baby coach -noun. Chiefly Eastern Pennsylvania and Chesapeake Bay . A baby carriage.

Lunch meat -noun. Called "cold cuts" elsewhere.

For those who think we Pennsylvanians 'talk funny' or use 'big words', here's why ...

Once a Pennsylvanian, ALWAYS a Pennsylvanian!

About Pennsylvanians: You've never referred to Philadelphia as anything but 'Philly' and New Jersey has always been ' Jersey .'

We don't go to the beach -- we go 'down the shore.'

You refer to Pennsylvania as 'PA' (pronounced Pee-Ay).
How many other states do that??

'You guys' (or even 'youze guys', in some places) is a perfectly acceptable reference to a group of men and women.

You know how to respond to the question 'Djeetyet?' (Did you eat yet?)


You know that the Iggles play football and so do the Stillers.

You learned to pronounce Bryn Mawr, Wilkes-Barre , Schuylkill , the Poconos, Tamaqua, Kutztown, Tunkahannock, Bala Cynwyd, Kishacoquillas, Duquesne and Monongahela, also Conshohocken.

And we know Lancaster is pronounced Lank-ister, not Lan-kaster.

You know what a 'Mummer' is, and are disappointed if you can't catch at least highlights of the parade.

At least five people on your block have electric 'candles' in all or most of their windows all year long.

You know what a 'State Store' is, and your out-of-state friends find it incredulous that you can't purchase liquor at the mini-mart.


Words like 'hoagie,' 'crick,' 'chipped ham,' 'dippy eggs', 'sticky buns,' 'shoo-fly pie,' 'lemon sponge pie', 'pierogies' and 'pocketbook'
actually mean something to you. (By the way, that last one's PA slang for a purse!)

You not only have heard of Birch Beer, but you know it comes in several colors.

You know the difference between a cheese steak and a pizza steak sandwich, and you know that you also can't get a
really good one anywhere outside of the Philly area. (Except maybe in Atlantic City on the boardwalk.)

You know that Blue Ball, Intercourse, Paradise, Climax, Bird-in-Hand, Beaver, Moon, Virginville, Mars, Bethlehem, Hershey,
Indiana, Sinking Spring, Jersey Shore, State College, Washington Crossing, Jim Thorpe, King of Prussia, Wind Gap, and
Slippery Rock are all PA towns ... and the first three were consecutive stops on the old Reading RR! (PS - That's pronounced Redd-ing.)



You can identify drivers from New York , New Jersey , Maryland or other neighboring states by their unique and irritating driving habits.

A traffic jam in Lancaster County is 10 cars waiting to pass a horse-drawn carriage on the highway. (And remember ... that's Lank-ister!)

You know several people who have hit deer more than once.

Driving is always better in winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

As a kid you built snow forts and leaf piles that were taller than you were.

You know beer doesn't grow in a garden, but you know where to find a beer garden.

You actually understand all this and send it out to other Pennsylvanians or former Pennsylvanians. It's scary, isn't it!

The list of towns is missing Hooker. Back when they were trying to find a new slogan, my vote went for "Virginia may be for lovers but Pennsylvania has a Hooker"

jeet yet? No, jew?

OK time to go red up the kitchen a bit, then off to bed.

Dale

Younze guys are funny......

I find that many people outside of Pa., have never eaten a "gob"..

I knew pretty much all of that, haven been back and forth across that state a billion times during High School and College...plus just going up there from VA... I always love PA and folks from there... well, Philly doesn't thrill me... never did..

spent tons of times at Gettysburg after I got my drivers licenses... there and Harper's Ferry were our two favorite places to go to for me and my buddies..

I could also tell ya some one from PA by asking them to pronoun TWO words....Folks from PA have influences in their accents from New Jersey, whether they think so or not...and then also from south of them toward Maryland and VA...

I never realized it until I had a boss in Minneapolis in 79, and I asked him where he was from in PA? He looked puzzled and asked me who told me that he was from PA... I told him no one did, his accent did....He responded, I don't have an accent!

Uh yes you do...

Say Beautiful for me...they'll say beu-de-ful like they say in Joisey..

Say hour for me....then they will say I'er like we pronounced it in Virginia...

Voila, you're from Pennsylvania..he just scratched his head and laughed.. guess I never thought about... Yes I am from PA...

I think growing up as a military dependent, you just paid closer attention to accents.. and where they come from...

the internet, TV and the media, plus the country, moving around more than they use do has washed a lot of accents away, compared to what they were before the late 80s..

I've long since lost the touch, but I even use to be able to tell what southern state someone came from, just by the way they said certain words or phrases...

I can pick out people from New England, where I went to college..

had a neighbor when I first moved to Oregon, that I was talking to one day, and I asked him where in Massachusetts did he come from? He told me "I'm not from Massachusetts, I am from California... what makes you think I am from Massachusetts???"

he almost seemed pissed about it... but my response was, I don't care how long you have lived in California, but you are from Massachusetts or at least New England"..

"how can you tell that??" by the way you say Forty and the way you say God, and corner for instance....

My Gawd, how did you know that?? so I had him say Forty, "Fw'aty", now say Corner, "Co'nah", now say Door, "Doah", now say Visa.. "Veeser"....

Yup, you're from Boston...." my Gawd, my family moved to California when I was 8!!!" even tho he was in his 70s, he still hadn't lost all of that accent...

myself, my roots are WVa and Virginia, right on the state line, west of Roanoke.. I call it hillbilly'bonics, but I haven't lost my accent, if I get mad or am around another southern, it comes right back out according to my son and wife...in fact first time they were around my family back there, they couldn't believe how my accent reverted back to its based within 5 minutes...

those from down that way, and/or still hear the real old hillfolksw speak it, know what a TAR is... a TAR ARN, or plain old ARN is.... and What a FAR is...just for examples..

a TAR is put on your car's wheel rim...

you use a TAR ARN to put it the wheel off and on the vehicle..

you use an Iron to ARN your clothes

you put a Lowg on the FAR to keep warm...
ya love to eat 'taters and 'maters....

ya know what spoon bread is..or wilted salad...

You forgot "yinz", which is Pittsburgh-ese for youse guys.

