Citizens' Voice from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania • 29

31 Cimm Vsa lis REMEMBERING 0 MM He is a darling of American marketing, an advertising icon enshrined today in museums and coveted by private collectors. He put little old Wilkes-Barre on the map as his humble birthplace, even before his trademark monocles, spats and authoritative smile became synonymous with snack-ing. Americans gobbled him up, literally, making Planters a household word and propelling the company to enviable heights in the American food industry no small feat for one little peanut who got his start on the back of a horse-drawn wagon peddled by two humble Italian immigrants in the heart of Wilkes-Barre. Share the history and meet the man behind the costume By Heidi E. Ruckno Staff Writer WILKES-BARRE Although many people associate By Heidi Ruckno Staff Writer WILKES-BARRE In the 1950s, downtown Wilkes-Barre was quite different than it is now.

Instead of the empty storefronts and deserted streets of today, the sidewalks were filled with shoppers and the downtown was a yibrant commercial hub. The Planters Nut and Chocolate Co. was a Although he rarely ate peanuts himself, Galey said he enjoyed passing them out. "After I'm out of there I get; a yearning for peanuts," he admitted. Area children always got a kick out of Mr.

Peanut. Galey enjoyed walking the streets and talking to the townspeople. Planters always took pride in their product, Galey said, and as a result, the peanuts sold themselves. "The store itself, as you passed it they had Planters Peanuts with Suffolk, locals always remember that the Planters Nut and Chocolate Co. was born in Wilkes-Barre.

What started as two brothers-in-law selling peanuts from a cart on Public Square grew into a multi-million-dollar empire. At the time of his death in 1947, founder Amedeo Obici's corporation was worth $60 million, according to Luzerne County Historical Society docu ments. I orusnerellvingin wmees-uarre, it I really nice to claim that," said Historical Society Executive Director Jesse Teitel-y. I baum. 7 II ft' 1 SVN i large part of that vibrant downtown.

The business, started in 1906 by Italian immigrant Amedeo Obici and his brother-in-law. Mario Peruzzi occupied 15 E. Market St long before the Chinese buffet restaurant which is currently located at that address. In those days, Mr. Peanut was a fixture on Public Square, and city resident Harold Galey spent many a day strolling the downtown attired in a peanut shell, monocle, and spats on his shoes.

Galey, now 72, started working for Planters Peanuts when he was old. For the peanut smell blowing out," he said. "They knew how to get people in." Being Mr. Peanut wasn't a job for everyone, Galey said. While many people took that job, few lasted.

The costume weighed 55 pounds, he recalled. Wearing it all day would make one's shoulders ache, he said. "I remember one guy who took his shell off and went to see a movie," Galey said. After a few years of paying his dues playing Mr. Peanut, he was promoted through the ranks to assistantmanager of Ubici was born in lavb uzerzo, ltaiy, near Venice.

Orphaned in 1887, he-immigrated to Brooklyn, N.Y. He lived there with relatives and worked at his uncle's fruit and nut business, historical society documents said. He later purchased a peanut roaster and invented a method of blanching whole peanuts. By 1900 he was living in Wilkes-Barre and working as a merchant. Obici and his brother-in-law Mario Peru-zzi founded the company in 1906.

They began with six employees, mostly relatives, and a few crude roasters, according to the Spring 2005 edition of The Searcher, a newsletter published by the Genealogical Research Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The business was incorporated in 1908, and headquartered on South Main Obid Amedeo Obici and his brother-in-law Mario Peruzzi began selling peanuts from a cart on Public Square in 1906. Planters grew to a multi-million dollar empire. JACK XEUEY THE CITIZENS' VOICE Harold Galey, right, was 'Mr. Peanut in downtown Wilkes-Barre for several years in the 1950s.

Today, at 72, he is a barber at the YMCA barber Shop In Wilkes-Barre. Above, he gives customer Gottfried Csala a trim. He remembers the Mr. Peanut era in downtown Wilkes-Barre fondly. The sidewalks were he said.

Street, the newsletter said. Production shifted to Suffolk in 1916, but the company maintained offices in Wilkes-Barre. The company was sold to RJR Nabisco in 1961. Nabisco retained the South Main Street office, but opened a new plant in Hanover Township. Nabisco was eventually absorbed by Kraft Foods, which is now a division of Altria, In 2003, Altria sold the South Main Street buildingto the City of Wilkes-Barre for $1.

Two years later, the city sold the building to Cross Continental Realty for $230,000, but city council would only approve the Sale if Cross Continental Realty preserved the facade. Developers agreed to that condition, but the majority of the building is slated for demolition to make room for a new strip mall. the store before leaving for the military. After he returned home he went back to Planters Peanuts, but he left a few years later to become a barber. He has cut hair for the last 50 years, and still works when he's needed at the Wilkes-Barre Family YMCA Barber Shop.

Unfortunately, Galey saved no memorabilia from his Planters Peanuts days. He said he now wishes he did, because the novelty items have appreciated in value. hrucknogcfensmcexoiii several years his work 'uniform' was a giant peanut shell, complete with a cane, top hat and spats. He handed out free peanut samples to people on the square, and got paid 55 cents an hour to do it. "The sidewalks were buzzing," he said.

"It's like you don't have the foot traffic you used to have." Galey remembers the days where the sidewalks were so filled with people that some pedestrians had to walk on the street. timcknocitizensvoice.coni.