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You Whippersnappers Don’t Even Know The Smell of Good Burlap
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AllOverAlbany was good enough to indulge our sentimental reminiscences of when every neighborhood was lousy with grocery stores, stockboys’ hands were covered in purple ink, and you could close the wrapper on a box of Rice Krispies. Read all about it over at their site.
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Delavan House Menu: Maybe Just The Toast
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From the collection of the Library Company of Philadelphia, an 1875ish breakfast menu from Albany’s leading temperance hotel, the Delavan House, in the era when Charles Leland was running it (which puts this between 1867 and 1882). Founder Edward Delavan was a rabid temperance advocate who brought prohibition to the state of New York…
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History Links! Get Yer History Links Here!
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It’s been a while since we did a Phoenixville Phriday. So, a couple of cool bits of local history news came out of our new hometown region this week. The first was the amazing news that little Phoenixville was, for 17 years, hiding a secret treasure trove. Revolutionary War muskets, cannons, paintings, sculptures, uniforms,…
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Albany, And Two Women Holding Grain
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Again from Ben Franklin’s Library Company of Philadelphia, we have this interesting envelope featuring a bird’s-eye view of Albany, along with two women holding grain over the legend “Empire State.” Did they represent the plenty provided by the state’s farms? Not clear. The envelope was created by Charles Magnus of Frankfort St., New York…
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The People’s Line
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There are so many reasons to love the Smithsonian Institute – and not just that its first secretary was Albany’s Joseph Henry. It’s a treasure trove of wonderful objects like this one: a token from the People’s Line. The Smithsonian has no opinion on the date of this token, but does know that it…
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Guy Mannering: Good Dog
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Dudley Olcott was a member of the Olcott family that owned the Ten Broeck mansion, Arbor Hill. Born in 1838, he attended the Albany Academy and took a course in civil engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and then joined the family business (well, one of them) as an assistant cashier at the Mechanics’ and…
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The Incredible Embroidery of Catherine Hewitt Pfordt
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Yesterday we noted that one of the awardees in Philadelphia’s Centennial Exhibition in 1876 was Mrs. C. Hewitt Pfordt of Albany. For embroidery she submitted, she was commended “for great taste in design and workmanship, displaying extraordinary skill.” A supplement to Scientific American described her submission: “A white silk flag is elegantly worked with…
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The Centennial Exhibition Awards Capital District Manufactures
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Last week we mentioned that Edgar Smith’s dry air refrigerator, a product of Albany manufacture, was featured at the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, what was essentially the first world’s fair held in the United States and a celebration of the tremendous progress, particularly industrial and agricultural progress, the young country had…
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Edgar Smith’s Dry Air Refrigerator
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For what seems to be a brief period right around 1876, the Smith Refrigerator Company of No. 7 (later No. 12) James Street in Albany manufactured a dry air refrigerator, essentially a somewhat more sophisticated ice box, that gathered a little bit of attention and a national award, and then (as far as we…
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Pigeon Louis
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From a far less sensitive time, the Times-Union ran with this headline in 1903: “Aged Cripple Drinks Poison and Dies.” They were speaking of Louis Slyer, reported as 75, 79 or 80 years old depending on the edition of the paper you read. Slyer was “formerly a well-known resident and property owner of the…