The July 4th, 1876 Reading Eagle ran a few interesting articles on its front page about Independence Day observations and celebrations. The first article was titled, “A Peep at Reading 100 Years Ago” which described the town at the time of our country’s founding. Reading was already nearly three decades old at the onset of the Revolutionary War. Berks County was only slightly younger being founded in 1752.… Read Full Article
Happy Thanksgiving Berks Nostalgiacs! The holiday season is here, so here is a peek back to that time that Santa Claus flew a helicopter and landed it at City Park in Reading. It happened on this day, November 25th, 1955.
Two little girls served as a reception committee for Santa Claus after he landed his helicopter in City Park this morning.… Read Full Article
On this day, November 21st, 1953, over 50,000 gathered to watch the first ever Christmas balloon parade make its way down Penn Street in Reading. Public transportation was swamped, and it was reported that adults and children walked from as far as Wyomissing to see the spectacle.
The upper photo shows what City Park looked like prior to the Christmas balloon parade this morning.… Read Full Article
May Day was a spring celebration tradition amongst public school kids and teenagers during the mid-20th century in Berks. The day would be marked by outside activities, singing, dancing and the crowning of a May Day Queen and court, similar to homecoming today.
On this day in 1969 Reading’s very own space needle restaurant debuts in the center of Penn Square. The restaurant’s tenure was short-lived however, as by April 2nd it disconnected completely and took off for outer space.
In 1968 – Redevelopment of downtown Reading returns the city to its, uh, roots.… Read Full Article