Calvin Coolidge

1925’s Lighter Side of Political History

August 20, 2026 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

This stunt, certainly, would have been harder to pull off in the era before Photoshop and artificial intelligence:

“Amherst College students perpetuated a practical joke this afternoon when they sent out news stories and photographs showing United States Senator Frederick H. Gillett (1851-1935) minus his celebrated beard,” The Glens Falls Times reported on June 17, 1925. “Senator Gillett, found by newspaper correspondents, was still wearing the beard.” [Read more…] about 1925’s Lighter Side of Political History

Light-Hearted Political News from Historic Northern NY Newspapers

March 4, 2025 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

You’ve heard about hard cider. How about hard sauerkraut? During Prohibition State Assemblyman Louis A. Cuvillier (D-Manhattan) mockingly introduced legislation to allow police authorities to search the basements of homes for “intoxicating” sauerkraut, The Glens Falls Times reported on Feb. 18, 1925.

“Some dries have contended sauerkraut is intoxicating and if that is true than the houses of people should be searched for this terrible stuff,” Cuvillier said. [Read more…] about Light-Hearted Political News from Historic Northern NY Newspapers

‘Thuggery, Intimidation and General Foul Play’: Ogden Mills & The 1935 Nabisco Strike

October 11, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Like all great mysteries, it started with an unexpected clue. In this case, a photograph that caught the eye of Joe D’Agostino, Historic Interpreter at Staatsburgh State Historic Site in Hyde Park, Dutchess County, NY.

It was a March 3, 1935 Acme News Service photograph showing workers picketing outside the 5th Avenue, Manhattan mansion formerly owned by Ruth Livingston Mills (1855-1920) and her husband Ogden Mills (1856-1929), who had also owned the Staatsburgh Mansion. [Read more…] about ‘Thuggery, Intimidation and General Foul Play’: Ogden Mills & The 1935 Nabisco Strike

Calvin Coolidge

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