Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: United States

  • Pittsburgh – Love Locks

    I’ve never really been a fan of the love lock phenomenon which has bestowed so many padlocks onto bridges and other structures across the world. Although I’m not very romantic, so that is probably why, but chucking a key into a river and leaving a padlock on a bridge doesn’t seem to be the height of romantic sophistication to me. But, each to their own.

    There were a few love locks on the bridges in Pittsburgh. However, I’ve never seen before a cycling helmet attached to a bike lock which is then placed on the bridge, in this case Hot Metal Bridge (a wonderful name for any structure). I thought for a while someone was storing it there, although that seemed unlikely, but there are numerous other rather more traditional locks in the area.

    If nothing else, it’s different.

  • Philadelphia – Philadelphia Museum of Art (Virgin and Child by Lorenzo Costa)

    This is an oil painting by Lorenzo Costa from around 1490, called Virgin and Child. I pondered about this as I couldn’t work out at the time why it seemed familiar. I have now resolved the issue, this was issued as a Christmas stamp in the United States in 2001 and they printed 800 million of them.

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (Punishment Area – Cellblock 13)

    This doesn’t look as frightening as I’m sure that it once did, but it was the toughest area of the prison and was used as a punishment block. It was also known as ‘the Hole’ and ‘Klondike’ and there were ten cells which were mostly without light. Although the walls between the cells are no longer present, it’s possible to see where they were once located.

    This appears to be the only cell which remains standing with its walls intact, with the area being closed down in 1959 due to concerns about the conditions here. It was then used for storage until 1970 and then fell into disrepair. It’s said that this is one of the areas of the prison where hauntings are noted…..

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (Appearance in Films)

    The impressive backdrop of Eastern State Penitentiary has appeared in numerous films. I didn’t know this, but the above sign in the prison noted that the below films have sections filmed there:

    (i) 12 Monkeys

    (ii) Transformers 2 : Revenge of the Fallen

    (iii) Return to Paradise

    (iv) Outside the Wall

    The last film is perhaps one of the most interesting (not that I’ve actually seen the film) as it was filmed when the prison was still in use.

  • Philadelphia – Mütter Museum

    I don’t have any internal photos from this museum as they’re not allowed due to the content of what is displayed. The museum, which term themselves as “disturbingly informative”, has medical related exhibits and is run by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

    The museum, which isn’t that large in physical size, was busy as it was Easter week and many parents thought that the content was appropriate for their children. On the no photographs policy, this was well enforced and there was a threat that anyone who tried would be asked to leave, and I didn’t see anyone try. Which was disappointing, I like watching things like that.

    The museum was founded in the 1860s following the sizeable donations of medical specimens and apparatus by Dr. Thomas Dent Mutter, after whom the museum is named. It opened in its original location in 1863 and moved to a larger site in 1909 and it remains there today.

    The museum was relatively cramped, primarily due to the number of visitors, and it was difficult to see some items. There was an interesting exhibition on the American Civil War and how injured troops were helped at the time on the battlefield. There wasn’t much opportunity for anaesthetic and there were many amputations which had to take place in the field. There are also some bullets on display which had been extracted from numerous unfortunate soldiers.

    I wasn’t entirely engaged with the main part of the collection, it seemed to be made a little sensational, especially with how proud the museum is of calling itself “disturbing”. I’m not entirely sure that medical oddities should ever be disturbing, they’re just different.

    On display there were a large number of skulls, wax training models for medical students, a lady who was made of ‘soap’ (a burial found in the city in 1875 where certain chemical reactions had taken place), slices from Albert Einstein’s brain and a number of foetuses which hadn’t made it through to birth.

    The above photo (which is from the museum, I didn’t breach the no photography rule) shows one of the wet specimens the museum has. They have 1,300 wet specimens in their collection, and interestingly they’re still adding to this, a reminder that this is an active scientific resource as well as a museum.

    To be fair to the museum, they also say that they exist to “appreciate the mysteries and beauty of the human body while understanding the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease”, which does feel rather more positive. I gained admission with my Philadelphia Pass, but otherwise museum entry is $18.

  • Philadelphia – Philadelphia Museum of Art (Mahabalipooram by Edward Lear)

    This artwok was Painted by Edward Lear, the English artist known for his literary nonsense (there are some politicians know for the same reason). This ancient temple site is on the Bay of Bengal in the Indian province of Madras and Lear visited here between 1873 and 1875. The above painting was created in 1881 when the artist was living in France.

    The painting was acquired for the museum using the John Howard McFadden jr. fund

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (Exercise Yard)

    All of the ground floor cells at Eastern State Penitentiary were originally linked to a private exercise yard. Prisoners could access this for 30 minutes twice a day, although otherwise they had to remain in their cell. Eventually this policy fell out of favour and the exercise yards were either repurposed or demolished.

    This exercise yard is one of the very few which has survived with its original walls, solely because it was later used as a bathroom for the neighbouring exercise yard. The doors to the exercise yard are still though visible at the rear of most cells as they were just blocked off.

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (State of Ruin)

    The decision to leave the Eastern State Penitentiary in a state of ruin was deliberate, as it was left for two decades and some of its copper and valuables were stolen over the years. When a decision was made to turn it into a museum the site was cleared down, primarily of trees which had started to take over the buildings, but it was felt that repairing the damage wouldn’t be authentic.

    This has left the prison in a state of ruin in parts, although efforts are made to try to minimise the decay and some sections have been secured to ensure their preservation.

     

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (Identity Control)

    In some of the cells at the Eastern State Penitentiary there are art installations of various different kinds. Created by local artist Tyler Held, this is perhaps one of the most ambitious, as it involved getting an entire car into the cell. The car has been stripped down of any identity, which is the purpose behind the installation, it’s to show that prison life can strip the individual of their identity and individuality.

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary

    This was one of the highlights of my trip to Philadelphia, a trip to the Eastern State Penitentiary. It was opened in 1829 and was designed to be a forward thinking new approach to prison design, with help being offered to prisoners rather than them just being punished. As usual with these things, eventually more prisoners were crammed into the prison and the initial pioneering strategies were mostly lost.

    The exterior of the prison was though always designed to look austere and when it opened the building was some way from the city centre and stood out like a castle. Quite a scary castle….

    The castle like protection is visible from the exterior of the prison, but it’s all fake. The slit windows in the main wall are just a front and the crenellations are just decorative.

    The inside of the wall, with no slit windows showing through.

    One of the numerous prison wings, the first ones were single storey but double storeys were added later on. The prison was closed in 1971 and the intention was to demolish it to build residential units or a shopping centre. It was left to go to ruin for two decades before a decision was made to turn it into a museum. The above photo shows one of the few sections which have been repaired, but the rest is being left.

    One of the two storey prison wings.

    Inside one of the cells and there were hundreds of these to look at. The closed off section at the back is what led into a small exercise yard, a pioneering idea which gave each prisoner an exercise area and they could even use part of it as a small garden. They were later all sealed up though when things got tougher. The cells all had toilets right from when they were constructed, which was well ahead of its time, and they actually had running toilets before the President of the United States as plumbing wasn’t added to the White House until 1833.

    I thought this was a fascinating site and I spent nearly three hours here exploring everything. I managed to take nearly 300 photos, so at some point I’ll post more photos of the prison. I’m not usually a fan of audio tours, but this one worked well, a short introduction and then visitors could use them as they felt appropriate whilst they explored the prison.