{"id":1174,"date":"2013-11-29T05:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-29T05:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1174"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:42:10","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:42:10","slug":"pittsburghs-thanksgiving-snowstorm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/11\/29\/pittsburghs-thanksgiving-snowstorm\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh\u2019s Thanksgiving snowstorm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Snow <\/a>
Snow forced the postponement of the Pitt-Penn State football game. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Stranded <\/a>
Stranded travels at Pennsylvania Station. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Drivers <\/a>
Drivers showed passes that allowed them on the roads. (Post-Gazette photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Residents <\/a>
Residents of Seitz Street dug themselves out. (Sun-Telegraph photo) <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A Sherman tank pulled stalled trucks from the street. (Post-Gazette photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Boulevard <\/a>
Boulevard of the Allies was deserted after the snowstorm. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Although a half-dozen of its musicians were snowbound, the Pittsburgh Symphony went ahead with its Friday night subscription concert in Oakland\u2019s Syria Mosque.<\/p>\n

The Thanksgiving weekend performance on Nov. 24, 1950, started late because of a winter storm, according to a review in the next day\u2019s edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Critic Donald Steinfirst wrote that, nevertheless, about \u201c1,200 hardy music lovers\u201d made it to the concert, which featured works by Ravel, Haydn and Smetana.<\/p>\n

As the musicians played, snow continued to cover Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania. The white blanket eventually totaled a record 31 inches, closing down the city and much of the region for the next five days.<\/p>\n

The Nov. 25th edition of the newspaper featured several pictures of stalled and stuck vehicles and one photo of \u201chappy Brookline youngsters \u2026 who took to their sleds early in the day.\u201d Children who got extended Thanksgiving vacations may have been happy with the snow, but their mothers and fathers probably were not.<\/p>\n

By Monday, Nov. 27, the newspaper reported that many industrial plants and most Downtown stores had closed.<\/p>\n

Pregnant women had to use ingenuity and courage to get to local hospitals. \u201cSome made a lap of their trip [to the hospital] by sled, stretcher and even shank\u2019s mare,\u201d P-G reporter Edith Rosenblatt wrote on Nov. 28. \u201cOne woman walked with her husband from Holt Street, Southside, through the Armstrong tubes to Passavant Hospital at Reed and Roberts Streets,\u201d her story said.<\/p>\n

That day\u2019s paper featured a photo of soldiers from the National Guard\u2019s 304th Tank Battalion \u201chelping to clear streets and keep order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some critical deliveries made it through. The newspaper reported on Nov. 28 that a coal truck, bringing fuel for the furnace at the Jewish Home for the Aged in Squirrel Hill, had to be preceded by a bulldozer to clear the way.<\/p>\n

Only a few services were unaffected. \u201cWith all other transportation buried to a halt, the inclines roll on, never missing a trip,\u201d the newspaper said. Superintendent W. Homer Ackard claimed the only time the Monongahela Incline had stopped operating since 1870 was during the St. Patrick\u2019 Day flood of 1936, when it lost power.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s car pound on Duquesne Way was filled up with 265 vehicles towed in since the storm began. \u201cBut the city told owners not to worry about fines or towing fees,\u201d the newspaper story said. \u201cThey are being waived due to \u2018circumstances beyond control.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

By Wednesday, Nov. 29, conditions had begun to ease. A front-page headline said \u201cCity and District Nearly Back to Normal\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlong with store-reopening plans came announcements that industrial firms are slowly increasing their operations and that some schools and institutions will reopen today or tomorrow,\u201d one news story said. As more streets were plowed and trolley lines resumed operations, transportation was \u201cimproving hour by hour.<\/p>\n

The best summary of the region\u2019s experience probably came in the form of a P-G headline that appeared Nov. 28: \u201cBig Snow of 1950 Proves Nature Still Is King in District.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although a half-dozen of its musicians were snowbound, the Pittsburgh Symphony went ahead with its Friday night subscription concert in Oakland\u2019s Syria Mosque.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesPittsburgh\u2019s Thanksgiving snowstorm<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":1179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[961,1201,1242,982,989,1032,1050,1052],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tumblr_mwwaxnSTk51rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=936%2C656&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2611,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/08\/22\/bruce-springsteen-at-three-rivers-stadium\/","url_meta":{"origin":1174,"position":0},"title":"Bruce Springsteen at Three Rivers Stadium","date":"August 22, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The 64,000-plus fans combined for the biggest concert ever at Three Rivers Stadium, meriting a front-page story in the Pittsburgh Press the following morning.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/tumblr_m92kwzmEda1rr5swxo1_1280-e14187922538941.jpg?fit=921%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":379,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/08\/08\/pittsburgh-symphony-orchestras-september-1975-strike\/","url_meta":{"origin":1174,"position":1},"title":"Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s September 1975 strike","date":"August 8, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"On Sept. 29, 1975, the 104 orchestra members went on strike for 46 days after an extension on their contract had expired.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/tumblr_n9yez2IlwL1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C872&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2275,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/19\/turkeys-all-sold\/","url_meta":{"origin":1174,"position":2},"title":"Turkeys all sold","date":"November 19, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"A timely photo, isn\u2019t it? 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