Postcard Thursday: The Van Cortlandt House

If you are an avid reader of this blog, then you know that yesterday, July 2, holds as much claim -- if not more -- to be America's birthday as tomorrow, July 4. And, in fact, since New York City didn't vote to ratify the Declaration of Independence until July 9, maybe the holiday should actually be a week long.

So, welcome to Independence Week.

Today's postcard is from ca. 1908, and shows a black-and-white view of the parlor in the Van Cortlandt House Museum in the Bronx. As we write in Footprints in New York about our visit to the house:

Considering how easy the house is to reach—it sits less than a ten-minute walk from the northern terminus of the IRT No. 1 train, the city’s oldest subway line—it’s surprisingly empty. In fact, when I visit, the only other person there is a Dutch woman, who is very concerned with carefully examining every souvenir in the tiny gift shop. It is a recurring theme that the city’s more off-the-beaten-path historic sites are either empty or, if they do have visitors, they are schoolchildren or foreigners. Where are the American tourists? Safely ensconced on Manhattan, I presume. 

Soon, I discover that the Dutch woman and I won’t have the place to ourselves. A costumed interpreter—I’ll call his garb late-Colonial/early-Revolution—is leading a group of two-dozen fourth graders down the house’s main staircase. 

“Everybody likes to play!” he admonishes to no one in particular. “There’s a time for play. But there’s a time to be serious!” I will hear this advice reverberate through the house a few more times during my visit, though I will never see him or the children again. 

As the children’s footfalls fade, I am left staring into the house’s formal parlor at a portrait of Frederick’s son Augustus van Cortlandt. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, Augustus—a Patriot—was New York City Clerk; in 1775, he spirited the city’s records out of Lower Manhattan to this farm, hiding them from the British in his father’s burial chamber on nearby Vault Hill. 

Tremendous care has gone into furnishing this home, from the seventeenth-century Dutch room on the second floor to the “best” bed- chamber used by George Washington on his visits to the house. That room features a beautiful mahogany dressing table and an English chest of drawers from 1725, both of which descend from family members. They’ve draped a blue coat and a tri-cornered hat on one chair, as if General Washington has just stepped out for a moment.

The Van Cortlandt house is open for visitors every day but Mondays. More details can be found at http://www.nscdny.org/headquarters-dumbarton/van-cortland/.

* * * *

Read more about the Van Cortlandt House and 18th-century New York in

Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

If you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy of Footprints yet,
you can order it from independent bookstores across the country.

And, of course, Inside the Apple is available at fine bookstores everywhere.

Postcard Thursday: Happy Birthday to the Cyclone

Fans of wooden roller coasters probably already know that today is the 87th birthday of the Cyclone, which opened on June 26, 1927, and is still going strong.

However, the history of roller coasters at Coney Island is much older than the Cyclone; in fact, America's first roller coaster, the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway, opened on June 6, 1884, at an amusement park just off the boardwalk.

The switchback was the brainchild of LaMarcus A. Thompson. Visitors would climb to the top of a tower and board a car that then dropped six hundred feet over an undulating track. At the far end the car would be "switched back" to another track and returned to the tower. Thompson envisioned his ride as wholesome family entertainment -- in a period when amusement parks were often seen as dens of sin and iniquity -- and the cars, traveling at an "invigorating" six miles per hour, provided great views of the Coney Island beach and boardwalk. He charged 5 cents a ride and made back the $1600 he'd invested in the roller coaster in less than three weeks.

It is unclear how long the Switchback Railway lasted at Coney Island (or even precisely where it stood). Despite its early success, Thompson soon faced a host of competitors and his original coaster may only have stood for three years.

By the 1920s, roller coasters were all the rage at Coney Island, and the Cyclone was just one among a number of rides with names like the Tornado and the Thunderbolt. This season, a new Thunderbolt--with a precipitous drop--has been added to Luna Park:

Of course, when we think of Coney Island roller coasters, we think of this:

And speaking of Brooklyn.........

