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The Blue Factory
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One of our favorite road names in the Capital District (and a favorite road for cycling) is Blue Factory Road. It is named not for a factory that was blue, but for a factory that made blue. Before the age of synthetic colors (in which a Rensselaer factory played a significant role), colorants primarily…
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Sibbie’s Grave
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While Hoxsie clips pictures out of Google books for his own entertainment, Paula Lemire is doing actual research, and has done a tremendous service by identifying the grave of the last documented slave at Schuyler Flatts, a woman named Sibbie. Read all about it here.
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The Fabulous (and Preserved) Hats of John Mayell
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After our brief entry on Latham “The” Hatter, an alert reader hepped us to the continued existence of a number of absolutely splendid hats by another Albany hatter by the name of John Mayell. Howell’s “Bi-centennial History of Albany,” which is famously derivative and occasionally unreliable, counts among the pioneers of the Albany hat…
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Latham “The” Hatter
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From a guide book to the State of New York, we have this description of Latham “The” Hatter (emphasis always his), who was located at 558 Broadway in the latter part of the 19th century. Prominent among the business enterprises of North Broadway is the hat emporium of Mr. George Latham, who is largely…
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The Ark of Albany
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Munsell’s Annals of Albany could keep an amateur historian busy until the end of time, running down all the interesting tidbits. For example, without Munsell, we would never have known that Albany once had an ark. Apparently around 1830 or so, the companies that owned tow boats (probably steam boats by this time –…
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Samuel Penny and Rebecca Rhino
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Buried in Munsell’s “Annals of Albany,” in the “Notes from the Newspapers” section, is this tidbit from 1833 on the death of one Samuel T. Penny. “He was a native of England, had resided in this city about thirty years, and was noted for his biblical knowledge and eccentricities, the latter the effect of…
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Unclaimed Baggage and Storage
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From the Times-Union, December 11, 1914, a reminder that the idea of people leaving behind things they’ve put into storage is nothing new, although a century ago they hadn’t figured out how to make it into entertainment. This announces a public auction sale of unclaimed storage and baggage, “and many other articles which have…
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Edward Boom, Homeopathic Vet
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For this ad from the 1893 Albany Directory, Hoxsie has no answers, only questions. Such as: Dr. Boom? Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeon? Does “and Dentist” refer to veterinary dentistry, or was he a people dentist as a sideline? His reference was a brewery? (This one actually makes sense, as the breweries had large teams of…
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The World’s Fair Excursion and Hotel Association
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It’s 1893, and you want to visit the Columbian Exposition, the massive World’s Fair being held in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary (plus a year) of Columbus’s stumbling upon what was not quite the Americas (among other things). But how are you to make your travel arrangements? There’s no internet, no 800 phone…
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Fastest Typesetter in the East (or West)
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Was Mr. George Dawson, eventually editor of the Albany Evening Journal, one of the fastest typesetters of his day? Well, the Printer’s Circular seemed to think so. Though he was much much more than that. In order to understand this, readers will need a little familiarity with the terms. At the time, all type…