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I wish I could have visited &ldquo;Streets of Baghdad&rdquo; back in 1923.
				Billed by the papers as a &ldquo;unique bazaar and entertainment,&rdquo; it was a fund raiser the Shriners held at Irem Temple in February.
				Knowing what I do of the Shriners, the event was probably loaded with great costuming and lots of fun surprises and music. I&rsquo;m sure I would have seen some of the most storied people of our town&rsquo;s heyday strolling the aisles.
				Let&rsquo;s take a look at what else was going on in Wyoming Valley in the fabled &ldquo;Roaring Twenties.&rdquo; As we do, let us ask ourselves this question. Will we see a similar decade of excitement in our own time, or will future generations scoff at us for our &ldquo;Boring Twenties?&rdquo;
				Speaking of Irem Temple (now, fortunately, being restored), would you believe that in January of 1924, that hall hosted back-to-back performances by piano virtuoso Ignace Jan Paderewski and legendary violinist Fritz Kreisler? A few weeks later the New York Symphony (predecessor of today&rsquo;s New York Philharmonic) offered a concert. By 1928 the famed Ruth St. Denis was dancing at Irem.
				Dang, take me back &#8211; please!
				If the 1920s had a slogan, it would probably have been something like &ldquo;don&rsquo;t do small when you can do big,&rdquo; even when the task is as mundane as making a delivery. The Royal typewriter company heeded that maxim in September 1927 when it sent a plane over Kirby Park to parachute-drop pallets of its products for a local dealer.
				You want &ldquo;big!&rdquo; In 1926 none other than Babe Ruth of the Yankees visited Wilkes-Barre&rsquo;s Artillery Park to play in a local semi-pro game. All he did was blast a home run so long and spectacular that it&rsquo;s commemorated today by a plaque near the field.
				The 1920s was a decade of &ldquo;firsts&rdquo; here in Wyoming Valley. Much of what we now take for granted, whether humble or spectacular, got its start in those years.
				In February of 1923 pet lovers enjoyed a big boost when veterinarian Dr. Emory Lutes opened the area&rsquo;s first dog hospital in West Nanticoke. Enjoy fireworks? July Fourth of 1926 was the first reported instance of an Independence Day fireworks show in then-new Kirby Park. In June, two years later, the Martz Bus Co. was running regular trips to New York City, enabling locals to take in a Broadway show or visit the Statue of Liberty.
				Of course, the decade had its share of oddities. Msgr. John Curran of St. Mary&rsquo;s Church of the Immaculate Conception tried to tamp down excitement by explaining that the &ldquo;miracle&rdquo; vision of Jesus at his church that thousands were flocking to see in October 1922 was more likely a case of light reflection. When the crowds came anyway, Curran closed the building except for services.
				A more unusual &ldquo;miracle&rdquo; occurred the same year when 22-year-old James Hurry showed up at his family&rsquo;s Wilkes-Barre home to announce that their sorrow over his &ldquo;drowning&rdquo; in the Susquehanna four years earlier was misplaced because he&rsquo;d actually gone down to Berwick to work on a farm.
				Every era has its regrettable events. A reported 6,000 people turned out in October 1925 to see the Ku Klux Klan help dedicate a Slocum Township school.
				But 14,000 turned out for the Thanksgiving Day Coughlin-Kingston high school football game the following month. So maybe even in a time famed for its bootlegging and crime, there was hope.
				There was also the &ldquo;Streets of Baghdad.&rdquo; You&rsquo;ve got to love those Shriners.
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Remember When: In Roaring Twenties, they didn’t ‘do small’