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Rowing on the River
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Rowers are one of the great sights on the Albany waterfront, and they’ve been part of the scene for a long time, including some prominent citizens. In 1953, the old Times-Union columnist Edgar S. Van Olinda gave us a recounting of how things had changed along the waterfront. The old saying: “All’s quiet along…
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Schenectady’s Hershey Beverage Corporation
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Time was when there were many, many local soda manufacturers. Yes, the national brands existed, but every city had a bottler or two that made up their own sodas. We ran across this ad and had to admit we hadn’t heard of Mohawk Club, or the Hershey Beverage Corporation. An article in the Gazette…
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Ariaantje Coeymans
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In 1938, the Albany Institute of History and Art was bequeathed one of its more notable portraits, that of Ariaantje Coeymans, from 1723. When it was acquired, curator R. Loring Dunn wrote about it at length in the Times-Union. It tells us a lot about Ariaantje, and is worth printing here in its entirety:…
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Ward Hennessy and his Raines Hotel
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Our research on Albany movie star Ward Crane a couple of weeks back led to an interesting reference to the business of his uncle, Ward Hennessy, who ran a hotel on the Albany-Schenectady road, just outside the city limits (you know it as Route 5, Central Avenue). What caught our eye wasn’t so much…
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The Remarkable Hands of Mary Nash
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The last (for now) of our little look at famous actors and actresses from Albany. This one, Mary Nash, was said to have been born in Troy in 1884 (the Morning Telegraph begs to differ, as we will see), but grew up and was schooled in Albany. The family appears living on Broadway (the…
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Harry Lash: Vaudeville Performer, Groucho’s Double
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Continuing our discussions of 1920s star performers who started out in Albany. Today: Harry Lash, vaudeville performer and a double for Groucho Marx. Harold Lashever was the son of Max and Dora Lashever, immigrants from Russia whose language was German. Max came here in 1890 and worked in clothing manufacturing, living on West Van…
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Albany Dancer Olga Beauman
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In 1927, Albany seemed to have no shortage of prominent players in the performing arts. Alongside the mentions of Ward Crane and Elizabeth Hines, the Times-Union also featured dancer Olga Beauman. “Struttin’ to Fame,” the T-U wrote, “Perhaps, is Miss Olga Beauman, popular young Albany dancing instructor, who has just joined the footlight folk…
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Elizabeth Hines, Ziegfeld Girl
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While we’re speaking of Albany-born stars (well, we were), we found a brief mention of Elizabeth Hines in a 1927 Times-Union. ON BRIGHT BROADWAY – Miss Elizabeth Hines, Albany girl, has long been one of the sparks. She represents her native city in musical comedy, appearing as star in Ziegfeld and George White productions.…
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Albany’s Movie Star, Ward Crane
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In the early days of film, one of the first stars was Albany’s Ward Crane. Born in 1890, Ward Crane was a “young good looking boy … very popular with his classmates at C.B.A. and quite a young man about town. Ward Crane went to New York where the first movie studios were located,…
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Much Ado About Windshield Stickers
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We ran across an odd little article from the Times-Union in 1928 that raised more questions than it answered: “Harnett to Rule on Smith Auto StickerA ruling may be made within a few days on the use of Al Smith windshield stickers. Motor Vehicle Commissioner Harnett will return next week from the Democratic convention…