The Pittsburgher's Creed - from 1916 #Pittsburgh #TrueLikeSteel

Eeek!!! Gotta love those old Halloween costumes 👻 🎃. These are students from Franklin Park's former McDevitt School in the North Hills. Circa 1920

For those of you who know me, I suppose it was only a matter of time before my love of history, storytelling, and exploring life's endless curiosities turned into something like this. I've actually been working on several writing projects behind the scenes, and I'm excited to finally start sharing them! My newest book, "The Glass Spindle", is now published! It's a collection of 23 original fairy tales inspired by the classics many of us grew up with, but reimagined for our modern world of artificial intelligence and rapidly changing technology. I've also illustrated and designed the entire book to resemble an old-fashioned fairy-tale collection, which has been half the fun of creating it! I'm pretty excited about this new adventure, and I have quite a few other books and projects in the works that I hope to share soon. For now, I just wanted to share this one with all of you. 😊 The Glass Spindle is available now via Paperback or eBook! Hope you enjoy!! a.co/d/01edq3DU

"This house is redd up, n'at" Zelda Rubinstein - #Pittsburgh born & Highland Park native, graduate of Peabody High School & the University of Pittsburgh. #Poltergeist #CarolAnn #TheyreHere

12 YEARS OF ODD PITTSBURGH Twelve years ago today, I created Odd Pittsburgh. I didn't have a degree in history. I hadn't studied to become a historian. I didn't really have a plan for what it was supposed to become. I was just curious. I wanted to know what had happened here - the photographs nobody had seen, the stories people had forgotten, the strange little details hiding between the lines. And whenever I found something incredible, my first instinct was always the same: I have to show somebody this. That simple impulse somehow turned into twelve years of Odd Pittsburgh. It brought hundreds of thousands of people along for the ride, introduced me to extraordinary people, and led me into archives, museums, forgotten buildings, and family collections. Somewhere along the way, people started calling me a Pittsburgh historian. I suppose I became one. But twelve years later, I've realized something else: Odd Pittsburgh was never really the whole thing. It was just one expression of the thing that's driven me my entire life - curiosity. The same curiosity that makes me disappear into Pittsburgh history also sends me into genealogy, music, filmmaking, writing, philosophy, old photographs, forgotten people, AI, strange coincidences, and many ideas that don't always fit neatly into a category. And after everything I've been through these last few years, I'm increasingly uninterested in putting myself back into one box. So maybe this next chapter is my Factory era - and I mean that more like Warhol's original idea than a literal one: a place where different people, disciplines, and ideas collide and something unexpected comes out the other side. I want to make things — films, music, books, websites, historical projects, shows, events, experiments, weird ideas, serious ideas, things I haven't thought of yet. And I want to make them with other people. So consider this an open invitation. If you've followed Odd Pittsburgh for twelve years or twelve minutes and you've ever thought, I'd love to make something with that guy, reach out. Writer, musician, filmmaker, historian, artist, photographer, researcher, podcaster, programmer, collector, business owner, or someone sitting on a completely ridiculous idea you've always wanted to try — I'm interested! Nothing has to fit inside Odd Pittsburgh anymore. Odd Pittsburgh isn't disappearing, far from it. I still love this history, and I care enormously about preserving all the work, photographs, documents, artifacts, and stories behind it — perhaps even more now, as our feeds fill up with synthetic versions of the past. But I don't want to compete by simply producing more content. I'd rather keep doing what started this whole thing 12 years ago: get curious, find something extraordinary, make something from it, and share it with people. To everyone who has followed, shared, contributed photographs, corrected me, encouraged me, argued with me, told me stories, opened their family albums, invited me somewhere, or simply enjoyed one of the thousands of things I've posted over these years — thank you. You helped turn a curiosity into something real. Now I'm curious to see what the next twelve years become. And if you have an idea... let's make something!!

I hate having to ask again, but right now I genuinely need some help. After everything my family has been through over the past few years, we have reached another very difficult financial moment. I am working part-time and continuing to rebuild after my health crisis, but my current income simply isn't enough to keep up, and right now we have an immediate need for help getting through the next few months. If you are able to donate - even a small amount - it would make a very real difference right now. This is not money being saved for some distant goal. It will go directly toward getting our bank account above zero, keeping our only car and our home, getting the kids ready for school, paying household expenses, and simply giving us room to breathe while I try to rebuild. I'm also actively looking for more work. Ideally, I'd love something that actually uses what I do best: history and research, writing, radio/TV, podcasting, hosting, production, content creation, community programming, museums/cultural work, creative projects, or something similarly interesting. I'm open to both full and part-time opportunities, including the right kind of retail or public-facing work. I know what I'm capable of. I just need an opportunity - and right now, a little help getting from here to there. If you can donate, share this, or connect me with someone who might have work for me, I would be incredibly grateful. Thank you, as always, for continuing to believe in me and my family. Venmo: @OddPittsburgh GoFundMe: gofund.me/daaa4b606

