History, Natural History & the Arts
June 1906, Rose Knox looked across the field through the window of her 35-room mansion at the top of the hill in Johnstown, NY. A 41-foot, cigar-shaped dirigible was floating across the street.
Just a half dozen existed in all of the United States. Her husband Charles Knox, founder of Knox Gelatine, had financed construction of what was initially known as the Knox Torpedo Airship. Knox hoped he could sell it to the US Navy. [Read more…] about ‘Gelatine,’ The Knox Company Dirigible
Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon (Henry Holt, 2024) by Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez is the story of how Victoria’s Secret skyrocketed from a tiny chain of boutiques to a retail phenomenon with more than $8 billion in annual sales at its peak — all while defining an impossible beauty standard for generations of American women — before the brand’s tight grip on the industry finally slipped. [Read more…] about Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon
Over five decades, The Subway Sun advised, informed, and admonished New York subway riders – encouraging civility, safety, cleanliness, and pride in their city and its mass transit rail system.
Designed to resemble the front page of a newspaper, The Subway Sun quickly became a part of daily life for millions of riders. Initially, the posters were text-based and emphasized the benefits and conveniences of the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) system, as well as announced schedule, fare, and safety information. [Read more…] about The Subway Sun: Advertising Public Health & Safety
In the June 1841 the Albany Evening Journal ran the following notice:
“Dr. Cooke, No. 3 Norton Street, Albany, NY — In every age of the world, men of superior genius have lived: Homer, Voltaire, Euripides and Virgil. It has, however, remained for the 19th century to produce a man whose attainments, both in letters and science, which justly entitles him to equal rank with the illustrious mentioned above. That man is the world-renowned surgeon and physician, Gen. George Cooke whose fame and knowledge of the healing art have reached every clime. [Read more…] about George Cooke: Albany Snake Oil Salesman
Patent medicines, packaged drugs with incompletely disclosed contents, were plentiful and profitable in the United States from the period directly following the Civil War through the early twentieth century.
Before the first Pure Food and Drug Laws were passed, the manufacturers and promoters of patent medicines made millions of dollars from a credulous public eager for cures for a variety of ailments, and from many who were unable to afford the regular care of a doctor. [Read more…] about Patent Medicine History: Schenectady’s Pink Pills for Pale People
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