The Tainted Lady Lounge

Wallpaper at 135

2012-02-05T11:41:00.000-05:00

In the spring of 2007 I was invited to harvest wallpaper samples from 135 Warren Street,

which was being gutted and rehabbed, and turned into an art gallery (Currently Verdigris Tea and Gallery).
Some of the oldest papers I have ever found were entombed behind the sheetrock in the stairwell here,

and in the tiny bedrooms on the top floor.

It was somewhat frustrating, though, as most of the papers were original layers, pasted onto either original plaster or wooden plank walls--- a combo that makes them very difficult to remove and save.

Old papers are often very thin, with thick, chalky, brittle inks.

These blue medallions were stuck on the plaster on the side of the room that probably got a lot of sun. The rest of the paper in the pattern had completely deteriorated, but this part of the pattern clung on over the years.

Many of the walls were like big collages in there.

The unabridged album of my photos and wallpaper scans can be found on my flickr page HERE.

Park Square and Streetcar, Hudson

2012-01-10T12:04:00.000-05:00

well lookie here...

2011-12-21T14:31:00.000-05:00

I just noticed that Google has (finally!) updated their satellite imagery. (Took them almost 4 years. Did they read my blog post a couple months back when I bitched about this? ;) Judging from my screen shot of the waterfront above, it appears the new imagery of Hudson was taken during Artswalk weekend; I seem to remember the etsy tent that was pitched just south of the bathroom building.
Looks like a pretty happening waterfront!

stalking the landscape with google earth

2011-11-23T08:41:00.001-05:00

Truck House

2011-11-08T01:00:00.000-05:00

440 Warren Street,
erected in 1889.

the house on first street

2011-10-07T09:19:00.000-04:00

I liked that funky little house on First Street.

I used to walk by it a lot and wonder if someone would

come along and rescue it

before it completely deteriorated.

Watched this valance of poison ivy that had grown inside the kitchen window

and even ventured inside once years ago before it was boarded up---

there were purple and pink walls

and a faux tile shower held together with...masking tape!...

Anyway. The house was demolished last week---

but is immortalized in this beautiful moon-over-hudson painting by Edward Avedesian,

which hangs in the church at Carrie's house

(Edward lived a half block away--

most likely had a perfect view of the

house from his upstairs window.)

bird's eye geek note

2011-09-29T11:44:00.001-04:00

I've been doing a lot of cycling this summer, and one of my rituals after I get home from a ride is to map out my route (different each day) with online software that will tell me how far I went, what altitudes I reached, even how many calories I burned. Using google and its satellite imagery has a been a great tool in deciding where to venture next, but when I started to learn how to read weather maps recently, I made an interesting (to me, anyway) discovery.
Google hasn't updated their satellite images in our area in like- three years! What up?

Check out upper Fairview Avenue, as it currently shows on Google:

Wasteland.

Now look at the exact same area on Weather dot com:

Complete with all the new bigbox crap.

Here's the Columbia Land Conservancy Area on Rod and Gun Road, as it appears today, with the pavilion and silo:

But if you were on your way up that road, and navigating with Google images - you'd think you were going to drive by a working farm on private property!

That farm hasn't been there for years.

I have yet to figure out how often the Weatherdotcom website updates their basic landscape satellite photos, which serve as an underlay for their weather info. I'm guessing the websites probably have to pay a fee to the satellite companies to use their images, and then subscribe according to their need.

In any case, the current image for Union and First Streets shows an empty lot (now under development), and the trees on Union Street haven't been cut down yet. So we can deduce the images are updated at least every few months.

I'll be watching this area hoping to figure out the update schedule, unless someone can enlighten me...

Musicians in Hudson, 1935

2011-08-13T08:32:00.001-04:00

Sickles Entertainers, Hudson, NY August 1935
(taken at the Firemen's Home)

(A high resolution version of the whole photo can be found here.)

Ice House bike-hike

2011-08-02T21:48:00.001-04:00

I rode my bike up to the historic Scott ice house ruin this morning, an idyllic little spot on the river about ten miles north of Hudson, in the town of Stuyvesant.

