{"id":1186,"date":"2013-11-25T05:02:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-25T05:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1186"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:41:05","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:41:05","slug":"pittsburgh-goes-dark-prepares-for-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/11\/25\/pittsburgh-goes-dark-prepares-for-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh goes dark, prepares for war"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Blackout <\/a>
Blackout works its way down Fifth Avenue. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"One <\/a>
One motorist forgot to turn off his headlights. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Pittsburghers <\/a>
Pittsburghers lined up to get supplies to create blackout rooms in their homes. (Post-Gazette photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Ann <\/a>
Ann Bradford of Castle Shannon reads during a dimout in 1942. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A crowd gathers on Mt. Washington to watch Pittsburgh\u2019s \u201cblackout rehearsal.\u201d (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

April 18, 1941:<\/strong>\u00a0War was a distant rumble when Pittsburgh conducted what was labeled a \u201cblackout rehearsal\u201d in April 1941. The event was treated as a grand spectacle, a sort of a light-up night in reverse. \u201cThe greatest audience ever in Western Pennsylvania\u201d jammed the surrounding hillsides to see the city go dark at 10:10 p.m., reported The Pittsburgh Press.<\/p>\n

Only Pittsburgh didn\u2019t quite go dark. Several bridge lights continued to twinkle. Streetlights burned. The beacon atop the Grant Building never ceased flashing the city\u2019s name in Morse code. A reporter flying in an airplane at 3,500 feet wrote that the Golden Triangle was dim but very recognizable.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh tried again on June 25, 1942. This time, folks got serious about the business of making the city invisible to enemy aircraft at night. Maybe it was the memory of all those American ships burning in Pearl Harbor.<\/p>\n

On the day of the planned blackout The Pittsburgh Press warned, \u201cIf and when we do get bombed, we\u2019ll get perfection in our blackout or it will cost us dearly in lives and property damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sirens and church bells signaled the \u201clights-out\u201d moment at 9:45 p.m. At Sixth and Penn, a handful of people and four police officers watched the street lights blink off. \u201cThe complete darkness was a physical shock,\u201d wrote Post-Gazette reporter Anna Jane Phillips. \u201cFor the first time we felt war close to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Street cars stopped in their tracks. Motorists pulled their automobiles to curbs and switched off headlights. Bessemer converters at the National Tube Works in McKeesport were blown out. Air raid wardens patrolled the streets. Those who violated the blackout were subject to a $100 fine.<\/p>\n

Downtown, Phillips encountered a number of people huddled in the entrance of a darkened restaurant on Fifth Avenue. It was a somber crowd. Everyone spoke in whispered tones. \u201cNowhere did we hear laughter or shouts or hilarity,\u201d Phillips wrote. The stillness was so great she could hear the quiet footsteps of police officers patrolling the street.<\/p>\n

At one point, the silence was eerily broken when bells at a Hill District church tolled, \u201clike a dirge for peace,\u201d Phillips wrote.<\/p>\n

Not all was perfect. Someone forgot to shut off bulbs in the Liberty Tubes, which were \u201clike the barrels of a huge shotgun\u201d blasting light at the city, according to the Press.<\/p>\n

After 30 minutes, sirens sounded the blackout\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

As the city once again illuminated itself and returned to life, a young man in a chef\u2019s hat stood downtown and proclaimed, \u201cThose lights, gee, I never knew they were so wonderful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A crowd gathers on Mount Washington to watch Pittsburgh\u2019s \u201cblackout rehearsal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesPittsburgh goes dark, prepares for war<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1187,"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":[975,960,1211,979,1218,987,1178],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tumblr_mwoo62ri2Y1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C846&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1955,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/03\/18\/eucharistic-rally-at-pitt-stadium-attracts-90000\/","url_meta":{"origin":1186,"position":0},"title":"Eucharistic Rally at Pitt Stadium attracts 90,000","date":"March 18, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Roman Catholics played a role in 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