Museum to honor a Socialist

A small Pennsylvania town is set to have the first museum in the Keystone State dedicated to the Socialist movement of a bygone era.

The Charleroi Area Historical Society will convert the intact Goaziou print shop in the borough into a museum chronically the family’s ties a movement that was popular among laborers during the early 20th century.

Louis Goaziou, a French immigrant, opened the shop as a means to promote his Socialist propaganda in a newspaper, The Union of Workers. It appealed to coal and steel workers who wanted to unionize in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Goaziou, a leader in the Franco-American Socialist movement, engaged many high-profile members of the party to speak in Charleroi, including Eugene V. Debs, who ran for president on the party's ticket in 1912.

The society came into some money through an inheritance, and used it to purchase the 807 Fallowfield Ave. building from a descendant of the Goaziou family.

“To us it’s a part of our history, a unique part that has an international renown to it,” Nikki Sheppick, the society’s board secretary, told the Observer-Reporter Thursday.

The society hopes to have the museum open to the public in May.

iJustine for old people

My silly, silly podmates at the Observer-Reporter think I have an obsession with Justine Ezarik, otherwise known as iJustine.

Author takes a friendly look at Murphy's

G. C. Murphy - McKeesport, PA 1906, originally uploaded by Origins of Business.

Jason Togyer has the potential to become one of America’s great storytellers of the working-class condition.

His new book, “For the Love of Murphy’s” carefully tells a department chain's history through the eyes of the people who dedicated their careers to the most popular five-and-dime in the Pittsburgh region.

And their stories are rich with the spirit of the nation’s industrial heartland.

Take the one, for example, from Sandra Wilson, who worked the jewelry counter in a Murphy's in downtown Washington, Pa., during the late 1950s. A hot item one Christmas was a ring bearing a giant costume diamond that her silly boyfriend used in his marriage proposal. She accepted on the spot, and he gave her the real thing on Christmas Day.

But life on the job wasn’t so romantic for the Murphy girls who worked in the flagship store in McKeesport, Pa. One discussed how she would roll soda pop bottles across the floor to scare off rats before starting her shift. Another talked about being chased around the stockroom by frisky male coworkers.

These women were required to keep their clothes starched to a crisp and merchandise counters stocked and neatly arranged.

Dorothy Everetts, who worked in Mercersburg, Pa., said she now longs for the quality service customers grew to expect at Murphy’s.

“When you ask a clerk now about an item, they look at you as if you are talking in a foreign language,” Everetts told Togyer.

He made extensive use of the company’s archives to explain how the "Macy’s of Appalachia" went on to outpace the sales of its competitors before being raided by Wall Street hounds in the 1980s.

Togyer's book was published in hardback in 2008 by The Pennsylvania State University.

It’s a nostalgic read for anyone who fondly remembers their routine trips to the local G.C. Murphy Co. store and the smell of roasting peanuts or hot dogs sizzling on a griddle. The affordable stock that was spread out in orderly fashion somehow brought a certain level of calm to the chaotic lives of steelworkers and their families.

Why Anne Hathaway deserves an Oscar

She’s the underdog but Anne Hathaway deserves an Oscar for best actress tonight for her break-through performance in “Rachel Getting Married.”

Hathaway sheds her princess image as Kym, a troubled loser who takes leave from a drug rehab unit to attend her more-perfect sister’s wedding.

The movie directed by Jonathan Demme is difficult to watch at times because it’s too heavy on a version of female drama that has been without anti-anxiety meds and martinis for too long.

The best scene involves a slug match between Kym and her distant mother portrayed by Debra Winger, who deserves to be punched for her long absence from film. Hathaway’s character goes on to attend the wedding with a black eye dripping in pancake makeup, while invoking immense sorrow from the bleeding hearts in the audience.

Hathaway’s competition is near insurmountable because she faces off against Meryl Streep and her brilliant performance as a stern nun in “Doubt.” That film could have been the front-runner for best movie had it not been for Danny Boyle’s fantastic “Slumdog Millionaire.” And everyone, including Time magazine, is saying Kate Winslet will steal the award from the pack for her starring role as a Nazi pedophile in “The Reader.” Winslet does come to the table with a sympathy card for having been nominated for Oscars three other times, only to go home empty handed. But her character isn't likable enough by any stretch of the word to deserve praise from the industry.

Oscars also should go tonight to Sean Penn for “Milk” and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams for playing opposite Streep in “Doubt.”

Hathaway just may be the surprise winner because Oscar has a history of being friendly to the beautiful actress who makes herself ugly for a movie and retains a bit of her charm. Remember Charlize Theron in “Monster?”

Hathaway is nowhere near as freaky as a serial killer, but in her movie, she gives us a perfect definition of the creature known as a junkie and how one always seems to wreck a family.

(Photo courtesy Sony Pictures)

A perky sale offer

boob job fund, originally uploaded by littleREDelf.

Dear Doctor’s Say Yes executives,

It’s hard out there for a B+ cup. Especially when everywhere you turn there are perky, perfect C-cups (or more) staring you in the face. Women like me are sort of becoming the VCRs of sexuality – we’re being phased out quickly by the ease and affordability of breast augmentation surgery much like the DVD made the VCR obsolete.

I’ll admit, I’m tempted to get a boob job every time I see Say Yes ads splashed in Cosmopolitan and Us Weekly magazines. While I’m happy with my particular set, I’m always trying to be a better version of myself. And sometimes I think upgrading to a nice, full C would suit me nicely. So, believe me: Your ads guaranteeing financing for everyone really tempted me for a few moments.

Then I see the newest advertisement boasting 25 percent off any procedure and the bust line of my dreams keeps coming into clearer focus. I’m already this awesome with my current mammaries so I’m sure that awesomeness level would increase by 12 percent with a lift. Then I think better of it, and it isn’t because of any moral or ethical issues.

Nah, it’s because I know a few chicas who have undergone the procedure, and despite their magnificent melons, they told me a few secrets about the whole ordeal that makes me a little uncomfortable.

For one, the life of an implant is about 10 years. I’m 28 now, and if I’m doing my math right, by the time I hit 38, I’ll likely need to have those puppies replaced. Your ad does not specify if the replacements also will be 25 percent off.

One particular friend also told me that she had to affix a belt around her bosoms and “exercise” her new found glory. I think it had something to do with keeping scar tissue at bay to keep the boobs from feeling like plastic tomatoes. I have a difficult enough time getting the rest of my body into the gym, so I just can’t commit to another routine right now.

So, I’m kindly asking that you keep me posted about any future discounts. DVD players were expensive at first too, but now you can pick one up cheap. Yeah, 25 percent off is a good deal, but BOGO is better – buy one, get one free.

That’s an offer I wouldn’t be able to pass up.

Warmest Regards,

Amanda “my cups don’t runneth over” Gillooly

iJustine in the big time

Justine Ezarik, the Internet itgirl and Scenery Hill, Pa., native, is now a TV commercial star as spokeswoman for mozy.com.