Rekindled Interest in Amelia Earhart

Since Amelia disappeared nearly 75 years ago on July 2, 1937 there's been a certain amount of rekindled interest.

WFMZ featured her on it's History Headlines. Like WFMZ's local historian Frank Whelan mentioned she visited the Lehigh Valley and became acquainted with Dot Leh (Leh''s Department Store). So I did a little research and found this telegram Dot sent to Amelia in 1932 from the archives at Purdue University.

There was a search in the Pacific for her in 2012.

She wasn't the only one buzzing around the skies of Allentown in the early 1900's. I'm now 65 years old so it's difficult to relay I story my mom told me when I was a kid.

My dad was somewhat a partier kind of guy who hung out at the former Liederkranz in Allentown. So did a couple of the old early biplane pilots. Well it comes to pass one day (after they got pretty well tanked up) one of the pilots bet he could fly under the Tilghman Street bridge. Soooo.. a bunch of them hanging out at the Liederkranz took a walk up to the bridge while that pilot headed off to the airport.

A while later here came the pilot who's name escapes me (hell I was only 10 or12 when I heard this story) and flew not once but twice under the Tilghman Street bridge.

(This was around 1930 because the bridge wasn't open until September 1929)

This peaked my dad's crazy side and he agreed to fly with the guy into New York to pick up a couple pounds of meat. Yeah he was crazy like that.

This was labeled the first flight to bring food into Allentown from New York. My mother had the Morning Call clipping, including a picture of him. Damned if I could find it after she passed away. But I do remember seeing it. It was more of a stunt then anything, because, nobody else was crazy enough to want to fly with this guy in his biplane except my dad.

Somehow I doubt when Amelia was in Allentown in 1929 she was boozing it up with the boys at the Liederkranz, but hey we may never know.

After all it was said she was a tomboy at heart who always felt that what ever the boys did girls could do just as well.


..and she looked a whole lot better then most of the boys.

:-)