I wish I could have visited “Streets of Baghdad” back in 1923.
Billed by the papers as a “unique bazaar and entertainment,” it was a fund raiser the Shriners held at Irem Temple in February.
Knowing what I do of the Shriners, the event was probably loaded with great costuming and lots of fun surprises and music. I’m sure I would have seen some of the most storied people of our town’s heyday strolling the aisles.
Let’s take a look at what else was going on in Wyoming Valley in the fabled “Roaring Twenties.” As we do, let us ask ourselves this question. Will we see a similar decade of excitement in our own time, or will future generations scoff at us for our “Boring Twenties?”
Speaking of Irem Temple (now, fortunately, being restored), would you believe that in January of 1924, that hall hosted back-to-back performances by piano virtuoso Ignace Jan Paderewski and legendary violinist Fritz Kreisler? A few weeks later the New York Symphony (predecessor of today’s New York Philharmonic) offered a concert. By 1928 the famed Ruth St. Denis was dancing at Irem.
Dang, take me back – please!
If the 1920s had a slogan, it would probably have been something like “don’t do small when you can do big,” even when the task is as mundane as making a delivery. The Royal typewriter company heeded that maxim in September 1927 when it sent a plane over Kirby Park to parachute-drop pallets of its products for a local dealer.
You want “big!” In 1926 none other than Babe Ruth of the Yankees visited Wilkes-Barre’s Artillery Park to play in a local semi-pro game. All he did was blast a home run so long and spectacular that it’s commemorated today by a plaque near the field.
The 1920s was a decade of “firsts” here in Wyoming Valley. Much of what we now take for granted, whether humble or spectacular, got its start in those years.
In February of 1923 pet lovers enjoyed a big boost when veterinarian Dr. Emory Lutes opened the area’s first dog hospital in West Nanticoke. Enjoy fireworks? July Fourth of 1926 was the first reported instance of an Independence Day fireworks show in then-new Kirby Park. In June, two years later, the Martz Bus Co. was running regular trips to New York City, enabling locals to take in a Broadway show or visit the Statue of Liberty.
Of course, the decade had its share of oddities. Msgr. John Curran of St. Mary’s Church of the Immaculate Conception tried to tamp down excitement by explaining that the “miracle” vision of Jesus at his church that thousands were flocking to see in October 1922 was more likely a case of light reflection. When the crowds came anyway, Curran closed the building except for services.
A more unusual “miracle” occurred the same year when 22-year-old James Hurry showed up at his family’s Wilkes-Barre home to announce that their sorrow over his “drowning” in the Susquehanna four years earlier was misplaced because he’d actually gone down to Berwick to work on a farm.
Every era has its regrettable events. A reported 6,000 people turned out in October 1925 to see the Ku Klux Klan help dedicate a Slocum Township school.
But 14,000 turned out for the Thanksgiving Day Coughlin-Kingston high school football game the following month. So maybe even in a time famed for its bootlegging and crime, there was hope.
There was also the “Streets of Baghdad.” You’ve got to love those Shriners.
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