DC Transit - PCC Streetcars

For almost 100 years the District of Columbia, our nation’s capital, had a very successful streetcar line. The early cars were pulled on rails by horses until the introduction of electric streetcars at a later date. It was a first class operation with a large rolling stock of magnificently maintained PCC cars. I remember my father marveling about DC’s wonderful underground conduit collection (power source for the cars) which meant that the overhead wires were not necessary in the busiest parts of the city. The power was changed to overhead wires farther from the center of town. So when the trolley went out to Glen Echo Amusement Park for example the over head wires were called into service. That meant that the trolley pole was raised to meet the wires suspended from poles on the streets. It was an amazing sight to watch the switch.

Elmer's Musical Bar- Pratt St. Baltimore

On Sunday after mass, followed by supper at grandmother’s house, my father used to drive his family around Baltimore city. One place that I always requested to drive by was Elmer’s Musical Bar at Pratt and Light Streets. Looking past the occasional boxcar sitting in the middle of Pratt Street, one could see motorcycles crowding the parking lot. It looked very exciting but I was warned that it was a very rough waterfront "joint." How rough? Well someone told me that the bands had to play behind a chicken wire cage to avoid being beaned on the head by flying beer bottles. Another man told me that patrons would ride their motorcycles right inside the bar on rainy days. Everyone agrees that the music was exceptional. Probably the draw for such a crazy mix of Baltimore males was the terrific musical venue that was open on Sundays--uncommon in those days. I don’t know if women ever ventured inside Elmer’s. For sure there was no “ladies’ entrance.”

MORGAN & MILLARD - Roland Park Pharmacy and Tea Room

In the days of neighborhood stores, retail window display was vitally important to most merchants. And in the world of independently owned pharmacies and lunch counters the competition was intense. But Baltimorean Mr. Charles J. Neun of the old Morgan Millard pharmacy and tea room in Roland Park was decidedly the king of window display -- winning two cars in 1953 for his clever exhibitions. You can read about it here in the following newspaper clipping. In my painting I liked to include the waitresses who worked in his tea room.

Baltimore News-Post Friday, October 30, 1953

“Lighting struck twice for a local druggist as Charles J Neun was awarded a 1953 Chevrolet, first prize in a contest sponsored by the Cliquot Club Company of Millis, Mass. Neun was the top contestant among more than 2,000 entries in a twenty-state area. But the payoff is that only last month Mr. Neun was also the winner of another automobile offered by a nationally know soap company. Mr. Neun participated this summer in a display competition... sponsored by Cliquot Club.The top prize winner in a brief ceremony at his place of business Morgan & Millard, Inc., 4800 Roland Avenue, was presented with the keys to the new Chevrolet by... Baltimore Cliquot Bottler, Mr. Joseph E. Scheiner, 1613-15 Aliceanna St.”

The Cliquot Club marketing department was really on the ball. They set up competitions for window display among 2,000 of their buyers. They motivated the merchants to decorate their shops with as much advertising for their product as possible. Mr. Neun was on the job after reading the announcement below.

Mr. Neun had much of his display photographed and cataloged so he could submit his car-winning application.

And even the customers got into the act.
I sure wish this kind of artistic resourcefulness among stores still existed. There would always be something new to grab your attention in the neighborhood. You just can't beat this for eye-catching creative clutter.

WILTON FARM DAIRY - Catonsville, MD

"Wilton Farm Dairy - Landscape" oil on canvas ( 12" x 16")

Wilton Farm Dairy cows lived on the Zaiser family farm in Catonsville, MD at the corner of Wilkens Avenue and Maiden Choice Lane for almost 100 years. It was always fun to see them from the Baltimore Beltway just grazing in the field behind their decorative fence. A photo of the dairy's fence is one of many which eludes me. It spelled out Wilton Farm Dairy in cursive letters. Additionally, whoever decided to emblazon the barn's roof with the name of the dairy was an advertising genius. That image of white block letters against the aqua roof has remained green in my memory.

"Wilton Farm Dairy Truck" oil on canvas ( 18" x 24")

A dear family friend named Carolyn was lucky enough to have a father who drove one of the farm’s delivery trucks which brought milk and all things dairy to many homes on the west side of town. She said her sister and brother would ride with her father sometimes when he drove his milk route. They loved it because their generous father said they could have anything that they wanted to eat on the truck. It was a day of dining on donuts, chocolate milk and juice for this lucky pair. My uncle Michael, who grew up in Irvington, remembers family trips to the dairy where the milk was so good that all seven brothers and sisters drank it on the spot. It was a sad night in February, 1979 when the farm was destroyed by fire. Following that tragedy the land was developed into houses which remain situated on the property. However whenever I ride past I still try to remember that fence with the cursive letters.




