The Patio Podcast
The Patio Podcast is a wistful exploration of my hometown's enduring attachment to Hess’s Department Store. In candid conversations with residents, historians, collectors, former shoppers and employees, The Patio hopes to shed light on Allentown, Pennsylvania’s multigenerational interest in one single place.
Does nostalgia this visceral unite a city, or hold it back? How has Max Hess Jr.’s marketing genius endured? What happened to his famous chandeliers? And how good was all that whipped cream pie, really? The Patio Podcast is a new collection of Hess’s memories, meant for the here and now!
The Patio Podcast's original music: Theme created and produced by Dave Meyers with Vocals by Sam Cummings
The Patio Podcast
Episode 7: Don Serfass, May the 4th Be With You
May the 4th Be With You! Today we're bringing you a special STAR WARS episode featuring Donald Serfass. Don was hired as part of the Advertising & Public Relations department, and had a robust career at Hess's from 1976-1980.
Star Wars was released in May 1977. It's hard for many people to remember a time before Star Wars, which revolutionized movie technology, franchising, and movie merchandise as we know it today. It was impossible to overstate how big a phenomenon Star Wars has been for generations.
No one expected it to be a hit, so while Hollywood-merchandisers scrambled to catch up with the demand for toys, Hess’s and other select stores around the country filled the galaxy-size gap in the market with The Force Beam-- just in time for Christmas 1977. While it was not an official Lucas Film's toy, it satisfied many crazed Star Wars fans, and became one of many examples of how Hess's was able to see an "it-factor" from miles away-- keeping them on the cutting edge of merchandising for almost 100 years.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Under My Hat: The Best of Everything, by Donald Serfass (2021)
- About The Force Beam, by Cyriaque Lamar (2012)
- Episode Nothing Blog: The Force Beam (2017)
- The Real Story Behind the 'Star Wars' Opening Weekend 45 Years Ago, by Tom Brueggemann (Indie Wire 2022)
The Patio's original music: Theme created and produced by Dave Meyers, with Vocals by Sam Cummings.
Follow us on Instagram @HessPatioPodcast
Connect on Facebook with The Patio Podcast
Visit our website www.hesspatiopodcast.com