• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

The Astor Dynasty: Rag Street to Broadway, A Waldorf Tale of New York

October 24, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Holywell and Wych StreetIn 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).

The seedy location of his brother’s workshop must have come as a shock to the youngster and he was eager to better himself. Four years later he left the capital for the docks of Southampton, carrying few belongings and a number of flutes with him, and set sail for America. Half a century later he owned large parts of Manhattan.

This remarkable tale could have served as one of the “rags to riches” stories that made Horatio Alger such a popular author in America during the later decades of the nineteenth century. [Read more…] about The Astor Dynasty: Rag Street to Broadway, A Waldorf Tale of New York

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: fur trade, Knickerbocker Hotel, Literature, Manhattan, Musical History, New York City, nypl, Rhinebeck, science fiction, Titanic, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

St. Johnsville’s Lion in Love Sculpture: A Piece of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Upstate

August 18, 2021 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

George C. Boldt courtesy Library of CongressThe Margaret Reaney Memorial Library is a fixture in the Erie Canal-side community of St. Johnsville, Montgomery County, NY. The Library contains a museum which features a wide array of art in a very fine collection.

An outdoor sculpture display in the north garden is listed in the Library’s catalog as “Nude Female and Lion” by Roland Hinton Perry. The bronze was cast in 1898 by Jno. Williams, Inc. foundry which was located on West 26th Street in Manhattan. [Read more…] about St. Johnsville’s Lion in Love Sculpture: A Piece of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Upstate

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Mohawk Valley Tagged With: art, Art History, Libraries, Montgomery County, New York City, sculpture, St. Johnsville, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

New Book Highlights Waldorf Astoria Photographs

April 20, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

9781467121286In a new pictorial history from author William Alan Morrison, Images of America: Waldorf Astoria (Arcadia Publishing, 2014), honors the world-renown grand hotel.

Vintage images take readers on a journey through the magnificent history of the hotel and the many glamorous guests that it housed. The Waldorf Astoria has been host to emperors, rajahs, potentates and plutocrats — not to mention every US president since Grover Cleveland — its name has become synonymous with the epitome of glamour, luxury and sophistication. [Read more…] about New Book Highlights Waldorf Astoria Photographs

Filed Under: Books, History Tagged With: Architecture, Jazz, Musical History, New York City, NYC, Photography, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

Primary Sidebar

Help Finish Our 2022 Fundraising

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • Ralph on Skiing Comes to the Sullivan County Catskills
  • Bernard McCann on Old Fort Niagara During the Civil War
  • Ellen Brown on The Adirondack Park Agency At 50: State Leaders Are Missing The Point
  • Edythe Ann Quinn on Black History Historiographic Genealogies: Sources & Resources
  • Your New Neighbor on Saratoga Corruption & The Destruction of Cale Mitchell
  • Joyce Kelly- Feeley on Troy Orphan Asylum: Vanderheyden’s Legacy Exhibit Opening
  • Adrienne Saint-Pierre on Hibernation: How It Works
  • GARY SCHOEN on Moose Are Back in New York State: A Population Update
  • Deb Heller on Catskills Resort History: The Beginning of the End
  • John Warren on Civil War in the Mohawk Valley: The Battle of Oriskany

Recent New York Books

The Great New York Fire of 1776
The Sugar Act and the American Revolution
battle of harlem hights
Ladies Day at the Capitol
voices of wayne county
CNY Snowstorm book front cover
The Struggles of Boston's Black Workers in the Civil War Era
Expanded Second Edition of Echoes in These Mountains
historic kingston book

Secondary Sidebar

preservation league
Protect the Adirondacks Hiking Guide