Category: Philadelphia

Old Postcards: Orphans of Odd Fellows

orphansThe question of the week was inspired by several old Philadelphia post cards I bought yesterday in Berlin, Md. So I’ll be posting some of those post cards on here and doing a little research on each place I post. We start with The Home for Orphans of Odd Fellows of Pennsylvania. Here’s what I’ve been able to find out so far. 

The Odd Fellows in question are a fraternal organization, one that in the 1890s had more members than the Masons. The following few sentences from a freemasons website helps explain the orphanage. 

Although heavily influenced by Freemasonry’s rituals, symbols, and tenets, a large measure of the Odd Fellows success came from its dedication to serve its members. Its three secret ritual initiations taught the “three links” of fraternity as “Friendship, Love, and Truth” and commanded its brothers to “Visit the Sick, Relieve the Distressed, Bury the Dead, Care for the Widow, and Educate the Orphan.”

If there was only one Odd Fellows Orphanage in Philadelphia, then it was located somewhere on Ontario Street near Kensington. I have found a record of all of the children and staff at the establishment in 1900. See if you have a long lost ancestor there. Do we have any descendants of Otto Wirtenborg reading this blog?

Jim Jones’s Son Talks about the Jonestown Massacre


It was on this date 31 years ago that Jim Jones ordered his followers to “drink the Kool-Aid”, and over 900 people died. Above is an interview with one of Jim’s sons, Stephan, who was on the Temple’s basketball team and thus out of town when the massacre occurred. He talks about his father’s madness, how he and his brother once conspired to kill their father, and how he has come to grips with his father’s legacy. Here is an interview with Stephan back in 1978, almost immediately after the tragedy.

Ripping off Geno’s Steaks

gena'sI was driving back from Punkin Chunkin in Delaware yesterday when I happened upon this sign in Delaware. My first thought, which is the one they intended, was to think that Geno’s was expanding into Dover. With a NASCAR raceway within viewing distance, it made perfect sense to for “Great American” Joey Vento to bring his brand of xenophobia wit’. But if you look closely, you’ll see that it’s Gena’s, not Geno’s. There were also flames painted on the side of the building to further confuse the issue. But I’m not sure what the deal is, because the place was closed and I see no mention of it on the internet other than a phone number.

Famous Philly Native Would Turn 144 Today If He Hadn’t Died on Titanic

Ben Guggenhiem4Benjamin Guggenheim was an incredibly wealthy Philadelphia born businessman at the turn of the century, but his name might be forgotten if not for his actions aboard the Titanic after it struck an iceburg.

Guggenheim inherited his father’s mining business as a young man, and made a fortune in the smelting business early on. However he soon began to squander his fortune, and lost $8 million in bad investments.

He married Florette Seligman of a powerful New York banking family in 1894 in a remarkably lavish wedding. The marriage was not a happy one and Guggenheim was actually aboard the Titanic with his 25 year old mistress, Madame Leontine Aubart, a French singer.

After the Titanic struck the iceburg, his valet fitted him in a lifevest and got him onto the boat deck, but when ol’ Ben saw the scramble aboard the boat deck, he stated, “I am willing to remain and play the man’s game if there are not enough boats for more than women and children.  No woman shall be left aboard this ship because Ben Guggenheim was a coward.” He then went to his room, dressed in his finest tuxedo, returned to the ship’s bar, began sipping brandy and smoking a cigar, and uttered one of the most badass remarks in human history: “We’ve dressed in our best, and are prepared to go down like gentlemen.” Hell f***ing yes. What a hardass. If I had been on board the Titanic, I probably would have been knocking women and children out of the way to get on a lifeboat, but my main man Ben did it like a champ. Cheers to you, Champ, and Happy Birthday. We wish you could be here with us today to enjoy it. Friggin’ iceburg.

RELATED: Ben’s Missing Persons notice in NY Times.

Volunteers Needed!

UYAHey gang, it’s that time of year again. We are beginning our Basketball and Rising Stars program at the Marian Anderson Rec Center, and we need a lot of help. That’s where you come in. We need coaches, tutors, people who can teach chess, and many, many others. Here is a full list of what volunteers we need. If you are interested in volunteering, please shoot me a line. Also, if you are thinking about volunteering, please join our facebook volunteers page, so I can let you know when different things are happening.

As you can see on that list, we have a new website. Please be sure to check it out to see what we’re up to. If you haven’t already, I highly encourage you to check out this video, as some of our kids talk about what they would do if they were Mayor for a Day, what a perfect day in Philly would be like, and who would play them in a movie. If you have any further questions about the program, please feel free to talk to me about it during quizzo.

Happy Anniversary, Checkers Speech!