More specifically, Newton Hook, right off Route 9J.

(Please forgive the lame photos; can you even see the ice house in this next photo? It's right there, square tower in the center.)

Turns out there's an ongoing controversy about this area,

on Ferry Road, which involves the railroad crossing, historic properties, eminent domain, DOT, protected wetlands, etc, etc. (For the moment it seems "lack of funding" has spared beautiful Ferry Road, but who knows--- if the economy turns around it could be threatened again.)

I've always used the (hard-to-find) unmarked wooded trail off Ferry Road to get to the ice house (look for the cut log along the right side of the road); today I realized there is also "Ice House Road" (duh) just to the north, which isn't as adventurous, but has much less poison ivy.

(can you see the ice house in this pic? It's there!)

Both trails are kind of magical, but the southern one is longer and winding and wooded and hilly, and follows the river's edge right before you get to the ice house ---- then the ice house takes you by surprise when you sort of stumble on it suddenly, and it towers over you.

Unfortunately, they put black chain-link fencing in all the window openings,

which diminishes the appeal of the ruin pretty significantly, but

the patch of land on the north side of the building is kept mowed and there are two picnic tables right near the river's edge, so it's an ideal spot for a quiet lunch

(bring a plastic tablecloth; the tables don't get enough sun and are rotting). It's also very likely you'll have the whole place to yourself, I don't think it gets a lot of visitors.

Here's a google earth shot of Nutten Hooke---the ruin is in the woods at the left. Plenty of parking at the end of Ferry Road, where you can also launch a kayak or just take in the wide, wonderful Hudson River views.

Falk Ties from the Falk Building

2011-07-05T12:36:00.000-04:00

According to word-on-the-street,

this past 4th of July weekend marked the sale of the Falk building at 543 Warren.

and the end of the "Fresh Farmer" business, which was housed in the building for as long as anyone can remember.

The Fresh Farmer was a unique hybrid of convenience store, junk shop, and farm stand. A one-stop shop for lottery tickets, cigarettes, tomatoes and bananas, antique Christmas ornaments, trucker hats & fanny packs, obsolete electronics (laser disc player, anyone?), old magazines, faded Michael Jackson memorabilia, brick-a-brack, 7 gazillion Ty Beanie Babies, and battery-operated coughing ashtrays.

Not much for me--- but a few years back, I did buy a boxful of wonderful old silk neckties, ascots, and bow ties here,

many bearing beautiful old labels.

" W.C Falk Hudson, N.Y."

These ties had been stashed in the basement of the building for what must have been nearly a hundred years. The box also had many random silk scraps, and ties that had been chopped off with scissors, leading me to believe they might have been also manufacturing the ties here at one time.

When I went into the shop the other day, another boxful of ties had emerged from the basement --this one full of cotton summer ties, stiff antique collars, and linen bow tie-like contraptions I had never seen before.

Some appeared to be unsold store stock

while others were bundled in old twine, as if they were just tie parts, not ever finished being assembled.

As a lover of textiles, a vintage clothing dealer, and Hudson memorabilia collector, I have to say this tie stash has been one of my favorite finds in my many years of treasure hunting.

"...she was incorrigible ..."

2011-05-21T11:52:00.001-04:00

Was pleasantly surprised this morning to stumble on a garage sale that had lots of truly old stuff, including a small stash of early 1920s ephemera from the Hudson Training School for Girls (now the correctional facility on the south edge of town). Admission forms, progress reports, letters, newspaper clippings, and photos. Unfortunatly I don't have time today to get too immersed in it all, but here are a few quick pics. More later.

Hudson Courthouse, Now and Then

2011-05-13T19:20:00.000-04:00

WANTED: Married Man

2011-03-22T09:12:00.001-04:00

also, single man, on fruit farm.

