{"id":465,"date":"2014-07-14T02:00:50","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T02:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=465"},"modified":"2014-12-22T19:36:17","modified_gmt":"2014-12-22T19:36:17","slug":"pittsburghs-pawn-shops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/07\/14\/pittsburghs-pawn-shops\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh\u2019s pawn shops"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jack <\/a>
Jack Dutch relied on old customers for the loans he made at a pawn shop on Federal Street on the North Side. (The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Jack <\/a>
Jack Miller was ready to buy, sell or trade anything at his Pittsburgh pawn shop. (Lynn Johnson\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"This <\/a>
This 1983 image shows Jack Dutch in front of a North Side pawn shop. (The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Joseph <\/a>
Joseph G. Lazear was 70 in this 1970 photograph made in his pawn shop. (Robert J. Pavuchak\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A bird’s eye view of Harry Pepper in a Pittsburgh pawn shop. (Lynn Johnson\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The television show called \u201cPawn Stars\u201d is filmed in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Think of it as an Antiques Road Show for the Desperate, Down and Tapped Out.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

During the first half of the 20th century, many Pittsburgh neighborhoods included this type of business. In the Hill District, there was Joe\u2019s Pawn Shop on Wylie Avenue. On the North Side, there was Security Loan Co. at 15. Federal Street.<\/p>\n

Guy Mitchell, a successful, popular vocalist during the 1950s and 1960s, even recorded a tune with this opening line:\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a Pawnshop On a Corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n