Also, daresn't (as in you dare not) or irregardless (which really means regardless) and for breakfast you have to have dippy eggs (meaning sunny-side up). Ponhaus which is scrapple to most people.

Also, what's black and yellow and sleeps six? A PennDot truck.

Also yunz for singular. Don't forget that one.

As in:

"Yinz wanna go up Dick's?" translation: Youse guys want to drive to Dick's sporting goods?

"Yunz wanna pass the ball? translation: You want to play catch? Pass the ball? The only thing I pass is...well, you know...... .

ya know yer a true Pennsylvanian when yinz like scrapple!

haint that the truth.

Scrapple is the state bird.

Converted some Wilkes-Barre folks to Texan, sorta -- yez-all.

In the town list you missed Hollywood and Renova. The last time I was through Hollywood, it was a wide spot in the road at the base of two mountains-the post office was a red white and blue travel trailer parked along side the road.

Did you trow the cow over the fence some hay?

you also forgot heyna or no and upta.

Youz guys wanna go upta lake?.... heyna or no?

heyna or no= yes or no, what do you think?... etc.

it's kinda like forgetaboutit for the nyc people

Thirty plus years ago when I was in the Navy I was driving across Florida with a bud and I bet him a car up ahead had Ohio plates on it, which of course it did. He's still probably trying to figure that one out. If you're from western PA I don't have to tell you what they were doing.

I grew up in New England and Maryland right by the Pa. line. I've even lived in the "Mushroom Capital of the US", had a house down to the shore,and have certain speech inflections from both places. I just can't break the habit of saying "djaeat, pocketbook, and a few others. I'm pissed because I can't find hot cherry peppers anywhere around here. There are no good tomatoes in the summer "you'd know what I mean if you've ever had a Jersey tomata". But it really doesn't matter, because you can't get decent bread anywhere out of North East region to make a decent sandwich anyway.

And Lebanon Balogna. And don't forget the Salad Dressing.

haluski also

I`m originally from 84 Pa. home of 84 lumber
I think there is only one other town in the U.S.A. with a number for a name.
Anyone know what it is?
Here`s a good one from south west Pa.
We don`t wash a car we warsh it.

Bwahahaha!

Yah, you have to "red up" your room which means you have to clean your room.

If you're ever in Renovo, stop at the Sportsman's Lounge for dinner.

I'm from Clearfield County originally, and it's been too long since I was back. Reading this thread is almost like visiting. Making me remember how much I miss and tend to forget about back home.

Did you hear that PennDot just had a big layoff?

The Japanese invented a shovel that will stand up by itself.

I hit a deer in my own drive way when I arrived home from being downtown.

(Of course that was before we waged war on the Does.)

Another thing was in the not so far past, just about everyone had a nickname. Your were "Huffy", "Smash", "Speed", "Horse," or some name that for some reason stuck. And stick it did, because you had it forever. Your dad may have been "Big Mike" and your Mom may have been "Toots" or "Queenie". However, that particular tradition seems to have faded.

A couple more local town names:

Turtle Creek, Wilmerding, Widnoon, Putneyville, and you could live in the township of Cowanshannock. Many of the town names in my area had names that were connected in some way to the Eastern Indian Nations.

Another thing was in the small town I grew up in we had an Italian Club, a Polish Club, and a Slovok Club. Funny thing was you could be Irish and belong to all three.

Some things keep coming back. About 5 years ago a bunch of the old gang got together at the Polish club. I got there late and there were about 7 guys at the bar.
I said to the bartender give all of them a drink. Most got a beer and a couple the Pa State drink which would be a shot and a beer. Total tab was $7dollars and change.

Hell not that long ago a Penn Dot crew was out painting white and yellow lines on the highway and they just painted a white line over a dead Deer on the road edge and kept on going.

Mine is pronounced mayan in PA

I live near Tidioute and Tionesta.

Pronounced Tiddy-Youte and Ti-o-Nesta

I don't see it much out here in the west, but growing up back east, accents etc could pretty well nail folks to even just adjacent communities. Much like the boroughs of New York.

My Dad is a graduate of Hooker High in Pa! Still live about 5 miles from there. Could you imagine being the Hooker Prom Queen????

Also another "weird" little town in Pa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.N.P.J.,_Pennsylvania

How about being a resident of Turkey Neck, Maryland?

Then again I went to school at Potomac State College in Keyser, W Va. Always shortened to Pot State when applied to ones attire.

There is also La Jose. Lay-joce. Never thought anything of it till I took spanish in junior high.

In left PA in 64 and it took me 40 years plus to quit saying " yunz"
I grew up outside a little town called Monongahela. Born in New Eagle, Washington, County in the very SW corner of the state.

We had pop, not soda.

You had your choice,you could work in the steel mills around Pittsburgh or work in the coal mines.

Small world I went to high school in Monongehela.
I graduated 3 years after Joe Montana.

I went to a car show in PA once. One of the locals kept referring to his bud as a "choke-wad". And every time he did is bud would say "I ain't no choke-wad". I'm still not sure what that was all about and I'm not sure I want to.

[quote=1minute]How about being a resident of Turkey Neck, Maryland?

And then there's Lusby, Md.
Home of the Lusbians.

I used to travel up to Indiana, Pa. quit a bit. One of our regular beer stops was in Cresson, Pa. The Tiltin Hiltin Tavern. Pretty sure it burned down years ago.

Funny!!....not only did I grow up in PA, I also lived in Lusby, MD for a few years.

Stationed at PAX River?

Grew up 5 miles east of Tamaqua in the town of Coaldale in Northeastern Pa. Heart of the anthracite region. Reading through the idioms brought back memories. One that I remember, if you wanted to rinse clothes on laundry day, you "wrenched" them out.
Wish I could think of more.

One thing I'll never understand though is why a town with a classic name like Mauch Chunk would change it to Jim Thorpe. It'll always be Mauch Chunk to me.

My dad's family is from Holsopple near Boswell and Jerome between Johnstown and Somerset. He and both of brothers moved out to Wyoming in the late 60's. I then grew up hearing the accents and eating gobs. Red the table, a rift is apparently a belch. Youze or Youins. I have always thought everyone there says questions kind of different, with a higher pitch at the end of the question or something.

