The Hokey Pokey (1944)

The Hokey Pokey, the perennial song of birthday parties, weddings, and roller skating in your youth was actually composed by two Scrantonians -- although the question of its true authorship caused a small controversy in 1996.

Robert P. Degan, a former guitarist and former salesman in the old Home Furniture store in Scranton, wrote and copyrighted the song with fellow Scranton songwriter Joseph P. Brier in 1944. The full proper title of the song when copyrighted was “The Hokey Pokey Dance Song.”

In 1996, Scranton Times writer Joseph X. Flannery wrote two editorials (April 20, 1996, p. 5 and May 11, 1996, p. A5) after a Boise, Idaho newspaper incorrectly identified a different musician as the writer of the song. However, the copyright form at the U.S. Copyright Office correctly states that Degan and Brier are the true songwriters.

The Local History Vertical File (LHVF) for “Music – Hokey Pokey Dance Song” includes both of Flannery’s editorials, as well as a photocopy of a letter to Degan from the US Copyright Office confirming its true authors. The LHVF can be viewed in the Reference Department of Albright Memorial Library.

So the next time you shake your butt to the Hokey Pokey, remember that one of our own (make that two of our own) has made this ditty a celebrated classic of epic proportions.

Don't take our word for it - click here to hear the Ray Anthony Band's version of The Hokey Pokey.

Much thanks to Judi K. for this entry.

Never Been Kissed (1999)

Matt Flynn recently emailed me about a mention of Scranton in the film Never Been Kissed.

In 1999, Drew Barrymore co-produced and starred in the comedy Never Been Kissed, which also featured David Arquette, Molly Shannon, and Oscar-nominee John C. Reilly (Chicago). Barrymore plays Josie Geller, the youngest copy editor ever at the Chicago Sun-Times who poses as a high school student at the very same high school where she was once a misfit (nicknamed "Josie Grossey").

In a scene on her first day of school, as an undercover reporter, Josie rehearses her background to herself as a new student, chanting, "My name is Josie Geller. I'm from Scranton, Pennsylvania, the Keystone State."

The DVD of Never Been Kissed is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold, click here.

Much thanks to Matt Flynn for this reference.

"Winter Wonderland" by Richard B. Smith (1934)

Sleighbells ring, are you listenin',

In the lane, snow is glistenin'

A beautiful sight,

We're happy tonight

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

Believe it or not, this classic holiday song that has been recorded thousands of times was written by a man from Honesdale who did not live to see his legacy and success.

Richard (Dick) B. Smith (1901-1935) attended Honesdale schools in Wayne County before enrolling at Penn State University, where he studied advertising, edited the college magazine and formed and conducted his own orchestra. Upon graduation, Smith moved to New York City and managed several theaters.

Smith became ill with tuberculosis in 1931 shortly after marrying the former Scrantonian Jean Connor. He was admitted to the West Mountain Sanatorium. While a patient (and his wife worked as a nurse at the same institution), he won first prize in a Maybelline Eye Shadow slogan contest ("The Eyes Have It") and started writing songs--including "When A Gypsy Makes A Violin Cry," "Bringing My Honey Back To Me," and, of course, the holiday perennial Winter Wonderland, which Smith wrote the lyric and Felix Bernard wrote the music.

Smith was only able to write songs for a little more than a year before he succumbed to the disease. He had accepted a contract to write music in Hollywood, but he died September 28th, 1935--one month before he was to go to California.

The song Winter Wonderland, for which Smith was mostly remembered, never made it to the top of the charts until eight years after his death. He is said to have written the song about the snow-laden trees of the Poconos, perhaps the trees in front of his family home at 922 Church Street in Honesdale, across from Central Park.

Today, Winter Wonderland could be found on hundreds of artists on hundreds (perhaps thousands) of holidays albums—from Ray Charles and Elvis Presley to Clay Aiken and the Eurythmics--to hundreds of other artists in every genre of music.

To hear Bing Crosby's rendition of Winter Wonderland, click here.

To read more about Winter Wonderland and Richard B. Smith, come to the Reference Department and ask to see the Local History Vertical File (LHVF) for "Music - Winter Wonderland."

Migration by W.S. Merwin (2005)

W.S. MERWIN:
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
IS A SCRANTON NATIVE

Poet W.S. Merwin, who grew up in Scranton, PA, has been nominated for the 2005 National Book Award for Poetry for his collection Migration: New and Selected Poems. This is the eighth National Book Award nomination for W.S. Merwin, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner (1971 for The Carrier of Ladders and again in 2009 for The Shadow of Sirius) whose career as a poet and translator spans five decades.

