In June 1934 the Town of Caldwell (now the Town of Lake George) began regulating sunbathing and swimwear on its downtown streets. Law enforcement officials were tasked with a new job while patrolling the lakeshore and avenues at the head of the 32-mile-long Lake George. [Read more…] about 1934: Lake George Cracks-Down On Swimwear
Fashion History
Two Bathing Suits Highlight History in Everyday Life
Two bathing suits from the textile collection of The Buffalo History Museum highlight the long and varied history of swimsuits. In the early 1900s, women wore long gowns with bloomers underneath for swimming.
These bathing gowns were weighted down by several heavy layers of material, occasionally with weights sewn into the hem so the material would not float. Fabrics were chosen for bathing suits that would not become transparent when wet. [Read more…] about Two Bathing Suits Highlight History in Everyday Life
The Dutch & Flemish Roots of Yankee Doodle Dandy
Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony,
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni.
Macaroni Craze
During the third quarter of the eighteenth century, Londoners saw the bizarre spectacle of the so-called “macaroni craze.” Young aristocratic men who had returned home from their educational Grand Tour through Continental Europe to Italy, displayed a liking for pasta. [Read more…] about The Dutch & Flemish Roots of Yankee Doodle Dandy
The 1922 ‘Shifters’ Moral Panic
With the 19th Amendment offering greater rights for women, and the nation’s economy recovering from the First World War, the Roaring Twenties opened the door for young and old alike to shake off the Victorian Era restraints of the previous century. This was the era when women were “flappers,” and their men “sheiks.” It also gave rise to the speakeasy and to jazz. It was a time when numerous crazes, such as flagpole sitting and a dance called the Charleston, swept the country.
Another of these crazes was a secret society whose members went by the name of Shifters. The origin of this movement has never been discovered, with theories ranging from a prank by New York City high school girls to a marketing scheme by a novelty jewelry company. [Read more…] about The 1922 ‘Shifters’ Moral Panic
1980s East Village Photographs Go Online
Peter Bennett is a photographer who grew up in Greenwich Village and lived in the East Village from 1979-1988, bartending by night and photographing the neighborhood around him by day.
In the latest addition to the Village Preservation historic image archive, he has shared some of his photographs of the East Village in the early 1980s. [Read more…] about 1980s East Village Photographs Go Online
The Plume Boom: Feathers, Fans, Funerals, Fashion & Filth
Economic history is a tale of bubbles and booms in which assets such as commodities, land, or stocks, quickly inflate in price above their intrinsic value. Such sudden movements, driven by greedy investors and speculative hype, are invariably followed by a bust. Loss of confidence causes a collapse in prices, resulting in a crash of “panic selling.”
There are many such examples, most of them well-documented. Tulip-mania in the Dutch Republic during the 1630s was the first real financial bubble. Then there were the Mississippi and South Sea Bubbles (1720), both followed by a spectacular crash. More recently, we have seen the Dotcom Bubble, driven by mad speculation in internet-based stock.
While the assets may change over time, from tulips to technology, the factors of greed and fear are the ever-present psychological drivers of economic upheavals. Of all the bubbles known to historians, the “Plume Boom” is one of the more obscure tales. [Read more…] about The Plume Boom: Feathers, Fans, Funerals, Fashion & Filth
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Revolutionary Life
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a singular leader, thinker, and organizer whose fight for women’s emancipation stretched from the 1840s to her death in 1902, a full fifth of America’s history. Yet her legacy is marked by controversy.
In a new biography, Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Revolutionary Life (Basic Books, 2026) historian Ellen Carol DuBois paints a fresh portrait of this complex woman whose work helped make contemporary feminism possible. [Read more…] about Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Revolutionary Life
New Report: Affordability Threatens NYC’s Creative Sector
There are few things considered more critical to New York City’s economy than the creative sector, the mix of industries that range from performing and visual arts to ad agencies and design firms.
But a new Creative New York report by The Center for an Urban Future (CUF) shows that the city’s creative sector is facing serious new threats, in large part due to an affordability crisis that is hitting artists and creative workers especially hard. [Read more…] about New Report: Affordability Threatens NYC’s Creative Sector
1954: Archaeologists Find Rare Cufflink at Fort William Henry
In the autumn of 1954, United Press, a news wire service established in 1907 and later known as United Press International, reported: “Old War Crime Found At Fort.”
The gist of the report capitalized upon Americans’ fascination with The Last of the Mohicans (1826) by James Fenimore Cooper. The news of a discovery made in 1954 of charred bones of two British soldiers uncovered by archaeologists excavating the cellar of the barracks of Fort William Henry at the head of Lake George. [Read more…] about 1954: Archaeologists Find Rare Cufflink at Fort William Henry
Angelica Schuyler Church: A Woman at the Center of Revolution
Angelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution (W. W. Norton & Company, 2025) by Molly Beer is a women-centric view of revolution through the life of Angelica Schuyler Church (1756-1814), the eldest daughter of General Philip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer.