My uncle was buddies with Jeff Hostetler's (the NFL quarterback that won the superbowl with the Giants.) younger brother. They lived in Holsopple.

My cousin that lives back there refers to underwear Guccis sp? (sounds like Goocheese).

My dad and uncles have lost most of the accent but dippy eggs and other strange names still work their way into conversations. Everyone is Stiller fans.

Four pages and no talk of dirt roads!?

I was born on one.

First time I ordered dippy eggs at a cafe in SE Ohio I was treated like a tard by my buddies and told they are called "over easy"

Dippy is a MUCH more accurate description....

there is nothing overly easy about eating dippy eggs

I just had some dippy eggs this morning, along with hash browns and green chili. That second part is definitely not Pennsylvanian.

FWIW in my house when my wife cooks them for me or my daughter they are still dippy eggs.

And Pennsylvania Goulash ain't the same as Hungarian Goulash.

Don't forget to red up your room !!!

Down er in at!

Maybe the "CoalSpeak Dictionary" will help you think of more. Here is a link to Coal Region.com. It contains a link to the dictionary on its homepage:

coalregion.com

Yeah yeah yeah. My dad was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in Vintondale so if you've never heard of Vintondale PA you may be from Pensylvania......

Many Hungarians in that state and damn proud of it too.....Forgot my smiley

Thanks for the link Coalcracker, yea that brings back a lot of familiar phrases.

No...worked for NASA in Greenbelt and Columbia. Made the trek up Rts. 2 & 4 everyday I wasn't working out of town....which was about 8 months of the year. Lusby was a nice quiet rural place then. We had to go over to LP or up to Prince Frederick for groceries.

Another one I forgot to list is:

"All up in through there and all like at" which is what you get when asking for directions and the director can't give good info to the directee.

Yah, the dictionary in that coalregion web site is pretty funny.

Trow yer horse out der vinder some hay. Throw yer mudder down the stairs her pocketbook.

I went to coalregion.com and they actually had dippy eggs in the dictionary. --> dippy egg : an egg, such as a soft-boiled or sunnyside-up egg, into which you can dip your toast.

My Daughter was named after a Tidioute resident from way back. We used to hunt up in "Porky Hollow" and if I remember correctly "Hicks" run. A "run" is a creek or stream in PA lingo.

Tidioute used to be thick with Deer. The entire ANF is some great country.


Still hunt Grouse out of Ludlow.

Crick - I know they say that in other places too, but when I grew up in Erie, pa, a Creek was a crick, and you went fishin' with minnies for smallies. They are much more sophisticated now.....Oh - and acrosst - you could cast all the way acrosst the crick...

My father graduated from Northumberland HS. 1930.
Class of 4! ( he was the only male!)

Proud to say that I actually used to live in Slippery Rock, right on the crick (and still live close enough to go to Ginger Hill for dinner now and then....).

I sure miss that house, but it was more of a bachelor pad, complete with a treestand in the backyard and canoe dock on the creek, but my wife wasn't really up for it when I got married...

I sure do.

I've shot a lot of ducks float-shooting that stretch of river....

And for browns.

Seining for minnies was a great way to spend an afternoon.

Well im up here on the, "mistake on the lake".
Youz guys all have a great day!


dave

Then there is Muzzette. Essentially a town of hunting camps.

And in reference to another interesting thread, PA has an abundance of
down home country girls.

Thats where I am for the next few weeks too. Ready to get out of here for PA again.

My folks were born and raised in PA....


Anybody mention "iggle" yet?


Its what regular people refer to as an eagle....

Explains a lot.

Ingwe,

Just so you know. I'm just "jaggin" with "ya."

I know.....

I forgot to mention I did a short stint in Uniontown myself......

That's hard time....

Especially in the mid-50s.....

There are "gian iggles" everywhere here! Don't you know that's where you go to get groceries??

The Uniontown area was French and Indian war country. Some serious killing went on in that land.

Nothing but luck, kept Washington alive to become the first.

On what is now the First National Highway, Braddock lost and estimated 1500 in a two day fight with the Indians. They were strung out for miles and the Indians hit them in the middle. Washington was at the rear due to illness and missed the worst of it.

I lived there in 1957...at 5 years old...still remember it...dirty...coke ovens all over the hills....ooodles and GOBS of deer though....Ive heard the country has long since been cleaned up dramatically, or more simply probably, is that mother nature reclaimed her own...

Yikes, I hate to say it: I'm from northwest PA and I don't know what they were doing. But then, folks from northwest PA happen to have more in common, language-wise, with people from the midwest. I was an adult before I ever heard "yinz," and "red up the kitchen," and other Pittsburgh colloquialisms. However, I always have said "crick."

One more town not mentioned is Pithole -- a long-time ghost town now, but a real jumpin' place back in the early oil-boom days.

Steve.

My wife was born in "Mon City" and raised in New Eagle...


... and her younger brother was in class with Joe Montana. He ran track with Joe and has a story about Joe cheating off him in class.

Steve.

I always thought it was "Titty-Youte." I remember a decade or two ago when the Rainbow People came through. One of them was in the Kwik Fill and asked where "Tidy-out" was. Everyone laughed.

Steve.

My family is from Halton.Pa.
If you can ever find it, be sure to visit the "Halton Hilton" and order a "belly buster".
We got a hill named after us not far away.
In between the "hill" and Halton is state game lands #28
28000 acres of ANF finest.
Alot of it looks like this.
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2382540250071685881WkzVqv

dave

Coal was king in Pa. and kept many just barely alive.

Downside was it ruined many premier Trout waters to the point they will never return. Sulfur and whatnot will continue forever to flow out of those flooded shafts.

And then there's Nanty Glo -- in Blacklick Township, Cambria County. I used to have a girlfriend from there.

Steve.

deleted

If you are up in the North country, you could visit "Gobblers Knob."

A friend's son was a SEAL master chief. Several times, he was given a task, told to pick his team, and asked where he wanted to train. He said "Sullivan County, PA." Everyone said "Where?" He said, "Exactly." They bunked at his mom's house, planned there mission, did some fly fishing, had ice cream at the Sweet Shop in Eagles Mere, and then did the job.

