缅北禁地

Oct 16, 2023 4 min read

Tomorrow will be my 75th birthday.

Oh, my.

I鈥檝e been alive (and kicking) for 27,393 days.

That鈥檚 a lot.

When I was 11, I thought anybody in their 70s was, well, old.

Now that I鈥檓 in my 70s 鈥� and on my way to my 80s 鈥� I don鈥檛 feel as old as I thought I would.

But I do feel old.

When I was 10, it seemed like it would take forever for me to have my next birthday.

Since I entered my eighth decade, it seems like I have three or four birthdays a year.

I can鈥檛 complain.

I don鈥檛 want to stop having birthdays (if you know what I mean).

鈥淐ongratulations are in store for Mr. and Mrs. Edward Owens of Coolspring Street, upon the arrival of a son in Uniontown Hospital at 9:45 a.m. Sunday, October 17,鈥� amid the birth notices on page 13 of the Uniontown Morning Herald on Oct. 18.

I鈥檇 arrived!

I arrived within a few days of Cary Grant and Myrna Loy arriving at the Manos Theatre in downtown Uniontown in 鈥淢r. Blandings Builds His Dream House.鈥�

A classic.

Meanwhile, at the State Theatre, Victor Mature and Richard Conte were starring in the (less than classic) 鈥淭he Cry of the City.鈥�

It鈥檚 fun looking back at the days of my earliest youth in old newspapers.

The day after I was born, they had a sale at Wilson Appliance on West Church Street. You could pick up a Norge gas stove for a mere $189.95.

Over at Benson鈥檚 on Main Street, you might鈥檝e found a warm-up jacket for $7.95. And Penny鈥檚 was selling 鈥淪now Suits鈥� for $9.90.

I鈥檓 pretty sure my parents weren鈥檛 worried about any sale-priced outfits for their 鈥渘ew bundle of joy鈥� they were taking from Uniontown Hospital to his new home up there on Coolspring Street.

They may, however, have been concerned about his sleeping quarters.

(This is between you and me, but my father used to tell me 鈥� repeatedly 鈥� that when he and my mother took me home, they had to put me into a dresser drawer that doubled as my bed for a time). For the record, I don鈥檛 remember that.

But I sure hope they took advantage of that sale they had down at Cohen鈥檚 on Beeson Boulevard.

According to the Oct. 21, 1948, edition of the Uniontown Morning Herald, Cohen鈥檚 was selling bedroom suites (鈥�3 Big Pieces鈥�) for $119.

I wonder if one of those pieces had a dresser, with one drawer fit for a young king.

Also on Oct. 21, it was reported on the front page of the Herald that Uniontown had a brand new radio station 鈥� WNIQ-FM. It was transmitted from the Herald鈥檚 newsroom to studios on Jumonville Road. The item said, 鈥淭he new service was inaugurated yesterday.鈥�

To be honest, I鈥檇 never heard of WNIQ-FM until I recently came across that old article.

The one thing that I was aware of in the past was the so-called 鈥渘umbers racket.鈥�

The week when I was born, 鈥淪tate troopers really 鈥榟it the numbers鈥� (yesterday) when details cornered and arrested pick-up men as the latter were en route to lottery headquarters to turn in the day鈥檚 business from the most heavily playing areas in two counties,鈥� said the front page story.

News about the 鈥渘umbers racket鈥�, which was very popular 鈥� but highly illegal 鈥� was of widespread interest, because the people who got arrested could be the same folks you might need to make your daily bets.

The state of Pennsylvania frowned on that activity until it began engaging in that same activity on March 1, 1977.

Also in that first week of my birth, there was some front page information about the 鈥減re-Halloween complaints鈥� being registered around the city.

Fortunately, there were only a few complaints 鈥� 11 of them 鈥� compared to a similar small section of Pittsburgh, where there were 65 complaints in just four hours.

Unfortunately, I was just too young to even enjoy that modest bit of revelry.

But my days would come!

Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.