Don't forget that this Sunday, June 29, at 4:00pm, we wil be at WORD Bookstore in Greenpoint for a talk and walking tour. Details: http://wordbookstores.com/event/bk-footprints-new-york-james-and-michelle-nevius

* * * *

Read more about Coney Island in
Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

If you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy of Footprints yet, you can order it from independent bookstores across the country

And, of course, Inside the Apple is available at fine bookstores everywhere.

Postcard Thursday: The Birth of Baseball

The House That Ruth Built, ca. 1929

June 19 marks the anniversary of the modern game of baseball, which was played in Hoboken, New Jersey, at Elysian Fields in 1846. The New York Base Ball Club (also known as the "New York Nine") destroyed their rivals, the New York Knickerbockers, by a score of 23-1, even though it was a member of the Knickerbockers, Alexander Cartwright, who'd codified the new rules to baseball.

Cartwright, a Wall Street broker and member of the Knickerbocker volunteer fire company, formed his baseball club in 1845. Though "base ball" had been around since at least 1791, Cartwright is credited with introducing the diamond-shaped playing area, foul lines, three strikes per out, and--perhaps most crucially for the players--eliminating the old rule that you could get somebody out by hitting him with the ball.

There is still an Elysian Fields park in Hoboken near the spot where the modern game was born.

* * * *

Hoboken makes a few cameo appearances in
Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

|| AVAILABLE NOW ||

If you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy of Footprints yet, you can order it from independent bookstores across the country

And, of course, Inside the Apple is available at fine bookstores everywhere.

Postcard Thursday: Talk + Walking Tour in Greenpoint with WORD Bookstore | Sunday, June 29, at 4pm

On Sunday, June 29, at 4:00 pm we will be at WORD Bookstore in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to do a book talk, signing, and short walking tour of the Greenpoint historic district.

The event will begin at the bookstore, 126 Franklin Street, where we'll present a brief, illustrated talk about the history of the area and how Greenpoint fits in to the greater history of Brooklyn.

Then we'll walk around the neighborhood, looking at the historic architecture of the houses, shops, and churches (including St. Anthony of Padua, pictured above), circling back to end at the store. Books will be available for sale and signing.

This promises to be a fun day in Brooklyn, so if you want to know more about Greenpoint than what you've seen on Girls, please join us!

The bookstore would like a headcount, so if you are on Facebook, please go to https://www.facebook.com/events/394753103997104/ to RSVP. Thanks.

* * * *

Read more about Brooklyn in
Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

|| AVAILABLE NOW ||

If you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy of Footprints yet, stop by WORD Bookstore
or you can order it from independent bookstores across the country

And, of course, Inside the Apple is available at fine bookstores everywhere.

Postcard Thursday: Anniversary Day

Anniversary Day 1915, courtesy of the Brooklyn Historical Society

If you've noticed that kids aren't in school today, that's because it is Brooklyn-Queens Day, an offshoot of a much older holiday known as Anniversary Day.

The anniversary in question was the founding of the first Sunday School in Brooklyn in the 1800s. In 1829, a parade was held to commemorate the event, and by 1901, the New York Times estimated 90,000 children participated in Anniversary Day festivities.

Then, in 1905, the State of New York passed a law declaring the first Thursday in June a holiday--but only in Brooklyn. In 1959, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller signed a bill that converted anniversary day to "Brooklyn-Queens Day" and both Kings and Queens county kids got the day off. When, exactly, the holiday was added to the calendar for students in the other three boroughs is unclear, but it is now known as "Chancellor's Conference Day" within the DOE.

Anniversary Day, ca. 1905, in a postcard issued by the department store Abraham and Straus.
More images for twentieth-century Anniversary Day parades can be found at http://www.tapeshare.com/Parades2.html

* * * *

Read more about fiercely independent Brooklyn in
Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

|| AVAILABLE NOW ||

And, of course, Inside the Apple is available at fine bookstores everywhere.

Sorry, no Postcard Thursday today

We are at Book Expo America today doing a book signing. But we'll be back next week!

