The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

Neil Harvey doing a TV commercial
WFIL-TV
circa 1950

Broadcast Pioneers member Neil Harvey was a staff announcer at WFIL-TV and WFIL Radio. Part of his job was doing whatever commercials that were assigned to him. One such spot was for Horlacher Beer, a local brewery based out of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Horlacher Beer came out of Allentown. Their first brewery was built there in 1845 when Frank Horlacher was 5 years old. At the age of 28 Frank and his family moved to Parryville, Pennsylvania and started a hotel. He operated a small soft drink bottling company out of the basement. A few years later, he purchased a small brewery which was renamed Horlacher. During prohibition, they bottled soft drinks but continued to make beer on the side. In 1935, the company went bankrupt and was sold to F.B. Franks Sr., a local cement manufacturer. The company lasted into the late seventies.

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com