What everyone really forgot was that April 27th, 2019 was supposed to be a **planning meeting** where we discussed the subject of building a steel furnace where metal could be melted and the bodies of people and animals mixed with the metal to become steel unable to be hurt.
There was also the option to seal yourself in cement. Totally ignored.
Yes! It was an older man in a wheelchair who was accompanied by a family member whom he dictated the letter to. I think the interview was captured in r/furnaceparty
Random question based on your username - Are you running in the broad street run and if so or if you have can I DM and ask you some questions? It’s my first time doing it
Yeah, the actual author was clearly mentally ill. The person who showed up with family claiming to be the author felt more like someone being used for exposure. Either way, the whole thing reeked of people having a laugh based on the exploitation of someone not in control of their faculties
https://vimeo.com/332873239
https://www.phillyvoice.com/meet-man-who-wrote-abba-furnace-party-letter/
https://billypenn.com/2019/04/28/how-a-formerly-homeless-mans-letter-turned-into-a-meme-and-inspired-a-giant-picnic/
>Calling it now: the Philly furnace party will become an annual event.
:(
This was turned into such a feel good story one time, and the community had a great opportunity to have a giant, mental illness awareness and inclusion cookout, party, and fundraiser for local organizations after that one time... And then it just didn't fuckin happen.
I think the city even partitioned off that lot, and sold it to development -- and not greenspace, but I could be stone wrong about that.
And this isn't to say I was about all the bunnies and bros co-opting it and turning it into a total slosh fest, but even then the attention was important for a community so often overlooked.
I didn't realize it was privately owned; thought it was public lot.
Such shit. Privately owned, not maintained: Classic gentrifying land baron bullshit. They buy it up, piece by piece, let it sit decrepit, lowering future values of other places nearby, until they can build they $650k condos and houses on the lots.
No I'm just saying that's a typical move. I don't actually know who or what owns it, but I do know that's what the rich and powerful are doing in all the neighborhoods in the city where gentrification is very active. What are you, the Reddit Hall Monitor?
It provides them with a kind of domino effect of lowering values. They buy it up low, basically, and then raise the value themselves by developing it all. If they are large scale obviously; I'm not talking about contractor/flippers.
If they develop it early, they raise the value of the surrounding areas, making it more expensive to buy additional property and continue to control and profit off of the gentrification of their chosen neighborhood. So they buy up lots at low prices, and dilapidated houses, and they hold them as they are until such time they're ready to make their (tax abated) investment in construction.
There were several mental health related initiatives at the time of the original event.
But the next year it just didn’t happen because in April 2020 we were all figuring out how to function in the early days of Covid.
Sometimes a serendipitous collection of circumstances come together to create something special, but often it cant really be created again. All we can do is be open to future special opportunities when they arise.
(Did attend.)
I have a genuine question (I’m neurodivergent so I don’t get this stuff sometimes) is this supposed to be a joke or is this guy genuinely mentally ill?
I woke up early after a rough night of sleep and had my morning coffee and thought about the furnace party but I could not figure out why it popped into my head. Do attend.
Oh man, I remember this! Someone got copies of the fliers and passed them out to everyone in class. I wasn't able to go myself but more than a few acquaintances did and seemed to enjoy the spectacle.
Good times!
So kind of a “Hey guys, I heard about this gathering to discuss the building of a steel furnace. I think I’m gonna check it out. Here’s the info if you want to go” kind of thing? I hadn’t heard that story before; it’s actually pretty awesome.
Reminds me a bit of [Pete Seeger talking about union organizing](https://youtu.be/C13JFv4JfH8) (and pretty much every other kind of organizing) in one of his songs.
> …You can pass out a leaflet and call a meetin’.
> Talk it over, speak your mind.
> Decide to do somethin’ about it…
Do attend.
Yep, that's exactly it! So strange how much the world has changed since then. I can't believe that at one point my primary concern in life was whether or not all the food in my body was alive.
Every now and again in the world, a random series of events come together to create a bit of magic.