Scrapple, pudding(liver....ehhk!), baasi(Kielbasa), buckwheat cakes, gobs.

Some strange eats from my dads home town of Somerset. When ya tell a 6 year old he's gonna have pancakes and pudding for breakfast, he gets pretty excited............until he gets buckwheat and liver pudding.

I'm from south western PA. I remember cleaning my dorm room with my roomate for the first time after basic. Looked at him and asked him "where are the sweepers?" With a look of confusion the NorCal boy looked at me and said "a broom?"

"No! A vacume cleaner, ya boob!"

I'd kill for a couple of those gobs with the little sailor on the package that are made in Johnstown. My mom used to mail them to me when i was overseas.

First time deer hunting in New Mexico i walk up on probably the only other guy in the state hunting with a flintlock. Was close to Los Alamos and started talking to him. Soon as he finished his sentance I said "What part of PA are you from?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Well first it was you carrying a flintlock, second you just said 'I was huntin over air'"

Looking forward to my first visit in 2 years in april for a friends wedding.

BTW.... those guys from Holsloppe, I went to highschool with Jeff Hostetlers niece & nephew.

Buckwheat cakes bring back memories. Mom used to keep a big crock full of buckwheat batter in the coal cellar, covered with a clean dish towel. It was just cool enough in there that the batter would keep for a week without freezing or spoiling. She'd make buckwheat cakes, sausage, and dippy eggs for breakfast and lunch.

Our road was one lane, and made of brick, until they "improved" it. Should have left it alone, it was in better shape the old way!

Until I left home, I'd never heard bologna referred to as bologna. It was always "Jumbo" to me.(that was a brand name of the locally preferred bologna) Same with Liverwurst.....we called it "Braunschweiger".

Funny thread, with lot's of fond memories. The PennDOT jokes are hilarious!

Jeff

There's a hill top on the Haul Road called Gobblers Knob. Maybe a PA boy was working pipeline construction and named it. That, or trucker christened it after getting a BJ in the rest stop!

Jeff

Sure bets looking at Punxatawney Phil!!!!

Do any of yinz know of any Blough's from sw PA? The only ones out here are my relatives but there is a whole pile of them around the Johnstown Somerset area. Even a town named Blough.

Likewise. I was a former employee....

Both my parents were lifeguards at a big azz swimming pool in Somerset..went there often as a wee lad....


Also...ate my share of buckwheat pancakes...

Kinda like Elk Grove up in Columbia County
And just how do you pronounce "Wilkes-Barre".
How many states have a town with a fire burning beneath it(Centralia)?
When I go hunting, it's "up t'hill".
I've a friend who grew up in West Wyoming and who refers to slow drivers on two lane roads as "frittle a$$es". Maybe that's just her, though.
Towns - Jersey Shore - and not anywhere near an ocean.
We have our own Grand Canyon. (and I have seen one even deeper west of Lake Ganoga near Sullivan's Falls.)
Pete

pronounced wilkes-bear

Black lung and yellow cricks.....

Ruff(R-u-f) = Roof

A toboggan is a hat not a sled.

adam

Neckerchif = Scarf

Chimley = chimney

I haven't heard that one in a long time!

Steve.

Babushka also = scarf and babushka also = grandmother.

Interesting thread.......I had the displeasure (for me) of living in Georgia for a few years. I am very glad to back in Pittsburgh. Some can talk the 'Burgh down but everyone has a home and the 'Burgh is it to me!

Shortly after I moved from Clearfield county to near Philly, I was watching the evening news. The anchorman said something about the Jersey shore office. My first thought was 'Why in the hell would a Philly TV station have an office in Jersey Shore?' Then I realized they meant the NEW Jersey shore.

Dale

Funny this thread came about this week. I was talking to a customer at work the other day and after a few words came out of my mouth he says 'Are you from the Philly area?', it's been yrs since I lived there but it's stuck with me.

I miss Tastykakes and Hogies!!!!!

Comedian Pete Barbutti used to talk about Tastykakes during his routines on the Tonight Show.

Shrubbush = any bush for which you don't know the name.

Coldbore,

I'm not far at all from Slippery Rock myself. Drive through it every day for work. Love some Ginger Hill and North Country Brewing. Fiance's uncle was chief of University Police for years.

Is Ginger hill a beer?
I went to elementery school at Ginger Hill.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps

yep and wild cat mines that would scare Big John.

So many enlisted like my father did in the 30's
And became the old men and leaders during the fights.

ummm tasty kakes!

Coal was certainly and is still king. In SW PA,it was shaft mined and stripped mines. At my folk's old place when I visit,I can stand and pretty much look in 360 degrees andonly see reclaimed strip mines.

Now they are high walling the coal pillars that were left after they shaft mined the coal.These pillars were used to keep the over burben from falling in.Now a hydraulic operated wall is erected and the coal is mined out of those pillars. When done,the wall is stepped over to the next pillar and the earth behind it falls in.Of course,everything topside falls in and many homes have been demolished because of it.

Home wells also.My brother lost his well and the coal comany had to haul his water for two years. After that he was on his own and now trucks it in.

Mom was from Shamokin and my aunt and uncle lived there. Couldn't hang clothes out on a real windy day or the dust off the culm banks would get 'em dirty again. Shamokin Creek has two branches; one all muddy, the other all black, and a hell of a mess down stream. The Glen Burn colliery is still there, but for how long I don't know. If any of you get to Ashland, the Pioneer Tunnel coal mine is a great tour.
http://www.pioneertunnel.com/home.shtml

I live and grew up in Boswell, which is only a few miles from Blough...I know hundreds of people with the name Blough...and when I was a Junior in highschool, I dated Doris Blough.....

[quote=Partagas]My dad's family is from Holsopple near Boswell and Jerome between Johnstown and Somerset. He and both of brothers moved out to Wyoming in the late 60's. I then grew up hearing the accents and eating gobs. Red the table, a rift is apparently a belch.

Tell your family I said hello....I'm betting I know them?????????????
I was born and raised and still live in Boswell. Spent alot of time in Jerome and Hollsopple drinking beer and playing softball............

most of that stuff is philly slang. real pennsylvanians realize the eastern border should have been the schulkill river and not the delaware.

daahn er an at

drank many a beer at the Kings & Queens and Emerald Inn on way to camp. that burger king in boswell is the dirtiest fast food restaurant i was ever in. they must be paying the health dept off or something.

