This Scrantonicity was going to be the prettiest Scrantonicity… of all the Scrantonicities. I had “insider information” for quite awhile that the show was going to send a camera crew to film the local St. Patrick’s Day parade, including a Dunder-Mifflin float. Talk about a slam-dunk! The parade is one of the country’s largest, and the route goes right through downtown Scranton. I would have been able to tell an uplifting story, or a lurid tale about every identifiable background shot. Well, that didn’t happen. NBC changed the schedule around, moving this episode up to air before the parade, making it all a moot point. That’s a lot of lurid tales left untold. For now.
So, the focus of the story shifted, leaving the centerpiece parade completely unmentioned. But I liked the episode, so I shouldn’t complain. The Dunder-Mifflin staff was all decked out in green, and they were eager to head out and celebrate the occasion, which certainly rings true of Scrantonians on St. Pat’s. According to the Scranton Times, the bar they all ended up in looked a lot like Farley’s Pub downtown, near the courthouse. Of course, the bar was a faux-Farley’s, but that’s OK.
There was one honest-to-goodness real Scranton reference, and it was a good one. Michael Scott gave Jo Bennett a lump of souvenir coal from the Lackawanna County Anthracite Heritage Museum. The museum tour takes sightseers down into a replica underground mine, where they can check out “mine things,” like the mule boy and the nipper, the monkey vein and the dead chute. But unfortunately, not the laser tag. The replica coal mine was built with a replica souvenir shop, where tourists can buy fine jewelry made of hard coal, or just a lump if you’re budget-minded. Michael Scott would opt for the lump, although if there are different sizes, he’d go for the big one.
Here’s an obscure Scranton reference: In the breakroom scene where Michael is talking to Gabe, a box of Wegman’s Frosted Flakes is visible on top of the refrigerator. Wegman’s is a local supermarket, and I spotted this one all by myself. (I hardly ever find the hidden stuff.) Also, the Scranton Times is reporting that the football helmet in Darryl’s cardboard box closely resembles the logo of the Valley View Cougars. Valley View High School is not far off of good ol’ Route 6. That would mean that Darryl grew up in either Archibald, Blakely or Jessup, Pa, the small towns that joined to form “Valley View.”
Here’s an oblique Scranton connection: To induce the guilt of parental neglect in Jim Halpert, Dwight plays Harry Chapin’s song “Cat’s In The Cradle.” The late folk singer Harry Chapin is well-known in the area for writing a song based on a real-life Scranton tragic incident, called “30,000 Pounds Of Bananas.” Is the song a light-hearted tale about a long-ago truck crash near Lake Scranton, or a profoundly offensive, insensitive bashing of an unfortunate man and an entire city? Read the lyrics, and be the judge.
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in Scranton on Saturday, under threatening skies. That held the crowd down to about 40,000, with 10,000 others marching in the parade! (The missing Dunder-Mifflin float would have bumped those numbers considerably!) The police report filed after the parade included 128 calls, resulting in 16 arrests. Most were for public intoxication, and one was for “indecent exposure.” Well, at least we know what happened to Packer! 
~ Bob
Great post Bob. Sorry it didn’t work out the way you planned. I learned something new about a bannana truck accident, so that should count for something. I always enjoy your insights and the local flavor you add to the show.
Thanks, Suri! As the story goes, the truck driver’s widow was very offended by “30,000 Of Bananas,” which was a jolly sing-along highlight of Harry Chapin’s live shows. She didn’t like the fact that crowds were having fun with a song about her husband’s violent death in a highway crash.
The folksinger Harry Chapin later died a violent death in a highway crash.
Oh boy, Bob! You KNOW I love a link!
Here is my favorite bit about the Harry Chapin song link:
The driver then prays to God twice to make the event all a dream before he “sideswiped nineteen neat parked cars / clipped off thirteen telephone poles / hit two houses, bruised eight trees / and Blue-Crossed seven people.” He is decapitated in the accident, and 400 yards of the road down the hill is smeared with his load of bananas.
First off, not only does this truck accident take place in Scranton, but the driver’s “capa was detated”?! In the words of Jim Halpert, WOW!
Also, I love the phrase, “Blue-Crossed”. Never heard that one before to describe people being hurt. Sounds like something a rapper would say as a slang word, not a 1960′s folk singer.
It is odd that the show has never covered the parade since it’s such a big deal in Scranton. I guess they can’t picture why the staff would be there together? The only thing I can think of is if Sabre made them pick up a Saturday, and in protest, Michael takes them all from the office to the parade.
Great Scrantonicity, as usual.
Thanks, Donna! VERY cool observation about the phrase “Blue-Crossed.” That DOES sound quite “rapper-y,” as opposed to “folk-singer-y.”
AND… I’m glad you pointed out about the capa, that was unfortunately detated. I love keeping things “Office”-y!
Wow Wegmans! what a wonderful store, and I mean it! nothing like that here. The only place near Scranton to get any kind of ethnic food stuffs! Did your school growing up all make a field trip to the coal mine tour also? With the silly fake hands reaching out of the coal… I lived about 4 blocks or so from it and seriously thought about taking the tour again as an adult… =)
Geez, I forgot to mention Parade Day! i could not believe how in to St Patrick’s day the area gets when I moved down to Scranton! It’s mainly Irish Americans, so what can you expect, but it was so fun to be in the thick of it! it’s a HUGE holiday there so i was happy to see the cast get dressed up, but it def would’ve been nice to see some footage from the Parade!
I just came across your blog and wanted to say it’s pretty awesome.. I’m born and raised in the Scranton area, so it’s always nice to see the different mentionings of the Scranton area on the show.
However, I gotta point out your wrongness here… The bag and coal was from the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum which is in McDade Park and run by the STATE… it is NOT the same as the Lackawanna Coal Mine tour which is right next to the museum but run by the COUNTY. I know this because, well, I work for the museum and prepared the stuff for the Office production crew after they called us.
The museum tells the story of the Anthracite people (which includes more than the coal history of the region) while the coal mine tour takes visitors down into an actual coal mine. They, of course, have similar concepts but are not the same place! You are not, however, the first person to mess it up
Hey, Jill! Thanks so much for the correction! I am always thrilled when we hear from a genuine, current northeastern Pennsylvanian. And the goal here is to get things RIGHT. I grew up in Dunmore, and my wife is from Jermyn, but it’s been awhile since we moved away. So I appreciate the help.
The last time we visited Scranton, we toured the coal mine and the museum. They were both fun, and I guess I didn’t realize they were separate attractions.
Thanks again, Jill! If you see any other blatant examples of “wrongness” in other Scrantonicities, please let me know!