The Samuel Tilden Mansion

James has another piece published by Curbed NY -- today's piece is story the Samuel J. Tilden mansion, now the National Arts Club. Read it here.

We will be speaking at the National Arts Club tonight at 8pm. Our talk, entitled "Footprints in Gramercy Park," looks at some of the stories from Footprints in New York that take place in the general Gramercy Park/Stuyvesant Square area. We'll be showing lots of great old pictures; after the talk there will be a Q and A and books will be available for sale and signing.

There's no charge for this event, so if you are in the area, do come by!

* * * *

Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

|| AVAILABLE NOW ||

And, of course, Inside the Apple is available at fine bookstores everywhere.

Postcard Thursday: The New York Aquarium in Battery Park

Believe it or not, hiding underneath the old New York Aquarium in Battery Park was Castle Clinton, a fort from the War of 1812.

Notice that this entrance, with the four pilasters, is easily visible in the aquarium postcard, above.

Built starting 1807 by then-mayor Dewitt Clinton, the fort was one of the many defensive positions that guarded the harbor. It later became a theater known as Castle Garden and then the nation's first immigrant processing station, which functioned from 1855 to 1889. Ellis Island opened the next year and Castle Garden was converted by McKim, Mead & White into the aquarium.

James will be talking in much greater detail about Castle Clinton and the War of 1812 on his Memorial Day Walking Tour. Sign up now at this link!

* * * *

We have an entire chapter on Dewitt Clinton and the War of 1812 in
Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

|| AVAILABLE NOW ||

And, of course, Inside the Apple is available at fine bookstores everywhere.

Memorial Day Walking Tour

ANNUAL MEMORIAL DAY WALKING TOUR

So, this is a little bit late notice, but on Monday, May 26, at 12:30pm, James will lead a jaunt around Lower Manhattan looking for remnants of the many wars in which New York and New Yorkers have played a prominent role. Last year, we focused solely on Alexander Hamilton and the American Revolution; this year, we’ll talk about everything from the First Anglo-Dutch War through the war in Afghanistan that’s still going on today. Popular sites like Bowling Green and Castle Clinton are on the itinerary, as well as more obscure sites. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

THE DETAILS:

When: Monday, May 26, at 12:30pm for about 2 hours

Where: The meeting location will be emailed to you when you reserve

Cost: $20 per person or reserve a copy of Footprints in New York and pay just $30 for the tour and book combined. (The book sells for $20 at local bookstores, so this is a great deal!) James will bring your copy with him to the tour.

How to reserve: Email footprintsinnewyork@gmail.com with your name, # of people in your party, and if you want to reserve any books at the special price.

Hope to see you Monday -- and if you can’t come then, we are give a free talk at The National Arts Club on Tuesday, May 27, at 8pm. Details at www.footprintsinnewyork.com/events.html

All best wishes,
Michelle & James Nevius

www.walknyc.com

www.footprintsinnewyork.com

www.insidetheapple.net

$24 Worth of Beads: May 24, 1626

This Saturday marks the 388th anniversary of the fabled purchase of the island of Manhattan. The purchaser was Peter Minuit, director-general of the Dutch West India Company; the seller is shrouded in mystery--one or more representatives of the local Lenape tribes, certainly, but who? Because the deed was discarded in the 19th century, we can only speculate.

What we do know, from a letter written by Peter Schagen, is that Minuit bought the island for 60 guilders worth of trade goods. Two hundred years later, 60 guilders was translated into $24, and that number has stuck with us ever since, as evidenced by the Bizarro comic reprinted above.

(If you don't know Bizarro, it is written by funny man, history buff, and all-around good guy Dan Piraro. You can check out more of his recent cartoons here.)

While the deed is gone, we can guess as to what Minuit used for barter--common items included axes, knives, guns, and other metal objects, along with wool, duffel, and alcohol. Wampum was often a trade good, but "beads and trinkets" (as is often referenced) were not.

If you are interested in this story, the first chapter of our new book, Footprints in New York, talks extensively about Minuit, the 60 guilders, and what that would be worth today. It's available at fine bookstores everywhere.