As a boy, Merwin lived in Scranton before his family moved to Union City, NJ. He attended West Scranton High School and Abraham Lincoln public school in the city of Scranton. He has said many of his poems were drawn from his childhood here. Merwin returned to Scranton in 1983 to read from his works in a poetry series sponsored by the Friends of the Scranton Public Library.

We have several of Mr. Merwin's poetry collection listed in the library catalog. Our Local History collection in the Reference Department includes a newspaper clippings file on Mr. Merwin, including a 1994 Scranton Times article detailing his winning a $100,000 Tanning Prize from the Academy of American Poets.

The Reference Department staff wishes Mr. Merwin the best of luck in his nomination for the National Book Award.

UPDATE: W.S. Merwin has been awarded the National Book Award for poetry.

The Reference Department congratulates Mr. Merwin on his award. Also, check out the display in the Reference Department lobby.

Visit here for W.S. Merwin's page on the official National Book Award site.

To place a hold on W.S. Merwin's Migration, click here.

"Send My Picture To Scranton, PA" by B.J. Thomas (1970)

In 1970, acclaimed songwriter Burt Bacharach put his own creative mark on Scranton when he wrote a song titled "Send My Picture To Scranton, PA." Bacharach's previous famous collaborations include Dusty Springfield's "Wishin' and Hopin'," The Carpenters' "Close To You" and numerous songs with Dionne Warwick ("Do You Know The Way to San Jose" and "I Say A Little Prayer" just being two).

When it came time to record "Send My Picture To Scranton, PA," Bacharach selected B.J. Thomas, most famous for the song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" (also written by Bacharach) from the 1969 film "Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid" and "Hooked on a Feeling."

The lyrics to "Send My Picture To Scranton, PA" begin:

Send my picture to Scranton, PA
Write them and say
I'm the kid they used to laugh at
Send my picture along with the news
Of all the good things I've done

If you would like to read the rest of the lyrics, click here.

B.J. Thomas recorded "Send My Picture To Scranton, PA," in 1970; it was released on his album "Everybody's Out Of Town." Unfortunately, the album is out-of-print, but the song is available on a Burt Bacharach compilation titled "The Sound of Bacharach."

Why Do Men Have Nipples? (2005)

There is a suprising and SHOCKING reference to Wilkes-Barre in the recently released book "Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini" by Dr. Billy Goldberg, M.D. and Mark Leyner. This bestselling book (presently #1 on the New York Times Bestselling Paperback Advice Books) presents humorous answers to medical questions, from "Can you get high from licking a toad?" to "Why are yawns contagious?" to "What causes an ice cream headache?"

The Wilkes-Barre mention appears in the book's Preface on page 21. In his version on how the two authors met, Dr. Goldberg was asked to be a medical advisor on the short-lived (only 3 episodes, in fact) medical drama Wonderland, for which co-author Leyner was a screenwriter. According to Dr. Goldberg:

*****

Within five minutes Leyner had regaled me with the precise pharmokinetics of jimsonweed...and the inexplicable prevalence of

supernumerary ___________

in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania."

*****

To find the missing word (CLUE: it rhymes with spectacles), pick up a copy of "Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini" by Dr. Billy Goldberg, M.D. and Mark Leyner and see page 21 of the Preface. It's avialable to borrow from several libraries throughout the Lackawanna County Library System under the call number:

610

LEYNER

To place a hold, click here.

To read the entire list of questions answered in the book, click here.

"Sisters of Mercy" by Cher (2000)

Wait a minute...CHER?

Yes...that Cher.

