D.W. Shanks, Upholsterer, Decorator, Mattress Stuffer

In 1869, David W. Shanks ran an upholstering and decorating shop at 30 and 32 Green Street, somewhere in what is now a sea of parking near Beaver Street in the heart of the old city. He kept constantly on hand curtain materials, lace and muslin curtains, cornices, pins, bands, tassels, cords, gold and painted shades, buff, white, blue and green hollands (linens used for window shades), and much more. He also sold bolsters and pillows, quilts, blankets, comforters and sheets, and of course all kinds of mattresses. In a time when our choices are between foam and spring, it’s a little hard to imagine that there was a time when shoppers had to decide whether they wanted their mattress stuffed with feathers, hair (of horse, generally), moss, sea grass, cotton, cornhusk, straw or manila fibers. (Well, they were all a step up from goatskin filled with water, which the ancient Persians used.)

David Shanks was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland. Here in Albany he was active in the St. Andrew’s Society, a very important social and benevolent organization of Scots, as well as part of the Albany Scotch Light Infantry, a military organization. He was also, in 1885, the president of the Albany Bicycle Club

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