First up: Philadelphia's history museum! Apparently it's been closed the last five years for a complete do-over, and it's only partially completed at the moment. They have several cool artifacts, though, like the compass John Ladd used to map out the city! It's huge--here's a picture:
You can ask me how they used that thing, but I won't tell you, because I don't know. =) At any rate, there are three exhibits open to the public right now, but the most interesting one I found was the one about Philly's early history and significant events. William Penn was imprisoned in England for being a Quaker, so he moved to the New World in 1600s to establish a place where all people could find religious freedom. When he planned out Philadelphia, he specifically planned it on a grid system because he'd lived through the great fire in London. He saw all the devastation and confusion that was perpetuated by the curving, confusing streets, so he designed it logically (imagine that!) for easy evacuation if necessary.
The museum also talked a lot about the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 that killed nearly 5,000 people (the population then was approximately only 45,000). People didn't know how yellow fever spread (it's spread by mosquitoes), but they knew it was an awful, painful death. You basically rot from the inside out and become delusional. This is the time when Philadelphia was the nation's capitol, so luckily for us, the Washingtons and many others fled to avoid the epidemic, otherwise it would have been much worse. What people would do to "cure" the yellow fever was bleed them to get all the bad blood out. And if you didn't have the fever yet but you wanted to prevent it, you would light a big rope of tobacco and the smoke would "clear the air." And actually, that one would work because mosquitoes don't like smoke. It wasn't until late October and early November when the first frost came that the frost killed off the mosquitoes. I also found out it's called yellow fever because you become jaundiced: yellow-skinned. There were a few more things, but those were the ones I found most interesting, so those are the ones I wanted to share! =)
And next up... a four-hour tour of South Philly! They call it the "Real Philly" tour. Honestly, this one wasn't as fantastic as the Philly history tour I went on a few weeks ago, but there were interesting tidbits now and then. For instance, did you know there's a Star of David on the back of a one dollar bill? Yep! There are stars on the right above the eagle that form a star of David, and George Washington himself requested that it be put on the United States currency because of a man named Hyam Salomon, who was a Jewish man from Philly who helped finance the Revolutionary War.
We also saw the first Philadelphia hospital, founded by Ben Franklin in 1751. Interestingly, there's a skylight above the operating room. Surgery was only performed between 10-2 (or 10-3?) because that's when the sunlight was best so they could do surgery in the best light possible. (It's got electricity now, by the way, but they kept the skylight!) Also of interest is the statue of William Penn. This is one of the only likenesses we have of Mr. Penn (for whom PA is named), since he was a Quaker and they're big into no frivolity or vanity. Another interesting fact about it is that it was made and came from England--the very place where he was imprisoned for being a Quaker! We THINK the statue is around 300 years old, but we can't be sure. Someone saw it one day outside of some building in London and wanted to buy it so it could be placed somewhere in Philadelphia, but we couldn't afford it at the time. Years later, Penn's grandson found it in a warehouse--it had been discarded as junk!--so he bought it and promptly sent it to Philadelphia. Why did they choose to put it in front of the hospital? Not sure. But it's there for all to see! Some say this is the best likeness of him. We know he wore a wig (which the statue has) because he caught a disease when he was little that caused him to have bald spots on his head for the rest of his life, so he always wore a wig.
Also interesting is that Philadelphia apparently used to be home to lots and lots of Swedes. I want to find out more about that. The guide sort of said that in passing, but I found out just recently that there's an American Swedish Historical Museum in South Philly. Guess what just got added to my list! Look for more on that in the next blogged trip to Philly.
And on we go... We saw Mario Lanza's birthplace, also in South Philly. He was a famous actor and tenor in the 1940s and 50s. He tragically died at the age of 38 from a weight loss-related surgery that led to heart failure... or a hit from the Mafia, we're not sure which. Also looking into that one... Google him and see what songs he sang that you recognize. You may not know the name, but you'll know the music... especially if you've ever watched Looney Tunes. ;)
And now we're in the heart of South Philly: The Italian Market! This is the longest running continuous open-air market in the country, and it's famous mostly because Pat's and Gino's are there. I had already eaten lunch, so I felt I needed to gravitate toward the coffee shops and chocolate stores. =) I had some fabulous torrone (nugat) gelato and some sub-par chocolate from one place, and a steamer from the coffee shop next door. Yum. =)
Moving along, we switched gears toward the more artistic, modern side of Philadelphia. Our guide took us past some murals that had been painted (on purpose) by graffiti artists in an effort to control the graffiti that was taking over the city in the 80s. The result is really quite beautiful, believe it or not! And by far the coolest thing we saw (as far as art goes anyway) was the Magic Garden. It's the beautiful museum-garden made entirely of things people have thrown away: glass bottles, dishes, mugs, mirrors, bicycle wheels, etc. This master dumpster diver named Isaiah Zagar started making art out of his finds, and now he charges $5 to go see it--and it's worth it! This is another place I'd like to go back to!
Walking along, our guide pointed out an alley to us, but not just any alley. This street was made entirely of wood! It's been around for hundreds of years. I can't believe they didn't make it out of this stuff more often. It softens the sound of horse hooves and people walking by--genius!
And we're walking... next up is City Hall and another statue of William Penn--that's too high for anyone to actually see. ;) Now, this is a very tall building. And William Penn's hat was the tallest point in all the city from 1901 to 1984, when the Liberty Tower was built. Interestingly enough, 1984 was the year Philadelphia sports teams stopped winning championships. They call this phenomenon the Curse of William Penn's Hat. The curse was broken only when a NEW tallest building in Philly said they'd put a statue of William Penn on the top of the building when they finish constructing it. Hooray! Something else astounding about City Hall is the fact that it walls are 22 feet thick. TWENTY-TWO FEET! Holey moley.
Random fact for you. We know Philadelphia and PA are famous for things that happened before, during, and just after the Revolutionary War. But, did you know PA almost seceded from the Union before the Civil War broke out? It did!
Tour's finished... break time!
Pictures you say? HERE you go! =)
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