The Civil War Museum Packs Up
 Packing up Old Baldy
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Ed has been periodically following the move of Philadelphia's Civil War Museum from Pine Street to a new home. Here, the most sensitive part of the move: preparing Old Baldy, the stuffed head of General Meade's warhorse, for storage at an undisclosed location.
UPDATE: For information about new obstacles facing the Civil War Museum's move, go to WHYY.org/news and search for "Civil War."
 Museum on the move
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Philadelphia is seen primarily as a Revolutionary War capital. But its contributions to the Civil War effort were also notable. That's the focus of the Civil War and Undeground Railroad Museum, housed quietly in a Pine Street rowhouse for nearly a century. But that's all changing, as the musuem is moving to more visible headquarters in Olde City. We'll follow the process for the next two years, beginning with this look at the packing process, including plans for Old Baldy (pictured), the mounted head of General Meade's warhorse.
Fairmount Park Curiosities
 The Whispering WallWatch the video
In addition to trees, streams and flowers, Philadelphia's Fairmount Park features a host of man-made touches, many of them very quirky. In the first of a series of visits to the nation's largest urban park system, Ed discovers the secret of an amazing touch of magic near Memorial Hall.
Here's a link for more information on Fairmount Park's calendar of events and places of interest: www.fairmountpark.org
Computer Quiz
It's multiple choice quiz time here at ECP. If I were to ask you to identify the home of the world's first general-purpose electronic computer, what would be your guess?
- Silicon Valley, California
- Route 128 near Boston
- Philadelphia
Okay, time's up. To find out the answer highlight the black rectangle below with your cursor.
Click here to find out more »
We Have A Winner!
Out of all the guessers in our "What's Wrong With This Picture" contest, ten entrants guessed correctly that the completed Comcast Tower is missing. We put those ten correct entries into my well-worn baseball cap, and plucked out the lucky winner:
Congratulations, Jenna. You are the winner of our Ed Cunningham DVD prize pack, consisting of The Philly Food Show, Things That Aren't There Anymore, More Things That Aren't There Anymore, and Philly's Favorite Kids Show Hosts, which will arrive at your door in a WHYY eco-friendly grocery bag.
Congratulations, Jenna!
Click on the image to enlarge
Thanks for playing, and be sure to join us for the next exciting edition of "What's Wrong With This Picture?..."
In March, WHYY premiered a local documentary production, The Philly Food Show, a tour of 200 years of the Delaware Valley's contributions to the worlds of haute cuisine and street food. Each week leading up to the premiere, Ed Cunningham's Philadelphia brings you a sneak preview of some of the delicious places we visited.
 Peanut Chews
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For decades, the name Goldenberg and Peanut Chews went together like love and marriage. In 2003, the Goldenberg family sold the candy line to Just Born, Inc. of Bethlehem, PA. But Peanut Chews are still made in Philadelphia. Take a look at the early history of a Philadelphia candy icon.
 Ice Cream
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Philadelphia has always been an ice cream capital, and there's a distinctive style to Philadelphia ice cream that sets it apart. Take a look as food historian William Woys Weaver, then Mike Strange of Bassett's explain what make our local ice cream special.
 Salt Water Taffy
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If you've ever wondered how they put the swirl into fruit-flavored salt water taffy, the secret can now be revealed. On October 2nd, 2007, we visited the Atlantic City facility where they make Fralinger's and James' Salt Water Taffy, and followed the process from beginning to end. Take a look at this video, which features a whole lot of automated pushing and pulling...
 Tastykake
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Probably the biggest and most influential of the foodies we visited on The Philly Food Show is Tastykake, which has been supplying snack cakes and pies to the East Coast for nearly a century. Here's a couple of vintage Tastykake commercials including one with a young actress who would go on to greater renown on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Golden Girls.
 Tractor Riding
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Ever want to take a ride on a tractor? Eric Sennhenn, our videographer on The Philly Food Show, obviously did. He hopped on the tractor at the 1895 Organic Farm in Lumberton, New Jersey on August 14th, 2007. He also (very carefully) placed a $45,000 HD camera in one of the tomato rows to get a dynamic tomato's-eye view of the tractor passing overhead. Happily, he judged the clearance perfectly. Here's some video of Eric at work.
 Soft Pretzels
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Remember what you were doing at 4:00 in the morning on October 17th, 2007? Didn't think so. But the producers and camera crew of The Philly Food Show remember: we were in the bakery area of the Center City Soft Pretzel Company, eavesdropping on the process of turning 450 pounds of yeasty dough into 1,700 pretzels. Watch the pretzel makers at work while the rest of us sleep.
 Mushrooms
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Picture yourself a city boy visiting the country to learn about mushroom farming. What's a logical question to ask of the farmer? "So, where are the mushroom fields?" That's the sort of boneheaded query to tax the patience of even the most indulgent host; in this case, our host is Chris Alonzo, who runs Pietro Industries, Inc. of Kennett Square.
Of course, the answer is that there are no mushroom fields. But Pietro, like other mushroom growers, simulates the ideal natural conditions for growing mushrooms by erecting long buildings filled with dark, moist bunk beds in which the nascent mushrooms grow and are nourished. Take a brief behind-the-scenes look at some video of our visit to Pietro on September 9th, 2007...
Previously
 Comcast Tower III
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The latest update on the progress of the Comcast Center, Philadelphia's soon-to-be-tallest office tower. This feature updates the construction to autumn, 2006.
Previously:
-Comcast Tower II
-The Tower Rises
 Franklin Square
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For decades, Franklin Square, one of William Penn's original five squares of greenery for Philadelphia, sat neglected and forgotten on the northern edge of Old City. Now, a group called Once Upon a Nation has decided to do something about it, and the result is a fun, revitalized Franklin Square.
Comcast Tower II
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What is that giant concrete structure rising on the Comcast Tower site? We find that out and more as we continue to chart the progress of Philadelphia's newest and tallest skyscraper.
Previously — The Tower Rises
 Siegmund Lubin
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So, just who was the first movie mogul — Sam Goldwyn, Adolph Zukor? Try again. Starting in the first years of the 20th century, Siegmund "Pop" Lubin made pioneering short subjects and full-length features, right here in Philadelphia. Learn how he did it, and why his filmmaking career was short-lived.
Learn more about "The King of the Movies" at historian Joseph Eckhardt's site.
 Scrapple
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Scrapple is the quintessential Philadelphia comfort food (along with cheesesteaks), tracing its origins to the Pennsylvania Dutch. But there are dark rumors about what parts of the pig find their way into this "Philadelphia pate." Ed calls on master chef Jim Coleman to clear up the suspicions, and to show you how to whip up a batch of scrapple yourself.
Learn more about Jim's restaurant online. Listen for Jim Coleman on A Chef's Table, every Saturday at noon on WHYY, 91FM and watch for him on Flavors of America, every Saturday at 1:00 pm on WHYY, TV12.
 The Cira Centre
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Philadelphia's first completed office tower in fifteen years isn't technically in Center City. The 28-story Cira Centre stands adjacent to 30th Street Station and is a real stunner. Its location, glass facade and asymmetrical form offer different faces and moods from wherever you see it. A brief video essay takes a look at some of those different angles.
The Tower Rises
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After a long period of no growth, Philadelphia's skyline is stirring once again, with a number of high-rise residential and office towers underway or on the boards.
The tallest of all will be the 975-foot Comcast Center, ultimately rising past One Liberty Place. Ed Cunningham will follow the two-year progress of the building's construction, from foundation to opening day.
In this first visit to the site, we see the 11-hour, overnight pouring of the concrete for the tower's base, 44 feet below ground level.
Skyscraper Trivia Quiz:
What was the first skyscraper built in the United States?
A. Empire State Building, New York City
B. Wainwright Building, St. Louis
C. Home Insurance Building, Chicago, IL
D. Woolworth Building, New York City
Answer
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