My dad's hunting camp was in Sullivan County...Nordmont to be exact. I loved that place growing up as a kid and am seriously considering it as my retirement spot.

And scrapple!!

I think I could live on scrapple and buckwheat cakes, and dippy eggs. With birch beer at lunch and Yngling's at supper!

Funny....

You are thinking about retiring from Alaska to PA, and I would probably rather move from PA and retire in Alaska....

Sullivan County is still a happenin' place. Population about 6200. http://www.sullivancounty-pa.org/ Good fishin', good huntin', good people.

Yep, beautiful country. I hiked the Rickets Glen Falls loop about 15 years ago. I think a portion of it is located in Sullivan County. I've also fished Hunter's Lake on several occassions.

I wouldn't mind retiring there, either. I have a MUCH greater chance of getting my wife to move from Schuylkill to Sullivan county than I do to Alaska, or any other state for that matter.

There is a small town in NW PA called Lickingville. The
Pittsburg Pirates are refered to as "Buccos", Roberto Clemente
was Bob Clemente. Deer are "jack lighted" not poached. Everyone
used a 30-30 or a 35 Rem for deer when they were growing up.
There is also a town called Titusville were vaseline was invented.

I was in Titusville a year ago. I went to see the Drake Oil Well and museum.

Pittsburg, PA was originally FT Pitt in the 1700s, lots of history there, war, blood shed, etc.

Man, I haven't heard "jack lighted" since I was a kid.
Titusville is where the oil boom started. So long whale oil.

Another term for poaching was "speed beef".

I was born in Erie. Some of this is familiar. I always call cold-cuts "lunch meat". I thought everybody did. My grandmother always called her purse a "pocketbook".

Erie is a town with plenty of ethnic private clubs. For a small city they probably have more private clubs than anywhere I've ever seen. I was just in Erie last summer and was at the Polish Falcon's Club for a breakfast fundraiser and none of us are Polish. My father was able to drink at their bar when he was 17.

Ox Roast and City Chicken, I think, are pretty unique Erie things.

Butler, right? I bought tickets from you years back (when I lived in TN) for the gun raffle/sportsmans day at the Fairgrounds.

I probably knew your fiance's uncle. Seemed like there were only about four officers there! One was in my unit when I was Air Guard down in Pgh.

I was on the other side of Rt 8, across from Camp Bucoco. I do miss living there...

Nope, a neat little restaurant/bar in Slippery Rock.

http://www.gingerhilltavern.com/

Not all that long ago, Slippery Rock was a dry town. Then they changed their ways, and I think that Ginger Hill was the first to get a liquor license.

As chumleyhunts said, North Country Brewing, just down Main Street a few buildings, is another good one....

Another place that used to be neat, but is now out of business, was the Wolf Creek Schoolhouse. Literally a one room schoolhouse that they moved across town and turned in to a restaurant. I took my wife there for dinner once about 16-17 years ago, while we were dating. It was snowing hard, and I was in 4WD "in town", just to get down the roads. We were the only people there that night (I'm still surprised they were even open). They had a real fireplace, and had it going strong that night. We sat right by the fireplace, and had the place to ourselves. Almost felt like being at home, but with somebody else cooking and a waitress serving us. What an evening....

One of my favorite local PA town names - Lycippus. Officially pronounced as "lie-sip-us", but everyone jokingly refers to it as "lick-a-puss"

Thank god they didn't do that to Blue Ball.

Lyciblue Ball.

My folks are all from there ( just over the hill ..Gowen City )

I wonder if the Glen Burn still gives tours on Sunday?

I remember a tavern called the "Zig Zag Bar" which reminds me
I havent had an Iron City beer in a long time.

A number of years ago I met an older gentleman who lived over by Libby, MT. Got to talking and he said he served in the 8th Air Force in Britain in WWII. I mentioned it was my understanding that my grandfather was also in Britain with the 8th Air Force during that time. The gentleman didn't recall my grandfather by name, but did say they had a lot of "Pennsyltuckians" over there. First time I'd heard that phrase.

Colonel Grabreski, who I believe was the leading P-47 ace in WWII, at least in the ETO, was from Oil City.

And only one traffic light in the whole county that I remember...in Dushore.

There was a bar in Bellefonte called: Carl's Bad Tavern.

Is gas 'still 85 cents a gallon' at that gas station by that burger king??

I'm proud to come from a long line of Pennsyltukians.
The family tree is very straight!
We only got out of the hills for WWII.
LOL

Lots of ethnic influences on "PA-speak". Anything from eastern Europeans, to da Amish. Some of it blended together over many generations. Been exposed to most of them.

Once worked for Bethlehem Steel in Steelton (near Harrisburg). Most of the ethnic groups "stuck together" at meal time, but I often bounced around, ate with most of them while working there.

That little town had just about every European ethnic group represented and at one time, each group had its own Catholic church and social club. The Diocese long ago consolidated most of the churches, but the clubs remain. And as noted previously above, most belonged to more than one ethnic social club and attended all the picnics. Beer, good eats, polkas and more beer.

Noticed years ago, that much of northern Indiana, Wisconsin, western NY and northcentral PA, have similar accents. Was in Elkhart, IN once and thought I was back in northcentral PA, where my dad is from and where I still hunt. Most pronounce "on" as "ahn", fog as fahg, etc.

'Course my maternal Granny always had her a "flahr" garden out back.

You really haven't missed anything! lol

My grandmother "warshed" her laundry

Pa at one time possibly could have laid claim to the poaching capital of the U.S.
Then again we had more than alot of Deer at one time. Growing up it was nothing to count over a hundred a day in the mountain counties. Herds of 40 and 50 where a common sight and in the fields you could often spotlight hundreds in a single evening.

Haven't heard that term used for a while. Had an acquaintance who was the friend of a cousin and his rifle looked more than beat up and I asked him about it. His reply was; "If you had been thrown out of a car as many times as that rifle has, you wouldn't look all that great either."

