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Holidays

Recycling Electronics This Holiday Season

December 30, 2020 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

holiday recyclingWith holiday cheer and gifts galore, many will give or receive new electronic equipment. As you switch out of the old and welcome the new, remember to recycle your old electronics responsibly. [Read more…] about Recycling Electronics This Holiday Season

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Christmas, Holidays, solid waste

George Washington At Christmas

December 24, 2020 by James F. Sefcik Leave a Comment

George Washington and Family by Thomas Pritchard Rossiter, 1858-1860Christmas conjures up images of festivity, family, and especially sumptuous dinners but it wasn’t that way for George Washington during the Revolutionary War. He served as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from May 1775 to December 1783 or about 104 months.

During that time, he visited his beloved Mount Vernon just once, in 1781 following the victory at Yorktown before returning to his home for good in 1783. [Read more…] about George Washington At Christmas

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: AmRev, Christmas, George Washington, Holidays, Military History, winter

Elliot Roosevelt’s Christmas Tree Sales At Val-Kill

December 24, 2020 by A. J. Schenkman Leave a Comment

Elliott Roosevelt and 3 Year Old in NYC 12-11-1948“Last week I acquired from my husband’s estate about two-thirds of the land which he owned here in Hyde Park. My son Elliott and I have gone into partnership and we are going to farm the land on a commercial basis,” Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her “My Day” column on August 19, 1947.

This would be the beginning of a joint venture with her third child Elliott to turn a profit from the estate lands of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. [Read more…] about Elliot Roosevelt’s Christmas Tree Sales At Val-Kill

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Agricultural History, Christmas, Eleanor Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt NHS, FDR, Forestry, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Holidays, Val-Kill, winter

Santa’s Reindeer Hit Hard By Our Warming Climate

December 24, 2020 by Paul Hetzler Leave a Comment

Reindeer courtesy Wikimedia user Are G NilsenReindeer have been soaring since long before Christmas came into being. For some reason, the fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria), a lovely red-and-white polka-dotted ‘shroom bearing an uncanny resemblance to a Christmas ornament, is attractive to these creatures. It’s also hallucinogenic, and Comet, Cupid, and loads of other blitzed reindeer have been observed lurching about after munching the mushrooms (Santa’s sleigh makes more sense after you learn about this little reindeer game).

Regrettably, flights of any sort will become less frequent for these animals, as their population is in steep decline as a result of a warmer Arctic. [Read more…] about Santa’s Reindeer Hit Hard By Our Warming Climate

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Christmas, Climate Change, Holidays, nature, weather, Wildlife

Twelve Tavern Rules, Thirteen Toasts and America’s 1814 Anthem

December 21, 2020 by Jaap Harskamp 11 Comments

Sampler by Martha Cooke Twelve Good Rules 1811Many eighteenth century publicans framed a list of pre-conditions for the “perfect” tavern which was displayed in full view in British public houses and drinking dens.

The advice to customers consisted of “Twelve Good Rules” that dated back to the rule of Charles I: [Read more…] about Twelve Tavern Rules, Thirteen Toasts and America’s 1814 Anthem

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, Food, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: beer, Cultural History, Food, Holidays, liquor, Performing Arts, Social History, Taverns, wine

Slavery, Christmas and Southern Memory

December 18, 2020 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

The Historians LogoIn this episode of The Historians Podcast Purdue University Professor Emeritus Robert May weighs in on whether enslaved people were better treated during the Christmas season in the Old South.

May is author of Yuletide in Dixie: Slavery, Christmas and Southern Memory (2019). He earned his undergraduate degree at Union College in Schenectady. [Read more…] about Slavery, Christmas and Southern Memory

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Books, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Agricultural History, Black History, Christmas, Cultural History, Holidays, Podcasts, Slavery

Holiday Waste Reduction, Recycling Tips

December 17, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

holiday recyclingThis year, lighten your holiday celebrations by reducing waste and recycling right. Check your local recycling provider’s list of accepted items. Use the following tips as you prepare for the season’s festivities, and clean-up afterwards. [Read more…] about Holiday Waste Reduction, Recycling Tips

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: DEC, Holidays

Gift Ideas For Traditional Field Sports Enthusiasts

December 16, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

dec trail supporter patchHere are some holiday gift ideas for traditional field sports enthusiasts. [Read more…] about Gift Ideas For Traditional Field Sports Enthusiasts

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: Christmas, DEC, fishing, Gift Ideas, Holidays, hunting, nature, Wildlife

Puritans, Prussians, and the History of Christmas Cards

December 15, 2020 by Jaap Harskamp 3 Comments

First Xmas card by John Callcott HorsleyNew York has important associations with the formation of what is now considered a traditional American Christmas. “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (a.k.a. “Twas The Night Before Christmas”) was first published in the Troy Sentinel in 1823; The Albany Evening Journal ran an advertisement on December 17, 1841, that is believed to be the first time Santa Clause was used to advertise a store; and America’s first Christmas card was published in Albany in 1850/51.

Recently two rare printings of the first commercially printed Christmas card, published in England, have been announced for sale at auction. The cards depicts a family toasting with glasses of red wine. Commissioned by Henry Cole and designed by John Callcott Horsley, it carries the message “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” [Read more…] about Puritans, Prussians, and the History of Christmas Cards

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Christmas, Cultural History, Holidays, Religious History

A First World War Holiday Miracle

December 14, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

World War One poster Exaggerating the quickness of the war's end Call it an antiquarian newspaper holiday miracle.

“Rather a peculiar thing happened a few days ago,” Lieutenant Howard Smith of Hudson Falls wrote his mother from a military hospital in France on December 26th, 1918. “One of the orderlies of this ward found a picture of me in The Post-Star while he was in another ward. It was an account of my getting a Boche.” [Read more…] about A First World War Holiday Miracle

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Christmas, Glens Falls, Holidays, Hudson Falls, Military History, Warren County, World War One

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