Category: Decades

  • Penn Square at Christmas

    Penn Square in Reading PA during the Christmas season in the 1940s. In the distance is Pomeroy’s department store. A lighted Christmas tree sat in the very center of the traffic circle in the middle of the square. Lighting and decor were quite the spectacle for shoppers that were finding gifts for their family and…

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  • Millmont Bus Stop, 5th & Penn Street, 1940s

    It’s Christmastime, snow is falling, and shoppers are catching the bus back to Millmont from 5th & Penn St.

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  • The Hitching Post

    The Hitching Post was a very popular restaurant located in the Springmont section of West Lawn. Built in the 1930s, it was originally a Howard Johnson’s. It then became an establishment called the Imperial Club. Finally, it became the Hitching Post in the 1960s. Countless anniversaries, birthdays, organizational meetings and other celebrations were held here…

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  • Miracle Mart – 2101 Centre Ave

    Miracle Mart was a 50,000 square foot department store on Route 61/Centre Ave in North Reading. There is very little information online about Miracle Mart or its origins, besides that there was a more well-documented and unrelated Canadian department store chain by the same name. Looking at aerial photos of the area leads me to…

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  • Happy Thanksgiving! November 28th, 1974

    Thanksgiving Day also fell on November 28th in 1974. Here is a look at that day’s Reading Eagle: Walter S. Shearer, who owns a poultry farm in Sinking Spring R.D. 6, holds one of his flock. To find out what eventually happened to this turkey turn to page 31 – Eagle Photo That homemade taste…

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  • On this day – Nov 24th, 1993 – Cumru Township Gas Explosion

    A water pumping station along Old Lancaster Pike in Cumru Township owned by Citizens Utilities Water Co. was destroyed in an explosion Tuesday night, leveling the structure to concrete slabs. The force of the explosion, heard up to five miles away, blew the doors off the building through the containment fence. “Fearing that the blast…

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  • On this day Nov 18th, 1959

    Future site of Western Electric purchased in Muhlenberg Township TV Stereo Advertisement from Pomeroys Dance to your favorite records plated on the 4-speed automatic record changer or simple add the space-saving stereo amplifier unit and enjoy life-like realism of stereophonic sound. Or just relax and enjoy this big-screen TV. Yours now for the first time…

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  • On this Day – October 16th, 1959

    Above the fold in the Oct 16th 1959 Reading Eagle: Goodbye, Tower Hotel Outside razing work by city workmen is now under way on the Tower Hotel on the crest of Mt. Penn. All usable wood and stone from the historic structure will be stored for future city use. A pavilion is scheduled to be…

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  • Berkenstock's Store Sinky

    Berkenstock Store – “Berky’s”

    If you grew up in Sinking Spring during the 40s, 50, 60s, or 70s you probably remember Berkenstock’s Store, or just called it, “Berky’s” or “Fern’s”*. It opened August 1st 1941. The people who have mentioned it to me specifically remember it being a candy store and calling it Berky’s. There is absolutely no information…

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  • On this Day – September 30th, 1974

    Above the fold in the Sept 30th, 1974 Reading Eagle: Wagons Moved from Original Gruber Works Grounds On the Way -Wagons produced near the turn of the century are moved out of the Gruber Wagon Works along the Bernville Road, Route 183, in Penn Township. The county moved the wagons and will store them until…

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Berks Nostalgia