Back in the Day: Neighborhood pride was a clean sweep

I was speaking with a friend who shared her observations of neighborhoods as she and a friend drove from Cape Cod to Philadelphia. She was impressed with the cleanliness of the neighborhoods in each state and town through which they passed. However, the positive comments ended when she reached Philadelphia. My friend pointed out that our communities are simply dirty. Many of you complain about this regularly. This characterization of our neighborhoods as dirty may be an understatement; the term filthy may be more appropriate, so appropriate that our city has sometimes been referred to as “Filthydelphia.” This should not surprise you as a few years ago, Travel & Leisure magazine ranked Philadelphia as one of the dirtiest cities in the country. My friend and I talked about the condition of our neighborhoods, as we resurrected fond memories of how our neighborhoods were kept clean, back in the day.

I suspect that some of you remember the large city water trucks arriving in your neighborhoods on a designated day in the 50s and 60s. In my neighborhood, neighbors anxiously awaited the water truck’s arrival on a Saturday. But, before the water truck rolled down the streets, neighbors would have been outside with their brooms in hand to sweep the sidewalks, putting leaves into what would become a large pile. You might recall what happened next; it was an action the city outlawed years ago. Once the leaves were swept into a pile, they were burned. With the burned leaves and other debris swept from the sidewalks, residents waited for the water truck to spray the streets. You cannot be from back in the day without an image of a water truck traveling down the middle of the streets spraying water on each side. Trucks also came through the neighborhoods spraying for mosquitos. As youngsters, it was exciting to remove our shoes and run in the water. For adults, this process was an integral part of cleaning the streets. I recall some residents used their own buckets to catch water sprayed by the water trucks and toss it onto the sidewalks in an attempt to clean the pavements. City workers came by shortly after the water was sprayed, with large push brooms to put everything into a pile at curbside. You may recall that the street cleaning effort did not stop there.

After the water trucks came through, all of the trash was shoveled and placed in trucks. Homeowners, apartment dwellers, and businesses were on board in their commitment to living and working in an environment that was neat and clean. Given what is seen today in our neighborhoods, the water trucks played a significant role in the pride we showed in our streets in the past. I recall that even when the water trucks did not come to wash down our streets, a city worker opened fire hydrants; another way that we received help in keeping our neighborhoods clean, back in the day.

Cleaning our neighborhoods also brings back memories of cleaning the marble steps that were a characteristic of many row homes. I can still see adults and sometimes children, on their knees, scrub brush in hand and a container of Ajax cleanser or SOS Scouring Pads, scrubbing the white marble steps. The cleaning of these steps was a ritual followed each and every Saturday morning after the water trucks left. Washing down the streets and cleaning the marble steps went hand-in-hand.

While I recall marble steps, I also recall that many homes had porches; having one’s porch presentable was an important part of neighborhood pride. The ritual was a bit different, but the objective was still the same; we had to have clean, well-presented neighborhoods. Our homes, whether owned or rented, were a source of pride in our neighborhoods. So, the cleaning of the marble steps was similar to the sweeping down and hosing of our porches. Sometimes instead of hosing the porch, buckets of clean water were used to wash down the porch. As I recall, you not only washed down the floor, but you also washed the porch furniture such as swings, gliders, rockers, and planters that were found on many porches in the past. The attention given the porch and steps was also given the sidewalk in front of your home.

You may recall that cleaning pavements, in particular brick pavements was very meticulous and time consuming. Remember that there was no “Round Up” or other weed killers back then. So, it was often the job of children to sit down on the brick sidewalks and manually pull weeds out of the cracks. I do recall my father cutting down on weeds by sprinkling rock salt in the cracks. Some people used soapy water as a grass and weed killer. While it is not something that you see today, some people went beyond what was expected by sweeping down their entire block. Additional effort went into painting addresses of homes on the curb and using old tires as planter. This was evidence of the pride shown in our neighborhoods, back in the day.

We can all be helpful in preventing our neighborhoods from becoming dirty. Returning to the pride we had in the past would be a first step and contributing as a part of the neighborhood team would be another step. So, while we wait for the return of the water trucks to wash down our streets that is under consideration, let us return to those days when we took pride in our neighborhoods by keeping them clean as we once did, back in the day.