Thanks to Alfred Barzan, the Bridgeville Area Historical Society now has a copy of the Bridgeville News “Special Souvenir Edition”, celebrating the community’s Golden Jubilee, July 15 through July 21, 1951. This was Bridgeville’s first attempt to celebrate anniversaries of its incorporation in 1901.
The headline in the paper reads “Golden Jubilee Opens Officially”, with a subtitle “Big Parade Saturday is Feature of Celebration”. Dominating the front page is a photograph of Marcella D’Agaro, “Miss Bridgeville Golden Jubilee”. Directly below her photo is a bit of advice – “Save this paper”. Fortunately for us, Alfred’s parents followed those instructions.
Also on the front page is an article reporting that Judge Sara Soffel, “Pennsylvania’s first woman jurist”, has agreed to judge the beard growing contest, “Brothers of the Brush”. According to the article, she had declined to divulge her criteria for making her judgment. Her decision would be made on Friday; the reporter speculated that Saturday would be a banner day for razors and shaving cream.
Another item reported that the official Jubilee yearbook, “Bridging the Years”, was available for sale for $1.50 (“lower than its cost to print”) and that it would become a “sort of bible for Bridgeville”, one that residents should “save for the years”. The editor would be pleased to know that I treasure my copy, sixty-nine years later.
Also reported was the schedule for the week’s events. Sunday was “Freedom of Religion Day”. In addition to religious services it featured the dedication of a new War Memorial at Washington School. Monday was the Chamber of Commerce picnic at Kennywood Park.
Tuesday was “Homecoming and Ladies Day”, with exhibits at the Women’s Club. Wednesday was “Industrial and Business Day”, with exhibits at Sports Haven. There was also a Flower Show at the Borough Building.
Thursday was “Youth Day” with children’s games (three-legged race, balloon throwing, etc.) and a youth baseball game at Cyanamid Park. The baseball game was the Kneepants League’s All-Star Game; I remember watching my brother play first base in it.
Friday was “Sports Day”, with a track meet and horseshoe pitching among other events. Saturday’s culmination, “Bridgeville Day”, included the “Mammoth Parade” and a street dance on Carol Avenue.
Tuesday night through Saturday night an impressive pageant, “Bridging the Years”, was presented at the Bridgeville Athletic Park, followed by fireworks. Its ten episodes included, among others, “Indian Encampment”, “The Whiskey Rebellion”, “The Norwood Hotel”, and “The Gay Nineties”. There are far too many familiar names involved for us to mention, but we cannot ignore Mary Weise as part of the St. George’s Church Choir and Russ Kovach as part of the stage crew.
Pages two through four include what is purported to be the 1910 Census for Bridgeville although it is suspiciously similar to the R. L. Polk City Directory for that year. Nonetheless it is a valuable record of the borough’s residents the year Bridgeville celebrated its ninth birthday.
An interesting item on Page two is a thoughtful sermon by the Session of Bethany Presbyterian Church lamenting the decline of the influence of home and church in the fifty years that had passed since Bridgeville was incorporated. “We have thrown over the very things that made our town and our land great” in favor of “faster cars, bigger television sets”. I suspect they would be disappointed to learn that their warning has been ignored.
Page four reports that souvenir dinner plates were available for sale for $1.25. Once again, I must boast that I still have the one our family bought. They show up occasionally on eBay for a price that would suggest it was a good investment; none are currently listed.
On the same page is a short article describing an exhibit of historic clocks in the window of Peter Strasser’s Jewelry Store. Included was a 350-year old four-wheeled wooden clock with a single hand counting the hours, propelled by a stone hanging on a string. I regret not seeing it.
According to an article on Page five, Bridgeville’s “oldest native son” in 1951 was eighty-five-year-old Howard Roach. Among his memories are of a toll gate on the Washington Pike at Woodville and the arrival of the first passenger train on the Chartiers Valley Railroad.
Pages six and seven were devoted to large advertisements, including one from the Democratic Political Party, Mike Abrahms, Chairman. Page eight is an impressive full-page advertisement for the Colussy Motor Company. It features two photographs that were not familiar to me. One is the ruins left after their disastrous fire in 1927; the other shows the interior of the rebuilt facility with two “1928s” on display. Also of interest was Gilbert Colussy’s recollection of initiating the dealership in 1918, when he was twelve years old and his brother Albert, eighteen.
Alfred Barzan also donated a copy of the July 27, 1951 “Bridgeville News”. It probably should be the subject of a future column. Incidentally, although the Society has access to digitized versions of the paper beginning in 1954, they would be happy to archive any hard copies donated, especially those prior to that date,
Pages nine through sixteen are dominated by advertisements, including some from as far away as Hickory. Bridgeville was probably at its peak as a commercial/business center for the surrounding area in 1951 The competition from shopping centers was still in the future.
We were still enjoying the euphoria that followed the end of World War II, although the war in Korea was casting its shadows. Harry Stringer had already lost his life there. Dr. William Shadish and Larry Donovan were in the midst of their one thousand days long ordeal in a Chinese POW camp. Lieutenants Edward Kolessar and Robert Shipe would be killed four days apart in Korea the following October.
Many thanks to Alfred for this thoughtful donation. The nostalgia associated with remembering Bridgeville in those days is powerful. Was it really sixty-nine years ago?