This is the Season Two Finale, but there is so much more ahead as we approach the One-Year Anniversary of The Patio Podcast! Thank you to all the cheerleaders, listeners, and guests who made this incredible project possible. You're responsible for preserving your local history and Hess's legacy-- I can't think of a greater gift we could possibly share! During his 25-years at Hess's, Wayne Holben worked his way up to Director of Public Relations. His longest stretch as ...
Mar 21, 2024
1 hr 4 min
During his 25-years at Hess's, Wayne Holben worked his way up to Director of Public Relations. His longest stretch as a Hess’s co-worker began in 1973, one week after he returned from three-years of serving overseas in the Army. Prior to that, Wayne had various roles as a stock-boy, then worked in merchandising. Before he was old enough to work, often at the request of Mr. Hess, Wayne ran odd-jobs with his father, Wayne Holben Sr. Wayne Sr. worked at Hess’s from 1951 until he passed away...
Feb 8, 2024
1 hr 4 min
VOTE The Patio Podcast for BEST LOCAL PODCAST in the 2024 Best of the Lehigh Valley Survey! Best Local Podcast is category #134, type in "The Patio Podcast" Vote online at www.bestofthelehighvalley.comDeadline is Monday, February 5, 2024...(Part 1 is audio + Part 2 is a video on YouTube)Lois, Tina, and Lori are three members of a small tribe they fondly referred to as The Hess’s Girls. This group of seven friends had career paths at Hess’s that overlapped and intersected for a...
Jan 23, 2024
1 hr 2 min
Mrs. Frances Ziegler’s 28-year career at Hess Brothers includes some of the most dynamic stories we have heard to date. If she had not spent years carefully assembling one scrapbook for her son, John Ziegler, it is very likely that her story would never have been told. In this episode, John, adopted son of Mrs. Ziegler, and I comb through that scrapbook to share stories and theories about the golden years of Hess's. Mrs. Frances Ziegler was best known as Hess Brothers Business Man...
Dec 28, 2023
1 hr 14 min
Caring DAM Hearts, a nonprofit organization with a mission of assisting and providing hope and kindness to homeless, veterans, and individuals in need throughout the Lehigh Valley region. Founded in 2016 by Denise "Neice Eie" Martinez after workplace stress nearly killed her, Neice Eie and a team of volunteers regularly visit homeless encampments and provide tents, tarps, propane, clothing, hygiene products and more to those in need. Inspired by her fashionable grandmothers and their many vis...
Nov 24, 2023
1 hr 3 min
Mark Keeler is the longest serving Puppeteer in the history of Allentown's beloved Pip the Mouse program; and owner of The Yippee Show Puppet Company. Pip the Mouse has been delighting audiences during the holiday season year after year. Starting inside the window displays of Hess’s Department Store, more recently, Pip resided at the Liberty Bell Museum in Allentown before the assets of that museum were absorbed by the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, the headquarters Museum of the Lehigh ...
Nov 17, 2023
52 min
Steve Greenberg is the son of Hess’s last, local Chairman & CEO, Irwin Greenberg. The stories Steve shares speak for themselves, but the level of detail he recalls is one of the most remarkable things we've heard on The Patio Podcast. There is no doubt that Irwin and Steve Greenberg experienced so much of this business together, and when they were not together, Irwin nurtured their relationship by sharing many ideas and decisions of running a business like Hess’s. Steve does not hes...
Nov 7, 2023
1 hr 33 min
Former Hess’s employee, Bob Richter, is now America’s Vintage Lifestyle Expert! Bob is the author of A Very Vintage Christmas and Vintage Living. Known for his starring role on the PBS series Market Warriors, Bob also hosted Flea Market Minute and Minute Makeover. Bob’s vintage holiday expertise is often featured on TV and in print.WATCH THE VIDEO TOO: www.youtube.com/@HessPatioPodcast Our complete interview with Bob Richter is on YouTube! See Bob's holiday decorations and H...
Oct 19, 2023
1 hr 10 min
*Special Crossover Episode with The Rad Years Podcasthost, Ryan Kelly!* In the early 1990’s when some Hess’s chandeliers were sold off, and the Toy Department was removed from the flagship store, Lehigh Valley Native, Ryan Kelly, was just a kid who wanted to get THROUGH Hess’s in the mall as fast as possible. Ryan, like many of his peers, was a Mall Rat, who was more interested in the comic book section of Walden Books than Hess’s.Still, Ryan has done more to highlight the Lehigh Valley’s byg...
Oct 13, 2023
1 hr 8 min
Glenn Koch loves local and urban history, and is a certified Hess’s aficionado! Glenn is also a collector of antique postcards, photographs, and ephemera, who has spent most of the 21st century thus far collecting Hess’s ephemera on eBay, which he uses to build and share his own online museum on Pinterest. Ephemera are items of collectible memorabilia, typically written or printed ones, that were originally expected to exist or be enjoyed for only a short time. Such as postcards, news bu...
Sep 28, 2023
1 hr 12 min
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