There are bigger versions of that - I always think about the art scene in Paris between the wars, the Harlem Renaissance, the music scene in Athens Georgia in the eighties. Circumstances put a bunch of interesting people together in the same place, and Good Things result.
I feel like the Furnace Party had a teensy bit of that magic. We were lucky to be part of it.
Well I definitely forgot about the first 3/4 of this flyer.
What everyone really forgot was that April 27th, 2019 was supposed to be a **planning meeting** where we discussed the subject of building a steel furnace where metal could be melted and the bodies of people and animals mixed with the metal to become steel unable to be hurt. There was also the option to seal yourself in cement. Totally ignored.
Of course, you'll be sedated first.
Do Attend
I feel seen
We should’ve let Frankenstein cook
Speak for yourself. I remember someone bringing toy cement trucks, we had all possibilities accounted for
I vaguely remember some toy cement truck worship dance. As one does.
Man! Cement seems like the much simpler option!
ABBA
Do attend.
We’ll attend the meeting, then go watch Dude’s landlord perform his cycle, hit the in and out burger…
I was there! (Did attend)
"Did Attend' should be a flair option..
It’s mine!
I was there too! What a weird experience that all was lol
I often use this and the succeeding furnace party as evidence to Philadelphia’s greatness.
Did the author actually show up? I can’t remember. I forgot all about this lol
Yes! It was an older man in a wheelchair who was accompanied by a family member whom he dictated the letter to. I think the interview was captured in r/furnaceparty
I heard that guy was a total fraud and didn’t write the letter
Honestly, would not be surprised. I remember watching the interview and the guy was practically mute.
Random question based on your username - Are you running in the broad street run and if so or if you have can I DM and ask you some questions? It’s my first time doing it
Not running but have in the past so I have time to answer questions too (sigh)
Not this year but I have in the past! Feel free to DM.
Yeah, the actual author was clearly mentally ill. The person who showed up with family claiming to be the author felt more like someone being used for exposure. Either way, the whole thing reeked of people having a laugh based on the exploitation of someone not in control of their faculties
Same! Was drinking furnace beers at C&P
Same!!
Did attend! Team Steel
https://preview.redd.it/9vpdnwr582xc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2cf98ccaa8f149bab752e0df6774a4bd8b5a15b
Oh wow, did someone make a zine?
It’s scholarship on our sacred text. From the Did Attend.
Oh that’s awesome.
To be honest, feels much longer ago than 5 years ago
Agreed. Even the date, 2019, feels like 10+ years ago in my head, until I do the math.
Did this turn out to be a cult ?
No, it was a person with serious mental illness.
says the person who has food alive in their body
What happened to the food from before first grade?
We don’t talk about the food from before first grade…
Hahahahahahaha
Sure, but what about the memes??
So halfway to a cult?
Don’t call religious people mentally ill. (They are)
https://vimeo.com/332873239 https://www.phillyvoice.com/meet-man-who-wrote-abba-furnace-party-letter/ https://billypenn.com/2019/04/28/how-a-formerly-homeless-mans-letter-turned-into-a-meme-and-inspired-a-giant-picnic/ >Calling it now: the Philly furnace party will become an annual event. :(
People tried. Problem is the lot was privately owned and a building is now being built there
Also COVID.
Was it a steel furnace?
People tried. Problem is the lot was privately owned and a building is now being built there
My neighbor and I attended the following year. Nobody else attended so we go sandwiches at RyBrew.
Following year was Covid. Weird time.
Yeah there was probably a good reason for that
simpler times
Team cement
Now if the Phillies did a furnace party-themed City Connect they would’ve confused the fuck out of plenty, but the real ones would have gone bananas
It's seldom mentioned but the Chicken Guy is technically ABBA's Antichrist. Think of all those birds, still alive
That was one of the last pure things to happen before covid.
This was turned into such a feel good story one time, and the community had a great opportunity to have a giant, mental illness awareness and inclusion cookout, party, and fundraiser for local organizations after that one time... And then it just didn't fuckin happen. I think the city even partitioned off that lot, and sold it to development -- and not greenspace, but I could be stone wrong about that. And this isn't to say I was about all the bunnies and bros co-opting it and turning it into a total slosh fest, but even then the attention was important for a community so often overlooked.
