Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Pennsylvania

by Bathroom Readers' Institute

  Hershey also invested his money in education. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, he hadn’t had much access to good schools. So he invested millions of dollars in the Hershey Industrial School for orphaned boys. In 1918, he donated much of his fortune—including his controlling interest in the Hershey Chocolate Company—to a trust that would be used to run the school. Today, the 10,000-acre Milton Hershey School educates and houses about 1,700 children (girls and boys) from low-income families or who are in foster care.

  Milton Hershey died in 1945, but his chocolate empire now makes about $5 billion a year and employs more than 13,000 people. His town and amusement park are Pennsyl vania staples, and his philanthropic endeavors (including his school) have built hospitals, theaters, and gardens throughout the state.

  Did You Know?

  According to Retail Confectioners International—a Chicago-based company that looks out for the interests of candy makers—Pennsylvania is home to more than 10 percent of its members.

  Fly Like an Eagle

  A few fascinating facts about the Philadelphia Eagles.

  The National Football League’s Eagles were founded by Pennsylvanians Bert Bell and Lud Wray in 1933 (the same year as—but a few months before—the Steelers).

  Name: Bell and Wray choose Eagles after being inspired by the insignia of a large blue eagle that symbolized President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program.

  Colors: Midnight green, black, white, and silver

  Logo: From 1948 to 1996, the Eagles logo changed a few times, but it was always a version of a green eagle with outstretched wings. Since 1996, it’s been just the head of an eagle.

  Stats

  Like most new NFL teams, the Eagles got off to a bad start. They lost their first game to the New York Giants by a humiliating score of 56–0, and over the next 10 years won only 23 games total. (They lost 81, and four games ended in ties.) Things finally got going in the 1940s, and in 1947 the Eagles made it to their first NFL Championship game. They lost, but returned the next year and, in what was known as the “Blizzard Bowl,” won their first NFL Championship, beating the Chicago Cardinals 7–0 in a blinding snowstorm. They won a second championship in 1949, beating the Los Angeles Rams 14–0.

  The 1960 NFL season, though, is the most celebrated in the franchise’s history. On December 26, after a 10–2 season, the Eagles met Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers in the NFL Championship game and beat them 17–13. It’s the only playoff game that Lombardi’s Packers ever lost.

  In the years since, the Eagles haven’t managed to win another championship. They made it back to the playoffs in 1978 and to the Super Bowl twice, in 1981 and in 2005, but lost both times.

  Eagle Extras

  •Seven Eagles players have been inducted into the NFL’s Hall of Fame: Chuck Bednarik, Bob “Boomer” Brown, Sonny Jurgensen, Tommy McDonald, Pete Pihos, Steve Van Buren, and Reggie White.

  •At halftime during a game against the Minnesota Vikings on December 15, 1968—the last game of a season in which the Eagles won just two games—a man in a Santa suit was on the field as part of a Christmas parade. The notoriously bad-tempered Eagles fans booed him . . . and pelted him with snowballs.

  •Quarterback Donovan McNabb holds the NFL record for the most consecutive completed passes. Over the course of two games in 2004, McNabb connected with his receivers 24 straight times.

  •In 1992, Eagles running back Herschel Walker competed in the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. He placed seventh in the two-man bobsled competition.

  •In 1975, a bartender and former track star named Vince Papale got a chance to try out for the Eagles. He was 30 at the time and had not played football in college (he played only one year in high school). Still, he made the team. He played for two seasons and is the oldest rookie in NFL history. (Papale was the subject of the 2006 film Invincible, starring Mark Wahlberg.)

  Roll Out the Barrels

  On page 268, we told you about Rolling Rock and the Latrobe Brewing Company, but Pennsylvania is actually home to more than 70 breweries, including the nation’s oldest.

  D.G. Yuengling and Son

  German beer brewer David G. Jüngling immigrated to the United States in 1823. He changed the spelling of his name to Yuengling and, six years later, opened his first brewery: the Eagle Brewery in Pottsville. It was the first large commercial brewery in the United States. The brewery’s name changed to D.G. Yuengling and Son in 1873, when Frederick Yuengling joined his father. The brewery is still operating, is the sixth-largest in the country, and is still owned by the Yuengling family.

