This morning I stopped by the brand new Giant supermarket located at Grant Ave. and Roosevelt Blvd. in Northeast Philadelphia. The store is clean, gorgeous and well-stocked. On the perimeter of the store (where space allows, like near the customer service desk and cafe) they have historical photos of Philly mounted on the wall. being a Philadelphia history buff, I took special notice of these signs, but one in particular caught my eye. It was an aerial shot of the sports stadiums in South Philly. Once you see one of the photos, you can pretty much tell right away what era the photo was taken. This particular shot had the Vet, The Spectrum and JFK Stadium still standing, which means the photo was taken anywhere between 1970 and 1992.

Except the photo caption mounted on the frame said, “Tri-Stadium Sports Complex, 1966″. I’ve never heard anyone refer to that area as the “Tri-stadium Sports Complex”, but that’s not the most glaring thing wrong about it. The Spectrum wasn’t in operation until the Fall of 1967, and Veteran’s Stadium wasn’t open until April, 1971.

My guess is the photo reproductions were produced by an out-of-town firm and no one took a close look, or even worse, they were made by a clueless local and approved by an equally clueless manager. Still, it’s a nice photo capturing a lost era of Philly sports history. From the 70′s.

The 1970′s. Veteran’s Stadium. Those groovy orange and yellow plastic seats. Usherettes wearing hot pants. Harry Kalas. Funky music. Schmdit’s Beer.
That’s what this awesome video is made of.

(via Philly Sports History, a great read if you’re into the old-timey Philly sports.)