The Warren Movie Theatre

2011-03-07T06:53:00.001-05:00

Piggy-backing off of Carole's Back in the Day blog post yesterday, which mentions the adaptive reuse of a movie theatre into a motel (The Warren Inn) in 1958:

If you go into the motel today, this framed picture hangs on the wall behind the counter.

The movie posters over the doors and far left and right are for John Barrymore's "The Great Man Votes", which was released in 1939. The sign projecting out from the second floor seems to read "Reade's Warren".

Hudson Beach Combing part 3: Metal

2011-02-09T08:46:00.002-05:00

(february...the month for tying up loose ends. This blog entry should have been posted last summer...)

The metals can be divided into two simple sub-categories: the junk I bring home in my bike basket,

and the junk I must leave behind for future archeologists, like this portable typewriter

and this extreeeemly heavy rusty bucket of railroad spikes.

which was buried deep down in the sand when I discovered it.

Of all my metal finds, my favorite things are these little mystery trinkets:

which appear to be once-molten bits of aluminum (though they feel heavier than aluminum). Some of them have a sort of liquidy, art nouveau feel to them. (click to enlarge)

I like to pretend the one pictured at right here

was perhaps once a tiny pocket saint carried off to sea with some WWII sailor, and found its way back up the Hudson over the years.

the "My van Gogh" Show at HOH

2011-01-21T19:38:00.000-05:00

The back room of the Hudson Opera House never disappoints. Always chock full of wonderful art by the local school kids. I really love these "my van Gogh"s.

A tree grows, but another old building starts to fall...

2011-01-10T17:01:00.002-05:00

2002:

2006:

2009:

2010

Today, Jan 10 2011:

Roof Gone. Lethal combo of Heavy Snow and Demolition by Neglect?

Here is another Before photo I took in October 2009, taken from the front on Columbia Street. This is on the 400 block, just a couple doors down from the Cannonball Factory.

...and one more from 2007:

And here it is today:

They're Heeeeeere

2010-12-16T10:16:00.000-05:00

Watch And Clock Repair Shop, Warren Street: Ebay ALERT

2010-11-15T09:15:00.000-05:00

There's a very nice little lot of Hudson ephemera on ebay right now, which includes a couple of rare interior photographs of a watch and clock repair shop at 331 Warren Street.

I'm not anticipating putting in any high bids myself-- but I would very much like to see these photos make their way back to Hudson, as they're a great little piece of our history. (It's likely the watchmaker enthusiasts will be just as interested as any Hudsonia collector, So- I'm putting it out there.)

Take a look at the auction HERE. It ends tonight at around 8 o'clock eastern time, and already has two interested bidders.

Remembering Joan

2010-10-09T10:58:00.002-04:00

Over twenty years ago I tore this centerfold out of a 1989 GAMES Magazine.

I was so struck by its charm and genius ---I knew I would enjoy looking at it for years to come. I suppose it was one of Joan Steiner's first published dioramas, long before her Look-Alike books started being published in the late nineties.

Here's another one from 1992:

I initially met Joan in 1996, through a mutual friend who said we had similar artistic sensibilities (I used to make diorama-ish art too). Then I moved to Hudson where I'd run into her often, including at the Watnot Shop, where we both loved to treasure hunt regularly.

At some point we learned we both loved Scrabble, and got into playing long, drawn-out intense games, every Monday evening, year-round. Joan taught me how to keep a balanced rack and--- never open up a triple, unless you're putting down a bingo.

I probably won't be able to attend Joan's Memorial Service today (3 pm, Dutch Reformed Church, Rt 9H, Claverack), so I am remembering her today by wearing a necklace made of trinkets I got at her studio Sale a couple weeks ago. (It has served as a Good Luck charm throughout the current local Scrabble tournament).

Rest in Peace, Joan.

"Suitcase" I found at Joan's studio sale.

Fosters

2010-09-08T12:01:00.000-04:00

Last night while riding my bike around I noticed that the old Fosters Refrigeration Plant on North 2nd Street is being demolished.

Good riddance; the place was a cavernous, dangerous junk heap. Not to mention toxic.

