Since we mentioned Goold’s auto bodies yesterday and opined as to the likelihood they were connected to the old Albany carriage and sleighmaker by the name of Goold, we’d be remiss not to talk about the Albany sleigh. This Forbes article from several years back lays nothing less than the central image of Christmas,…

When The Goold Company advertised in The Blue Book in 1917, presumably their clientele knew where they were located, for this ad doesn’t give a clue. In fact, Goold didn’t leave a lot of clues to their existence lying around. It’s likely, given that many automobile companies started this way, that they were part…

In Albany’s West Capitol Park, hardly ever noticed by the throngs of workers lining up for the food trucks, is this reminder that General Washington passed through on the road (then the King’s Road) that now bears his name. In my pending move to Valley Forge, I expect I might find his name on…

The Albany, Schenectady, and Troy Blue Book was the official register of high society in the tri-cities. This ad from the 1917-18 edition was clearly aimed right at the blue bloods and patroons. The Albany Safe Deposit & Storage Co., at Maiden Lane and Lodge Streets, offered safes in which to store your silver…

We made reference the other day to Cotrell & Leonard without doing full justice to their incredibly important role in creating the academic (in all senses of the word) symbolism behind the American university cap and gown system. Given that we didn’t even have a university at the time it was created, Albany seems…

Cotrell & Leonard were prominent Albany clothiers who were on the stretch of Broadway that’s now Tricentennial Park. They were heavy on the outerwear and jumped into the motoring age by offering goggles. Gardner Cotrell Leonard also created the American system of caps and gowns, an unlikely specialty. (The old copy editor in me…

Just take a moment and appreciate the beauty of this ad the Killip Laundering Company, from 1917. Some fine letterer or sign-painter rendered that gorgeous logo in brush and ink. Another craftsman cut the design into a matrix that could be used to make a lead or brass cut, which could then be set…