In 2000, Cher released her CD "Not.Com.mercial," sold exclusively throught Artist Direct. The CD features nine songs written and composed by Cher herself after attending a writer's workshop in 1994.
One of the songs, "Sisters of Mercy," has a connection to Scranton, PA., though the song never mentions Scranton directly. The song is a harsh critique of the Sisters of Mercy, an order of Catholic nuns who serve the poor and sick, whom Cher refers to as "daughters of hell," "twisters of truth," etc.
In an article from People Magazine (November 27, 2000, pages 18-19) titled "Cher, Nuns & Trouble," Cher explained that she wrote the song for her mother. When Cher was a a few months old, her father abandoned her and her pregnant mother in Scranton, PA. Cher's mother took her to a Catholic orphanage to care for Cher during the day while she worked as a waitress in an all-night diner. Cher's mother ended up having an abortion, and she returned to the orphanage to collect Cher after a three-week hospital stay. The Sisters of Mercy responded by calling her an unfit mother and refusing to return her daughter to her. According to Cher, it took six months and help from a Scranton City Councilman for Cher's mother to regain custody of her daughter.
Cher has stated that the song "is about a particular incident--not a condemnation of the Catholic Church."
If you would like to read the article from People Weekly, it's available in Access Pennsylvania Power Library from the magazine database "Masterfile Premier." We also have a copy of the People Weekly article in the Local History Vertical File for "Diocese of Scranton".
You can read the lyrics to "Sister of Mercy" by clicking here.
Cher's CD "Not.Com.mercial" is only available from the Artist Direct web site: http://www.artistdirect.com/

Field of Dreams (1989)

Our wonderful Head of Reference, Miss Evelyn G., informed me of a Scranton connection to the 1989 Academy Award nominated baseball blockbuster Field of Dreams. The film stars Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella, an Iowa corn farmer who hears voices saying "If you build it, they will come." Ray interprets the voices as a command to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield; he does this and, indeed, the Chicago Black Sox come.

The late, great Burt Lancaster plays one of the baseball ghosts, Dr. Archibald 'Moonlight' Graham, who was based on an actual baseball player for the Scranton Miners. The real Archibald Wright Graham was a left fielder for the Scranton Miners in 1905-07 and, at the end of the season, he practiced medicine in Scranton before moving to Minnesota. There were even several articles in the Scranton Times on Dr. Graham in the early 1900s (including a team picture of the Scranton Miners, including Dr. Graham, on Sept. 12th, 1908).

Field of Dreams is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. If you'd like to reserve the DVD, click here; if you'd like to place a hold on the VHS, click here.

Thanks again to the kickin' Evelyn G. for the info.

The Sopranos (2000) Season Two, Episode One

Our lovely district consultant Mary Yeager emailed me and told me of a mention of Scranton in the popular HBO series The Sopranos. The story centers on fictional Mafia man Tony Soprano and his relationships with his wife, his family, his associates, and his therapist. The first-rate cast includes James Gandolfini, Edie Falco and Lorraine Bracco.

The Scranton mention was in the first episode of the second season. The episode, titled "Guy Walks Into A Psychiatrist's Office," features a scene in which Philly "Spoons" Parisi (played by Dan Grimaldi) is picking up Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) from the airport. The dialogue goes like this:

Spoons

So how's Boston?

*

Tony

Well, it was good to be back for a while, then, ya know.

*

Spoons

Do I?

*

Tony

That place is Scranton, with clams.

*

*

NOTE: Now I have never seen an episode of The Sopranos in my life. So if I have the scene or the characters wrong, please email us at refdept@albright.org and tell us.

*

Season Two of The Sopranos, featuring "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office" is available to borrow on DVD from the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold, click here.

Much thanks again to the lovely Mary Yeager for this entry.

That Championship Season (1973)

In 1973, playwright and Scranton native Jason Miller won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as the Tony Award for Best Play, for That Championship Season.

Set in Scranton, PA, the plays tells the story of four friends and their former basketball coach as they reveal themselves and are honest with each other for perhaps the first time in their lives. By the end of the evening, they are reminiscing about their 1957 championship basketball season.

THE 1973 PLAY

The play opened on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on September 14, 1972 and played for nearly two years, closing April 21, 1974.

Besides Miller, TCS also won a Tony Award for director A.J. Antoon, as well as nominations for actor Paul Sorvino, lighting designer Ian Calderon and scenic designer Santo Loquasto (Santo himself is a Wilkes-Barre native).

THE 1982 FILM VERSION

In 1982, Hollywood came to Scranton, PA, where they made the film version of TCS. Written for the screen and directed by Jason Miller, the film starred Paul Sorvino (the only actor from the original stage play to recreate the same role in the film version), Stacy Keach, Bruce Dern, Robert Mitchum, and Martin Sheen.

THE 1999 TV REMAKE*

In 1999, Paul Sorvino directed (and starred as the coach in) a made-for-TV remake of TCS, starring Vincent D’Onofrio, Gary Sinise, and Tony Shalhoub.

