling the border, so, once on the summit, we crossed into, and descended into Tyrol, Austria. 

One of the most beautiful climbs I've done, including the approach through the Höllentalklamm (Hell's Valley Gorge). We decided to take the more technical, Höllental route, which uses via ferrata (Italian for "by iron") or the German, klettersteig, which are fixed cables you clip into, used as protection on highest angle sections. 

We were the only Americans on the mountain, so it was great to learn German climbing terms, although "Stein!" is not one you want to learn on fly...

The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially or by contributing editorial content via PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com. Empowered by WritersClearinghouse | S.P.Q.R. 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor Copyright MMXXI. All Rights Reserved.

PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE RAVES!

SERIOUS McFADDEN BIO

ALSO ROLLICKING FUN READ

Take it from Sandy Hingston at Philadelphia Magazine and you, too, might spend a couple of reading days rollicking with Richard Carreno's bio of John H. McFadden, the Philadelphia 19th century millionaire, art collector, and founder of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Click below:

This Collector You’ve Never Heard Of Helped Spark the Creation of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

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GENERATION GAP? SPECIAL REPORT BY MATTHEW DAVIS

SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS 

UVA Professor's Students Disagree with 

His Analysis of a John O'Hara Short Story. 

Are They Right? 

Professor Matthew Davis Explains:

What does it mean when three hundred bright college students disagree with your interpretation of a story? Or rather, what does it mean when you teach a story to three hundred students over the course of sixteen semesters and those students come up with all sorts of interesting ideas about the story, but not a single one of them comes up with the set of ideas that seems most plausible to you? 

Those are questions I’ve been asking myself recently -- because these things have happened to me. In English classes at the University of Virginia, I often teach a short story by John O’Hara called “Straight Pool,” and, over the years, my students have floated a wide range of interesting ideas about this story, but none of them have interpreted the story in quite the way I interpret it. 

 “Straight Pool” is a four-page story that I usually teach as an example of a dramatic monologue. It was originally published in The New Yorker in December of 1933 and has been reprinted in a few anthologies over the years, including Points of View, edited by James Moffett and Kenneth McElheny. 

 In the story we overhear a man speaking to a buddy while the two of them are shooting pool in a pool hall. The narrator sometimes discusses the action on the billiards table, but mostly he talks about his wife, Mae, who has been having crying spells and acting erratically recently. He is completely puzzled by his wife’s crying spells. He doesn’t understand why they occur. He doesn’t understand why they begin or why they end. Sometimes Mae cries. Sometimes she stops crying and just stares at him -- and he can’t understand why. Recently Mae has stopped cooking breakfast and doing the dishes, and she’s taken to getting drunk at night. The narrator says that he took Mae to a doctor, but the doctor found nothing physically wrong with her. 

He tries to stay with her and comfort her, but he can only stand so much of the crying and odd behavior, and eventually, when he can’t stand it anymore, he evacuates to the pool hall, where he delivers his monologue. There’s one more thing about the husband’s monologue that seems like it might be important to mention: the husband tells his buddy – whose name is Jack McMorrow -- that Mae spends a lot of time talking about . . . Jack McMorrow.

It seems Mae has been telling her husband not to go to the pool hall. She says she doesn’t want him to go there and talk to Jack McMorrow about her. The husband says he won’t. She says she doesn’t believe him. She thinks he will go to the pool hall and talk to McMorrow. And in fact he does end up going to the pool hall and talking to McMorrow, so it seems she was right to worry about that. McMorrow and the narrator continue to play pool for awhile while the narrator goes on venting about his wife and her crying spells and the staring and the boozing. 

At the end of the story, the narrator tells McMorrow that he and Mae have just had a big fight: Yesterday she didn't get up for breakfast, and last night when I came home from work she wouldn't say a word. And then tonight when I came home, the same story over again. Cockeyed [drunk] again. "What's the idea?" I said, and we had it out hot and heavy, but she didn't want me to leave, so I said I'd leave all right, and she was lucky if I came back. I got the hell out of the house as sore as a boil. I guess I oughtn't to be talking about her like this, especially to you, because you're the one she thinks is always talking about her, but I have to talk to somebody. I think I'll go to Brooklyn and get drunk. How about it? . . . What's the matter? You quitting? ... Oh! If I'd of known you had a date, we could of made it twenty-five points. You're ahead anyhow, and I don't feel like shooting much. Guess I'll go to Brooklyn. My brother just got a gallon of apple .... And that his how the story ends – mid sentence. 

