The television show called “Pawn Stars” is filmed in Las Vegas.
Think of it as an Antiques Road Show for the Desperate, Down and Tapped Out.
Long before Pittsburgh residents sold their gold jewelry at Treasure Hunt or sought loans in advance of pay day, people who needed cash wandered into their neighborhood pawn shop.
During the first half of the 20th century, many Pittsburgh neighborhoods included this type of business. In the Hill District, there was Joe’s Pawn Shop on Wylie Avenue. On the North Side, there was Security Loan Co. at 15. Federal Street.
Guy Mitchell, a successful, popular vocalist during the 1950s and 1960s, even recorded a tune with this opening line: “There’s a Pawnshop On a Corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.”
The song (heard above) is about a guy who meets a beautiful woman he wants to impress. After entertaining her with dining and dancing, he runs out of things to hock.
During the heyday of pawn shops, people could sell cameras, fur coats, jewelry, guns, watches, typewriters, television sets, radios and musical instruments.
To get a feel for that era, check out “The Pawnbroker,” a memorable movie made in the 1960s that starred Rod Steiger as a Holocaust survivor who ran a pawn shop in Harlem.