(mysterious dumpster sludge)

It also had a kooky ghost story associated with it.

Click Here to see photos I took inside Fosters in 2006 and 2007.

Hudson Beach Combing Part 2: PIGS

2010-08-06T09:17:00.001-04:00

Yesterday at sunset I went to one of my beach combing spots along the river, only to find a freshly dumped load of garbage (it hadn't been there 24 hours before).

Plastic kitty litter pans, brooms, shovels, crutches, fast food wrappers, and three bulging bags of household garbage, garbage, garbage.

By the end of today the tide will have come and gone a few times, taking the crutches and plastic away for boaters to stumble upon. Birds and animals will have torn open the bags and strewn the stuff around. In the coming weeks and months wind and water will spread it out some more and it'll all be nicely dispersed. Maybe someday a soggy piece of junk mail bearing the culprit's name will float to the shore and land on my foot.

Hudson Beach Combing Part 1, Glass

2010-08-03T09:32:00.000-04:00

Just as I was about to compile my own local beach glass guide, the New York Post Parade Magazine published A Shore Thing yesterday, a little Sunday piece about "sea glass" collectors. It calls us "secretive, greedy, even starry-eyed" (yeah, I guess), and runs down a list of glass color hierarchy in the sea glass collectors world. For the most part, the article works as a guide for river glass collectors as well:

   "Green and Brown are common" it says.

I couldn't agree more and have to stop bringing them home, unless they are particularly smooth and well-shaped.

   "Blues are harder to find, but not impossible".

Here in Hudson, blues are indeed rare (those boaters are drinking beer, not Perrier---) and it is the lime greens that are rarest, and a personal favorite.

This is where the river experience differs from seashore.
Parade names red glass "ultra-scarce"; the "holy grail" of beach glass collectors.

But I can usually find 1-2 a day on the Hudson shores.

Probably because red ones are made of tail lights and boats are in a more confined area here. (?) For all I know these channel markers have glass lights on them too, that occasionally bust and wash ashore.

In any case, while reds are rare, at least they will scream out to you.

Today I ventured into new territory, and my haul included an unprecedented

five reds and four blues

Without salt water and high seas, glass shards around here don't get very smooth, so I doubt I will ever face much competition in the local beach glass-hunting scene.

I love the color combo-ing though.

This very dense opaque red one is my newest favorite,

and feels like it's been knocking around for quite some time.

great opportunity

2010-07-28T07:54:00.000-04:00

Great opportunity tonight to see "Odds Against Tomorrow", a movie shot mostly in Hudson in 1959. Starring Harry Belafonte and with a great jazz soundtrack. It will be shown at Space 360, 360 Warren Street, 6:30 pm.
Warren Street is heavily featured, (a bank robbery takes place at 6th and Warren in what's now Bank of America). Also, look for the grand houses that stood where the vinyl boxes sit now atop the hillside adjacent to the promenade.
As for the waterfront scenes, you won't recognize a thing----

under the linoleum

2010-07-08T11:04:00.000-04:00

My friend Tim recently excavated seven layers of linoleum from one room of his house over on Union Street.
(You can count them along with me here:)

At the bottom of the pile were some old Hudson Registers dated April 1938, which he saved for me.

The wood grain from the wide board floors was stamped on many of the pages,

making for some interesting as-found faux bois collages.

According to this ad for Bresky's "Smoke and Water Sale" at 357 Warren Street (now a parking lot) the Hudson Playhouse was lying in ruins, having just been destroyed by fire.

Here's an old postcard of The Hudson Playhouse from its heyday.

I believe this was at 353 Warren, right where Tortillaville is sitting now, in the old City Glass parking lot.

Facade seems to be dated 1912, which would mean this building only stood 26 years (or - did they rebuild?...)

Other interesting tidbits include:

boxing bouts and cooking classes at City Hall

A pet store on North 5th Street

as well as an American-Italian-Chinese Restaurant on the corner of State & 5th.

