Magic lanterns, jabots, and fruitcake: Christmas 1910
“This month of furious shopping, this fortnight of long hours for shop girls, this insane race to give gifts, this season of anxiety and of feverish hopes with its aftermath of bitter disappointments,...
View ArticleIt’s been 105 years. Should we bring back the Albany Halloween Carnival?
I love Halloween. We’re that family – we spend weeks planning our costumes, and we all dress up for the trick-or-treating rounds. There’s an irreverent fun in seeing the neighbors roaming about in the...
View ArticleMurder and mayhem, redux
If you’re the type to seek out dark tales for the Halloween season, check out this piece I wrote last year on 19th-century Albany murders. Poisoned soup, cart-stakes, a dunk in the canal: We can...
View Article‘Just what you need to complete your happiness for Thanksgiving’
From the Albany Evening Journal, Nov. 28, 1893: What could it be? A new oven? A prize turkey? Your long-lost cousin? I’m 118 years too late, but still curious. A lovely Thanksgiving to all. And may...
View ArticleThe past as present: Albany-inspired Christmas gifts
It’s fun to pick out just the right gift for the one you love. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. If your list includes an Albany enthusiast, a lover of history, or — best of all — someone who’s both,...
View ArticleThe girl in the vestibule: A different kind of holiday tale
It began, as so many other stories begin this time of year, with the sound of jingle bells. How my husband heard them in the dead of night I don’t know. We had a wreath of bells on our front door, and...
View ArticleAlbany bewitched: The love charms of Halloweens past
Halloween. The night when spirits roam among the living, seeing all, knowing all, and just maybe consenting to be consulted on that most important of issues: hooking up. For young folks at the turn of...
View ArticleHoliday events for lovers of architecture and history
For those of us who love Albany’s history and beautiful architecture, this is an especially grand season. On a snowy night when the lights are twinkling, many of Albany’s neighborhood streets look like...
View ArticleDo-nothings, great doings
I suppose I’ve reached the age where the gifts I’d most like to get for Christmas are the ones that aren’t possible to give. Like one of my great-grandfather’s do-nothings. When I was small, the...
View ArticleFriday photo: Albany’s 1951 St. Patrick’s parade
I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m a lousy blogger. Bloggers are supposed to share information quickly and frequently. When something comes on our radar we should get it out there right away, get some...
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