Philly Tales Blog

• Leeches to reduce swelling and heal bruises: Drug stores used to sell leeches, and I believe they had them up to the 1950s. Interestingly it appears this is one old wives tale that might be true.

Happy Easter! “Spring has sprung,” my grandfather, Pop, used to say. For him, it was a time for celebration because he could go fishing again. Ever...

Yesteryear Technology We live in a fabulous technological world! So many great technical feats make our lives better and healthier. For example, in...

It’s odd to look back to my days growing up during the 1950s in Philadelphia’s Kensington section. Kensington today is different from the blue-coll...

People often tell you, “Don’t sweat the small things,” and that’s good advice when it comes to things that disturb you. However, it’s the small thi...

On November 22, 1963, I was working in the darkroom making prints of some target or another for my employer, the United States Air Force. It was a ...

My favorite Bruce Springsteen song is “The Streets of Philadelphia.” It gives me a lump in my throat every time I hear it. This haunting song remin...

Can you believe it? The summer is almost over, and it seems like it just started. This summer will be memorable, but mostly for the wrong reasons. ...

When you live in one place for a long time, you get comfortable with your surroundings, get used to the people who live near you, and become accust...

By Harry Hallman Kensington had a lot of hot rods, and in fact the whole country was crazy for hot rods in the ’50s and ’60s. Movies such as Rebel...

Dogs, Cats, Salamanders, and Scarlet Johansson. Oh my! By Harry Hallman Updated March 13, 2023 The other day while I was lying on my two-thousand-d...

Making a Buck By Harry Hallman Ben Franklin famously said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Obviously, he didn’t grow up in the Kensington sectio...