And Another Amateur Night at La Roma's, 225 Warren Street,

with the Personality Boys.

mystery location

2010-06-15T10:16:00.000-04:00

My (wild) guess as to where this photo was taken would be upper Columbia Street, looking southeast, pretty much in the location where the hospital stands now. But it's just a guess based on the terrain---Would be interested in any other ideas/input....

(Click picture to enlarge)

Monday, May 17, 1926

2010-05-17T17:14:00.001-04:00

2010-05-16T11:17:00.001-04:00

Wow-- excellent weekend for finding Hudson memorabilia at local rummage/garage sales! I got all this stuff in the last 24 hours....

Antique made-in-Hudson Gifford Wood ice tongs refashioned into a candelabra:

(Gifford had foundry here that specialized in ice-harvesting tools....)

1985 Fire Alarm Locator/Calendar, courtesy Register-Star:

Flip side is a calendar with reprint of the first edition of the Hudson Weekly Gazette,
March 31, 1785.

Ca. 1940 Elmer Swanson silhouette advertising thermometer:

Chocolate brown size 44 man's suit from Kritzman-Maskin Men's store, 511
(?)Warren St:

And my favorite, a tiny pocket sewing kit from the Orchard Dress Shop:

we lost another today

2010-04-29T17:44:00.004-04:00

They bulldozed this house on Prospect Street today.

I have some interior pictures from 2007 that I will share later...

EDIT/UPDATE:::May 6: It turns out I loaded pictures on my flickr page in 2008, when previous owner was cleaning the house out. Mostly pictures of junk (a Hudson schoolteacher lived there), but kitchen pantry, stairway with stained woodwork, and vintage bathroom...

Springtime 4th and Diamond

2010-04-23T07:24:00.000-04:00

The Greenport School

2010-04-11T09:38:00.001-04:00

The old Greenport Elementary School on Rt 66 is being cleaned out ---

lots of industrial kitchen equipment being sold off,
as well as desks,

upright pianos,

and mystery machines.

The original school was built in 1928
and is surrounded with daffodils and budding magnolias and forsythia.

It has some nice original wood details.

The single-story mid-century addition has long cinderblock hallways, with some really wonderful murals painted by the schoolchildren

I love how in this one the kids have placed all the local schools right on Hudson's waterfront...

To see all of my photos visit the full set on my flickr page. On each photo page you can click on "all Sizes" so see higher resolution versions.

Who was I

2010-03-30T19:28:00.006-04:00

Who was I talking with recently about deer roaming around in Hudson?

I took this picture a couple of summers ago, near the intersection of 2nd Street and Prison Alley (1/2 block from Warren Street).

Spring is Here

2010-03-22T08:24:00.002-04:00

spring is here
Originally uploaded by fiveanddiamond

Earliest Known surviving artwork by Yours Truly.
"Spring is Here
FLOWER'S
Mr. Rabbit, Tulip, Made up, Sun Flower, Rose, Made Up"

*found in my barn during spring cleaning last week.

South Bay Sunset 3.9.10

2010-03-09T20:50:00.000-05:00

Sepiatown

2010-03-07T10:29:00.002-05:00

This week a friend turned me on to Sepiatown, pretty much my dream website of antique photos. It's basically a digital archive for folks like me that like to dig up relics from the past and track them down to their origins.

Lutheran Church at Columbia and 6th Streets

Historical building/landscape images of all kinds are uploaded to the Sepiatown website and placed on google maps as accurately as possible, creating something of a time travel effect, once you get immersed in it.

The main page is in Manhattan, but you can enter any location on the map field to see images elsewhere.
I've uploaded several images of the Hudson area, and hope to continue gather and post as many more as I can get access to.

In cases where Google Streetview is available, you can click on a "now/then" link next to a picture to see the same view as it appears (roughly) today.

For instance, here is a screenshot of the website with the antique South Bay postcard I uploaded, shown alongside the Google Streetview of today.

Cool, right?

Sepiatown can be a bit of a roller coaster ride, as you have to witness all the beautiful things that have been destroyed, but get to see all the beautiful things that have been preserved, too.

