While there is no better place to learn about the founding of our nation than Old City, sometimes you need a break from all the red brick and Ben Franklin stories. Here are some of our favorite places to recuperate from colonial overload.
For history that’s a bit more recent than Ben Franklin, how about a walk through Old City admiring the ghost signs? Many of these are on 19th century buildings and related to businesses that date back to the time when this was an active port and Philadelphia was known as the “Workshop of the World (Ghost Signs of Old City).”
Surrounded by all that red brick, the 1932-34 Art Deco Customs House stands out. Built as part of the Works Progress Administration’s economic recovery plan, the exterior aluminum decoration and interior murals depict scenes of US commerce. You have to first go through security, but are welcome inside to see the “countless crustaceans” and other scenes of commerce decorating the interior murals, staircases, and dome.
For a delicious step back in time to the 1910’s, head to Shane Confectionary, America’s oldest Confectionery (Shane Confectionery: Treats – Historic and Delicious) or go for ice cream at its sister shop Franklin Fountain, a recreation of a 1915 soda shop.
For a burst of modernism, check out the interior of the building at 6th & Market. Included in the design of the 1964 headquarters of Rohm & Hass, these chandeliers each contain about 2,000 plexiglass rods, one of the company’s most successful inventions. You can admire them while sipping a draft latte from an outpost of Philly’s own La Colombe (The Rohm & Hass Chandeliers: Coffee with A Modern Masterpiece in the Heart of Colonial Philadelphia).
To cool off (or warm up, depending on the time of year), sit on the bench just inside the door of the Curtis Building at the intersection of 6th and Walnut and enjoy Tiffany’s mosaic Dream Garden. Designed by hometown artist Maxfield Parrish for the headquarters of the publisher of The Saturday Evening Post and Ladies’ Home Journal, the mosaic contains over 100,000 pieces of art glass in a beautiful floral mountain scene (A Secret Tiffany Masterpiece).
For more Tiffany and to learn about coin production, head to the US Mint for a self- guided tour (The Philadelphia Mint – Coin Production in Action). For more money, cross Independence Mall to the museum in the Federal Reserve to check out the exhibits and pick up a free souvenir bag of shredded bills. Make sure to check out the Alexander Calder mobile hanging in the lobby (Who Exactly is “The Fed”? The Museum at the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia).
Wherever you explore in Old City, keep an eye out for the Victorian/early 20th century horse fountains. Closely aligned with the sanitary, temperance, and suffragette movements, the animal welfare movement was big in Philadelphia. In 1880, there were over 50 fountains providing fresh water to horses (many with separate areas for people and dogs). Today, you can find almost a half dozen still scattered around Old City, with sayings such as “A Merciful Man is Merciful to his Beast” and “Drink Gentle Friends.”
Secrets of Philadelphia 