-
Things that never will be settled
•
1898’s “Illustrated History of the State Federation of Labor” is far more than its title implies, and it carries much more than the stirring stories of the formation of the Brotherhood of Bookbinders or the strikes of the Stove Mounters Union. In a section titled “Miscellaneous Laws,” it offers the turn of that other…
-
Vageline
•
I suppose there are still folks named Vageline, as there were in 1898, but somehow that just strikes me as an unfortunate name for commerce. C.F. Vageline was a dealer in butter, eggs, cheese, sweet milk, cream, etc., and his milk depot was at 292 South Pearl Street. That was probably between Morton and…
-
A grand building
•
I’ve always admired a rather grand commercial building at 4 Central Avenue in Albany, but never thought to figure out its original purpose. Then I ran across an 1898 ad that showed it in its relatively new glory as the home of Helmes Brothers Furniture Warerooms. The numbers on the eyebrow indicate that it…
-
The Collar City, as seen from the Hudson River
•
Just a couple of days ago we had the River Street view of the Cluett, Peabody & Co., factory, home of Arrow shirts and once the largest shirt factory in the world. Today, from the Library of Congress, a Haines Photo Company image of the Hudson River side of the complex. It’s a broad…
-
Albany Type Foundry
•
All Over Albany had a post yesterday about what an Albany typeface might look like. These days just about anyone with a computer can try his or her hand at designing a typeface, but for centuries it was a highly specialized craft. Individual characters had to be cut into matrices from which metal type…
-
Hear your neighbors
•
America’s Got What-Now? In 1953, area finalists in a talent contest would compete on a coast-to-coast broadcast. The local portion was to be broadcast live from the Strand Theater, which was at 110 North Pearl Street. There must be a picture of this old theater somewhere, but today there is not trace of it.…
-
Blood in the snow
•
It was a cold February night, 322 years ago, that 200 French, Sault and Algonquin warriors descended on the stockaded village of Schenectady. It’s unlikely that the story of the stockade being guarded by snowmen was true, though that would be a lighthearted element of an otherwise heartrending story of death by musketball, hatchet…
-
Cluett, Peabody & Co.
•
For some time, Hannah Montague was forgotten, even as the industry she is now credited with creating boomed. Detachable collars (and then cuffs) proved all the rage, making laundering simpler, allowing shirts to last longer. In today’s world of cheap textiles, we don’t appreciate how few garments a denizen of the 19th century may…
Recent Posts
- Polo Player Nabbed As Game Violator
- Amsterdam Heiress: Prisoner of the Nazis
- The Stockade’s Antique Phone Booth
