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Maury Thompson

Maury Thompson is a freelance writer and documentary film producer from Ticonderoga who specializes in the history of politics, labor organizing and media in New York's North Country.

He previously was a reporter for The Post-Star of Glens Falls for 21 years.

His latest book is The Animated Feather Duster: Slow News Day Tales of the Legendary Facial Hair of Charles Evans Hughes.

Ben Stickney’s Press: A New York Inventor’s Piece of World Postal History

October 1, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

Stickney Presses US Treasury DepartmentAppeals from officials in the Adirondacks of Upstate New York to President Calvin Coolidge in 1924 resulted in the reappointment to federal government service of “undoubtedly the greatest inventive genius that Essex County has ever produced.”

Benjamin R. Stickney, a Moriah Center native, was a chief engineer at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing when President Warren Harding dismissed Stickney and 27 other federal bureaucrats, without notice, on March 27, 1922. [Read more…] about Ben Stickney’s Press: A New York Inventor’s Piece of World Postal History

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Engineering History, Essex County, Industrial History, Port Henry, Postal Service, Ticonderoga

Big Hogs In The Paper: A Collection Of Pig Tales From Historic Newspapers

September 16, 2020 by Maury Thompson 1 Comment

Domestic pigs in a wallow courtesy Mark Peters Poplar Spring Animal SanctuaryA hog weighing in at 1,200 pounds raised in Greenwich, in Washington County, was spared the slaughter, at least temporarily, in order to be put on display as an oddity.

“G.V.P. Lansing, a resident of the town of Greenwich, has the unique distinction of having raised and marketed the largest hog ever grown in the world,” The Post-Star reported on March 12, 1919. “The hog was sold last week to Bennett Brothers of Albany, and shipped to that place.” [Read more…] about Big Hogs In The Paper: A Collection Of Pig Tales From Historic Newspapers

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, Western NY Tagged With: Agricultural History, Food, local farms, nature, Washington County

In 1883 The Glens Falls News Cycle Was Cut In Half

September 8, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

The Morning Star April 2 1883Breaking news from Sandy Hill was published at 5 am Monday April 2, 1883, the day the Glens Falls news cycle was cut in half from 24 to 12 hours.

“A bout of fisticuffs occurred at the freight depot yesterday afternoon in which several glove handlers were engaged. No less than forty spectators were present. No damage was done beyond desecration of the Sabbath,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported in its debut issue. [Read more…] about In 1883 The Glens Falls News Cycle Was Cut In Half

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, History Tagged With: Glens Falls, Journalism, News, Newspapers, Queensbury, Verplanck Colvin

Prohibition One-Liners From 1920

August 28, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

The Drunkard's Progress: A lithograph by Nathaniel Currier supporting the temperance movement, January 1846Oh what pun it is to chuckle over Prohibition one-liners published in 1920 issues of The Post-Star, a daily newspaper of Glens Falls, NY. [Read more…] about Prohibition One-Liners From 1920

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: beer, Glens Falls, liquor, Prohibition

Early Stunt Men, Daredevils ‘The Human Fly’ & ‘Hurricane Hutch’ in NY

August 5, 2020 by Maury Thompson 3 Comments

Daredevil stunt man and movie actor Rodman “The Human Fly” Law had been shot out of a “monster sky rocket” and had jumped in a specialized “aeroplane parachute” from the Brooklyn Bridge and the 792-foot Woolworth Building, the tallest building in the world at the time.

For his next feat, Law came to the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about Early Stunt Men, Daredevils ‘The Human Fly’ & ‘Hurricane Hutch’ in NY

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Ausable Chasm, Ausable River, Essex County, film, Film History, paddling, Performing Arts, Saranac Lake, Schroon Lake

Al Jolson and Harding’s ‘Front Porch Campaign’

July 24, 2020 by Maury Thompson 1 Comment

Al Jolson speaking during Warren G Harding's front porch campaign in 1920Charles Evans Hughes and Al Jolson shared a small stage at Marion, Ohio in 1920 as part of Republican presidential candidate Warren Harding’s “front porch” campaign.

Hughes, a lawyer in New York City at the time, and “a troupe” of Big Apple entertainers traveled on the same train from New York City to Marion the morning of Aug. 24. [Read more…] about Al Jolson and Harding’s ‘Front Porch Campaign’

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City Tagged With: Charles Evans Hughes, Cultural History, Glens Falls, Jazz, Musical History, New York City, Political History, politics

David A Henderson Tours New York State in 1902

July 6, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

David Henderson courtesy Library of CongressHouse Speaker David A. Henderson, at the turn from the 19th to 20th centuries, had a reputation for spontaneously breaking into a patriotic song when making speeches.

But when it came to newspaper reporters, he kept silent, even during an extended tour of New York state in summer 1902. [Read more…] about David A Henderson Tours New York State in 1902

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, New York City Tagged With: Political History, Ticonderoga, Warrensburg

Meredith B. Little: Leading Glens Falls Spiritualist

June 20, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

MB Little Insurance AgencyGetting the vote was just one of the issues suffragettes encountered in the late 19th century.

They also faced the premise of some theologians who contended the afterlife was restricted to an exclusive old boy’s club.

“A benignant looking, white-bearded patriarch,” who distributed candy to local children annually on Christmas Eve, debunked the theory in a Sunday afternoon debate in 1894 at Psychical Hall.

No — not Santa Claus. [Read more…] about Meredith B. Little: Leading Glens Falls Spiritualist

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Glens Falls, Political History, Religious History, Spiritualism, Suffrage Movement, womens history

French Pugilist Georges Carpentier’s Visit To NY

June 3, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

Georges Carpentier and supporters in Monte Carlo in 1912French pugilist Georges Carpentier was traveling with the Seils-Floto Circus from Albany to Montreal in May 1920 when the train stopped briefly at Plattsburgh.

(In an interesting side note, Carpentier was traveling in the same private rail car that President Woodrow Wilson used a few months previous on his trans-continental campaign to gain support for the League of Nations.) [Read more…] about French Pugilist Georges Carpentier’s Visit To NY

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: boxing, Lake Champlain, sports, Sports History

Wally Foote: ‘The Most Handsome Man in Congress’

May 10, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

Wallace Turner Foote JrThe Plattsburgh Daily Press in late 1894 fact-checked the boasts of M.W. Howard, age 32, of Alabama, and George M. Southwick, age 31, of Albany, who each claimed to be the youngest member of the incoming U.S. House of Representatives.

Actually, it was local Representative-elect Wallace T. Foote Jr., who would still be 30 when he took office, that would have the distinction. Foote represented New York’s 23rd District, which included Essex, Clinton, Franklin, Warren and Washington counties. [Read more…] about Wally Foote: ‘The Most Handsome Man in Congress’

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Clinton County, Essex County, Franklin County, Lake Champlain, Political History, Port Henry, Union College, Warren County, Washington County

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