A century-old landmark timepiece in downtown Pittsburgh known as Kaufmann's Clock has been acting as a meet-up spot for everything from weddings to kiss offs down its long, brass history.
An ornate bronze 2,500 pound clock replaced a previous clock on a post at the corner of Smithfield Street and Fifth Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh in 1913, the site of the flagship store of the local Kaufmann's department store chain. In a central location in the district, this corner was and continues to be a popular meeting place. The clock was declared a landmark in 1981. A wedding even took place under the clock in 1996.
The clock also plays a part in an old, and quite rude, Pittsburgh colloquialism. Even political rivals would use it, as in 1983 when Pittsburgh City Councilman Eugene "Jeep" DePasquale told Councilwoman Michelle Madoff that if a voluntary levy she proposed would raise more than $20, he would kiss her "you-know-what" under Kaufmann's Clock. When donations reached $1,500, Madoff challenged him to make good on his word, but DePasquale declined saying that it would be undignified.
The clock was dismantled for cleaning and repair in 1987. Over 70 years of exposure to Pittsburgh's notoriously sooty air and the whims of pigeons left a grimy coating on the bronze that industrial cleaning solvents were unable to remove. The layer was so thick that equipment used to clean bridges was needed to strip the thick film off. Over 1,000 ground-up corncobs were used to sandblast the weathered metal to the restored state it remains in today.
The May Company bought the Kaufmann's chain in 2006, and converted all of its stores in the area to Macy's. However, the people of Pittsburgh still know this clock as Kaufmann's Clock, telling the time over a popular corner in Pittsburgh.
Oh my! The website still seems to be hacked...
Earlier the browser window even said "ISIS WILL PREVAIL," though at least that seems to be fixed...
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I’m not sure what rock I’ve been under, that the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort was sold and is now B Ocean Resort. The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort has also been sold, but it hasn’t been reflagged. Starwood of course lost the iconic Diplomat hotel outside of Fort Lauderdale to Hilton. But seeing the […]
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On Friday I shared the details of American's new Dallas to Beijing route, which was originally announced last September.
Tickets for the flight were supposed to be bookable as of Saturday, though best I can tell tickets only went on sale late last night/early this morning.
New routes are always interesting to me since they're often gold mines for award and upgrade space. For example, when American announced their Dallas to Hong Kong flight a while back, there was tons of award and upgrade space.
Unfortunately in looking at availability on the new Dallas to Beijing flight, there's plenty of saver level economy award availability in both directions through the end of the schedule, though there's not a single saver level first or business class award seat.
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If you write a travel-related blog, you’re supposed to have a sense of adventure,. This post is how my sense of adventure is actually outweighed by risk, legal risk, that most will never face. Hear me out, and I’d love it if you just tell me I’m being paranoid. I’d love it if you’d help […]
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News and notes from around the interweb: The ‘reborn’ PEOPLExpress, which had to cease operations, has now been evicted from its airport offices. Thailand is imposing new time of sale restrictions on liquor. Because apparently in addition to rolling out free wifi, this is the sort of thing that a military government does. I want […]
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