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Gov. Bouck’s Grand Quick Step
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More historic Albany sheet music, the product of historic Albanians. This one (again from the Lester Levy Sheet Music collection at Johns Hopkins) is “Gov. Bouck’s Grand Quick Step,” as performed by the National Brass Band, Albany. It was composed and arranged for the piano forte, “and respectfully dedicated to his excellency,” by Oliver…
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The Wide Awake Quick Step
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Well, here’s another piece of all-Albany sheet music that we just had to share. It’s 1860’s The Wide Awake Quick Step! A brief history of early American and Civil War music reports that “The ‘Wide Awakes’ were an early Republican political group that supported the election of Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860. The…
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My Cane Bottom Chair
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Our endless search for all things Albany and Troy recently turned up this bit of sheet music from 1856 (courtesy of the Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection of the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries and University Museums). Published in 1856 by the music publisher J.H. Hidley of 544 Broadway in Albany, “My Cane Bottom…
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Modern Medicine Comes to Albany
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It seems almost impossible to imagine a world without antibiotics, but in fact penicillin is practically brand new, compared to some of the things we ramble on about here. On Oct. 6, 1943, its use was absolutely newsworthy, as the Times-Union reported on the recovery of a Chatham hairdresser: “Mrs. Florence Keniry, 28, Chatham…
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The Albany signs just keep on coming
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It’s Thanksgiving week. We’ve been terribly busy. There is no time for research. There is, however, time to post pictures of even more of the landmark signs that form our view of Albany. While some of the ones we’ve featured in the last couple of days live on, some have also disappeared, giving way…
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Even More Ghost Signs of Albany
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Having looked at the ghost signs of R.B. Wing and Meginnis Electric on Liberty Street, we thought we’d present some of the other familiar ghost signs from around Albany. Some are painted, some are not. In one case, the business is still going, so technically its advertisement isn’t a ghost, but let’s not be…
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More Ghost Signs of Liberty Street
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Since the ghost signs on the back of the R.B. Wing building facing Liberty Street proved so popular, why not take a look at some of the other fine ghost signs that are visible along that stretch of street? For instance, there’s Meginnis Electric: We actually don’t know a thing about Meginnis, which apparently…
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The Ghost Signs of R.B. Wing
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The backs of buildings are sometimes as interesting as the fronts, and in Albany’s case, the backs of the row of quite-old buildings along Broadway are absolutely fascinating for their profusion of ghost signs. Ghost signs are generally hand-painted signs that adorned our commercial buildings in abundance in the 19th and 20th centuries, and…
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Sturgeondom
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Recent entries brought up the question, “what the heck was ‘Sturgeondom’?” An 1869 article in the Albany Morning Express quoted the Troy Whig, saying that “A bright light in the direction of Albany last evening indicates a big fire in Sturgeondom,” but the Express responded that “Our neighbors will be pleased to learn, we…