It was on this date in 1952 that Richard Nixon fused politics and the new technology of television to rescue his political career. Without this speech, we may never have enjoyed one of the greatest presidents of all time. Here is Richard Nixon talking about the Checkers speech many years later. And finally, here is how the Checkers speech inspired Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick speech.
Garry Wills gives a superb account of the Checkers speech in Nixon Agonistes. Wills reminds us that just before Nixon was to give the speech live on television before a huge national audience, Tom Dewey had telephoned Nixon on behalf of Eisenhower and essentially ordered him to resign as the vice presidential candidate at the conclusion. Dewey: “Can I say you have accepted?” Nixon: “You will have to watch the show to see — and tell them [Eisenhower’s advisers] I know something about politics too!”

Anniversary of the Bloodiest Day in American History


It was on this date in 1862 that the Battle of Antietam took place, and the end result of the battle was cataclysmic. Between 3,500 and 7,000 were killed in battle and over 16,000 were wounded, thousands of whom would subsequently die due to infection. A Philadelphia native would be one of the commanding generals that day. George McClellan, born in Philadelphia in 1826, was the Commander of the Union in the Battle of Antietam. The video above tells a bit about McClellan’s background leading up to the battle.

Foobooz Names Philly’s Top 50 Bars

top50
Trivia Art over at Foobooz just listed his Top 50 Bars in Philadelphia, with help from numerous contributers. You may remember that when Philadelphia Weekly posted their top 50 last year, I was one of the contributers. After all I am a man of leisure, one that is no stranger to dens of ill repute. So you’d think that I’d naturally be a contributer for this thing, since all Trivia Art had to do was yell down the hall, “Hey JGT, what are your favorite bars in the city?” But alas, no. We’ll see where his invite is when I decide to do my 50 Greatest Trivia Questions of All Time Piece.

But perhaps it’s just as well, since my top 50 experience didn’t turn out so well when PW stabbed me in the back. These top 50 bars things don’t seem to turn out so well for me, but nonetheless I am going to throw in my two cents on this.

  1. Standard Tap. A great bar, with the best Bloody Marys in the city. That said, it’s a little too hipsterish for my taste. Certainly top 5, but not sure it’s #1.
  2. POPE. Was there Friday. It has a nice tap list but nothing made me think it was the #2 bar in the city.
  3. Monks. Yeah, sure, it’s a perennial top 5 bar, though I think it’s a victim of the old Yogi Berra saying: “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.”
  4. Southwark. No disagreements here. Terrific drinks, thought the bar was better than the food when I went.
  5. Good Dog. Good bar, good food, good ambience, good people. Would maybe like to see them play around with the menu a little more, but hey, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
  6. Grace Tavern. This one was #1 in the PW piece. It’s a pretty good bar, with decent food, but is it #6 in the whole city? I got it in the 10-12 range.
  7. South Philadelphia Tap Room. It’s been very good every time I’ve been, both food and beer wise, but I’m not confident it’s a top 10.
  8. Sidecar. If I go out in my neighborhood, G-Ho, this is the place I go. This is top 3 in my book, perhaps #1. Great food, great beer, diverse crowd, great owner who does fun stuff like organize bus trips for Phils games, and lots of special events.
  9. Tria Washington Square West. It’s pretty nice, I guess. Have been to the one near Rittenhouse more. I don’t really know what to make of this ranking, almost makes it seem like there should be a separate list for beer and wine bars.
  10. Royal Tavern. No problem with this one. Some of the best bar food in the city and an interesting tap list.

Other notables: #21 Silk City should have been ranked higher. #17 Varga ranked too high. It’s fine, but not Top 20. #24 McGlinchey’s is ranked too high. I’ve had fun there, but Locust Rendezvous is much friendlier at the same price and Oscar’s is a much better dive bar with much better service. (I’m guessing the smoking kept people from ranking it higher). #25 North 3rd is a Top 10 bar, as is #33 Cantina. #44 Cherry Street Tavern should be ranked in the top 25. I think the bottom line is this, however: there are so many great bars in this city, I really don’t see much of a dropoff at all between number 1 and number 50 (#50 is the genesis of JGT quizzo, Nick’s Roast Beef.) Anyhow, check out the list and let me know what you think.

Teabagging and Such


First: is all of this venom directed at Obama over health care particularly nasty because he’s black? I’m not sure I agree with this one, because Clinton got dragged through the mud on this too, but it’s an interesting thought.

Here’s a rather amusing look at some of the Great Americans who showed up at the teabagger rally on Saturday. (nod to Milo, whose facebook page I found this and the above thing on.)

Fiscal conservative Andrew Sullivan had this to say about teabaggers a few months ago: These are not tea-parties. They are tea-tantrums. And the adolescent, unserious hysteria is a function not of a movement regrouping and refinding itself. It’s a function of a movement’s intellectual collapse and a party’s fast-accelerating nervous breakdown.

On 9/11, Obama suggested a Day of Service to honor the dead. In response, Rush Limbaugh said “Community service is one of the baby steps towards fascism.” Wow, you can’t really argue with insanity.

On the other side of the coin, here’s something I don’t quite get: if Obama is doing this for all the right reasons, why won’t he even consider tort reform?