I honestly didn't think I'd be writing another update so soon. First, before anything else, thank you. To everyone who has donated, shared my fundraiser, sent a message, offered encouragement, or simply kept my family in your thoughts over these past months—you have carried us farther than you know. Your kindness has helped us through some incredibly difficult days of absolute DESPAIR, and I will never forget it. I truly believed things were beginning to turn around. Unfortunately, the past couple of weeks have brought another round of unexpected setbacks, and I'm once again trying to figure out how to keep everything afloat. My mom is still waiting for me to be able to bring her home from KANE, and every day she's there weighs on both of us. I simply cannot afford to find her a place to live. At home, the bills continue to pile up, important family responsibilities are approaching, and despite doing everything I can, I'm falling even further behind instead of catching up. One thing I do want people to know is that I'm not giving up despite major despair. I'm continuing to work part-time, and I'm actively looking for additional work—either part-time or full-time—that I can do while still managing the lasting effects of my health challenges. If anyone knows of an opportunity that might be a good fit, I'd truly love to hear from you. It's difficult for me to ask for help again. I know many of you have already been incredibly generous, and I never want anyone to feel obligated. But the truth is that I simply can't get through this chapter on my own. If you're able to help through my GoFundMe or Venmo, it would make an immediate difference for my family. If you're not in a position to give, sharing this update means just as much. I still believe brighter days are ahead. I just need a little more help getting there. From the bottom of my heart... thank you. Venmo: @ OddPittsburgh GoFundMe: gofundme.com/f/support-for-o… ❤️

A Heartfelt Update and Thank You First, I want to sincerely thank every person who has donated, shared my fundraiser, checked in on me, or offered words of encouragement. Your kindness has helped my family through an incredibly difficult period, and I do not take a single act of support for granted. Unfortunately, I am still facing an overwhelming financial situation. My mother remains in a care facility while we try to find a safe and affordable way to move her into a more appropriate living situation. At the same time, I am struggling to keep up with the basic expenses that keep my own household afloat, including my mortgage, transportation, and everyday necessities. I wish I had better news to share. I have tried every avenue available to me, but right now I am completely out of resources and once again asking for help. Any donation, no matter the amount, would make an immediate difference. Sharing this update is also an enormous help. To everyone who has already supported us: thank you. Your generosity has carried us farther than you may ever realize. I remain deeply grateful for your continued compassion, patience, and support as we work toward more stable days ahead. VENMO: @OddPittsburgh GOFUNDME: gofund.me/ac09fb7c7

On this day, 115 years ago, together as a city, we persuaded the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to give us back our "H" after 20 long years of spelling it "Pittsburg". Some of the events that happened in our city while it was spelled without its coveted "H" are - - The 1st World Series ever - Pirates win 1909 World Series - First Hockey Game - First Pro Football Game - The PittsburG Zoo opens - The Carnegie Museum opens - PittsburG Brewing is formed - The world's 1st Movie Theater opens on Smithfield St. - Allegheny City & PittsburG merge to form one city. - Forbes Field opens - Kennywood opens (ha!) #PittsburgH

Mastodon's once roamed #Pittsburgh for thousands of years. Here is a picture of a discovered tusk found by John Claus at Sharpsburg on May 3, 1909.

The Allegheny Club inside #Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium

Some fun facts about Magee are: Over 500,000 babies have been born there. Almost 10,000 babies each year which is close to half of all the babies born in Allegheny County. They change close to 850 diapers a day… making that close to 6,000 a week and 310,000 a year! And 44 years ago today, on a early July morning in 1982, I was born there ;) #Pittsburgh #Birthday

I always wondered about the history of #FastFood in #Pittsburgh. Today I spent some time tracking down the 1st known and/or advertised #Pittsburgh locations of some of the most well-known places. From @pizzahut to the invention of the #BigMac #ThingsIRresearchWhenHungryAndBored

This has to be one of my favorite photographs of 1930s #Pittsburgh! The incredible detail of Downtown Pittsburgh & the vantage point just blows me away! From June 5, 1932 (Formally classified photo via USAAC)

On this D-Day anniversary, I'm thinking about my grandfathers, Stanley Schalcosky and Morgan Donato, and the stories they carried home from WWII. Researching their lives taught me that every veteran has a story worth preserving. That's what inspired me to create Honor a Veteran. oddpittsburgh.netlify.app/ho… #DDay #WWII #Veterans #MilitaryHistory