New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Prohibition

Albany Ale Project ‘Cask Tap’ Event for 1901 Beer

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Albany Ale Keg tapThe Albany Ale Project is bringing back some of the beers of Albany’s past! In partnership with C.H. Evans Brewing Company, an adaptation of a 1901 recipe for “Amsdell’s Albany XX Ale” is about to be available for the first time in over 100 years.

A ceremonial “cask tap” event is planned for Saturday, November 2, 2013, from 5 to 7pm, at the Albany Institute of History & Art, to celebrate its return. Speakers include: the founding members of the Albany Ale Project, C.H. Evans’ brewer Ryan Demler, and the Institute’s Curator of History and Material Culture, Dr. W. Douglas McCombs. Food will be available and, of course, C.H. Evan’s version of one of Albany’s historic brews. [Read more…] about Albany Ale Project ‘Cask Tap’ Event for 1901 Beer

Events Highlight Role of Pot In Rockefeller’s Drug War

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smoke signals sml[1]Cannabis and its defining role in the culture wars and the ‘war on drugs’ declared by former New York State Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller forty years ago will be fully explored by award-winning investigative journalist Martin A. Lee in two separate events in the North Country on September 26-27. Lee will also be speaking in Albany on September 28.

All three events are sponsored by the freedom education and human rights project, John Brown Lives!, as part of “The Correction,” the organization’s latest initiative that uses history as a tool to engage communities in examining the past and addressing critical issues of our time. The focus of The Correction is the impacts of the 40-year era of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. [Read more…] about Events Highlight Role of Pot In Rockefeller’s Drug War

Historic ‘Albany Ale’ Project Launches New Website

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Dunlap and Sons Albany Ale BrewersThe Albany Ale Project has launched a new website, albanyaleproject.com. The site revolves around the extensive history of brewing and beer making in the City of Albany, and the research into re-discovering the 19th century phenomenon of Albany Ale, a double XX strength ale brewed across the city and exported around the world.

The new website has biographies of key players in the research of Albany Ale; a history of brewing in Albany from the 17th century to today; images from the collections of the Albany Institute of History and Art; and more. It’s hoped the website will serve as a hub for information on Albany Ale. [Read more…] about Historic ‘Albany Ale’ Project Launches New Website

Absinthe: ‘The Guillotine Of The Soul’

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3g12144rIn 1869, alarming news about the dangers of drinking absinthe swept north from New York City, through Albany, all the way to Malone, near the Canadian border. A “brilliant writer” from the New York press and a “talented lady” had ruined themselves physically and mentally by drinking absinthe.

Comparing the drink to opium and morphine, the article warned readers that absinthe “obtains an all-powerful control over its votaries, deadens the sensibilities, and is, indeed the guillotine of the soul.” [Read more…] about Absinthe: ‘The Guillotine Of The Soul’

1930s Film: The Bowery, Social Sensibility and Change

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2099rCuriosity about Hollywood’s take on Steve Brodie’s claim that he jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge on July 23, 1886 drew viewers to FX Movie Channel’s recent broadcast of the seldom-shown 1933 movie The Bowery.

Produced by Darryl Zanuck and directed by Raoul Walsh, the movie also promised to show how the bare-knuckle boxer, John L. Sullivan, and the saloon-smashing reformer, Carrie Nation, fit into Brodie’s life. [Read more…] about 1930s Film: The Bowery, Social Sensibility and Change

Adirondack Beer Brewing Traditions

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Adirondack Brewery Bottling WorksA new era of alcoholic beverage production is dawning in the Adirondacks. You can drink locally-brewed beer from any one of several micro-breweries, or imbibe vodka distilled from potatoes grown in Gabriels and filtered through the high-quality quartz crystals known as Herkimer diamonds.

“Drinking local” has a long tradition in the Adirondack Park. Consider the honorable history of Adirondack beer. [Read more…] about Adirondack Beer Brewing Traditions

Ulster County: The Many Lives of Selah Tuthill’s Gristmill

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In 1788, the same year as France was moving closer towards revolution and the United States Constitution was being ratified, a young man made his way to the area that would one day bear his name. His name was Selah Tuthill. He founded what would become known as the Tuthilltown Gristmill in Gardiner, New York. Once the mill started churning out stone ground flour, it would do so continuously for over two hundred years until its second life as a restaurant and distillery. [Read more…] about Ulster County: The Many Lives of Selah Tuthill’s Gristmill

Historic New York Beer Tastings Set in NYC

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To celebrate its summer exhibition Beer Here: Brewing New York’s History, the New-York Historical Society will host a series of beer tastings that showcase the thriving brewing culture in New York City and State.

Beer Here will examine the social, economic, political, and technological history of the production and consumption of beer, ale, and porter in the city from the seventeenth century to the present day. The beer tasting program, run by Starr Restaurants catering group, will take place in the exhibition’s beer hall on most Saturday afternoons from May 26 through August 25, 2012. [Read more…] about Historic New York Beer Tastings Set in NYC

William Kennedy’s Prohibition Story:
An Interview with Exec Producer Dan Swinton

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The passage of the Volstead Act and prohibition against intoxicating liquor caused a profound change in American culture by breaking the traditional mold of heroes and anti-heroes. Popular media has romanticized the anti-hero “gangster” role, and some of the greatest actors of the movie-making era have portrayed names like Al Capone, “Bugs” Moran, “Bugsy” Siegal and “Machine Gun” Kelly on the silver screen. In many instances, thugs, authorities and officials become the puppets of the crime boss, or the authorities become as violent as the criminals do.
[Read more…] about William Kennedy’s Prohibition Story:
An Interview with Exec Producer Dan Swinton

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

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During Prohibition my grandfather’s brother Denis Warren, a veteran of some of the bloodiest American battles of the First World War, was left for dead on the side of Route 9N south of Port Henry on Lake Champlain. He was in the second of two cars of friends returning from Montreal with a small supply of beer.

Going through Port Henry local customs agents gave chase and the car he was in hit a rock cut and he was badly injured in the accident. Figuring his was dead, or nearly so, and worried he would go to prison, one of Denis’s best friends rolled him under the guardrail, climbed into the other car, and sped off. [Read more…] about Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition