Tube City Almanac

March 25, 2008

The Continuing Hardscrabble Warch

Category: Hardscrabble Mon Valley Watch || By

Mike Littwin of Denver's Rocky Mountain News has really outdone himself in this profile of Clairton:

(S)ure enough, just as I'd been warned, there was the white smoke belching from the Clairton Works mill, on the banks of the Monongahela River, one of the few working mills left in the region.

And long-abandoned storefronts were, in fact, boarded up --- ghostly reminders of what was and what would never be again.

And, yes, as the whistle blew, men in hard hats, many carrying lunch pails, headed home to their company-built houses, constructed in the days when the mills ran up and down the river, or maybe they went to a nearby bar for a well-earned beer or two after a hard shift.

This is the largest coke-manufacturing plant in the country, producing, the U.S. Steel literature says, 4.7 million tons a year. You can see the smoke, and smell it, for miles.

I hadn't come in search of a cliche, but here it was awaiting me.

Make sure to read Littwin's piece. Although he quotes every element of my parody, he deftly avoids mentioning Tube City Almanac, giving all of the credit instead to the Post-Gazette.

Hey, thanks a lot, pallie. I hope the Broncos choke.

. . .

I think we do have, however, a new marketing slogan: "Come to the Mon Valley, where cliches await you."

. . .

It's the newspaper of record in the nation's largest city. That means you can count on the New York Times to hit all of the correct (sour) notes in this profile of Jeannette:
Once known as glass city, when 70 percent of the world's glass was made here, this town is probably better known now as the home to Terrelle Pryor, the No. 1 college football prospect, who signed a letter of intent on Wednesday to attend Ohio State.

Beyond that, though, this economically battered city of 10,000 is fairly unremarkable in southwestern Pennsylvania. Like many cities in the region, it has lost a third of its population, and Clay Avenue, its downtown, is a shadow of its former self.

Again, none of this tells me much. After all, lots of things are shadows of their former selves. My hairline. CBS' prime-time lineup. Jeannette's downtown. Journalism.

. . .

Of course, the Times' story isn't about politics, and the Hardscrabble Mon Valley Watch is about political stories that work in as many "rusty steel town" cliches as possible.

Dante Chinni of the Christian Science Monitor does a good job weaving hardscrabble images into this piece about the April 22 Pennsylvania primary. He discusses our "old industrial economic base," uses the terms "blue-collar," "Rust Belt" and "lunch-bucket," and calls Pittsburgh an "industrial metropolis."

The Monitor has even colored Allegheny County "charcoal" (as in smoke) on their national political map, while the surrounding counties are "rust" (!) colored. The colors signify "industrial area" and "service workers," respectively.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to stop here. I have to go wash my steel-toe boots and pack my lunch bucket.



(Note: Updated to tone down the pouting.)






Your Comments are Welcome!

Why didn’t Mike Littwin reference the Alamnac? Is he afraid to admit that people can get news other than from newspapers?
The Dude from West Mifflin - March 25, 2008



I see you posted a comment on their website.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

I love yinz proud, defiant, hardscrabble people.
Webmaster - March 25, 2008



As always keep up the great insights, I’m really enjoying the debate in this primary and since I do not have a contended election after two years ago its even better. For the record I’m supporting Obama, guess I’m not like very other guy at a Mon-Valley bar. All the best.
Marc
M.J.Gergely - March 25, 2008



Hardscrabble Warch – just priceless!

Keep up the good work!
Prof. Windbag - March 27, 2008



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