#ted mckeldin

[jeremiahingham]

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[retrobaltimore]

The traffic cop who ruled Pratt and Light

Traffic cop William "Podge" McKeldin and his horse, Bob. That's his brother, Ted, the governor, at right, with the X through his face. (Hans Marx, Baltimore Sun, November 1952; Sun Archive, Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery, University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

Theodore McKeldin may have served as the mayor of Baltimore and the governor of Maryland, but there are those who would argue that his brother, Bill, was more famous, more beloved, maybe even more important to the day-to-day functioning of the city.

For 18 years, from 1937 to 1955, policeman Bill “Podge” McKeldin ruled the intersection of Pratt and Lights streets. Hat on head, boots on feet and whistle at the ready (even though he didn’t need one, so shrill was his own whistle), he directed traffic at what was, then, one of the busiest intersections in the country. Getting past Pratt and Light is no picnic now, but back then, it was truly fearsome. For one thing, the area was a busy, working port. And nearly all traffic heading north – and by north, we mean not only making for Towson, but also Philadelphia and points beyond – had to wind its way through Baltimore, and that often meant getting past Pratt and Light.

Officer McKeldin confers with a driver passing through his post, at the busy corner of Pratt and Light streets. (Hans Marx, Baltimore Sun, November 1952; Sun Archive, Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery, University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

Not only did Podge (a childhood nickname with origins long forgotten, apparently) direct traffic, but he did it with aplomb – standing atop a six-foot-high platform, maneuvering signs that said “STOP” and “GO,” whistling and shouting and pointing and, despite it all, maintaining a reasonably good humor. He was almost always accompanied by his horse, Bob, who would stand alongside the platform and had been trained to face in the direction of the traffic flow.

Podge became something of an institution and even cult figure, one whose reputation extended even beyond Charm City.

Once, when the officer was on sick leave, a worried truck driver, realizing something was missing from his last trip through Baltimore, wrote to ask what had happened to “the whistler at Pratt and Light.”

“He works the post as enthusiastically today as he did when he first got the hang of it,” Sun reporter Ralph Reppert wrote in a Nov. 30, 1952, profile.

Podge’s story remains a source of pride and reassurance to many Baltimoreans, even those who didn’t know him, or who don’t realize what Inner Harbor driving was like in the days before the Harbor Tunnel and the Beltway diverted traffic away from downtown. Local author Peter E. Dans, a retired internist at Johns Hopkins, has written a children’s book, “Sergeant Bill and His Horse Bob,” through which he hopes to perpetuate Podge’s story.

The story of Officer McKeldin and his horse lives on in "Officer Bill and His Horse Bob," a children's book from local author Peter E. Dans. (Handout photo)

Dans first heard about “the whistler at Pratt and Light” through a trivia question asked by Baltimore chronicler Gilbert Sandler. “As I learned more about the story, I thought it would be a fun thing to talk about,” says Dans, who had written an earlier children’s book about the peregrine falcons, Scarlett and Beauregard, who once raised a family from their perch atop Baltimore’s USF&G Building, now the Transamerica Building. He's also written several books for adults, including a survey of doctors in the movies.

Dans’ book tells the factual story of Sgt. Bill and Bob, then embellishes it with a made-up tale of how President Franklin Roosevelt once lost his little dog, Fala, while passing through town, only to have him recovered by – you guessed it – Sgt. Bill.

It’s all quite charming, with kid-friendly drawings provided by MICA-trained illustrator Mary Grace Corpus. “It’s a nice story, a positive, nice thing,” Dans says. “We could use a lot of nice stories.”

Officer McKeldin, with his brother the governor on the left, at his Pratt and Light streets post. (Hans Marx, Baltimore Sun, November 1952; Sun Archive, Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery, University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

Even better, Dans’ book performs a valuable civic function. Fifty-six years after Podge retired (he died 54 years ago this week, on Feb. 8, 1962), it helps explain to a new generation why old-time Baltimoreans insist the Inner Harbor’s McKeldin Fountain, which sits roughly where Podge manned his post for so many years, actually honors two people – a governor of Maryland, and his brother, the traffic cop.

Thanks to Sun researcher Paul McCardell, who is to this newsroom as Podge McKeldin was to Pratt and Light, for his invaluable help in putting this post together.