[PRCo] Re: More than you wanted to know about Pitttsburgh

[Edward H. Lybarger]

The Big Mac was "invented" (obviously copied from the Big Boy) by the
McGristle's franchisee in Uniontown.  I still can't eat 'em, but Eat 'n
Park's same-old, same-old sandwich tastes just fine.

KDKA and KQV have been permanent fixtures in Pittsburgh since 1920.  KYW has
been bounced around...I recall when I was in college that it was in
Cleveland, and recently recall reading something about its being somewhere
else, as well.

The Westinghouse-Edison feud took on some wild dimensions...Edison was
running around the country electrocuting animals for the express purpose of
demonstrating how dangerous the Westinghouse system was!

Ed

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Rathke [mailto:bobrathke at home.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 4:35 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org; Bruce D Wells; John Swindler; Fred
W Schneider III; Ed Lybarger; David W. Gove; Arthur S. Ellis
Subject: More than you wanted to know about Pitttsburgh


These claims all sound legitimate.  Some comments::

- I remember getting Mr, Yuk stickers from Children's Hospital in 1971 -
they did indeed introduce them.

- The Big Mac was introduced in Pittsburgh in 1967, but other restaurant
chains had similar double-deck hamburgers (e.g., Eat N Park's "Big Boy") in
the early 1950s.

- I remember out of town guests' reactions the first time they saw pull-tabs
on Iron City Beer cans in 1962.  I didn't see pull tabs in other cities
until 1966.  Regent Pop (a local Pittsburgh brand) had twist-top cans in
1953, but they didn't catch on.

- I took some photos of the Civic Arena dome under construction in 1960.
The retractable dome was built for Civic Light Opera performances there.  On
warm summer nights, they'd open the dome at intermission.  I believe the
last time they regularly opened the dome was in the late 1960s.

- WQED had a test broadcast on 4/1/54, but they didn't start regular
programming until 4/5/54.  I watched both nights.

- KDKA was first, but KQV also went on the air in Pittsburgh in1920.  This
was before the time that the government assaigned "K" call letters to cities
west of the Missississippi.  I believe there are only three "K" stations in
the East - two in Pittsburgh, and one (KYW) in Philadelphia.

- Thomas Edison was the champion of DC current, but Westinghouse and its AC
won out.

Bob 9/4/01

---------------------------

----- Original Message -----
From: <tsquare at toad.net>
To: "Bruce D Wells" <bwells at nauticom.net>; "John Swindler"
<swindler at hotmail.com>; "Fred W Schneider III" <fschnei at supernet.com>; "PRCo
Group" <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>; "Ed Lybarger" <twg at pulsenet.com>;
"David W. Gove" <dwg at mlynk.com>; "Arthur S. Ellis" <arthurls at nauticom.net>
Sent: Monday, September 03, 2001 10:36 PM
Subject: [PRCo] First in the 'Burgh..,


