The Hastings Historical Society

24 Dec 2009

Volumes of Good Wishes from the Historical Society

December 24, 2009
The Hastings Historical Society
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1900s, 1910s, Collection

In 1982 Algernon Gordon Smith, known to his Hastings friends as Gordon, gave the Historical Society a small scrapbook of greeting cards, two of which you see here. Gordon was a third generation Hastings-ite, and he and his wife were charter members of the society when it was founded back […]

17 Dec 2009

Speed Demons of Hastings

December 17, 2009
The Hastings Historical Society
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1900s, Collection

Gus Wagner’s goat cart with Ed Rohrbach at the reins, ca. 1910 By now you will have received your new Hastings Historian with the lead article by Bob Russell on the 1950s Hastings car club called the Driftin’ Shifters. The young mechanics in that club rebuilt and souped up old […]

10 Dec 2009

Hastings’ Model Orphanage

December 10, 2009
The Hastings Historical Society
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1900s, Collection

Children from the New York Orphan Asylum in Hastings-on-Hudson with their donkey cart pulled by “Jack”, the school donkey. (All the pictures in this post are from Dr. Reeder’s 1909 book on the orphanage.) One hundred years ago, in the very southwest corner of Hastings, there was a model orphanage. […]

01 Dec 2009

Open House This Saturday, Dec. 5th

December 1, 2009
The Hastings Historical Society
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1880s, 1890s, Collection, Society Events

Now that Thanksgiving is over and the last slice of pumpkin pie has been eaten, we can turn our attention to the next set of holidays! We don’t often open the cottage on a Saturday, but in honor of the season we are going to have an open house this […]

26 Nov 2009

Thanksgiving – Hastings Style

November 26, 2009
The Hastings Historical Society
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1920s, 1970s, Collection

Cover of Hastings House Restaurant’s Thanksgiving menu, ca. 1974 With money as tight as it is these days, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to step into a time machine that would take you back to an era when you could have a full Thanksgiving dinner in a restaurant […]

19 Nov 2009

Mystery Photo: Anaconda’s Weatherproofing Department

November 19, 2009
The Hastings Historical Society
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1940s, 1950s, Mystery Photos

One of the departments at Anaconda Wire & Cable Company that employed women was the weatherproofing department. There, the women operated the machines that covered copper cable with cotton braid impregnated with a weather-proofing substance. In these photographs, however, the ladies are having some kind of party — complete with […]

12 Nov 2009

In Honor of Veteran’s Day

November 12, 2009
The Hastings Historical Society
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1910s, 1940s, 1960s, Collection

Parade on Main Street during or just after World War I, possibly on Armistice Day, November 11th, 1918 Parades matter. And Joseph Semberger reminds veterans why in the “Commander’s Message” from a booklet produced in 1969 for the 50th anniversary of the James Daley Post No. 200 of the V.F.W.:“Each […]

05 Nov 2009

Between the Chrystie Estate and the A&P: Bob Russell’s Brook

November 5, 2009
The Hastings Historical Society
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1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Collection

Editor’s Note: Bob Russell, a regular contributor to this blog and to the Hastings Historian, left a fascinating comment on Judy Chamberlain’s post last week about the history of the local A&P. I asked him to tell me more about what he remembered of the former Chrystie property, and he […]

29 Oct 2009

Happy Anniversary A&P!

October 29, 2009
The Hastings Historical Society
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1930s, 1960s, Collection

By Judy Chamberlain During a recent trip to the A & P, I purchased some house blend coffee that came in a commemorative tin. The can’s copy heralds the dates 1859-2009 because the self-service chain is celebrating 150 years of service. The photo imprinted on the can reminded me of […]

22 Oct 2009

Hastings Powers the Atomic Age

October 22, 2009
The Hastings Historical Society
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1950s, Collection

On September 21st we posted an article about Robert Fulton’s submarine called the Nautilus, which he built in Paris in the year 1800. Here is an article about one her descendents, the USS Nautilus, the world’s first operational nuclear-powered submarine, commissioned in 1954. Like Fulton’s ship, the new Nautilus was […]