When I teach “Straight Pool,” I always begin by asking my students what they think might be wrong with Mae. Responses vary, but I usually don’t have to call on more than four students before someone says, “I think Mae is having an affair with Jack McMorrow.” Usually several other students immediately chime in to agree with this idea. However, there is always a second group of students who are skeptical or unconvinced by this theory. This is almost always the first major interpretative disagreement about the story that surfaces, and I like to diagram the disagreement on the chalkboard as a fork in a road, where each fork indicates a possible “path of interpretation.” 

FOOD & WINE — AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS

MARCO POLO AKA DON MERLOT

Fly on the wall – by Don Merlot aka – Ron Alonzo Notes & thoughts on food and wine from Ron Alonzo aka Don Merlot[1]

 In June I traveled out of town and left New Orleans for the first time since COVID hit in 2020, and we left on my birthday (and Paul McCartney’s birthday too) – June 18 (1942) – he born in Britain, and I born in Mexico, so we were both 79 on this day; and I say since he was born first that he got first dibs on everything, but as I look back, I cannot complain I have had a great life, great family, great experiences, traveled the world – became a Marco Polo & a Renaissance Man, so no complaints.

We took I-10 and here I was escaping COVID captivity; traveling East to Florida, and on the first day we went as far as Tallahassee. We are on our way to spend some time in Florida: see friends and Denise has a family reunion and I am working and thinking on how to go forward with my wine journey – Fly on the Wall - and taking a 2021 perspective. But first let’s comment on my birthday: we found an OUTBACK in Tallahassee and had some Aussie wine and beef steak from the barbie. 

The drinks menu was presented, and my experience of wine from my visits to Australia made me think of my Wine paradigm: and I looked at the wine offering to make the selection: a glass of Chardonnay, a glass of Medium red – Shiraz & a glass of Moscato – which went with dessert, an excellent chocolate cake dessert. It was a good repast & birthday celebration. (This is an escape after the hip replacement, rehabilitation, & physical therapy: re learning how to walk - avoiding a Parkinson’s gait I developed and get out of our COVID stalag encampment, so rather than just flying – ( I flew for 43 years, and now I try to avoid flying & we decided to rent a car and drive to see old chums along the way. “This was easier said than done”… n’est pas? - Cars for rentals are very scarce because rental companies sold their car stock because one could not travel & their useless autos were not rentable; because of the covid shutdown; the foodservice outlets are not at full staff so there is a labor shortage either; but as my famous historical line goes, “other than that Mrs. Lincoln did you enjoy the play?” We laughed it up & muddled through everything… 

NEW FOR SUMMER FROM CAMINO BOOKS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Edward Jutkowitz

215-413-1917, ejutkowitz@caminobooks.com

THE UNTOLD STORY OF HOW JOHN H. MCFADDEN “WILLED” THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART INTO EXISTENCE.

In a city permeated by Benjamin Franklin’s legacy, it is easy to believe that the Philadelphia Museum of Art is another of Philadelphia’s ancient and legendary cultural institutions. But the museum, in its current iteration, is actually a relative youngblood. Now, on the 100th anniversary of John H. McFadden’s death, JOHN H. MCFADDEN AND HIS AGE: Cotton and Culture in Philadelphia ($29.95, Hardcover, Camino Books, July 6th 2021) not only weaves together the tale of McFadden’s international legacy, but puts it in context of the fascinating history of events and people behind the founding of Philadelphia’s great museum.

John H. McFadden (1850–1921) was America’s “Cotton King,” overseeing a multimillion-dollar empire of cotton, from its baling in Memphis to its immensely lucrative sales in Liverpool. In his native Philadelphia, he was the city’s undisputed “cultural czar.” In his spare time, he was a museum administrator and hospital trustee, a property developer and a philanthropist, and he even financed an exploration of the Antarctic. Then McFadden got serious—

His collection of English art, the largest of his age outside of the British realm, situated

McFadden as a key player in the founding of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The John Howard McFadden Memorial Collection was offered as a tantalizing donation to the city of Philadelphia, with one major caveat: that a building must be constructed to hold it. This provision ensured that the museum in progress would indeed open to the public.

