Category: General Nonsense, History, Mon Valley Miscellany || By

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,
Ev'rywhere you go:
Take a look in the five-and-10
Glistening once again
With candy canes 'n silver lanes aglow.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,
Soon the bells will start.
And the thing that will make them ring
Is the carol that you'll sing
Right within your heart.

. . .

When Meredith Willson wrote "It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas" in 1951, he probably wasn't thinking of McKeesport's G.C. Murphy Co.

You see, Murphy's didn't have any stores in Iowa, where Willson grew up.

However, in 1951 it had just grown by 71 locations through its acquisition of the John A. Morris chain of dime stores, based in Bluffton, Ind. The Company ended the year with 290 locations and sales of $188 million.

Perhaps Perry Como, who made the song a hit in 1951, was thinking of Murphy's. After all, he was from Canonsburg --- deep in the heart of G.C. Murphy Co. territory.

Alas, Canonsburg didn't have a Murphy's, either. Its main dime store was a big McCrory location, right on West Pike Street. But there were Murphy stores in nearby Burgettstown, McDonald, Washington, Mt. Lebanon and Dormont --- all a short trolley ride away.

Still, when McKeesporters think of the "five-and-10, glistening once again," we're thinking of 315 Fifth Ave., or perhaps Olympia Shopping Center. So forgive our nostalgia and civic pride.

. . .

Years ago, James Thurber wrote of his hometown that the "clocks that chime in my dreams" were often those of Columbus, Ohio, where he grew up.

Maybe you've moved away, but the clocks that chime in your dreams --- or, as Meredith Willson wrote, the bells that ring in your heart --- are those of McKeesport.

Or maybe you're still around, but you get frustrated and discouraged because things "ain't like they used to be."

Whatever the case may be, may this Christmas season create for you many new memories as wonderful as the old ones it recalls.

And for those of us still around the Mon Valley, let's work together next year to make things better, even in some small way, so that future generations will remember these "good old days" with fondness.

. . .

Merry Christmas, thanks for all of your contributions of ideas and comments to Tube City Online, and may God bless and keep you.