A L O H A !
Famous twelve-foot high hot dog sign,
designed by the Philadelphia's own
Joseph Feldman.
Levis was Established 1895
My Philadelphia childhood
was a time of the inner city's
decline,
including the demise
of the South Street
commercial district
due to massive
'urban renewal.'
Very few businesses endured,
like Lester´s Shoes,
Krass Brothers
and LEVIS HOT DOGS,
the last hold outs.
Right where that car above
is parked,
(Sixth St. South Philly)
my father parked
to take me for
my first
LEVIS Hot Dog.
I was five,
or six.
Abe Levis purchased
this marble soda fountain,
used,
in 1895 for $30.
Still in use in my small kid days,
Dad said it was the oldest
Soda Fountain in the world!
It sounds rude,
but that was the day,
that Dad taught me
how to burp.
Those were
super carbonated sodas!
LEVIS was a
real old place
when I was little.
Pictures of old fashioned men,
with old fashioned names,
were up on the wall:
"The fifty year club."
Hey!
I think I'm now
eligible!
Some say the hot dog
was created by
Thomas Francis Xavier Morris,
a
Caribbean immigrant who served them
in Paterson, NJ
as early as
1892.
Others trace the American Classic
modern hot dog
to a cartoon
of a dachshund in a roll
that was drawn by
New York Evening Journal
cartoonist Tad Dorgan
around
1901.
Philadelphians believe
that the sausage-on-a-bun
was
invented by Abe Levis
and his wife Anna Solo Levis,
in their little sandwich
shop
on South Street in 1895.
Hubba Hubba !
Ray Kroc invented
modern fast food.
America became a
Burger country
while I was still a kid.
[]
Abe Levis
came to America
from Lithuania
at the age of fourteen.
Being a Jew,
he was about
to be drafted
into the Czar’s army
for a twenty five year
stint
in the manner of the times.
He married Anna Solo
when he was twenty-one
and they opened their
little sandwich shop
in the heart of
the South Street business
district,
thriving
with immigrant owned
businesses in those days
Levis served hot dogs, sandwiches,
fish cakes, ice cream and sodas.
And what sodas they were / are!
A fishcake and a hotdog
could be purchased on the same roll,
but I forget what they called
that sandwich.
Abe produced the carbonation
for his sodas in the basement!
My favorite was the
chocolate soda
made to order.
But LEVIS
most famous drink
was Created by
Abe himself:
Champ Cherry Soda.
Originally he called it
"Champagne Cherry"
but Abe was a
Phillies fan
in the manner of immigrants
like my Grandfather
who took being
patriotic Americans
VERY SERIOUSLY.
When Abe's beloved
Phillies
won the National League
Championship
in 1950,
Levis celebrated
by changing the name
of his
popular soda
to Champ Cherry.
" Today,
visionary soft drink guru,
Elliott Hirsh,
and his
Amazing Beverages company
are bringing back
this iconic drink
for fun,
refreshment,
and with the hope that
the Phillies
will win yet another
championship.
'Think Champ! Drink Champ!'"
I'm thinking of having some
CHAMP CHERRY,
and a few Hot Dogs
mailed to me here in Hawaii !
Amazing Beverages, Inc may be phoned
@ 215-886-9356
"Old Original Levis" and "Champ Cherry"
are registered in the US Patent Office
by Amazing Beverages, Inc
If you are in North America,
you can have a classic dog
at an authentic shrine near you:
HOT DOGS Near YOU!
Thank YOU
for Summer
reminiscing !
'Take Away Heart Burn - Leave your wisecrack'
Warmly, cloudia