  Lancaster Brewing Company

  The city of Lancaster, in the heart of Pennsylvanian Dutch country, became a hotbed of beer brewing in the late 1700s, when Scottish and English immigrants brewed beer for their inns and taverns. In the 1840s, German immigrants added their own lagers, and the region became known as the “Munich of the United States.” It’s been home to several breweries since then, but only the Lancaster Brewing Company is still around today. That company makes several kinds of beer, including Amish Four Grain, Hop Hog IPA, and Milk Stout, a sweet, English-style beer.

  Iron City Brewing Company

  This Pittsburgh brewhouse has been around since 1861 and has had a tumultuous history. Founded by German immigrant Edward Frauenheim in 1861 as the Iron City Brewing Company, it merged with 11 other local breweries in 1899 to create the colossal Pittsburgh Brewing Company—the third-largest in the country. The company survived Prohibition by making soft drinks and near-beer (which has little or no alcohol in it). Between 1986 and 2005, the brewery changed owners several times and continually lost money. Finally, in 2005, it filed for bankruptcy. Two years later, the equity firm Unified Growth Partners bought the brewery—and changed its name back to the Iron City Brewing Company. Today, it’s the thirteenth-largest brewery in the United States.

  Straub Brewery

  Straub’s story goes back to 1872, when German immigrant Peter P. Straub got a job brewing at Captain Charles C. Volk’s Lager Beer and Eating Saloon in St. Mary’s (north-central Pennsylvania). Four years later, he bought the business and renamed it the Benzinger Spring Brewery. Peter Straub ran the company until 1912, when his son Anthony took over and renamed it Peter Straub Sons’ Brewery. It’s been owned by the family ever since and today is just called the Straub Brewery.

  Quote Me

  “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

  —Benjamin Franklin

  Keystone Quiz

  Put on your Keystone thinking caps and see how well you do. (Answers are on page 309.)

  1. Name the dam in the Allegheny National Forest that created Pennsylvania’s deepest lake. (Extra credit: Name the lake.)

  2. Name the five most populated cities in Pennsylvania. (Feeling extra smart? Name the ten largest.)

  3. Name the Saturday Night Live comedienne from Upper Darby who made political-parody history in 2008.

  4. What’s the shortest route from Pennsylvania to Canada, and how far is it?

  5. Remove a letter from the name of this Pennsylvania river (and county), and you’ll have something to wear comfortably in Rome.

  6. Name three mountain ranges in the Keystone State.

  7. Andy Warhol had a stuffed dog named Cecil that’s now on display at the Andy Warhol Museum. Where’s the museum? (Hint: It’s in the city where Warhol grew up.)

  8. Speaking of dogs . . . the Great Dane is Pennsylvania’s official state dog because another famous Pennsylvanian owned one. Who was it?

  It’s a Zoo, Too

  On page 95 we introduced the mammals found in Pennsylvania. Here are a few less cuddly animals that call the state home.

  Eagles

  In 1980, Pennsylvania had only three known nesting pairs of bald eagles. Even though the birds are still considered threatened today, conservation efforts over the last three decades have brought their numbers up to more than 100 pairs. Migrating eagles pass through, too.

&
nbsp; Timber Rattlesnakes

  Of Pennsylvania’s 22 native snakes, timber rattlers are the largest. They can grow to more than five feet long, and are one of the most venomous (and dangerous) snakes in North America.

  Burrowing Crayfish

  These crustaceans grow to be about three inches long, have powerful pincers, and live in wet, marshy, or grassy regions, where they dig burrows about six feet deep. Wondering if you have burrowing crayfish near your home? Check the edges of nearby streams or ponds and look for their burrows, which have a distinct hardened “chimney” made of mud.