>
> Subject: First in the 'Burgh...
>
> NOTE: I PASS THIS E-MAIL MESSAGE ON FOR WHATEVER IT'S WORTH --
>       I CAN'T SUBSTANTIATE MOST OF THE FOLLOWING:
>
> NOTE: PERHAPS SOME OF THE PTM MEMBERS CAN ADD SOME PRCo FACTS
> TO THIS LIST.
>
>
> Pittsburgh was the first city in the world to do a lot of neat things!
> Here are a few of the most well-known:
>
> First Heart, Liver, Kidney Transplant - December 3, 1989
> The first simultaneous heart, liver and kidney transplant was done at
> Presbyterian-University Hospital.
>
> First Internet Emoticon - 1980
> The Smiley was the first Internet emoticon, created in 1980 by
> Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist Scott Fahlman.
>
> First Robotics Institute - 1979
> The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University was established
> in 1979 to conduct basic and applied research in robotics technologies
> relevant to industrial and societal tasks.
>
> First Mr. Yuk Sticker - 1971
> Mr. Yuk was created at the Poison Center at Children's Hospital of
> Pittsburgh after research indicated that the skull and crossbones
> previously used to identify poisons had little meaning to the children
> of today (for most children it means exciting things like pirates and
> adventure).  Covering 27 counties and 33 percent of Pennsylvania's
> population, the Pittsburgh Poison  Center at Children's Hospital of
> Pittsburgh is the largest such center in the United States.
>
> First Night World Series Game - 1971
> Game 4 of the 1971 World Series was the first night game in Series
> history.  Pittsburgh tied the series in that game with a 4-3 win and
> went on to win the series, 4 games to 3. This was one of the last
> big moments in the career of well-loved Pirate, Roberto Clemente.
> Fourteen and a half months after the 1971 World Series, he died in a
> plane  crash off the coast of his native Puerto Rico as he attempted
> to take food, clothing, and medical supplies to earthquake victims
> in Nicaragua.
>
> First Big Mac - 1967
> Created by Jim Delligatti at his McDonald's, the Big Mac debuted and
> was test marketed in three other Pittsburgh-area McDonald's
> restaurants in 1967.  By 1968 it was a mainstay on McDonald's menus
> throughout the country and, eventually, the world.  (EDITORIAL: This
> is a McDonald's claim which I dispute -- the "Big Mac" was a direct
> copy of the patented "Big Boy" sandwich sold by various chains
> -- notably Frisch's in the Cincinnati area, Shoney's, Elby's, and
> others -- in 1954, perhaps much earlier.  This patent was the
> property of and licensed by its creator, a returning WW2 Vet in
> California, circa 1945.)
>
> First Pull-Tab on Cans - 1962
> The pull-tab was developed by Alcoa and was first used by Iron City
> Brewery in 1962.  For many years, pull-tabs were only used in this
> area.
>
> First Retractable Dome - September 1961
> Pittsburgh's Civic Arena boasts the world's first auditorium with a
> retractable roof.
>
> First U.S. Public Television Station - WQED - April 1, 1954
> WQED, operated by the Metropolitan Pittsburgh Educational Station,
> was the first community-sponsored educational television station in
> America  and was also the first to telecast classes to elementary
> schools (1955).
>
> First Polio Vaccine - March 26, 1953
> The polio vaccine was developed by Dr. Jonas E. Salk, a 38-year-old
> University of Pittsburgh researcher and professor, and his staff at
> the University of Pittsburgh.
>
> First Aluminum-faced Building - ALCOA - August 1953
> The first aluminum-faced skyscraper was the Alcoa Building, a
> 30-story, 410 foot structure with thin stamped aluminum panels
> forming the exterior walls.
>
> First Zippo Lighter - 1932
> George G. Blaisdell invented the Zippo lighter in 1932 in Bradford,
> Pennsylvania. You can even find the name of the manufacturing
> location, either Bradford or Niagara Falls, Canada, stamped on the
> bottom of every Zippo lighter.
>
> First Bingo Game - early 1920's
> Hugh J. Ward first came up with the concept of bingo in Pittsburgh
> and began running the game at carnivals in the early 1920s, taking
> it nationwide in 1924.  He secured a copyright on the game and wrote
> a book of Bingo rules in 1933.
>
> First US Commercial Radio Station - KDKA - November 2, 1920
> Dr. Frank Conrad, assistant chief engineer of Westinghouse Electric,
> first constructed a transmitter and installed it in a garage near
> his home in Wilkinsburg in 1916.  The station was licensed as 8XK.
> At 6 p.m. on Nov. 2, 1920, 8XK became KDKA Radio and began
> broadcasting at 100 watts from a make-shift shack atop one of the
> Westinghouse manufacturing buildings in East Pittsburgh. (NOTE:
> In the 1930's there was another Pittsburgh radio station - W8XK --
> I do not know if and how this station might have been affiliated
> with KDKA -- a possibility is that KDKA was NBC's Red Network and
> W8XK was NBC's Blue Network - but I can't substantiate this.)
>
> The First Gas Station - December, 1913
> In 1913 the first automobile service
> station , built by Gulf Refining Company, opened in Pittsburgh at
> Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street  in East Liberty.   It was
> designed by J. H. Giesey.
>
> The First Baseball Stadium in the U.S. - 1909
> In 1909 the first baseball stadium, Forbes Field, was built in
> Pittsburgh, followed soon by similar stadiums in Chicago, Cleveland,
> Boston, and New York.  Forbes Field closed in 1970 when Three Rivers
> Stadium opened.  PNC Park is the newest replacement, opening in 2001.
>
> First Motion Picture Theatre - 1905
> The first theater in the world devoted to the exhibition of motion
> pictures was the "Nickelodeon," opened by Harry Davis on Smithfield
> Street in Pittsburgh.
>
> First Banana Split - 1904
> The banana split was invented by Dr. David Strickler, a pharmacist,
> at Strickler's Drug Store in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
>
> The First World Series - 1903
> The Boston Pilgrims defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates five games to
> three in baseball's first modern World Series in 1903. The Pirates
> lost the final game 4-3, before a crowd of 7,455 in Boston. Four of
> the series games were played in Pittsburgh.
>
> First Ferris Wheel - 1892/1893
> The first Ferris Wheel, invented by Pittsburgh native and civil
> engineer, George Washington Gale Ferris (1859-1896) was in operation
> at the World's Fair (Columbian Exposition) in Chicago. It was over
> 264 feet high and was capable of carrying more than 2,000 passengers
> at a time.
>
> Long-Distance Electricity - 1885
> Westinghouse Electric developed alternating current, allowing long-
> distance transmission of electricity for the first time.
>
> First Air Brake - 1869
> The first practical air brake for railroads was invented by George
> Westinghouse in the 1860s and patented in 1869. In the same year he
> organized the Westinghouse Air Brake Company.  With additional
> automatic features incorporated into its design, the air brake
> became widely accepted, and the Railroad Safety Appliance Act of
> 1893 made air brakes compulsory on all American trains.
>
>
>
>
>