The battle of the porch
Newspaper used as insulation has been able to tell me what no civic records ever could: exactly when my house was built. For the most part, it was put together […]
Newspaper used as insulation has been able to tell me what no civic records ever could: exactly when my house was built. For the most part, it was put together […]
1923: Patent medicines were still going strong, and the practice of chiropractic, often tinged with quackery, claims that nerve pressure prevents the all-important Vital Force from reaching your organs. It […]
Back in 1844, the Mayor of Albany was Friend Humphrey, a leather merchant whose home in Colonie still exists. The City Council was made up of two aldermen per ward. […]
Apparently in 1894, what to wear on the head was a very important question with ladies, just at present. Frear, of Frear’s Troy Cash Bazaar, was quite willing to enlighten, […]
Last week we showed off the billhead from Frear’s in Troy, now we’ll take a peek at the catalog for 1894. Here we have two lovely capes. But don’t forget […]
Just imagine what it was to cook in the days before electric or gas stoves. Feeding wood or coal into a stove, cleaning out the ashes, never being able to […]
Here’s our final Hoxsie entry from the endlessly fascinating Biggert Collection of Architectural Vignettes on Commercial Stationery, courtesy of Columbia University. This receipt from 1884 features a lovely rendition of […]
Any sharp-eyed fan of the Collar City will recognize the landmark edifice of Frear’s Cash Bazaar, whose lovely marble facade still graces Third Street . . . except of course […]
From an 1863 Albany directory, an ad for the previously mentioned R.M. Van Sickler & Forby. They dealt in the raw materials of fabric manufacture, and sold oil, belting, warps, […]
I don’t find much about R.M. Van Sickler & Forby, other than that they were succeeded in the business by G.P. Morse. This lovely cut from the Biggert Collection shows […]