• When a house burned down

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    Carl Johnson

    From Beck’s Pocket Guide to Troy, 1935, Andrew J. Smith wants to make sure you’ve got enough insurance to keep the neighborhood from talking behind your back. Note that in 1935, people wouldn’t think of going to a fire without a proper hat, and that for a summer fire, a straw boater was considered…

  • Piano City

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    Carl Johnson

    Had I mentioned that Albany was once the Piano City? I thought I might have. Once or twice. This ad from 1899 features only two of the numerous piano companies that operated here through the years, of which Boardman & Gray was the most prominent. The Lumber District may as well have been the…

  • The Peoples Line

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    Carl Johnson

    In 1885, you could take the Peoples Line up and down the Hudson, any day of the week. And from there, you could go just about anywhere. I want to go to there.

  • Books by New York Women

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    Carl Johnson

    A bookplate from the New York State Library, denoting a part of the collection of Books By New York Women. If you’re a fan of bookplates, hie yourself on over to the Pratt Institute’s Ex Libris Collection. Just have a couple of hours handy when you do.

  • New Process Gear

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    Carl Johnson

    A brief departure from the Tri-Cities. I lived for several years in Syracuse, the Salt City, the city where your feet are never dry or warm. One of the major industries there was New Process Gear. Just recently the long tradition of auto parts manufacture in Syracuse ended with the closing of its final…

  • J.C. Moore & Babcock Brick

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    Carl Johnson

    J.C. Moore & Babcock Brick was once one of a number of brickmakers in Albany, which was the northernmost point of the enormous Hudson River brick industry. The yard and office were at the corner of Morton and South Hawk — today you know it as Lincoln Park.

  • John English and Son, Coal Merchants

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    Carl Johnson

    Were John English & Son, Coal Merchants, the original tenants of this magnificent edifice? This ad is from 1895.

  • Hoxsie!

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    Carl Johnson

    Another wonderful ad from Hoxsie! George W. Hoxsie, “The Genuine Original,” ran the largest bottling establishment outside of New York (well, if it weren’t true he couldn’t print it, right?) at 25 Hamilton Street in Albany. That’s either the land of parking lots now, or it’s just possible that the Hoxsie bottling plant still…

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