Among the origins of the traditional New Year’s Eve “ball drop” was Dudley Observatory in Albany, where each morning a worker started up a dynamo (generator) and at exactly 12 noon flipped a switch that energized an electromagnet that pulled up a metal ball to the top of a pole on the roof of the Capitol building.
Every night at midnight, the worker flipped the switch again causing the ball to drop. (You can read about it here). [Read more…] about The Emergence of New Year’s Eve Parties in America, 1820-1929
In 1780, a young man traveled from his provincial hometown in Baden-Württemberg to London to meet his elder brother who had settled there two years previously as a wooden instrument maker. The many small states that constituted Germany at the time had a reputation for developing and producing musical instruments. The export of technology was an important feature of German design and many craftsmen had migrated to London (and eventually to New York and other American cities).
In 1693, Leicestershire-born immigrant William Bradford was appointed public printer for New York. Living in Pearl Street, Manhattan, he published from his offices in Hanover Square the first book with a New York imprint, entitled New-England’s Spirit of Persecution Transmitted to Pennsylvania by Quaker author George Keith.
The new book Historic Landmarks of Old New York (Museyon Guides, 2017) looks at Manhattan’s historic landmarks through photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, Berenice Abbott, Alfred Eisenstaedt and others; quotes by celebrities, from George Washington to Lenny Bruce; and informative anecdotes, including the last public execution in Washington Square, the ghost of Aaron Burr’s lost daughter, Alva Vanderbilt’s costume ball, The Beatles’ “Ed Sullivan Show” appearance and more.