Unfortunately, in Hudson, Warren Street has not been photographed for Google Streetview, only Route 9G has---so, the now-then comparisions are limited to South 3rd and, yay, Columbia Streets.

Sure do wish I had a 100-year old sepia photograph of this place!

Five and Diamond, in mid-restoration as seen on google streetview...

Sepia Knights

2010-03-07T08:54:00.004-05:00

These gents are standing in front of St Johns Lutheran Church at Sixth and Columbia (see photo in post above) under a Henry Hudson Co. Knights of Pythias banner. At first I thought they were policemen, but it is more than likely the Knights of Pythias since they have their lodge swords in place.

Dated 1911

622 State Street Hudson NY

2010-03-02T06:49:00.001-05:00

622 State Street Hudson NY
Originally uploaded by fiveanddiamond

free couches

2010-01-17T09:01:00.000-05:00

Armory Left in Ruins by Flames

2010-01-10T09:07:00.001-05:00

Hudson Register, Decemeber 31, 1928

knitting mill

2009-11-09T19:13:00.006-05:00

The old knitting mill down on Front Street being dismantled today:

Before picture with clerestory windows, (same view) from 2008:

View from train tracks:

Read about it here

More pictures on flickr page.

Halloween

2009-10-31T08:00:00.001-04:00

Spontaneous Tour

2009-10-13T09:10:00.010-04:00

I stumbled on a yard sale yesterday at the McDonald Funeral Home on upper Diamond Street. Didn't buy anything (oh, there was a LOT of sheet music btw), but got a special tour of the amazing carriage barn, complete with original horse stalls
(Click to enlarge any pic)

"Oats cleaner"

and working carriage elevator (I know of only three of these in Hudson):

All in beautiful original condition.

What an amazing sculpture studio this place would make.
I also got to see an interesting stash of antique embalming equipment (not for sale, and no, I didn't take pictures), as well as a coffin elevator in the main house.
Eeek.

DEC 10 update: Word is this building is being turned into a dentist's office; the elevator will be removed. I don't hold out much hope for the horse stalls, wainscot, or oats cleaner, either...

The Soft Drink That Turneth Away Wrath

2009-10-09T20:22:00.003-04:00

Non-intoxicating, just FYI.

One Small Step and an Expensive Junkyard

2009-07-20T12:21:00.000-04:00

A Minute in Hudson

2009-07-14T12:00:00.002-04:00

I think the city has a new flag in Promenade Park.
I can't remember ever being so mesmerized by it before.

Filmed July 4th and July 8th.

Female Trouble, Then and Now

2009-06-29T12:43:00.006-04:00

1920s and today. Click to enlarge.

(My old myspace blog entry about Dr. Maltz can be found here.)

another one bites the dust

2009-06-25T11:31:00.002-04:00

...I was riding my bike down Prison Alley yesterday....

Free Old Tin Roof - Act Now

2009-06-21T11:09:00.006-04:00

I was riding my bike down Cherry Alley this morning. There's a decent-sized pile of embossed tin roof tiles awaiting a salvager. Just to the west of 3rd Street.

I took a few for myself because they exactly match the tiles on my carriage barn's roof, but if you have a project (Shed? Chicken coop, Henhouse? Love Shack?) to recycle/use them for, get over there and grab them!

EDIT Update Sunday 5 pm. I hear they're gone already.

Partition Street/Alley

2009-06-13T07:54:00.001-04:00

partitionnowthen
Originally uploaded by fiveanddiamond

2004 and 2007

Hudson Walking Tour

2009-06-04T11:04:00.006-04:00

The Tainted Lady Lounge (the long-gone bar, not the blog) gets a mention in today's Upstate Earth Blog. Check out the whole blog while you're there... a nice assortment of local explorations rich with history.

May 16 2007, May 16 2008, May 16 2009

2009-05-16T09:58:00.002-04:00

Rare Hudson Relics showing up at Brimfield this week!

