Cool and Famous Things Made in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is known to Americans as the home of champion sports
franchises, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and
Pittsburgh Pirates. Of course, in Pittsburgh world renowned sports
teams are just the start. Innovative Pittsburghers have crafted
everything from the steel for the Brooklyn Bridge to a famous sandwich that
brings with it a true taste of Pittsburgh. Let us take a look at a
small sample of the many cool and famous things made in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Steel
A
common nickname for Pittsburgh is the Steel City. At one time
Pittsburgh was known the world over for the steel and glass it seemed to
produce in endless supply. We were the steel making capital of the
world and our steel built the Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge,
the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building. Pittsburgh’s forging
mills hammered out the 70-ton axle used in George Ferris’ world-famous 2,000
passenger wheel at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair as well as the Panama
Canal's 110-foot-high lock gates.
The steel industry attracted immigrant workers because it paid well
despite the fact that the work was hot, grueling, and dangerous.
Environmentally, the industry left the city in a state of fog and dust. We
were the Smokey City, instead of today’s more metropolitan City of Bridges.
After nearly 100 years, the steel industry came to a close in the 1980s
and many workers were left unemployed or working for a foreign company. The
loss for Pittsburgh was catastrophic. Nevertheless, Pittsburgh’s
championship spirit showed through, and our beautiful city now thrives as a
center of healthcare, education, technology, robotics, and financial
services.
Pittsburgh Glass
Before steel making filled the sky with the dark clouds of early 20th
century industry, Pittsburgh was creating glass. As early as the 1820s
Pittsburgh was a major distributor of glass products. Pittsburgh glass
was used for globes that lit the nation’s streets, windows for homes, and
jars for food. Being located along three rivers, Pittsburgh made good
use of the waterways. It all started with three immigrants: Albert
Gallatin, James O'Hara, and Benjamin Bakewell. By the Civil War,
Pittsburgh’s glass trade was a $7 million business with 20 bottle and vial
factories, 23 window glass factories, 22 flint glass factories, and a number
of glass producers devoted exclusively to the production of chimneys.
Invention was the key to Pittsburgh's success in glass manufacturing. Over
100 patents were secured by Pittsburgh’s glassmakers.
Return to Top
Pittsburgh Nuclear
Pittsburgh continued to be ahead of the curve in 1953 when George
Westinghouse and his company, Westinghouse Electric Company, provided a
prototype engine to power the world’s first nuclear submarine, the U.S.S.
Nautilus. By 1957 Westinghouse was providing the world’s first
pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant. Westinghouse has more than
11,000 employees in more than 15 countries that supply over 40 percent of
the world’s operating commercial nuclear plants.
Other Westinghouse inventions include household appliances such as the
first automatic washing machine. Today the company continues to offer
a wide range of services and products to the world.
Return to Top
Pittsburgh Foods
Pittsburgh has its share of success in the food industry. Henry
John Heinz created the H.J. Heinz Company, synonymous today with its famous
ketchup. Based in Pittsburgh since 1869, the Heinz Company sells over
650 million bottles of ketchup per year. Heinz is the most global of
food serving companies in the country. Its core products include
ketchup, sauces, meals, snacks, and infant/nutrition.
Another famous taste of Pittsburgh is the Clark Bar. The Clark Bar
is a honeycomb peanut butter crisp that is covered in chocolate. It
was originally sold for five cents and became extremely popular with U.S.
soldiers during World War I. The D. L. Clark Company was created in
1886 and was a leader in the candy business. Financial difficulties
forced the company to sell to NECCO in 1999.
The sandwich at the heart of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh food cannot be
a subject of conversation without mentioning the Primanti Brother’s
sandwich. It is the most famous meal between slices of bread in Pittsburgh.
(Well, many argue The Cheese Steak is their most famous sandwich) From
a Jumbo & Cheese to Black Angus Steak Sirloin, many Primanti Brother’s
sandwiches are topped with a special preparation of French fries and
coleslaw. It all started in the Great Depression at a lunch cart in
the Strip District that later turned into a restaurant owned by Joe Primanti
and his nephew John. The business has expanded to the suburbs of
Pittsburgh with 14 restaurants and two others in Florida. A Primanti
Brothers’ sandwich is a true taste of Pittsburgh.
Return to Top
Pittsburgh Media
Pittsburgh also is a leader in the media front. On November 2,
1920, four pioneers made their way to a makeshift studio on top of the
Westinghouse Building in East Pittsburgh. A switch was flipped and
they started reporting election returns in the Harding/Cox Presidential
race. KDKA, the first broadcasting station in the world, was born.
Dr. Frank Conrad, Assistant Chief Engineer of Pittsburgh's Westinghouse
Electric Company, first became interested in radio eight years earlier.
Conrad started building a transmitter, which was housed on the second floor
of his garage in Wilkinsburg. The first official record of this station,
licensed 8XK, appeared on the August 1, 1916, edition of the Radio Service
Bulletin. Station 8XK was the precursor to KDKA Radio.
Pittsburgh is also the birthplace of WQED-TV, which went on the air on
April 1, 1954. WQED was the first community-supported television station in
the United States. In 1967, WQED welcomed Fred Rogers, the host of ‘Mister
Rogers’ Neighborhood’ for more than three decades. Rogers was born in
1928 in nearby Latrobe, PA.
Return to Top
More Pittsburgh Firsts
Pittsburgh’s many impressive “firsts” make ours a very special city.
- When emailing friends or co-workers, think about the fact that the
emoticon Smiley :-) was created by Carnegie Mellon University computer
scientist Scott Fahlman in 1982.
- The first Mr. Yuk sticker was created by Children’s Hospital of
Pittsburgh in 1971 after research indicated that a new symbol was needed
to identify poison other than skull and cross bones.
- Alcoa developed the first pull-tab on cans in 1962 and created the
first aluminum-faced skyscraper in 1953.
- The world's first retractable dome was created in 1961 as the
covering of the Civic Arena.
- The first gas station in the nation was opened at Baum Boulevard and
St. Clair Street in East Liberty in 1913.
- The first movie theater in the world was opened by Harry Davis on
Smithfield Street in 1905.
Read more Pittsburgh Firsts
Having Fun Led to a lot of Pittsburgh “Firsts”
George Washington Gale Ferris invented the first Ferris Wheel in 1892.
It was over 264 feet high and was capable of carrying more than 2,000
passengers at a time.
The first Bingo game was invented here in the early 1920s. Hugh J.
Ward came up with the concept and began running it at local carnivals.
He secured the copyright and wrote the book of rules in 1933.
The first true baseball stadium was built in Pittsburgh in1909 and was
named Forbes Field. Soon other stadiums followed, but it was
Pittsburgh that held the first World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates
and the Boston Americans.
Read more Pittsburgh Firsts
Other Interesting Pittsburgh Firsts
Other interesting “firsts” include the first polio vaccine in 1953,
developed by Dr. Jonas E. Salk at the University of Pittsburgh; the
first Zippo lighter was invented here by George G. Blaisdell in 1932; and
the nation’s first daylight savings plan was devised in Pittsburgh by
councilman Robert Garland in 1918.
Who could imagine that so many of the things we take for granted today,
all across the country, and even around the world, came from Pittsburgh?
It makes you wonder what lies in the future for this great city.
Pittsburgh may be a city of bridges and of steel, but it is also a town of
world famous “firsts.”
Read more Pittsburgh Firsts
Return to Top