Addition: 10 plus years ago the head of the GC was booted out.
The reason? Poaching Deer, among others.

http://pgchallofshame.com/news/news6.htm

I think the PA term that always got the biggest WTF from people was when I asked for a gum band.

Didja PennDOT's having a big lay-off? Seems some Chinese guy invented a shovel that stands up by itself.

I just had the honor and priviledge of interviewing a gentleman that was a tail gunner who flew 35 missions with the 8th Air Force.

Instead of a typical back and forth Q&A interview, I just led with "Harry, tell me a little bit about what you did back then." And that was pretty much all I said for the next hour. He just wanted to talk, and tell his story, on his own. His wife, daughter-in-law, and grandson were there as well. We all just sat and listened. What a fantastic experience...

Pop = soda

Having grown up in Youngstown Ohio I recognize many of the phrases that crossed the state line. Lots of other fond memories of Pa.
I saw Emerson,Lake and Palmer's first US show at Thiel College in Greenville, the prettiest girl I didn't marry was from New Brighton
in the heart of the "Beaver Valley". We liked to go to "Frenchy's" restaurant in Pittsburgh.
Anybody remember the "Garden Gate Restaurant" on 224 west of Butler? best buffet ever at the time.

they finally put another business in there and took down the 85 cent gas sign. it was there for many years though and i'm sure made a few folks jump. i hear the only cop in jennerstown is also the night manager at that filthy burger king.

I ate at the Garden Gate when I was a kid. I'd forgotten all about that place. Wasn't it on 422 though, not 224?

Dale

Yep, it is 422.

224 is over near Youngstown however, so maybe that's the thing that caused the little hiccup in memory.

I use to own land near Tionesta on Iran Furnace road.

My Dad, and his buds had a camp near Hearts Content. High school pal of mine's family's camp was near McGee Run. Fond memories of both places. My buddy wound up moving up to the Warren area. Married a local gal, and is still there. I really liked the Emporium area. One of my Dad's co-workers at West Penn Power, transferred up there, and we visited and hunted up there a bit. They're all gone to the Happy Hunting Grounds now.

Jeff

Dont forget the rad-o-light.

dave

Hearts Content is a cool place. Love looking at all the old growth timber there.



These threads do stir up old memories.

That it is. The view from the Fire Tower (pronounced fire tire in PA speak!) was really something. Wonder if it's still there? If it is, I doubt a kid is allowed to climb it to take a look.

There used to be a bunch of guys who would pitch a big Army tent on a bed of straw near there, and spend the entire deer season there.

Jeff

About five years ago I did a "Route 6 trip" with a buddy of mine. We left his place in Centre County, drove up to the Drake Oil Well, spent the night in Erie and then took a couple of days to drive across the northern tier. We had to cut the trip short at Tunkhannock, and then came back through Hughesville to Centre County.
I really liked Warren and the Kinzua Dam area and also like the towns of Coudersport and Galeton, along with Emporium, which isn't on Route 6.

You're correct, it was 422. I just remember the managers name was Shirley, and she was an incredible lady.
I had to go back and look at a map 224 and 422 converged in New Castle, speaking of New Castle is PO Lunch still in business?

Who here has had a Primante Bros. sandwich?

My mother used to go when she was a nurse in Pgh, working nights, and the place was open at night to cater to the produce workers at the Strip. That's been a few years....

It's worth the almost two hour drive to take out-of-town friends down there, and gives me a great excuse to go myself.

Primanti's was recently awarded the #1 spot in a national "best of" sandwich survey.

Well worth stopping by if somebody is passing through Pgh.

Every time I get out to a stillers game, it's the first stop

I've had one once. I don't get the french fries in the sandwich. You guys in 'burg ina hurry? They make a good side to any sandwich.

Initially, yeah, the guys that Primanti's catered to WERE in a hurry.

They were the dock workers unloading produce. They'd grab a quick bite when they got a chance. Bread, meat, toppings, fries, and slaw, all served on waxed paper. You could eat fast, everything with one hand, no silverware, and just wad up and toss the "plate" afterwards. Pretty smart actually.

I was born in Herndon, P-AY. Dad went to Shamokin High School, Mom went to Dalmatia High School (which was converted into Dalmatia Elementary that I attended). Great-grandfather worked in the Glen Burn Mine for a while back in the 'teens. My grandfather told me the story of when he was a boy watching the miners' shift change at night. With all of the glowing miners lights coming up, and going down, the hill it reminded him of fireflies in the dark. "Grampaw's" nickname was "Fats" and his best friend was "Polack Johnny". Those two guys took me on the Glen Burn mine tour one time. I think it was done to instill in me the fear of ever going to work in a coal mine. It worked. Pop used his grandfather's miner's lamp when he was a kid checking his trap line in the pre-dawn hours. I still have it hanging on a hook in my gun cabinet.

When our family migrated to Western Maryland in 1963, my ten year old sensibilities were affronted by the thick West Virginia-style accent prevalent among the local kids. I couldn't understand what they were saying at first, and they had a hard time understanding me. We were constantly having to "import" such staples as good Lebanon Baloney, properly smoked sausage, and Yuengling beer (for the old man).

In our neck of the woods- Herndon/Dornsife/Dalmatia- the older generations were truly bilingual. Pennsylvania Dutch was heard as much as English. In fact my grandparents spoke more "Dutch" than they did English, especially between themselves. (Don'tcha know?)

Vincent's Pizza aka a Vinnie Pie.

The Original aka the Big "O".

Mineo's Pizza: About as good as it gets in the Burgh.

The "Chiefs": At one time 7 Iron City drafts for a Buck. If they knew you they would throw in a shot of some rot gut whiskey. Or 7 shots of rot gut for a Buck with a beer thrown in. Your choice.

The Bucktail and Kelly Hotel in Marienville.
Shot a Bear and we went to the Kelly to celebrate. It turned into a zoo. This was when around 300 Bears were taken in Pa. The people left the bar to look at the bear in the trunk and the party was on. I think 1/4 of Marienville got a look at that Bear.

Vince's tavern in Leeper.

The Vowinkel Hotel in Vowinkel

The Benezette mall: You get extra points if you get that one.

The Willows in Sinnamahoning.