2009-05-14T21:11:00.013-04:00

Larry and his travelling cat Smooch

were at Brimfield this week selling their fabulous wares out of the "COOL BUS".
In addition to yards and yards of luxurious fabrics and trimmings, Larry had an original wooden baker's peel
from the Hudson Supermarket ---from when it was actually a supermarket, not the antiques center it is today ( 310 Warren Street).
It was only fifteen bucks!

He also had a lovely stash of stamped tin ceiling and frieze parts, recently excavated from the old Savoia Bar at 255 Warren Street.

People,
do yourselves a favor and look for Larry's big Yard Sale on upper Warren Street coming this July...

Star Theatre

2009-05-05T17:18:00.011-04:00

510 Warren Street, then and now:

Some old Star Theatre Ads
1927 Wings, with Gary Cooper:

1934- Tom Mix Western

1942 Roy Rogers' Sons of Pioneers

1945 Strangers in the Night

"Dinnerware to Ladies" ?Any ideas what this means?

Historic Day

2009-04-20T11:57:00.003-04:00

April 20, 2005

....would not be
compatible with the special character of Hudson and Athens historic resources, and would present a
significant adverse change .....

man in uniform

2009-04-14T12:00:00.003-04:00

Oops - meant to post this on baseball's opening day. Another photo from my many Watnot Shop acquisitions.

(Click to enlarge. If you think you might know exactly where in Hudson this photo was taken, or who this person might be, please let me know.)

In the Shopping District, Hudson, NY

2009-04-02T21:00:00.000-04:00

Big Closeout Sale on Antique Robot Heads!

2009-04-01T12:24:00.006-04:00

Hudsonopoly

2009-03-27T11:32:00.021-04:00

Scored a Hudsonopoly board game at the first yard sale of the season this morning!

These were made in 1985 to commemorate Hudson's Bicentennial. I've found them before but always gave them away. This set is too tattered to give as a gift---so it'll go in my ever-growing Hudson time capsule...
From what I can tell, the only Hudsonopoly business still in existence is Town and Country Foods, down on Dock Street. I know Bobbie's Flea Market and Sherin's Dollhouse Shop are long gone...(sigh)...
Maybe we need to get together and make a new edition for the big Henry Hudson Quadricentennial this year?

Think of the possibilities..

You could buy the Martin residence, turn it into a fabulous, hip B&B, but then draw the chance card that quadruples your property taxes!

Or, how about: "Wal-Mart opens in Greenport; kills your business, you're foreclosed on. Go directly to jail."

Incidentally (while I'm here),
on my way to the yard sale, I had to drive by the brand-spanking-new-this-week Applebee's

"Neighborhood Grill and Bar", out on Fairview Avenue. (What's with the "grill" coming before the "bar" now?)

This is the "neighborhood" right behind Applebee's:
Future home of Super Wal-Mart of course, but with a lovely Berkshire Mountains backdrop.

Paula Again

2009-03-18T16:19:00.003-04:00

Paula at Leon's Appliance Center, 433-435 Warren Street, Hudson, NY.

local archeology

2009-03-04T20:32:00.013-05:00

The Greenport Land Conservancy is only about a mile outside of town and has some nice hiking trails and river views.
One of my favorite things to do there is to wander off the path into the woods and check out the dumping grounds of previous generations. Throughout the Hudson Valley, farmers used to haul their garbage right into the closest ravine.

I brought home this old broken Warren Street liquor store bottle:
but left plenty behind.

Some of the relics that await future archeologists:

Baby carriage, Kitchen implements (from Coons and Marshall Dept Store, 521 Warren St)
farm machinery parts (very sculptural-- make a lamp!), and mossy vintage clothing (no thanks).

mud hole on Diamond Street

2009-02-23T09:03:00.003-05:00

The Fungus Among Us

2009-02-17T17:33:00.005-05:00

Sometimes when I walk around I play this little game I made up called "How many satellite dishes can you fit into one picture?"

What do you think my best score is?

Three?

Four?

