Remembering
Today I am reading the Nov. 20, 1952, edition of the Cement News, one of the last to be printed. The weekly for many years was published by Mr. Ed Royer who headed the Atlas Portland Cement Companies Print Shop. The shop was located in the Atlas Bag Factory, the current Northampton Community Center.
The edition was a pre-Thanksgiving issue, as both Northampton and Catasauqua high schools were making preparations for the traditional Thanksgiving football clash.
As usual, the Exchange Clubs from each community had their pre-Thanksgiving joint meeting. The meeting was held in the Garfield Republican Club on Main Street.
The guest became a football legend, the great Charles "Chuck" Bednarik, linebacker and center for the Philadelphia Eagles. The program chairman was Northampton Borough Manager Hale Guss. Other speakers were Ernie Stiegler WSAN Radio sports announcer and Vic Lindskog, former All-American football center, former all-pro center and presently line coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Coaches and officials from both schools were guests.
Al Erdosy's Konkrete Kids had just won a hard-fought game against a veteran-laden Stroudsburg Pocono team by a score of 19-7. Stroudsburg had led at halftime by a 7-6 score. Northampton came from behind with scores by Mishko and Reimer and an extra point by Laury to remain tied with the Whitehall Zephrys for first place in the Lehigh Valley League.
The Catasauqua and Northampton teams made their annual visit to the Muhlenberg College field for the Turkey Day battle. Both teams, as usual, played to the best of their abilities. The Konkrete Kids won the game which featured a rare play. Guard Paul Billy blocked two CHS punts and scored two touchdowns.
The paper featured two pre-Thanksgiving ads from Acme Markets and A&P, when both were located in Northampton. Both were extremely busy serving the borough and surrounding communities as Cementon, Coplay and Egypt.
Here are some 1952 prices for you to ponder: turkeys, 47 cents/pound; hams, 55 cents/pound; oysters, 45 cents a dozen; pumpkin, two cans for 25 cents; five pounds of sugar, 49 cents; and cranberry sauce, two cans for 35 cents.
After the game, we all returned home to enjoy mom's cooking. A bountiful dinner at 1952 prices!
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See you in two weeks. Bargaining shopping for our next dinner.