The Sykesville pre Deer Season pancake breakfast.

Best place to eat in the Burgh at 3AM.




Been to Benezette many times but don't recall that. My aunt and uncle had a camp up Trout Run. We turned up some dirt road in benezette, then had to pack everything in the last bit over the "swinging bridge" and up the other side.

The Benezette mall is the one little store in Benezette that sold just about anything you would need. Thus it became known as the Benezette mall.

Used to go to a camp outside of Benezettee that was on the other side of the creek with no bridge over. You parked the truck along the road and they had a tram that went across. Unloaded your gear onto the tram and pulled yourself and gear across the creek. When done you would pull the tram empty back across so the next guy in could do the same. Big-time mistake to not do so.

Went in to "O" one night and some guy had just picked up an order for $100 worth of "O" fries. Don't think I will ever see that many fries ever again. They had a couple boxes the size of which would hold a clothes dryer filled with fries. It was late naturally.

I remember Sam's Restaurant in Titusville, PA. Is it still
there?

Had a great lunch there with my dad one day last year.

I'm sure I've been there, but my brain needed that space for remembering something else. I'm thinking we did most of our shopping in St. Marys.

Sounds like the "swinging bridge" was a step up though if you were humping something heavy across and someone got it to swaying a bit it could get exciting. Now I'm wondering if this could have been the same place; the bridge we used was supposedly not that old but I can't recall how they described the previous iterations. This was late 60's I would say.

The thig I always thought was interesting about the "O" was the "Oktoberfest" seating. You never knew who you'd end up sitting beside. I mean, usually it was some drunk Pitt students but a number of times I recall sitting beside some big group of blacks down from the Hill dressed to the nines, after church I guess. Funny time to be in church but there you go.

Also remember going to German Hill and seeing the animals
when I was a kid.

Like a beacon in the night that pops up out of the darkness. I know I'm almost there when the Vowinkel shines.

Dang, Im getting homesick for PA, but the weather is usually
pretty ugly this time of year.

Do you miss the humidity in the summer as well?

No, not really. Just some of the cool places that I used to
visit when I lived there.

Went to the "O" (The Original) one time when I was working night turn. I ordered a large (big mistake.........and I was forewarned). Thee fries came in a biox the size of a shoebox....lotta fries!!!

Any of you older gents remeber any gun shops up in Meadville, Pa. ?

Colorado? Nope, guess again:

We even have our own mini Grand Canyon:

And the best collection of hunting camps in the entire U.S.A.

Selly Almon Sporting Goods (not quite sure about the spelling) was one I vaguely remember. I think Leupold used it in one of their ads when there was a really rainy first day of buck season, about 1966, I think. I think that particular store got a huge number of fogged scopes in for repair but not one Leupold.

There was a gunshop in Meadville called Robbies Gunshop (late 40's early 50's).......my dad was related to the owner.....heaerrd some stories about it.

Robbies was open until the late 90's when a Taco Bell took it's place.

There is a gunshop in Sugarcreek, PA that I try to visit
when up in PA. That guy has some pretty cool old rifles.
Cant think of the name of it though, he has an automotive
shop in the same building.

Any of you south western Pa. guys remember Buck Trews Gun Shop in Bentlyville?

I grew up a couple blocks away. Spent many days gawking at all the mounts. Probably purchased my first half dozen hunting licenses at Trew's. There just aren't many places like that around anymore. I'm pretty sure the building isn't even there anymore.

You ever get up to Cooks forest.
Drive on up to the Farmers Inn in Sigel,Pa.


http://thefarmersinn.com/

Great place to eat.

dave

The gunshop in Sugarcreek, PA that I mentioned is called
T&L Guns.

I pass by Siegel on the way North. Will give it a look. Of course will also have to stop in the Siegel Hotel just for old times sake.

The summer of '71, I was a laborer for Dean Carl of Carl's Masonry out of Herndon. They'd drive up to South Williamsport every day. We were putting up a three story apartment building. The older guys usually spoke Dutch to each other because it was more natural than English. Hard work and fun times. The one day, Dean hollered over to his cousin, Donny: "Hey, Donny. I chust saved yer life!" "How's that, Dean?" "I chust killed a [bleep]-eatin' fly!"

If you are from PA well at least the central part you know Chicken pot pie is not a pie.

Its amazing the range of vocab in PA, my moms family is extremely dutchy(another term only PA people know). At my one great uncle's funeral more people spoke PA dutch then english. My Dads family was from Osceolo area and quite a bit of that vocab has made it into me as well.

My wifes from Philly and still shakes her head at a lot of it, or when we were dating she would look at me with this what did he say look on her face.

Ask your wife why people from Philly pronounce water as "wooter".

Same here, it was an awesome gun shop.
Dad bought me a used Rifle there, it was a 760 in 06 with a 4x Weaver for 90 bucks.
Wish I still had it, it got stolen out of our house when the wife and I moved to town so she could go to school.

Oh I've spent many a week there.
Hiking and hunting all the fire roads and trails.

We used to take 422 all the "back home" from NE Ohio.
Long before I80 was completed. It was an all day journey, back to Shamokin.

My uncle worked at the Glen Burn too. But got the lung very early and had to remain above ground.

I took the tour once.. maybe in the 70's?
It is an old hole. Large enough to be a civil defense shelter for the entire town.
4-5000?

My grandparents never did speak english much. My father was bi-lingual. ( one of the reasons the Army sent him to the Aluteians! ) And then to Europe in time to cross the Rhine with Patton )
He was one of thirteen children, all gone now.
With too many cousins and grand cousins to count.
Now, we're all scattered hither and yon.

Yeah, that mine was one very deep hole- maybe a mile deep as I recall? It's been a long time. It sure scared the bejesus out of me as a kid, and still gives me the willies when I think about it.

Everybody heated with coal, and it didn't take long for pristine fresh-fallen snow to take on a gray sheen from the perpetual smog that hung over the small towns. One of my daily chores as a little kid was to shovel coal from the coal bin into the hopper on the furnace, and help the old man dig the clinkers out of the grate. I can still see the steam locomotives (in use 'til the late 50's) pulling long trains of coal cars on the lines that hugged both sides of the Susquehanna River, and the poor people who couldn't afford coal delivery walking along those tracks with burlap bags- looking for chunks of coal that had fallen off of those trains. Anthracite truly was the blessing, and the curse, for that region.

