I recently found a copy of a weekly newspaper from June 1935. The year 1935 was a challenging time to launch a newspaper, as we were deep into the Great Depression.

The paper was named the Northampton Mercury. It was published by the Northampton Mercury Publishing Company. The editor was Louis Rosenstein, the advertising manager was Charles E. Berg, and the telephone number was 2459. The following are articles from The Mercury.

Distribution of the paper was guaranteed to every family in Coplay, Cementon, Catasauqua, Hokendauqua, Egypt, Howertown and Northampton. Guaranteed circulation was 5,000 copies, and the price was five cents.

The editorial was very interesting.

The paper favored constructing a community swimming pool stating, “Now is the time to build, as with the aid of the government, the expenses for the construction of the pool will not be as large as if we wait and have the community spend all the money for the construction of the pool.”

The paper used the Cedar Beach pool of Allentown as an example.

This editorial might seem unrealistic at the time, but the beautiful Catasauqua swimming pool became a reality during the Depression era. The Northampton pool was constructed after World War II, when the Universal Atlas Cement Company donated land for several projects. The Atlas bag factory, today the Northampton Banquet and Event Center; the land for the swimming pool; the municipal playground; and the high school, middle school and athletic fields were a generous gift to the community.

The newspaper also helped my older readers “remember” Allentown Central Park’s Nationality Days. The old East Allentown amusement park was very popular during the era. Ukrainian Day was June 16, 1935. Elaborate preparations were made for this event, which became a national holiday of sorts for Ukrainians from all sections of the state. A program embracing exclusively native Ukrainian talent in native costumes was presented.

Hungarian Day was designated as June 23, 1935. A feature was the appearance of a Hungarian Gypsy orchestra. A special guest, Gov. George H. Sarle was the principal speaker on Slovak Day June 30, 1935. It was one of the biggest events of several seasons at the popular “playground of the Lehigh Valley.”

The newspaper also announced the 38th commencement program at Coplay High School. There were 17 graduates who received their diplomas. The speaker was Dr. Q.W. Rohrbach, president of Kutztown State Teachers College, currently Kutztown University. Dr. Rohrbach had a long tenure at Kutztown and was president of the college when this writer graduated from there many years ago!

A special meeting of the Lappawinzo Fish and Game Protective Association was held in their clubhouse in Allen Township. President Dr. Frank Bell formulated plans for the Twin County Fair. Farmers and merchants had displays. All farmers were asked for their cooperation to make the initial fair a great success. The fair was held in early September and ended its run in the early 1950s.

In two weeks, we will visit the Roxy and Savoy theaters. It will be dish night, so get your tickets now!