To place a hold on the text of Jason Miller's original 1973 play, click here. To borrow the DVD of the 1982 film (shot in Scranton), click here. The 1999 remake is also available; click here to reserve the DVD or click here to reserve the VHS.

A big holla and thanks to Elizabeth Davis for the suggestion.

*The 1999 remake of That Championship Season will be screened Friday, August 19th at 7:45 at Nay Aug Park. Click here for details. (NOTE: This event has passed and it remains listed here strictly for archival purposes.)

"The Office" (Sitcom) (2005- )

The show "The Office" is set in a fictional paper supply company in Scranton, PA.

Click here for a news item that our very own Lackawanna County Library Crad will be appearing on an episode of the upcoming second season.

School Ties (1992)

Eagle-eyed Jennifer Maher from the University of Scranton emailed me about the film School Ties, starring Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Chris O'Donnell. The film tells the story of David Greene (Fraser), a working-class Jewish quarterback from Scranton, PA who is attending the elite St. Matthew's prep school in 1950s Massachusetts (MA). David has chosen to hide his religion until a jealous bigot forces it out in the open.

School Ties is available to borrow on DVD from the Lackawanna County Library System; to place a hold, click here.

Thanks again, Jennifer, for the info.

Tovarich (Broadway Show) (1963)

James Stephen Behrens, O.C.S.O., of Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia, sent me the following email:

"Hi,
There was a song called Wilkes-Barre, PA in the musical Tovarich, which ran on Broadway and starred Vivien Leigh.

James"

Information about Tovarich (which is Russian for "Friends") is available from the Internet Broadway Database at:
http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=2996

According to IBDB, the show played for almost a year in a succession of 3 (count 'em 3) different theatres on the Great White Way. The music was composed by Lee Pockriss, and lyrics were written by Anne Croswell.

Vivien Leigh (who, with Byron Mitchell, sings Wilkes-Barre, PA in the show) won the 1963 Tony Award for Best Actress in A Musical for her performance in Tovarich.

The song concludes with:

Not Altoona,
I don't mean Scranton,
I hate Reading,
Where are we heading?
WILKES-BARRE!
P AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

At Amazon.com, you can listen to a sample of Vivien Leigh and George S. Irving singing "Wilkes-Barre, PA!" the song is also available to purchase from iTunes.

Thank you so much, James, for this information. I'm a big Broadway buff and have never heard of Tovarich before, so my mouth is still agape at this information. Plus I'm amazed that someone as far away as Georgia has looked at our blog. WOW!!!

Thank you, James! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

Harry Chapin's Song "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" (1974)

On March 18, 1965, on Moosic Street in Scranton, a tractor-trailer carrying 15 tons of bananas bound for the A&P lost control in rush hour traffic, hitting cars, houses, and wire poles before crashing into a home. The driver, Eugene P. Sesky (35), was killed and over 15 people were injured.

In 1974, singer/songwriter Harry Chapin (also famous for his classic song Cat's in the Cradle, who would himself die in a crash in 1981) immortalized both the tragic events of 1965 and the city of Scranton in his song 30,000 Pound of Bananas.

The lyrics to the song are on Harry Chapin's website. The song was originally released on Chapin's 1974 album Verities & Balderdash and was subsequently released on most of his live CDs thereafter (it appears to have been a favorite of Chapin's to perform in concert).

Our Local History collection in the Reference Department includes a newspaper clippings file on 30,000 Pounds of Bananas, including photocopies of the original Scranton newspaper articles from the crash in 1965. These articles can also be reproduced from the microfilm of the Scranton newspapers.

30,000 Pounds of Bananas is available on two CD titles from the Lackawanna County Library System--Essentials by Harry Chapin and a 4-disc box set by Chapin. Click on either link to place a hold.

Thank you, Judi K., the keeper of the LHVFs.

"Wonder Boys" (2000)

The lovely Clara Hudson from University of Scranton visited the Reference Department this afternoon and made me aware of this critally acclaimed film starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand and Katie (the future Mrs. Tom Cruise) Holmes.

In the film, author and Carnegie Mellon professor Grady Tripp (Douglas) learns his his married chancellor (McDormand) is pregnant with his child on the day his third wife leaves him. He befirends one of his troubled pupils James Leer (Maguire), who is obsessed with old film stars and is attempting to find an old coat once worn by Marilyn Monroe.

In the following exchange, Grady and James are driving and conversing about their lives:

JAMES LEER

My parents live in a small town.

GRADY

Where's that?

