[PRCo] Christmas at PTM

[Fred Schneider]

On Friday, Santa Claus arrived at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.   Of course he also arrived at thousand of malls.   In order to impress the media and turn it into a press event, we pulled out a car on November 29, 2011 that been delivered to Pittsburgh Railways on November 29, 1911, precisely 100 years earlier, and used it to bring Santa to his adoring public.    How long was it used to haul the public?  Only 26 years.   It was replaced by very sleek streamlined cars in 1937 but it stayed around used as a snow scraper for almost 30 additional years.   Remember the name Magee Carpets in Bloomsburg, Pa?   Well, Harry Magee paid to restore it to its original appearance before he died.   The Santa Claus?   Well, we had three different ones on duty this weekend ranging in quality from above average to downright excellent.  And our elves were superior.   (Our really best play acting elf goes to college next year.)   (Photograph below by John Polyak)   

One of our other attractions is a feline named Frankie.   Seems that several years ago someone at the museum hear a car door slam and then a cat came wandering up to us.   It had been abandoned.   We'll, it was renamed after the inventor of the first practical electrical railway car, Frank J. Sprague ... or Frankie for short.   One of the Pittsburgh newspaper writers opined that the museum cat is "more dog than cat" because it isn't afraid of anyone and it will make you like it.   The August 2011 issue of Cat Fancy magazine also featured Frankie.      And now he has his own Facebook page.   I'm told people come just to see our cat!    

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Frank-J-Sprague-Official-Cat-of-the-Pennsylvania-Trolley-Museum/123969034369026



When I left last night, Frank was sleeping on the stool behind the cash register.   This picture was a year ago when I interrupted his sleep in the carbarn.    (Yes, paying customers do risk getting cat fur on their clothing because like all felines, Frankie does know a soft seat when he finds one.)



Yes, it's your's truly in uniform.   The rain on the windshield suggests this was Sunday.   In spite of the bad weather yesterday, our business was up 34% over the same three-day weekend with Santa last year.   If the stores did as well on this weekend across the country, WOW!   We sold 953 admissions to ride with Santa and that meant more than just a few trips with every seat filled.   Retail sales over the same weekend were up 9.1% nationwide over the same weekend in 2010.   Where the dickens is the money coming from?   More borrowing?   

I've worked this same weekend for about twenty years.   It's fun seeing the happy kids.   This year I saw the image of one of better friend's daughters when she was a kid ... today she's a mom with a 14 year old.   On Friday I also saw the splitting image that little blond six year old that I had a crush on when I was in first grade in Morrow School in suburban Pittsburgh .... maybe this is her great granddaughter?   

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette had a reporter there over the weekend too ... he walked away with hundreds of images so I suspect we'll get some nice free publicity this week.   Might even be the second time I get my mug in the local newspaper.