Merry Christmas Monessen
Like many entrepreneurs, I grew up in a small town where you learn the meaning of hard work and responsibility. As the saying goes, you learn your lesson in Monessen.
Monessen, Pennsylvania, is a small steel town on the Monongahela River, south of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1898, it grew quickly as early entrepreneurs and industrialists recognized the industrial value of its location with access by both rail and water. Soon, a number of mills were built along the river, including those by the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company, the Monessen Foundry, the Page Woven Wire and Fence Company, and the Pittsburgh Steel Company.
When I grew up in Monessen, mostly everyone's dad worked in the local mills. Moms generally stayed at home and took care of the house and kids. If they did work, it was at shops and stores downtown like Thrift Drug, or in the office of a family owned business like Frank's Garage, the Chrysler/Plymouth dealership in town.
Mills Booming in Monessen
Christmas was the most special time of the year in Monessen. Right after Thanksgiving, the city would string up Christmas lights on the telephone poles downtown from one side of the street to the other, and traffic would pass underneath. The merchants would all decorate their shops with lights and G.C. Murphy, or the five and ten as we called it, would display the latest toys, like Kenner's Give-a-Show Projector and the Marx Rock-em Sock-em Robots in their windows. People would bundle up and walk the streets, shopping, and putting things on lay-away to be paid for and picked up before Christmas.
Then there was the annual Christmas parade. High school bands would march down Donner Avenue, playing Christmas songs, as the mayor and other officials waved to the crowds that lined the street. And finally, at the end of the parade was Santa Claus, riding high on a shiny firetruck operated by the Monessen Volunteer Fire Department. Christmas season had arrived.
Old Monessen Municipal Building and Volunteer Fire Department
Well, hard times have since hit the city. The mill was shut down in 1986 and most downtown stores have closed. My generation has largely moved on. Classmates live in Danville, California, Ashburn, Virginia, and St. Petersburg, Florida. The Thrift Drug and G.C. Murphy closed years ago and Frank's Garage doesn't sell new cars anymore. But, the memories remain. Every year as I watch the Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade on television and Santa appears, I get a tear in my eye, as I remember Christmas in Monessen.
Merry Christmas Monessen. Merry Christmas Everyone.
Dave Chitester
Posted by David Chitester at 12/15/2011 2:30 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Monessen david chitester entrepreneurs
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Monessen david chitester entrepreneurs
I just remembered something from my Monessen past! My dad would take my sister and me to the Firemen's Club
( actually, he took us to BOTH of the local clubs, Hilltop and downtown )to meet Santa personally and receive a yummy treat bag. I recall drinking lots and lots of Yahoo, that special chocolate pop. I think I have a bad memory of getting sick from all I ate and drank there.
Reply to this