And bringing up the rear here is a photo from my toy truck collection... It is played with more often than some others. Moooo Moooo

STREETCARS IN FLORIDA

TECO line in Tampa/Ybor City, Florida

Streetcars rolling in Florida???? It had the same effect on me as hearing “elephants roaming in Florida” in my high school geography class. It was a strange but true fact, indeed. I always imagined Florida to be like Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, Sanibel Island or some other seaside resort. After all until my recent trip to the Clearwater/Tampa Bay area, this was the extent of my exposure to the peninsula state. The vision of urban mass transportation in Florida just never entered my imagination. But my friends took me to Ybor one day in January so we could walk around and eat Cuban food. Imagine my delight when I spotted the historic, bright yellow streetcars of Ybor City which dates from 1880. The neighborhood began as a Cuban/Italian community of cigar factories. The architecture is stunning. Lots of 1920’s style bungalow houses surrounding the big warehouses and factories which have been converted to retail shops and restaurants.

A nicely restored bungalow house typical of the region.

We boarded the TECO streetcar at Whiting, the beginning of the line. There was a bit of lag time so I took the opportunity to talk to the conductor. He said the cars were reproductions made in 2000 but the trucks of the cars were authentic. Tampa’s first streetcars reached their peak ridership in the 1920’s so more than likely the trucks that carried us were from that era….or so I imagined.

The line is barely three miles long and really just a right-of-way path but nevertheless we thoroughly enjoyed our ride as did all the passengers. I was wishing that there were a turnaround but these cars remind me of the double-ended Riverview car at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum – at the end of the line everyone stands and flips their seat to face the opposite direction. The conductor moves to the front and the overhead trolley is readjusted for the return trip. Adios! Ding Ding!

The Circle in Dundalk, MD

"BBQ" oil on canvas (18" x 24")

Affectionately referred to by many as “The Circle” this deco style diner is no longer located in the Highlandtown/Dundalk area in Baltimore, MD. It is rumored that in the 1960s it was THE big, East- side, hang-out for motor heads who packed it with jacked-up, souped up American cars. Conversations about “popping wheelies” and “laying rubber” could readily be overheard. Former patrons have said that until it was sold in the 1990s tasty Bar-B-Q sandwiches were prepared by the same husband and wife team for many years. If you walked up to the side window to order you could see the lady in the back room surrounded by gallons of milk and ice cream while preparing milk shake after milk shake. The husband kept a close watch on how the patrons behaved. In 1987 I had my first experience with the restaurant. As I pulled up in my huge 1976 Buick, we had the only car on the lot. So we casually parked and walked up to the service window on the side. Since we were inexperienced and new we had no idea of the parking regulations. The man sternly made us readjust our parking before he would make our Bar B Que sandwiches. You see since it was a round building the patrons were required to park on a diagonal representing angled rays around the building. Made sense to me once I knew the rules.

SNOWY DECEMBER FOR PETER WITT

“Snowy December for Peter Witt”

oil on gessobord™ (24” x 12”)

Today when we saw some snow flurries while Christmas shopping, I immediately thought about streetcars carrying an over-abundance of riders at the height of the holiday season. I for one really miss the hustle and bustle of the crowds jammed into the buses and streetcars. During the month of December the regular riders were competing for seats with the package-laden shoppers who had spent their day buying gifts in all the stores and shops downtown. The big four department stores, Hutzler’s, Hochschild’s, Stewart’s and Hecht’s anchored the mobbed intersection of Howard and Lexington Streets. A white-gloved policeman was there to keep the pedestrians, cars and streetcars from colliding into each other. But at the end of the day which was perhaps punctuated by a lunch in Hutzler’s Quixie or the counter at Read’s Drugstore, weary men, women and children boarded their homeward bound streetcar hoping for a seat to rest their tired feet. It was a long ride with many stops but at this time of year there was always a view of holiday decorations and lights.

Some readers here may be wondering who the heck is Peter Witt? Well according to my fellow members at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum he was a Cleveland citizen who designed this forward thinking streetcar which was named after him. Its original purpose was to keep the streetcars running on time by using the center door as an exit only. An additional conductor sat near the center door until the depression came and that position was eliminated. But nevertheless these gorgeous cars kept on carrying passengers in all kinds of weather around Baltimore. But I think that the Peter Witt looks its best in the snow.