JAMES LEER

Carvel.

GRADY

Carvel? Where's Carvel?

JAMES LEER

Outside Scranton.

GRADY

I never heard of it.

JAMES LEER

It's a hellhole. Three motels and a mannequin factory. My dad worked there for thirty-five years.

Wonder Boys is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold on the DVD, click here; for the VHS, click here.

Much thanks again to Clara Hudson for the "Wonder Boys" info.

Friends (1994) Season 1, Episode 21

Even popular TV shows have mentioned Scranton in the past. One of the best examples was in the first season of the long-running sitcom Friends. In the episode "The One With The Fake Monica," one of the side stories involved Ross' monkey Marcel, who has to be put in a zoo because he's "in heat."When Ross (played by David Schwimmer) is unable to put Marcel in a zoo in Scranton, PA:

ROSS

We didn't get into Scranton. That was like our safety zoo. They take, like, dogs and cows.

*

Thanks to Michele Murphy for this quote.

"Home Alone" (1990)

This perennial holiday blockbuster stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin, an 8 year old boy left home alone when his large family forgets to take him on holiday. He uses his ingenuity to defend his home and himself from two bumbling burglars.

The following exchange is between Kevin's mother (played by Catherine O'Hara) and an airport ticket agent (played by Alan Wilder):

KATE MCCALLISTER

I have been awake for almost 60 hours. I'm tired and I'm dirty. I have been from Chicago to Paris to Dallas to... where the hell am I?

AIRPORT TICKET AGENT

Scranton.

Later, John Candy tells Kate, "You're in Scranton, ma'am."

Home Alone is available to borrow on DVD and VHS from the Lackawanna County Library System. If you'd like to reserve the DVD, click here; for the VHS, click here instead.

"For The Boys" (1992)

Bette Midler and James Caan star as USO performers that laugh, fight, and entertain throughout three major wars (WWII, Korea, and Vietnam).

In the scene in Korea, while on the road, they stop to help victims of a military attack. Midler and Caan ride with a mortally wounded Marine to a military hospital. As the marine, played by Thom Adcox-Hernandez is bleeding and moaning in pain, he and Eddie Sparks (played by James Caan) have the following brief exchange:

EDDIE SPARKS

So where ya from, kid?

MARINE:

(winces in pain) Wilkes-Barre.

EDDIE SPARKS:

I played Wilkes-Barre.

I remember seeing this movie at a theatre in Wilkes-Barre when it was first released in 1992, and the entire audience collectively gasped at the above dialogue.

For the Boys is available on both DVD and VHS from the Lackawanna County Library System. To make a reservation for the DVD, click here; click here if you'd rather borrow the movie in VHS.

"The Ladykillers" (2004)

This is a 2004 remake of a 1955 classic that starred Alec Guiness and Peter Sellers. The remake stars Tom Hanks and was written and directed by the Coen Bothers (Fargo, The Big Labowski).

J.K. Simmons, who plays Garth Pancake, says the following in a heated exchange:

PANCAKE

I'm gonna tell you how I came downto Mississippi. Wasn't born here,you know. I'm from Scranton,Pennsylvania...

(Abruptly, he stares off into space)

...Nnnff!

GAWAIN

Huh?

PANCAKE

(eyes regain their focus)

...Scranton, Pennsylvania. Came down here in 1964. Greyhound Bus. With the Freedom Riders. You know who the Freedom Riders were, MacSam?

The Ladykillers is available on DVD from the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold, click here.

All About Eve (1950)

Ah, the classic 1950 Best Picture winner (tied with Titanic for the film with the most Academy Award nominations ever with 14).

The director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, was born in Wilkes-Barre and has written and/or directed several classic movies, including Guys & Dolls, No Way Out, Cleopatra, and, of course, All About Eve.

Below is a section of dialogue, near the end of the film, in which Margo Channing (played by Bette Davis) mentions Wilkes-Barre:

MARGO

There goes Eve. Eve evil, Little Miss Evil. But the evil that men do - how does it go, groom? Something about the good they leave behind - I played it once in rep in Wilkes-Barre...

BILL

You've got it backwards. Even for Wilkes-Barre.

All About Eve, the film in VHS and DVD formats, and the original screenplay by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, is available to borrow from libraries throughout the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold on the DVD, click here; to reserve the VHS, click here. To reserve the original published screenplay by Wilkes-Barre native Joseph L. Mankiewicz, click here.