Ranging from sweaty sales rooms in Memphis to posh sales offices in Liverpool, from the life of luxury and high culture in London to the domestic life of Philadelphia’s rich and privileged, this book explores McFadden’s world in fascinating detail.

John H. McFadden and His Age, the first full-length biography of the Philadelphia cultural titan, adds McFadden’s often-forgotten name to the pantheon of great nineteenth-century art collectors.

In every way, John H. McFadden was a “Proper Philadelphian”—from his silk top hat and his ivory-handled walking stick to his mansion on Rittenhouse Square. But he was also among the most beguiling improper Philadelphians as well.

-over-

PRAISE FOR JOHN H. MCFADDEN AND HIS AGE:

"In this contemporary moment, when impact feels so transient, Richard Carreño's John H. McFadden and His Age reveals the inside story of the creation of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and how through guile, vision, insistence and persistence, McFadden, Philadelphia's 'cultural czar,' literally willed the place into existence. Through McFadden's story, meticulously researched and narrated, Carreño has focused a much needed lens on a cast of characters whose cultural and social impact remains yet dominant today."

Sam Katz

Executive producer of History Making Productions and a former candidate for mayor of Philadelphia

“Finally, through Richard Carreño's engaging book, John H. McFadden is transformed from a credit line on the walls of the British galleries at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to a three-dimensional portrait of a major art and rare book collector, philanthropist, and international businessman.”

- David R. Brigham, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Richard Carreño is a longtime art critic in England and the United States. For many years, he was a journalist and university lecturer in London. He lives in Philadelphia.

To obtain a complimentary copy or to schedule an interview with the author, contact Edward Jutkowitz, 215-413-1917; ejutkowitz@caminobooks.com

Available at bookstores or directly from the publisher, Camino Books, Inc., P.O. Box 59026, Philadelphia, PA 19102, www.caminobooks.com. $35.90 postpaid.

JOHN H. MCFADDEN AND HIS AGE:

Cotton and Culture in Philadelphia

Pages 320

6 inches x 9 inches

Hardcover $29.95

23 b/w photographs

ISBN 978-1-68098-039-4

ISBN (ebook) 978-1-68098-040-0

AT THE MOVIES

JOHN McFADDEN AND HIS AGE: 

Coming Soon to a Bookshop Near You

The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially or by contributing editorial content via PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com. Empowered by WritersClearinghouse | S.P.Q.R. 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor Copyright MMXXI. All Rights Reserved.

Rethinking Philly's Historic Districts

FITLER SQUARE

By David S. Traub

In the effort to save the historic fabric of Philadelphia, there are a range of tools available to preservationists. Among these are historic designation of individual properties, façade easements, special incentives including tax credits, adding staff to the Historic Commission, a city-wide survey of historic sites, and the recently proposed demolition review policy.  There is no one answer to the complex problem of ongoing demolition of old and historic buildings and all the tools listed are essential.

 It would seem, however, that the most effective  tool is the enactment of Historic Districts which protect entire neighborhoods, or smaller stretches of buildings such as the one currently being considered for six blocks of Christian Street west of Broad in South Philadelphia.  Instead of the slow moving, pain-staking process of designating buildings one by one, here is method that protects scores or hundreds of building with one sweep

   I am reminded of the value of historic districts by an event in the Rittenhouse-Filter Historic District where I live.  Recently, a TV series was filmed in the enclave around Fitler Square.  Why were the film crews there?   Simply because the old, picturesque district provides the kind of suggestive backdrop that movie makers often want. 

'JOHN H. McFADDEN AND HIS AGE: COTTON AND CULTURE IN PHILADELPHIA' NOW AVAILABLE AT BARNES & NOBLE

More info? Click Here

Read Excerpt Here:

Preface: Beau Ideal

In a city where Benjamin Franklin’s legacy permeates the institutional landscape, it is easy to believe that the Philadelphia Museum of Art is another of Philadelphia’s ancient and legendary cultural institutions. Many of them indeed date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, founded in 1805, and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, begun in 1814. And Franklin was in fact associated with two public institutions: the Library Company (1731) and the American Philosophical Society (1743). In contrast, the Philadelphia Museum is a mere youngblood, less than a century from its opening in 1928 as the Pennsylvania Museum of Art. That is, if we are considering it as it is today: the majestic Greek Revival colossus atop Fairmount Hill. 

