Polish Falcons Post 123 Baseball Champs

Polish Falcons Nest 123 team photo courtesy of Tom DiLuzio.

Old Time Erie needs the help of the Teeming Masses to identify the Team Members in this photograph. We don't have much to go on, but someone out there surely knows the facts. 

The baseball team pictured here is the Polish Falcons Nest 123. The club is located at 602 East 19th Street in Erie, PA. 

Some possible clues:
The Polish Falcons won the 1938 Glenwood League title. Members of that team included: Bully Zawadski, Joe Yurkey, Butch Gajewski, Stan Koniecko (or Konieczko), Slomski (center field), Matlock (catcher), Grabowski (3rd bass), Perzynski (right field), Price (pitcher). Who knows, the photo might be from 1945 or 1946.

I will update this post as the ball players are identified, so get crackin'. 

Batboy: Frank Czulewicz
Front row (left to right):
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Back row (left to right);
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) Stephen Czulewicz.

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Mason's Department Store 1964 Erie PA

Mason's had two discount department stores in Erie, PA in 1964, one at 2026 Broad Street (just north of the Perry Plaza), and a second store at West 12th and Pittsburgh Ave. Mason's opened its first Erie store in 1959. This discount chain was owned by the M. H. Fishman Co. of Columbus, Ohio.

The advertisement on the left, which was published in the Erie Morning News on May 21, 1964, shows the latest fashion in summer sun-wear. Sun dresses for little girls, tropi-cool Jamaica sets and ladies' new pastel-hue summer dresses were all on sale. 

You could also sign up for a flexible credit card from Mason's and receive $3 off your first bill using the coupon on the bottom right. All you had to do was list the husband's name, age, address, employer and salary, along with bank accounts and references. You also had to list your wife's name, and tell if you rented or owned your residence.

My family shopped at the east side location when I was a kid in the early seventies, and I loved to hide in the racks of clothes. Back then, parents didn't have to worry about someone kidnapping their child from a store.

In the Erie area, Mason's was a predecessor to Miller's, Hill's and Value City department stores.

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Bob Contich Volkswagen East 5th Street

Bob Contich Motors Inc. was located at 117 East 5th Street, near French Street. The dealership sold Volkswagen automobiles. There is a white VW sitting in front of the showroom. When we were kids we used to punch each other in the arm whenever we saw a VW, which seemed to be quite often. This was a fun game we used to play when we went on a long trip, second only to poking each other and counting the number of different states we would see on license plates.

The Contich building was torn down and the site is now occupied by Erie Insurance.

Volkswagen had a television commercial in the nineties with the slogan 'Fahrvergnugen...Driving Excitement (or something like that). No matter what the literal meaning, it's a fun word to say out loud.

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Griswold Sale at Trask's 1936

Griswold cookware and cooking utensils were manufactured in Erie, Pennsylvania. These items included frying pans, dutch ovens, pancake griddles, tea kettles, food choppers, skillets and muffin pans. It's hard to believe that the highly collectible Griswold items once sold for 59¢ to $4.29. The purchase of an entire set of Griswold would have made an excellent investment...if only you had a crystal ball. 

Trask's Department Store was located at 827 State Street in Erie, PA. The advertisement shown above appeared in the Erie Dispatch-Herald on October 28, 1936.

Griswold was also available at the Boston Store down the street: http://oldtimeerie.blogspot.com/2012/11/griswold-sale-at-boston-store-1934.html

Enjoy more historic Erie, PA facts and photos at: oldtimeerie.blogspot.com