Hudson Beach Combing Part 2: PIGS

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

      

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

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

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

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

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: