Tube City Almanac

November 27, 2009

28 More Shopping Days 'Til You-Know-What

Category: History, Local Businesses || By

In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of taking it easy this week because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

(I've noticed that readership of the Almanac plummets during weekends and holidays anyway, which tells me a lot of you people are reading this website instead of doing work.)

But I do feel compelled to post something, even when I'm goofing off planning our shoddy surely quality coverage.

The "Black Friday" hype about the start of the Christmas shopping season inspired me to look for some ads from some long-gone local retailers.

Honestly, however, I hate to encourage anyone from the McKeesport area to get any more nostalgic for the "good ol' days" than we already are.

(Seriously, folks. If I never hear "High On a Hill" again, I'll be fine. Can we try moving forward instead of pining for days gone by?)

Sorry for the homily. As you can see here, David Israel's had you covered in 1969 if you wanted to look like Tommy Smothers.

Click "More" to see (what else?) more ads from 1964 to 1969 for David Israel, Cox's, Wander Sales, Murphy's, Thrift Drug and DeRoy's Jewelers, as they appeared in the Daily News and other local newspapers.




. . .

Oops ... I should have run this one before Thanksgiving:



Some of these prices make me go "hmm." This $39 tape recorder would cost $235 by today's standards:



Ah, for the days when "dressing casual" meant wearing a sportcoat and a tie instead of a suit:



I want an RCA Victor console stereo for Christmas:



You thought Wilkens was the only place where you could get "E-Z credit":



This sportcoat was last worn by Herb Tarlek in "WKRP in Cincinnati":



These TVs are almost $1,800 by today's standards, and for that price you didn't even get remote control, but at least you could watch all of the big new hits of the 1969 TV season, including "Hee-Haw" and "Love, American-Style":



"Hai-Karate"! It's a little known fact, but most of the bottles of "Hai-Karate" ever sold are still sitting unopened in medicine cabinets:



Nothing says, "I don't really care that much about you" like giving someone a $4 transistor radio from Murphy's:



"Worst ... acronym ... ever":



Actually, I would like a portable typewriter for Christmas:






Your Comments are Welcome!

Thanks for the memories Jason. especially the Giant Santa from Wanders. There was a time when about every 3rd house in McKeesport had one on their front porch.
Clark - November 27, 2009



Ah, yes, the Wander Santas. Clark is so right about those. These are great to see – we had that 1970 Zenith portable in our house on Carnegie Ave.

More old ads, please – Golden Rule, Immel’s, Kadar’s, Henry B. Klein, plus the car dealers!
Robert - November 28, 2009



We had one of the “Mediterranean” RCA console sets!!!
Schultz - November 30, 2009



Clark

Now every third house in Mckeesport has a “Giant” pitbull on the front porch
Cox's Jimmy - November 30, 2009



There’s nothing like a jeweler featuring a typewriter and phonograph!
Martin DeRoy - December 15, 2009



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