On April 17, 1995 I met with Alice Rapp, a Wissinoming born resident, whose parents were born in the Philadelphia area. Her father was of Irish decent and her mother English. Her parents, after their marriage, rented a house in the 4800 block of Benner Street. Alice was born in this house and her grandparents also lived here

Alice is 83 years of age, looks great, and has wonderful memories, but has some difficulty in walking any distance.

         As I showed some old pictures of Wissinoming and people, she spotted Mr. Davis, a well known Lawton School teacher, whom I also knew. He seemed to have spent his whole life at Lawton. Her comments were "All the children nicknamed him 'Pop' and when he married another Lawton teacher, Anna Gorman, she became 'Mom.' 

Alice's mother worked at the Old' Ladies Home on State Road and remembered crossing a bridge over Wissinoming Creek near the trestle bridge. She also remembered houses along the river west of the trestle bridge, and the name of the Palmer family who lived there.  Also, a big home with a nice lawn right on the river at the foot of Quaker City Rubber Company. It had a big hedge growing on the Comly Street side for privacy. She thought it might have been the owner or an executive of the company, which originally was a large red brick building, and later, another building was added. 

She talked about nice parades on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, and remembered that her father always had a dollar bill ready for the donation or "passing the hat," as it was called.

Her home in Wissinoming had indoor plumbing but the old "outhouse" was still in the yard.

Most activities were at or through the church with picnics to nice places.

She was a crossing guard at Lawton and remembered the principal, Mr. Freed, and a cute little poem he used quite often called "The Little Train That Could". As the train chugged up the mountain, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can"...as it hit the top... "I knew I could, I knew I could, I knew I could!!!" Also, Mr. Martin who lived just beyond the school at Glenloch and Lardner Streets. 

She now attends Hope Church, but in earlier years attended the Presbyterian and Methodist churches. At church, one of her favorite things a teacher did was called "soup and bread". They sat around a big table and each one was asked an interesting question. Each one brought something edible, hence the name "soup and bread". 

Her father worked at Quaker Rubber and then, Simmons Abrasive Her mother worked most of her life in the wool mill.

She mentioned something that I had never heard before. An original owner of land in Wissinoming had legally arranged that no Catholic Church could ever be built in the town and that is why Saint Bart's is south of Cheltenham Avenue. Also, that a group of nuns had rented a store next to the Scott Curtis Tavern to teach confirmation, but lasted there only one week. 

A favorite radio show was "Guiding Light" and that is still run by that name on television. A story of a doctor and his family but the story content is much different'than the radio show.

Alice married at a young age to Herman Rapp whose mother had just died and he had no other family. He never knew his father. Herman worked at Safety Glass on Vankirk Street where they made, among other things, wrappers for Bond Bread. 

Alice worked at Helwig Silk Dye Company where she was a "flat folder," on some very expensive materials. She knew the owners there, and a son named Jake who complimented her on her work. They did yard goods, skeins of yard, and umbrella covers. During World War II they also did parachutes. 

I asked about life during World War II, and since Herman had active service time and was discharged, he was not involved. 

During World War II and rationing, they got along okay with whatever was available, and since they were not accustomed to luxuries, accepted rationing without much difficulty. 

She remembered the Northeast Theater as very nice, but had little memory of the "Elite" theater, although she knew it had existed. 

In the early years there were few cars, and trolleys were the main transportation. The "56" came south on Torresdale Avenue but only to Orthodox Street where it turned west to Frankford Avenue. The middle section of the trolley passed right over the pavement, while the wheels followed the tracks.

Later on in the 1920's the Torresdale Avenue trolley continued south past Orthodox Street and past Frankford Avenue, where it became Erie Avenue, and continued on beyond Broad Street.

We ended our conversation and Alice remarked that she wished that she had the walking ability to again walk down along the Wissinoming waterfront to see what it is like now. I advised that she would be greatly surprised and disappointed.