I love the smell of an anthracite fire; it is a childhood memory that I shall never forget.

The picture in my avatar is the coal fire in my EFM stoker....

CoalCracker, that's a neat picture. That's how I remember the firebox in our old coal furnace.

Any of you southwest Pa.guys remember this guy.
http://www.chillertheatermemories.com/TheLab.html

"Terminal Stare" was smokin!!!!

I remember ole "Chilly Billy". "Night of the Living Dead" is the standard of horror movies. It was made in SW Pa & Bill had a part in the movie.

The "Chilly Billy" Family:

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=PLA7EEDCA59BD52885&v=-v47dgIHZbs[/video]

Wow, does that bring back memories!

Jeff

OK, we'll see if this old joke rings a bell with you PA boys.

Did you hear that Nick Perry was admitted into the hospital? Apparently, he has a case of water in the balls!

Jeff

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=SS18r2k8JVo[/video]

Me too Jeff.



Unfortunately.

666 (If I remember correctly)

At least you're not going to jail for it! What the heck was his show called...."Bowling for Dollars" or something like that?

Jeff

Good memory.

Bowling for dollars it was!

Story of the rigging in Perry's obit announcement!

http://www.post-gazette.com/obituaries/20030424perry2.asp

Now if I could just remember what I had for breakfast!

Jeff

rahtree,

Yep, that's the one! I still remember how the older folks, my grandparents included, were so dismayed that he would do such a thing. He was held in pretty high regard by the Lawrence Welk crowd.

Jeff

I thought "Night Of The Living Dead" was filmed in Zelinople?

Nope.....Evans city!

Some PA firsts:

Betsy Ross: First Flag

Pittsburgh: Countries first gas station

Pittsburgh: First Baseball stadium

Pittsburgh: First commercial radio station

Pittsburgh: Salk vaccine to cure polio

Titusville: First oil well

Punxsutawney "Phil": A Groundhog weather forecaster.

The Hershey chocolate bar: Americas favorite.

Philadelphia has some firsts, but the Western part of the State tries to ignore them.

Looked forward to Chilly Billy, all the girls liked to cuddle during the scary movies.

I believe a movie was filmed in Cook Forest back in the 40s
or 50s.

Steelers: first team to win SIX Super Bowls.

There are only a handful of "K" radio stations east of the Mississippi and two of them are in the 'Burgh. They are...?

One is KDKA, obviously. Not sure of the others callsign, but I believe it's affiliated with KDKA as well.

Americas first hospital. When you are one of the original thirteen colonies is not difficult to be the first for something.

On September 1, 1971 the Pittsburgh Pirates played the Philadelphia Phillies at Three Rivers Stadium, the Pirates
starting lineup was:
Rene Stennett 2B
Gene Clines CF
Roberto Clemente RF
Willie Stargell LF
Manny Sanguillen C
Dave Cash 3B
Al Oliver 1B
Jackie Hernandez SS
Dock Ellis P

This was the first time in major league baseball that all
the starting players were black.

What famous sandwich was first made in Pennsylvania?


What famous card game originated in Pittsburgh?


Iron City was the first canned beverage to use what?

First zoo in America: Philadelphia.
http://www.philadelphiazoo.org/about/AboutZoo.htm

Big Mac


Bingo


Snap tab

Steelers: first team to win SIX Super Bowls.

Best fact of them all

River water, straight out of the Allegheny?

(I think I know the true answer though... ).

Edit: I was right, about the tab, but was distracted as I wrote, and got too slow...

A good childhood friend's dad worked at the Iron City brewery when I was growing up. The buddy now owns a beer distributor.

Which one was filmed in the Monroeville Mall?

The starting point for the Lewis and Clark expedition was Pittsburgh down the Ohio river.

http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/history/a/lewis_clark.htm

Some relatives on my wifes side of the family worked in svereal of the breweries back in the 50's thru the 70's. Drinking beer at lunch and on breaks was the norm............how things have changed.

Just like Battue I have seen a lot of Pittsburgh......born and raised here!!!

Local synonym for an Iron City:

A "Red Dot"

Then there is that most elusive of fish.....the Allegheny Brown Trout!

Very difficult to land, as they are very soft mouthed, and require a delicate touch.

Jeff

KQV?

No doubt it holds some big ones.

Yep. It's probably even more of an anomaly than KDKA as three letter IDs are pretty rare.

I seen enough coal fire in Centralia!
Now I heat wit gas.
I loan my coal oil burner to me brother in law to stank up his garage.

The last moose known to be killed in Pennsylvania was in 1790.

I never knew there was meeses in Pa. Ya learn something every day, I tell ya.

I hear elk are being re-introduced.

There has been a herd in Elk County (since before WWII, wasn't it?) of reintroduced Idaho Elk, the originals having gone out in the 1900 time frame IIRC. And there's been a season for a little wile now, or at least there was. Not living there anymore, I'm not up on the latest.

Buffalo were also here at one time.

Interesting read. However, how accurate? Who knows, but at one time Pa had a considerable herd of Woods Bison.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/34620027/1915-A-Pennsylvania-Bison-Hunt

Here's a link to the PGC with lots of stuff on our elk herd. A pretty sucessful job. And some slammer bulls ae taken evry year.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=9106&mode=2&PageID=633015

PA at one time had wolves, cougars, moose, bison, and several
different Native American tribes.

....and some serious fighting and torture went on between the Natives and newcomers. Not an easy time for the weak.

I remember reading an article in the Pennsylvania Game News about 40 years ago about the Pennsylvania elk herd. I think the last season on the "native" elk was held in 1923. New elk were transplanted from Wyoming, I believe, but maybe it was Idaho; I can't remember all of the details.

For a long time, the herd suffered from brain worm. It would get to about 50 - 60 animals and then die off to about 35. For some reason, the herd in recent years seems to have overcome the brain worm problem and expanded to several hundred animals, hence a hunting season was justified.

I've seen some real K-whopper bulls in the Benezette area, as big as anything I've seen in the Rocky Mountains.