Six?

No.

I broke my record last week. It's nine.

From The Tainted Lady Lounge

Had I had a wide angle lens it would have been ten!

Ferryboat Landing, Then and Now

2009-02-12T08:20:00.006-05:00

A larger version of this can be seen by clicking here.

The Ice King

2009-02-03T17:47:00.011-05:00

I could be wrong about this one,

but I could be right, too.

Another one found in the Watnot Shop, which looks to me to be the Hudson waterfront:

"The Ice King" is the name of the boat in the antique (middle) photo. Probably taken in the late 1800's when ice harvesting was still a major industry around here.
Clicking on it will take you to my flickr page, where you can view in high resolution (choose "all sizes"). The gentlemen on the boat are very nicely dressed with bowler hats...

Propst Horseshoeing

2009-01-25T07:25:00.014-05:00

Kind of a sad story about this old photograph:
I found it in the Watnot Shop about 8+ years ago, when I was making my living selling collectibles on ebay, (and saving my pennies to buy a house here in Hudson.) Subject-specific antique photos, such as this one of an old horse-shoeing shop--had the potential to bring hefty profits. This one, however, only brought about ten bucks.

That's not the sad part though.
The sad part is that about a month or two after I sold it, I bought my house here on 5th Street, and, after studying the leftover jpeg some more, realized that Propst Horseshoeing had been located directly across the street from my new home (a fact I confirmed by researching old directories in the history room at the library.)

So, I sold a piece of Hudson history on ebay for ten bucks--- big ouch.

The good news is that the buyer was someone named Propst, so it's hopefully stored safely away in a genealogical archive somewhere, not my messy cigar box filing system...

Five and Dime

2009-01-17T08:06:00.005-05:00

617 Warren Street, Hudson, NY

they paved paradise

2009-01-12T07:24:00.005-05:00

View from Long Alley, 2004:
View from Long Alley, 2005:
View from Prison Alley 2004:
View from Prison Alley 2005:
(former location of Gold's Scrapyard, mid- 300 block of Columbia Street)

neighbors.

2008-12-26T15:01:00.005-05:00

Recognize this place?

I'll give you a hint:

Old walls, new life

2008-12-19T16:50:00.013-05:00

This is the old dance hall that used to be on Robinson Street.

More specifically, it was tucked in the back, speakeasy style, on Rope Alley, near the intersection of 2nd Street.
I took these pictures 6 years ago, when the Housing Resources people let Alan and I go in and rummage around before they rehabbed. They were about to gut it and turn it and the adjacent 2-story apartment building into new housing.

I grabbed the piano stool with glass ball feet, some loose ivory piano keys, and some beautiful wallpaper samples from the upstairs apartment (which I later used in a collage.)

Alan salvaged a heaping truckload of beadboard from the dance hall walls, and stored it away.

Not too long after, the whole building burned down.

Last week Alan pulled out some of the beadboard and installed a 20+ foot span of wall in his workshop (partially shown here). He also devised some secret method of removing spraypaint graffiti without ruining the original finish.

Now and Then: Columbia and First streets, Hudson, NY

2008-12-17T11:18:00.003-05:00

Columbia and first sts, hudson, NY. now and then (1953 and 2008)
Originally uploaded by fiveanddiamond

Special Thanks to Alex Brown and Paula Mickle (the girl in photos) for letting me use their vintage photos for my ongoing Now and Then project. (Dis-honorable mention to urban renewal for tearing down all the old buildings).
Below is my photoshop collage.

Found

2008-12-15T16:30:00.001-05:00

8x10" photo stuck to glass.
Found at a yard sale in Claverack a couple months ago (the seller gave it to me).

It reminded me of a scene in one of my favorite movies, Wim Wenders' Until the End of the World. In it, Max von Sydow's character has invented a ground-breaking device that can record the visual experiences of one person and then transfer them to the brain of a blind person, in this case his wife. The technology is still rough though, so the imagery the woman experiences, of her children and grandchildren, are quite blurry and broken.