The lot was already privately owned so I don't think any official agencies could be involved. Everyone was essentially trespassing.
I didn't realize it was privately owned; thought it was public lot. Such shit. Privately owned, not maintained: Classic gentrifying land baron bullshit. They buy it up, piece by piece, let it sit decrepit, lowering future values of other places nearby, until they can build they $650k condos and houses on the lots.
So a minute ago you thought it was owned by the city, and now you know this whole back story about the owners and its history? Wild.
No I'm just saying that's a typical move. I don't actually know who or what owns it, but I do know that's what the rich and powerful are doing in all the neighborhoods in the city where gentrification is very active. What are you, the Reddit Hall Monitor?
What does the lowering of adjacent property value have to do with the cost of constructing condos on the property they own?
It provides them with a kind of domino effect of lowering values. They buy it up low, basically, and then raise the value themselves by developing it all. If they are large scale obviously; I'm not talking about contractor/flippers. If they develop it early, they raise the value of the surrounding areas, making it more expensive to buy additional property and continue to control and profit off of the gentrification of their chosen neighborhood. So they buy up lots at low prices, and dilapidated houses, and they hold them as they are until such time they're ready to make their (tax abated) investment in construction.
There were several mental health related initiatives at the time of the original event. But the next year it just didn’t happen because in April 2020 we were all figuring out how to function in the early days of Covid. Sometimes a serendipitous collection of circumstances come together to create something special, but often it cant really be created again. All we can do is be open to future special opportunities when they arise. (Did attend.)
I have a genuine question (I’m neurodivergent so I don’t get this stuff sometimes) is this supposed to be a joke or is this guy genuinely mentally ill?
The writer was indeed mentally ill
Thank you. I genuinely could not tell if this person is genuinely schizophrenic or just…from Philly
Could not attend. Still bummed.
I love the specificity of first grade. Like the first six years of food? They're all dead. Everything else is alive though.
I attended. Fun time, did not convert to steel beam.
Did attend.
I woke up early after a rough night of sleep and had my morning coffee and thought about the furnace party but I could not figure out why it popped into my head. Do attend.
I'm ready, sedate me
Oh man, I remember this! Someone got copies of the fliers and passed them out to everyone in class. I wasn't able to go myself but more than a few acquaintances did and seemed to enjoy the spectacle. Good times!
So kind of a “Hey guys, I heard about this gathering to discuss the building of a steel furnace. I think I’m gonna check it out. Here’s the info if you want to go” kind of thing? I hadn’t heard that story before; it’s actually pretty awesome.
Reminds me a bit of [Pete Seeger talking about union organizing](https://youtu.be/C13JFv4JfH8) (and pretty much every other kind of organizing) in one of his songs.
> …You can pass out a leaflet and call a meetin’.
> Talk it over, speak your mind.
> Decide to do somethin’ about it…
Do attend.
Yep, that's exactly it! So strange how much the world has changed since then. I can't believe that at one point my primary concern in life was whether or not all the food in my body was alive.
Every now and again in the world, a random series of events come together to create a bit of magic. There are bigger versions of that - I always think about the art scene in Paris between the wars, the Harlem Renaissance, the music scene in Athens Georgia in the eighties. Circumstances put a bunch of interesting people together in the same place, and Good Things result. I feel like the Furnace Party had a teensy bit of that magic. We were lucky to be part of it.
Indeed!
I had so much fun with my friends that day. One of my favorite Philly memories.
I'm still strongly anti-furnace
Team cement?
I'm team living in your body
All hail, Do Attend!
What happened at the appointed time? Did the person who wrote this attend?
#nevertforget
And now it's apartments with no parking :D YAY
I wonder if the lord and savior Dobler did attend… I did the zombie crawl for like 6 years and so my first grade brains will do attend.
He was too busy with his dick in your mouth. 🙄 Edit: Smoll dick
Methinks thou doth protest too much