But the museum’s roots run much deeper, to the late nineteenth century, in its first incarnation in 1877 as the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. By this measure, it is actually older than the iconic Metropolitan Museum of Art (1880) in New York. John H. McFadden and His Age The Pennsylvania Museum of Art was born in a time of tumultuous municipal transition, which tore and remade the fabric of virtually all of Philadelphia’s institutions, from political to cultural, from commercial to societal.

A Funny Thing

Zero Mostel

Fly on the Wall

TRIPPING TO THE FORUM

WITH DON MERLOT

By Don Merlo

[aka Ron Alonzo]

 

Notes & thoughts on food and wine [1]

 

“A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum” – a line from Zero Mostel[2],  a comedian from 1960s and a line I wanted to borrow for this edition of the “Fly on the Wall;” it is my reaction to what is happening now in 2021 that struck me of that statement some 50 years ago. The coming of 2021 emerging from 2020 Covid pandemic. When I was young to now,  how did I go from drinking jug wine:  Gallo- Hearty Burgundy,  Liebfraumilch in brown bottles, and Lancers Rosé  (and Mateus Rosé) in ceramic bottles in th 60s to drinking Burgundies of the Cote d’Or, Bordeaux’s of Médoc and  Pomerol, & traveling to Paris eating in restaurants and drinking pichet’s of Sancerre and Beaujolais on Champs Elysée in 1969 & in the 70s? I absorbed and picked up an awareness of fine wine with fine food: I found out what Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling meant to  fine wine and they paired with fine dining. I was selling Ice Makers to a French Distributor (importer of our ice makers) that distributed our products in France, Switzerland, Spain, and Germany and all were bastions of fine food, liquor, and wine. My education came from  casual experiences, and I read books on wines, and was lucky enough to travel and taste many local wines and eat the local specialties. In my transformation,  I never aspired to become  a sommelier and over time I concluded that I just did not have a fine tongue or nose that would make up the requirements to be a professional wine taster, with a discriminating palate as I observed that the sommeliers had.  

Sir Henry "Chips" Channon

Somehow he was able to keep his chef when most men were off to war.  As a result his parties didn't suffer till war's end.  Liquor flowed and the food was good.  In a book called Lord of
Hosts: The Life of Sir Henry 'Chips' Channon I read, "Yet he fared better than most. Unlike many households that early on in the conflict lost key staff to the war effort, Chips was able to hold on to his Italian chef well into 1942. 'I am having domestic difficulties with my staff,' he moaned, 'as the Ministry of Labour wish to call up both my butler and the cook. I mustn't grumble, as I have had three years and three months of comfort, even luxury....'"

"Faced with austerity, Chips put on a brave face. Nevertheless, coupon rationing and shortages didn't quite seem to apply to him, and Chips spent as freely as ever. Delicacies were less than plentiful. Still, a typical menu at Scholss Chips, even as London tightened its belt, might include oysters, salmon, dressed crab and minced chicken, or blinis and platefuls of caviar, served with Swedish schnapps. In between, brandy and Champagne, Chips' favorite party drink at £3 a bottle, flowed."

The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially or by contributing editorial content via PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com. Empowered by WritersClearinghouse | S.P.Q.R. 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor Copyright MMXXI. All Rights Reserved.

PHILABOOKS|BOOKSELLERS

Spring/Summer 2021

McFADDEN: IN BOOKSHOPS IN LATE JUNE

Greetings Friends,

Many have inquired about the publication schedule of my new book, John H. McFadden and His Age: Cotton and Culture in Philadelphia. Whew, it's been a long and winding road!

Finally we have a firm publication date, 6 July. This means, I'm told by the publisher, Camino Books, that the book will be in bookshops in late June.

If you have any questions, please contact me anytime.

Warmest regards,

Richard

The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially or by contributing editorial content via PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com. Empowered by WritersClearinghouse | S.P.Q.R. 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor Copyright MMXXI. All Rights Reserved.

FLY ON THE WALL ...