  Eastern Hellbenders

  Twenty-two species of salamanders call Pennsylvania home; one of those is the eastern hellbender, which live entirely in water. They’re a splotchy olive-brown color, with flaps and folds of skin hanging from their sides—and can grow to be more than two feet long, making them the third-largest aquatic salamander in the world. Another remarkable feature: their lifespan—one raised in captivity lived for 29 years.

  Bog Turtles

  These turtles are among the smallest in the world; they grow only to about four inches in length. But they can live for up to 30 years. With their black or deep-brown shells and yellow/ orange splotches behind their ears, they’re easy to spot.

  The turtles get their name from the fact that every fall, usually in September, they bury themselves in mud at the bottom of a bog and hibernate for about six months. Like many turtles, they manage to get oxygen during hibernation not by breathing, but through specialized skin cells on their necks and at the base of their tails that extract oxygen from the water.

  Did You Know?

  The Hershey Chocolate Company helped Uncle Sam during World War II by supplying chocolate bars to the troops. More than 3 billion “Ration D” bars were manufactured and distributed to U.S. soldiers between 1943 and 1945. By the end of World War II, the Hershey factory was turning out the chocolate bars at the rate of 24 million per week.

  Pennsylvania By the Letters

  Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader salutes the great state of Pennsylvania . . . alphabet-style.

  P . . . is for PENSYLVANIA, which is how the state’s name was spelled on the U.S. Constitution’s list of signatories. (Earlier in the document—in Article I, Section II—it’s spelled correctly.) It’s also spelled with one “n” on one of the most famous state symbols . . . the Liberty Bell. (And “P” is for “Pennsylvania,” the only state that starts with the letter P.)

  E . . . is for ERCILDOUN, a Quaker hamlet in the far southeast corner of the state. The name was taken from a poem by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott.

  N . . . is for NORTH SIDE, the part of Pittsburgh just north of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. North Side is home to Heinz Field, where the Pittsburgh Steelers play football. It was also the location of the first modern baseball World Series, in which the Boston Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates five games to three. The proper pronunciation of “North Side”: “Nahth Side.”

  N . . . is also for Joe NAMATH, a.k.a., Broadway Joe, quarterback of the New York Jets from 1965 to 1976. Namath, a Pennsylvania sports legend, was born in Beaver Falls in 1943. His Hungarian grandfather had settled in Pittsburgh to work in the steel mills, and the spelling of the family name back then was Nemeth. What does that mean in Hungarian? “German.”

  S . . . is for STEAGLES. In 1943, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles merged because the military draft during World War II had depleted the number of men available to play. The team was officially known as the “Eagles–Steelers” but became unofficially known as the “Steagles.” Most memorable moment: During the third game of the season, against the New York Giants, the Steagles fumbled a record 10 times. More memorable: they still won, 28–14.

  Y . . . is for YODEL, which many music historians believe arrived in the United States with German-speaking immigrants, many of whom settled Pennsylvania in the 1600s. (The word “yodel” comes from the German jödeln and first appeared in the United States in the 1820s.)

  L . . . is for LAST. Pennsylvania was one of the last states to ratify the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. (Prohibition passed on February 26, 1919.) Pennsylvania was also the last state to make winemaking legal again after Prohibition was repealed in 1933.

  V . . . is for VETCH, as in Penngift Crownvetch, Pennsylvania’s official “beautification and conservation plant.” The general assembly gave the plant (with its white and lavender flowers) its special distinction in 1982.

  A . . . is for ABOLITION. Pennsylvania was the first state to abolish slavery—all the way back in 1780—before the Revolutionary War was even over.

  N . . . is for N AGAIN. Pennsylvania is the only state with three Ns in its name.

  I . . . is for INDEPENDENCE. It’s everywhere: Pennsylvania is officially known as the “State of Independence.” Historical items are kept in Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park, there’s a town called Independence, and thousands of businesses in the state have “Independence” in their names, including Independence Blue Cross, Independence Answering Service, Independence Biofuels, and Independence Communications—the state’s largest provider of Muzak.