The Van Rensselaers of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck were one of the wealthiest and most politically influential families in what was then the still heavily Dutch-influenced Province of New York. [Read more…] about Angelica Schuyler Church: A Woman at the Center of Revolution
Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon
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
The Beaver Quest: Pelts & Testicles
In 1609, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) sent navigator Henry Hudson westward to discover a short route to Asia. Instead, he reached the river that today bears his name, finding a biologically rich and diverse ecosystem.
On his report (published in 1611) of timber rich lands and an abundance of furs, Dutch traders were keen to finance further exploration. [Read more…] about The Beaver Quest: Pelts & Testicles
Liberty Poles and Liberty Hats: Symbols of the Revolution
One symbol of the American Revolution (and French Revolution) that dates back to the ancient times is the “liberty hat” (Phrygian Cap or bonnets rouges in French). This soft, usually red, brimless conical cap with top bending forward gets its name from Phrygia, an ancient kingdom in Anatolia (modern Turkey).
In the Roman Empire, a similar hat called a pileus was given to freed slaves to indicate they were now citizens of the Roman Empire. Down through the years, this hat became a symbol of freedom and liberty throughout Europe, especially in the later 1700s.
[Read more…] about Liberty Poles and Liberty Hats: Symbols of the Revolution
Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-fashion Icon
Those who recognize the name Amelia Bloomer (1818-1894) usually do so because of bloomers, the clothing item named after her.
While she was a rational dress advocate for a time — calling on women to abandon rigid corsets and heavy petticoats and opt for long trousers, shorter skirts, and sensible boots — it was “but an incident” in the larger story of her life and impact.
Bloomer edited and published The Lily, one of the first newspapers for and by women. Founded to promote temperance, it soon broadened to include some of the most important issues to women in that day, including the right to vote, and included contributions from thinkers like Elizabeth Cady Stanton. [Read more…] about Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-fashion Icon
How Haudenosaunee Women and Fashion Shaped History
Historians use a lot of different sources when they research the past. Many rely on primary source documents, documents that were written by official government bodies or those written by the people or who witnessed the events or changes historians are studying.
But how do you uncover the voices and stories of people who didn’t know how to write or whose families didn’t preserve much of their writing? [Read more…] about How Haudenosaunee Women and Fashion Shaped History
Blue Jeans: New York’s Waterfront, Levi Strauss & the Gold Rush
For most of their history, Greenwich Village, the East Village, and the Lower East Side have had an intimately interconnected life and history. These parts of New York have been crossroads and hotbeds of cultural and intellectual innovation.
The East River and Hudson River waterfronts have linked these neighborhoods to global networks of trade and immigration. This lively and vibrant maritime history is perfectly encapsulated in the life of Levi Strauss (1829-1902), and in that of the denim jean. [Read more…] about Blue Jeans: New York’s Waterfront, Levi Strauss & the Gold Rush
Ralph Lauren’s Catskills Roots
Fashion icon Ralph Lauren, who transformed a small necktie business into an international brand, joined elite company recently when he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.
Lauren, known for his “preppy threads,” but whose fashion empire extends to fragrance and furniture and beyond, said in a statement that it was an “honor of a lifetime.” [Read more…] about Ralph Lauren’s Catskills Roots
Clinton County’s 19th Century Potato Starch Industry
In the 1870s, the starch mill owned by Nicholas Bullis in the hamlet of Suckertown on the Little Chazy River was noted for the profusion and cheapness of its starch. Local lore said the young men in the area had their shirt collars starched to an unusual stiffness, and they became known as “Stiff Collars.”
If you wanted to know whether an someone was a resident of Suckertown, you only had to look at their shirt collar, and the question would be answered. [Read more…] about Clinton County’s 19th Century Potato Starch Industry
Glickman’s in Saratoga Springs: Some History
For generations, stepping inside 461 Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs has been a sensory delight. Currently home to G. Willikers Toy Store, the address remains a hub of enchantment and community connection. For over 40 years, Linda Ambrosino and her husband have infused downtown Saratoga with holiday magic, captivating locals and visitors alike with their Christmas window displays.
This year’s display is no exception. The first window invites onlookers into a warm, nostalgic scene: a family gathered around a classic movie projector. The following windows come alive with intricate depictions of the films they are watching, drawing delighted murmurs from passersby. [Read more…] about Glickman’s in Saratoga Springs: Some History
1964 Fashion History: The Monokini & Lake George
When one thinks of Lake George, NY, one might conjure up visions of beautiful blue water, sandy beaches, and bountiful history. Here is a story from six-decades ago that generates all three of those mental images. The decade of the 1960s in America was a rebellious era and Lake George was certainly not an exception.
At the start of that decade in 1960, a song, “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” sung by Brian Hyland, became a huge hit. The bubblegum-pop tune was about a shy-young woman embarrassed to appear on the beach because of her “itsy bitsy” bikini, that two-piece bathing suit that soon became the norm for female beach attire. [Read more…] about 1964 Fashion History: The Monokini & Lake George