[PRCo] Re: Pittsburgh-Some Place Special

[Fred Schneider]

I've heard of Mellon's Fire Escape too.  Says a lot for what people thought of
the incredibly rich.  Remember that the gothic East Liberty Church was built on
the site of the old one in the Depression.  East Liberty Presbyterian contained,
in addition to the usual church facilities, a bowling alley and a theater.
There was considerable resentment among the middle and lower ecomonic classes at
that time aimed at President Herbert Hoover and big business, and justifiably
so.  Most surveys showed that the public overwhelmingly hated those people.  The
same surveys showed that the super rich continued to believe that money belonged
to them and the lower ranks could go to hell.   No surprise that Roosevelt won
by such a wide margin in 1932 and that two years later the Democrats continued
to gain house and senate seats.

My dad had vivid memories of joining that church in the late 1930s.  He was
working for Gulf Oil at the time, and his mentor at Gulf asked him several
questions ... "Who owns Gulf?" (Mellon), "Who built East Liberty Presbyterian
Church?" (Mellon), and "Where do you think you should be seen on Sunday morning
if you want to be promoted in this company?"  Winfield Boyd knew the right
answers ... he became a Vice President for Gulf in the Philadelphia office.  Dad
only stayed until he found a job in electrical engineering in the late 1930s.
But he did take Winn's advice and joined the correct church.  Unlike most
churches, he was forced to sit and be interviewed by the church governing body
so they could determine if he was acceptable material for Mellon's church.  Dad
ultimately designed and built the sound system for the church and ran it every
Sunday morning and evening until we moved to Lancaster in 1949.  And just before
he died he remarked that he still had the keys to the church  ... he'd never
turn in his set.

Remember Paul Harvey?  Well here is the rest of the story.  Corporate America
still told you where you must worship ten years later.  When we came to
Lancaster he was told by Armstrong Cork Company where he could worship (First
Presbyterian, St. James Episcopal or Trinity Lutheran), where he could play golf
(Lancaster Country Club -- ONLY) and where he was allowed to live (School Lane
Hills).  He defied them on two counts out of three which is probably why he was
never advanced again and moved across town to Central Engineering. .In the early
1970s my brother-in-law had an interview with Armstrong for a sales position,
and was told that, if they hired him, he would "insure that hiis wife would quit
her job as a teacher and do things more appropriate to the role of an Armstrong
wife."  Frank, never one to put up with bull shit, found a paper company sales
job instead and became their number one salesman within the first month, earning
$200,000 in the first year (in 1974).  So much for corporate rules.

The rules are not published today but they probably still secretly determine
higher level promotions.  In my life with government, I didn't experience those
rules ... just a different sort of political B. S.

Bob Rathke wrote:

> > The man remembered that there was a tremendous cultural diversity in
> McKeesport
> > in his youth ... we're only taking the 1920s here.  He pointed out that
> when
> > mothers wanted to borrow a cup of sugar or an egg from a neighbor,  they
> sent
> > the kids out on the errand.  Why?  The parents spoke Polish, or Italian,
> or
> > German, or a Slavic tongue but the kids all spoke English ... the children
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