  A . . . is for AMERICAN ALPHABET. Of the many things Benjamin Franklin invented, one of the oddest was an alphabet that he thought more accurately reflected American English. It was phonetic, which Franklin believed would make it easier for children and foreigners to learn. Franklin’s alphabet consisted of 26 letters, but six of them—C, J, Q, W, X, and Y—were replaced with new ones he invented. Franklin tried to get the new alphabet accepted for decades, but it never caught on.

  Did You Know?

  The northern Pennsylvania town of Mansfield proudly claims that it was the site of the first lighted nighttime football game in 1892.

  Answers

  Welcome to Penn State, page 88

  Let Freedom Ring, page 109

  1. Legend. The bell traveled on a ship called the Hibernia, which was known to have transported dry goods and passengers to the colonies from England and Ireland. Historians do not believe it was a slave ship.

  2. A little of both. The bell arrived in Pennsylvania in 1752 and was set up in Independence Square to be tested before it was hung in the State House steeple. On its very first ring, the bell did crack—its metal was so brittle that it broke at the stroke of the clapper. But the ringing and cracking occurred in March 1753, not on the Fourth of July.

  3. Fact. Government officials tried to return the broken bell to England, but there wasn’t enough room on the ship so the captain left it on the dock. Next, the bell went to John Pass and John Stow, Philadelphia foundry workers who broke it down and recast it, adding more copper to the bell’s metal alloy. Pass and Snow’s bell was stronger, but its tone was poor (the result of too much copper), so they recast it again, using silver and other metals to sweeten its sound.

  That second casting rang in the key of E flat, but some people (particularly Pennsylvania assembly speaker Isaac Norris) still didn’t like the sound. So Norris commissioned a whole new bell from Whitechapel. When that one arrived, though, it sounded no different from the original. So the Pass/Snow bell remained in the State House steeple and was rung to call the assembly to order or to signal important announcements. Today it’s known as the Liberty Bell. It’s 3 feet high, with a circumference of 12 feet at the lip, and is composed of about 70 percent copper, 25 percent tin, 2 percent lead, 1 percent zinc, 0.25 percent arsenic, and 0.2 percent silver, with trace amounts of gold, magnesium, and nickel. The other bell found a home, too: the Pennsylvania government hung it in a cupola at the State House.

  4. Legend. The Declaration of Independence went to the printer on July 4, 1776, and was read publicly on July 8. Other bells did toll in Philadelphia on that day, but the State House belfry was so dilapidated that the Liberty Bell couldn’t be rung—people worried that the tower would collapse.

  The legend of the Liberty Bell and
the Declaration came from an 1847 short story by George Lippard that was published in the Saturday Currier. In Lippard’s story, the State House bellman rang the Liberty Bell when his grandson came running with news of independence, shouting, “Ring, Grandfather! Ring!” Over time, that fictional story became accepted as historical fact.

  The Liberty Bell did ring for other important events leading up to the American Revolution, including the 1757 and 1764 meetings of the Pennsylvania assembly that sent Benjamin Franklin to England to redress colonial grievances. In 1771, the Liberty Bell called the assembly together to petition King George for a repeal of tea taxes, and in April 1775, it pealed to proclaim the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

  5. Fact. In September 1777, the British attacked General George Washington’s troops at the battle of Brandywine. The Brits won that battle and marched toward Philadelphia. The Americans, afraid the British would capture the bell and melt it down, had the Liberty Bell removed from its steeple, and Colonel Thomas Polk, along with 200 militiamen, escorted the bell to Allentown. Today, visitors to Allentown can see where the bell was hidden under the floor of the Zion Reformed Church.

  6. Fact. After the British were defeated, the Liberty Bell was brought back to Philadelphia, but the State House steeple was still too unstable for the bell to be rehung. It wasn’t until 1785 that the steeple was rebuilt and the bell rehung. In 1788, it rang to celebrate the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. It also rang to celebrate patriotic occasions such as the inauguration of John Adams and to mourn the deaths of famous Americans like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton.