Philly Tales

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...

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...

By Harry Hallman The other day while I was lying on my two thousand dollar lounge chair by my million dollar pool in Hollywood and talking to Scarl...

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...

Kensington dads, in my era, came in all flavors. Some drank too much, others were overbearing,  and some ignored their kids. Most dads, however, di...

I once told you I have a time machine. Don’t laugh. You have one also. That time machine is my memories, coupled with my historical fiction writing...

I loved growing up in Philadelphia. My childhood street, West Wishart in Kensington, was packed with interesting people. People who still kept the ...

Kensington and Philly seemed to be designed to provide great hangouts for kids and adults alike. The numerous corner bars of that time was the equi...

Growing up in Kensington in the 1950’s I always identified with being Irish. I mean, I think just about everyone did to some degree. Kensington was...

For many of us, the golden age was when we were kids carefree and happy running around the streets of Kensington in Philadelphia with little or not...