Category: Albany

Hmm. I’ve seen bank ads about a lot of things, but I can’t recall seeing one anytime recently that encouraged me to keep my topsoil where it belongs. But that’s just what The National Commercial Bank and Trust Company of Albany did back in 1948, when this ad appeared in the Altamont Enterprise. They…

Again from the Boston Public Library collection, an undated postcard of the Port of Albany in simpler, and busier, times. This view is from the Rensselaer side of the port. I’m not sure what the tank barge Iroquois of Philadelphiapa [sic] was carrying during its visit, but I can note that in 1942, out…

Like most old northeastern hospitals, St. Peter’s has grown all over the place, connecting one building to another in ways that are often incomprehensible and hide the buildings that they grew from. But despite all the changes, these two original elements of St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany are still noticeable today. On the left…

I’ve lived in the Capital District for something like 40 years. In all that time, I’ve never heard of Siena College referred to as anything but Siena College. I was even tangentially involved in Syracuse’s big “Beat Siena Week,” but was unaware the college had once sported a grander moniker. But here’s this undated…

Don’t recall having run across the name R.P. Thorn before, though a number of the watches and clocks they sold are still in the hands of collectors. This postcard was for the Dueber watch case – it was something like the iPhone case of its day, everyone had to have one. R.P. Thorn had…

We’d be remiss if we didn’t show this trade card for the Hatch Flexible Shoe, which as we’ve previously noted was manufactured by Thomas Fearey & Sons of Albany. The art is certainly of its time, and that was a time when a flexible shoe was something that amazed both onlookers and stray dogs.

This trade postcard from the Boston Public Library collection is a grand advertisement for E.J. Larrabee & Co., manufacturers of biscuits. We’ve shown one of their elegant billheads before. The front is just a gorgeous script; the back is a listing of their extensive offerings. Howell’s “Bi-Centennial History of Albany,” part of our normal…

“Bicycling, though so lately introduced to Albany, is fast becoming a popular sport among young business men. The Albany Bicycle club was organized Aug. 24, 1880, with thirteen members, and was soon added to the “League of American Wheelmen,” an organization numbering a thousand or more, its object to protect the interest of bicyclers…

We’re all well aware, because angry people on the teevee tell us so, that it’s absolutely outrageous that anyone who can’t afford it should be getting medical treatment. Well, apparently they thought so a century ago, too because . . . oh, wait, Albany was actually awash in free medical care for the poor…

From 1884, the “Albany Hand-book” described the current state of the Fire Department, which was established in its then-current form in 1867, overseen by the Mayor and five commissioners appointed by the Common Council. The head was called the Chief Engineer, who “has sole command at fires, makes daily examination of the affairs and…