GREAT GIFT FOR FORMER PITTSBURGHERS TOO!

Rick Sebak of WQED hosts this special 3 DVD Set about Pittsburgh-its history, its people, its communities, its food, its culture and what makes our most livable city so unique and charming!   The DVD Set includes the following titles:  "Happy Holidays in Pittsburgh", "What Makes Pittsburgh Pittsburgh" and "Pittsburgh A to Z".

These DVD titles normally sell for $20 EACH at major stores and you now have the opportunity to purchase all THREE titles for the just $29.99 (the lowest price ANYWHERE!)  They make great holiday gifts or why not add them to your own video collection!

Happy Holidays in Pittsburgh

When winter arrives, people around Pittsburgh have ways of coping with the gloom.  Like people everywhere, we celebrate:  Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan and Eid, among other things.  We cut our own trees, and we decorate them.  We love to visit the Miniature Railroad at the Carnegie Science Center, the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning at Pitt, the old homes in Allegheny West, the zillions of lights at Hartwood Acres, and now we can even go ice skating at PPG Place!

It's a season of parties, shopping, celebrating, going to worship services, renewing friendships and jumping in the frozen river.

Happy Holidays in Pittsburgh looks at some of the things that make the end of the year and the start of the new one special times in Western Pennsylvania.  It's a joyous, light-filled celebration of hometown happiness.

What Makes Pittsburgh Pittsburgh?

It's a question with no real easy or definitive answer.

There are countless factors that make the Pittsburgh area unusual and charming, distinctive and unique.  You've got the hills, the valleys and amazing hilltop views.   You've got three rivers (full of history, Gateway Clipper boats and water.)   Any or all of those things could be the answer.

Or it might be our engineers who figured out how to make this area work with heavy industry, how to build our bridges, how to generate and distribute electricity.

But immigrants were important too.  And their Old World cultures and traditions are being preserved and celebrated all over the city by groups like the Western Pennsylvanian Slovak Cultural Association and the St. David's Society, in places like the Bulgarian-Macedonian Center in West Homestead and the Jozsa Corner restaurant in Hazelwood.

Maybe it's just the simple pleasures of a social club like the WEMCO Club in Homewood.  Or the delicious treats to be found in a neighborhood bakery.  But Pittsburgh's also full of surprises like the world's largest green building and the tiny Natrona Bottling Company, the last pop producer in Allegheny County.

And lots of people will tell you "It's the people!" which may be true, especially when everyone in the city becomes a Steelers fan with traditions, banners and lots of gusto.

There are so many factors to consider, and we've squeezed as many as we could into this fast and friendly look at one of America's most beautiful cities.

WHAT MAKES THESE EXTRAS EXTRA?

• New material from all the stories in this program, some of the interviews and footage that we wish we didn't have to cut.
• A special edition story celebrating the Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania on their 125th Anniversary in 2005
• Funny bits that we usually cover with the credits but presented here uncovered!
• Promotional spots for WHAT MAKES PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH? and more!

Pittsburgh A to Z

Here are twenty-six Amazing, Beautiful, Captivating and Delicious pieces of a great medium-sized city!  This unusual video includes everything from Fish sandwiches to Grant Street, from the History Center to our Interesting Islands.
Pittsburgh A to Z is a delightful documentary that celebrates (in alphabetical order!) a wide variety of topics from Amateur Archaeologists (looking for arrowheads and other ancient American artifacts) to the zinging zaps of the Zambelli's.  It's a new view of our Amiably Bedazzling City, the only place on earth where "D" can be for Daguerreotypes in Dormont, where "M" may mean Mancini's in McKees Rocks, and where "W" will be Westinghouse in Wilmerding.  See the surprise of Soldiers & Sailors, find out about the National Negro Opera Company, Jeeps in Butler County, Kentuck Knob and the Nattering Nabobs of NightTalk.  Ride the Rail-trails!  Try Tailgating!  It's an amusing adventure, a tantalizing tour, a homey history lesson led by popular producer Rick Sebak. All that and much more!

Plus!  Possible P's!  We didn't pick a P in the program but provideo plenty of powerful possibilities here on the DVD:  Pennsylvania Macaroni from THE STRIP SHOW, Pip's Diner from PENNSYLVANIA DINERS, Primanti's from THE STRIP SHOW, Penn Brewery from NORTH SIDE STORY, The Pretzel Shop from SOUTH SIDE, PPG from DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH and THINGS WE'VE MADE.