... ON THE FLY

Notes & Thoughts on Food and Wine from Ron Alonzo aka Don Merlot[1]

 
March 23, 2021
 

When would be the best moment to be a fly on the wall for me? I thought about it and thought about it and it had to be a story I read when I started my wine journey. Had I been given the choice it would have been when deciding what wine was best  between Bordeaux and Burgundy  during the Ancien régime,  Yes, were I there, I would have wanted to be included in that exchange, and if  I were included then I would have been invited to the next rendezvous of the  connoisseurs to join at chez madame’s to savor her next wine picks   - the best French reds because no conclusion could be reached that evening and  another gathering for tasting those reds was to be scheduled. I thought that was a great story. I think that in most classic wine circles up until the 1970s that discussion was the paramount discussion, and there are several more claimants and varietals offerings today.

 

I am sure some great oenologist has died concluding what red wine is the best, but overall to me there is no winner, no superior one wine that takes all the medals, so, is this a discussion between these Frenchmen since the 18th Century and continues today? But still not settled, because other cultures and interlopers have butted in? Or other varietals want to be included? In the post WW II culture local tastes feel left out; regional differences vary; Gastronomy is regional and varies too. The senses like umami have been added to the 5 senses, and wine is not just European Culture but global that includes the old classical World and the New World?

 

MY SUMMER

Broken Bonds, Temporary Life

By Justin T. Carreño

It was 1998 and the second summer I was working for the University of Connecticut Environmental Research Institute (UConn ERI) as a student employee. ERI, established in 1987 and located on UConn's Mansfield Depot campus, not far from the main campus, was a center of basic and applied environmental sciences and engineering within the university. It conducted research in the environmental sciences and engineering for state and federal agencies, industry, and educational institutions.

 

ERI was located in the Langley School Building on the western edge of Mansfield, a town two miles from the main UConn campus. It is the site of the former Mansfield Training School and Hospital for the mentally handicapped, opening in 1860 as the Connecticut School for Imbeciles. It was closed in 1993, at which time the property was transferred to the University without appropriate resources to improve deteriorating building and site conditions.

JOHN H. McFADDEN AND HIS AGE By Richard Carreño JUNE 6 PUBLICATION

https://www.caminobooks.com/collections/frontpage/products/john-h-mcfadden-and-his-age

The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially or by contributing editorial content via PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com. Empowered by WritersClearinghouse | S.P.Q.R. 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor Copyright MMXXI. All Rights Reserved.

BREAKING RACIAL BARRIERS

Hall's Hill VFD

African-Americans

 and Firefighting

 in Arlington, Virginia

 

By Justin T. Carreño

15 February 2021

 

To understand the story of African-Americans and firefighting in Arlington, it’s important to first know the history of African-Americans in the County during the Reconstruction and Industrial eras. It begins as far as back as May 1862. This was eight months before President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on 1 January 1863, when slaves in the District of Columbia were freed by an act of Congress. Fugitive slaves fleeing from the South soon flooded into Washington, DC, many of them moving into camps set up by the federal government. When smallpox swept through the overcrowded sites, however, Lt. Col. Elias M. Greene proposed that some of the freed men could farm nearby land, and recommended the “pure country air” south of the Potomac in Arlington County (then Alexandria County). With this recommendation, the government established Freedman’s Village (some say by an act of payback) on a tract of land seized by the Union on the estate of General Robert E. Lee’s Arlington House, where today Arlington National Cemetery is located.

 

The government promotion of Freedman’s Village caught the eye of real estate developers, and through the 1890s began touting land in what is now Arlington County, luring Washington residents with promises of “quiet and repose from the stir and bustle and noise” of the city. Amid mounting public pressure, in 1900, Congress offered the people of Freedman’s Village $75,000 (approximately $2.5 million in 2021). This financial settlement was divided among the residents, and the village was torn down. In the early 1900s, Arlington was approximately 38  percent Black compared to today's Black population of  8.5 percent. When the government disbanded the village, many of these 38 percent of residents formed Arlington’s four historically African-American neighborhoods, including Green Valley (also known as Nauck), Johnson’s Hill (now Arlington View), and Butler Holmes (now Penrose) in the areas around Columbia Pike, and High View Park-Hall’s Hill.