Today in Delaware County History, August 19

100 years ago, 1924: Vincent Caruso, musical prodigy from Chester, was given a grand birthday party in the hall of St. Anthony's School on Sunday evening. Some well-known stage performers were present and the 10-year-old boy, who has a promising future as a singer and musician, received nearly a thousand dollars' worth of presents. Little Vincent, who was born in this city and attends the Franklin Grammar School, is a tenor singer, saxophonist and drummer. He has had a big hit on the coast and has appeared in some of the leading theaters. He left Chester today for New York, from whence he will begin a 20-week variety tour.

75 years ago, 1949: Hyman Stein, treasurer of Hyman Stein & Son, announced today that the firm suffered a net loss of $30,000 Wednesday night when a $100,000 fire destroyed the building where the auto parts company was located on Seventh Street near Penn. Stein said half of the firm's $50,000 inventory was insured, and $10,000 for goods and machinery.

50 years ago, 1974: The long-awaited openings of Delaware County's two much-touted new malls, Granite Run Mall in Middletown and Springfield Mall, are scheduled for this week. Granite Run, the larger of the two new malls, is scheduled to open its doors Wednesday morning, and mall officials are anticipating a rush of shoppers visiting the 70 stores scheduled to open that day. The Middletown mall will ultimately have 140 stores. And on Thursday at 10 a.m., Springfield Mall will open its doors with an initial selection of 15 stores.

25 years ago, 1999: Trucks will be banned from Shadeland Avenue and a detour route will be set up via Shadeland Avenue, Upper Darby officials said. Last night, the Town Council authorized Mayor Margaret Murdoch to contact the Lansdowne Borough and PennDOT about problems with Shadeland Avenue. Councilman Thomas Micozzie wants to immediately restrict truck traffic on the road due to the collapsing houses.

10 years ago, 2014: At 22, a Philadelphia man may never have heard Kenny Rogers' advice: “Never count your money before you make the deal.” If he had, the gambler and suspected bank robber wouldn't have sat in his getaway car counting his loot while stuck in Upper Darby rush hour traffic. According to police, the man admitted to robbing the PNC Bank on State Road on Monday afternoon and attempting to rob the Coast Gas and Wash in Clifton Heights to finance his gambling habit.

— COLIN AINSWORTH