Rolling Stones And Smashing Pumpkins

Erie Daily Dispatch, September 13, 1870.

Rolling stones gather no moss, neither do roving boys. And when your aim is true, you might smash a pumpkin or two.

"On Saturday night a little daughter of Mr. William Mallery, had a children's party at her father's house on East 11th street, and a crowd of uninvited boys, about twelve years of age, congregated there to have some sport at the expense of those in the house.

Several stones were thrown at the building, some of them going into the hallway, where also, a small pumpkin fell and was smashed. Mr. Mallery ran out and caught one of the boys, to whom he administered a flogging.

Yesterday morning John Nugent, Henry Klitz, Jacob Klitz, Frank Klick, Charles Evans, Adam Harley, Christian Downer, Conrad Firch, George Siegel and Frederick Gudenburg, were brought up before Justice Griffith, looking nice enough to make a teacher feel proud of them. They admitted the facts as to the participation of each with commendable candor and the prosecutor and Justice were both disposed to let them off lightly. They were given good advice and discharged on payment of costs, which amounted to $1.15 each."

I don't see any mention of criminal charges being brought against Mr. Mallery for whipping one of the kids. Times sure have changed.

Find more old Erie photos and crime blotters at Old Time Erie

Teenage Boys Trashed The Place

Article in Erie Daily Dispatch, Sept. 15, 1870.

When teenage boys are out roaming the streets, they're bound to get into trouble. In the old days, if they couldn't pay the fine, they did the time. These five young men found that out the hard way after they trashed the place and were caught by the police. 

"Not having been furnished with complimentary tickets to Elwood's Minstrels, they asserted their displeasure by climbing to the top of the sky-light, or ventilator, and throwing down rubbish upon the audience below. The young scamps continued this exercise until the performance was over, when the police made a raid on them, capturing... John Murphy, John Devlin, John Coney, Charles Ross and Edward Langdon...

They were taken to the police station, and had their trial before Justice Foster...They were all fined two dollars each and costs, and John Coney, Charles Ross, and Edward Langdon, being recognized as frequent offenders, were sent up for ten days. In default of payment of fines they were all committed to jail....

Their ages ranged from twelve to sixteen." -Erie Daily Dispatch, September 15, 1870.

Find more fun historic facts and photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at Old Time Erie

Peter Pulakos Chocolates at 11th and Liberty

Peter Pulakos Tradition House at 11th and Liberty in Erie, PA circa 1955.

Peter Pulakos Tradition House was located on Liberty between 10th and 11th Streets in Erie, PA. Even though the picture shown above was taken in the fifties, a decade before I was born, something about it looked very familiar. I figured it out pretty quickly, thanks to Google Maps. The Salvation Army! I spent many hours there during the summer shooting hoops, playing bumper pool and eating pork rinds.

The Pulakos family started manufacturing and selling home-made chocolate and candy in Erie in 1903. Brothers Peter, Stephen and August Pulakos inherited Pulakos Candies business at 1108 State Street from their father, George P. Pulakos, in 1913. The brothers moved to 926 State Street in 1916. Peter Pulakos always considered the windows to be the eyes of the store, and saw to it that all his stores, including the location on Liberty Street, made the best use of the display space so it was visible from the street.

The old Pulakos building on the left still stands, but has a different sign on the front. It's now the center part of the Salvation Army at 1022 Liberty Street. The house on the right was demolished years ago and replaced with a two-story brick building.

Find more obscure facts and old photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at Old Time Erie

Dirty Looks Rocked Erie in 1991

Dirty Looks, left to right: Ostergaard, Lidel, Pyers and Harris. Photo ©Debbi Lyon 2014.

Dirty Looks appeared at St. Boniface Community Center on Wattsburg Road in May of 1991. I interviewed lead singer Henrik Ostergaard for an article that was published in Showcase, the weekly entertainment supplement to the Erie Daily Times and Morning News, on May 23, 1991. Here are the highlights of the article:

Dirty Looks is playing in Erie and there's no need to pack up the car and travel to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, or State College to see them. This time, Dirty Looks will load the Marshall stacks into rental trucks and set up shop in Erie, between tour dates in New York and Toronto.

"We're really looking forward to coming, since we haven't been back for four years," said lead singer/guitarist Henrik Ostergaard. "Erie's sort of my hometown."

Dirty Looks has been on tour for the last two months. The band played Cleveland's Agora Theater on April 6, 1991 and about half the audience drove from Erie to see them. 

When Henrik Ostergaard lived in Erie several years ago, he was a member of the local rock band, Crossfire. It released one single 'Love On Demand,' on the Select Sound label. He then formed Dirty Looks, which also included ex-Harpo bassist Jack Pyers and local drummer Steve McConnell. Pyers recently rejoined Dirty Looks after a brief health-related hiatus. The current line-up also includes guitarist Paul Lidel and drummer Jim Harris, a New York City native.

Besides its tour, Dirty Looks has a new album coming soon on Shrapnel Records' Hard Rock series. Bootlegs is a collection of nine original songs, most of which were rejected by Atlantic Records, the band's former label. Some songs, like 'Fang and the Love Pig,' are given two-thumbs down just because a label executive didn't like the title. "'Fang' is a love story about a futuristic pig and a cat called Fang," said Ostergaard. The song has a Faith No More flavor to it.

The album's strongest track, 'Speed Queen,' was written before the Cool From the Wire album was released on Atlantic. It aired on Rocket 101's 'Homegrown Show' and Tommy Edwards said he had been getting lots of calls requesting Dirty Looks. Ostergaard has promoted the album with interviews on WERG-FM and WFSE-FM.

Why did Ostergaard license the master tapes to Shrapnel for the Bootlegs album? "Some people are rich. We have to do it for a living. We needed the money to live on."

The songs, which were recorded at Acme Studios in New York and Dodge City in California, mostly feature the line-up that played on the two Atlantic Records releases (Cool From the Wire and Turn of the Screw); Ostergaard, Pyers, Lidel and drummer Gene Barnett. Barnett went on to perform with Lillian Axe and Paul Lidel joined Dangerous Toys.

Henrik Ostergaard died on January 27, 2011. He was born December 11, 1963.

Find more fun facts and old photos of Erie-based bands and buildings on Old Time Erie.