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A little Baseball history
The latest Bob Cudmore story from The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder this weekend
A man born in the Montgomery County town of Root went on to become a doctor and then the dean of Albany Medical College.
State Canal Corp. donates nearly century-old boat to Amsterdam for display at Riverlink Park
AMSTERDAM — Riverlink Park has a new attraction with the donation of a nearly 100-year-old work boat by the state…https://dailygazette.com/
Thursday, October 19, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam’s war on alcohol
“I can remember my Dad telling stories of him and buddies running illegal liquor from Johnstown into Amsterdam during Prohibition,” wrote a reader who only identified himself as Ralph.
Friday, October 20, 2023-Episode 496-David Pietrusza on organized crime in the 1920s in New York City, Gangsterland.
Amsterdam underwear played Times Square
by Bob Cudmore
Visitors to New York’s Times Square a century ago saw the virtues of Amsterdam-made knit underwear up in lights.
According to handwriting on the back of a picture that hung at an Amsterdam factory, the Times Square sign was in place from 1912 to 1922. The note stated the company paid $3000 a month for the sign, although the sign company wanted $6000 a month.
Spelled out in electric lights on the sign was the following—Chalmers underwear, makers of Porosknit, Inrox and Kruco for summer and winter. A clock was below the sign.
According to historian Hugh Donlon, Amsterdam visitors never wearied of gawking at the sign. Certainly the sign’s prominent placement was a talking point for company salesmen, who could point out that the Amsterdam company was serious about national advertising.
David W. Chalmers and his partners were the last industrialists to start a major knitting mill in the city in 1901. In the next decade, Chalmers built his factory complex, along the south shore of the Mohawk River.
Long Island developer Uri Kaufman in recent years was unable to convince Amsterdam’s Common Council to give him the opportunity to turn the long vacant factory into apartments. The structure was slated for demolition in 2010.
Chalmers sold his mill in 1945 to Lester Martin and Company, which owned manufacturing plants in several cities. In 1946, Martin company controller Joel Kaplan began making trips to Amsterdam to inventory the Chalmers operation. In 1955, Kaplan moved to Amsterdam from New York City to oversee the Chalmers plant, which at one time during Martin’s ownership employed 650 people. Martin died in 1959 and the Chalmers mill closed that same year.
Kaplan stayed in Amsterdam and became widely known for his service to more than 20 local charities. Kaplan has donated artifacts from Chalmers Knitting to the Walter Elwood Museum. Among them are advertisements for union suits, long cotton underwear for men that was Chalmers’ main product in the old days. Kaplan said long underwear was popular before central heating and indoor plumbing.
Chalmers even made long underwear for summertime, according to a sales brochure: “Here’s a ‘keep cool’ tip for hot weather days. Chalmers Porosknit underwear is knit to let the air circulate freely through the fabric. All perspiration is blotted up—no uncomfortable ‘clinginess.’ Porosknit ‘lets the body breathe.’”
In the days when Lester Martin and Company owned Chalmers, the mill was mainly making ladies and children’s underwear and even handkerchiefs under the Fruit of the Loom label.
CHALM ERS BUTTONS
Donlon also noted that another family named Chalmers, Harvey and his son Arthur, started a button manufacturing plant on the north side of the river in Amsterdam in 1898. The Chalmers button plant spanned the Chuctanunda Creek and produced thousands of buttons, originally using clamshells from the Mississippi River area.
Donlon said, “Employment at peak output was about 1,000, including Amsterdam housewives who added to family income by sewing buttons on cards at home.” Buttons were so plentiful in Amsterdam that walkways at the Jollyland amusement park—now Shuttleworth Park--were paved with discarded buttons.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, October 18, 2023
52 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:33AM
Partly sunny, with a high near 61. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
Patchy fog between 3am and 5am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 41. Light and variable wind.
Thursday
Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 67. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Friday
A chance of showers, mainly after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67. Southeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Daily Gazette
Support Local Journalism
To subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/
Paper-Paper, On-line and e-edition
When Credibility Matters
Around Town: A snapshot of the week Oct. 10-17, Amsterdam, Schenectady, Johnstown, Niskayuna and Broadalbin — Images (10 photos)
AROUND TOWN — Each week, our staff photographers travel the roads of our region capturing a variety of moments from…
State Canal Corp. donates nearly century-old boat to Amsterdam for display at Riverlink Park
AMSTERDAM — Riverlink Park has a new attraction with the donation of a nearly 100-year-old work boat by the state…
https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
Inclusive art show set for Wednesday in Amsterda
Liberty ARC staff set up for the agency’s 5th Annual Creative Expressions Art Show at the Century...
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/
View all episodes
By Bob CudmoreThe latest Bob Cudmore story from The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder this weekend
A man born in the Montgomery County town of Root went on to become a doctor and then the dean of Albany Medical College.
State Canal Corp. donates nearly century-old boat to Amsterdam for display at Riverlink Park
AMSTERDAM — Riverlink Park has a new attraction with the donation of a nearly 100-year-old work boat by the state…https://dailygazette.com/
Thursday, October 19, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam’s war on alcohol
“I can remember my Dad telling stories of him and buddies running illegal liquor from Johnstown into Amsterdam during Prohibition,” wrote a reader who only identified himself as Ralph.
Friday, October 20, 2023-Episode 496-David Pietrusza on organized crime in the 1920s in New York City, Gangsterland.
Amsterdam underwear played Times Square
by Bob Cudmore
Visitors to New York’s Times Square a century ago saw the virtues of Amsterdam-made knit underwear up in lights.
According to handwriting on the back of a picture that hung at an Amsterdam factory, the Times Square sign was in place from 1912 to 1922. The note stated the company paid $3000 a month for the sign, although the sign company wanted $6000 a month.
Spelled out in electric lights on the sign was the following—Chalmers underwear, makers of Porosknit, Inrox and Kruco for summer and winter. A clock was below the sign.
According to historian Hugh Donlon, Amsterdam visitors never wearied of gawking at the sign. Certainly the sign’s prominent placement was a talking point for company salesmen, who could point out that the Amsterdam company was serious about national advertising.
David W. Chalmers and his partners were the last industrialists to start a major knitting mill in the city in 1901. In the next decade, Chalmers built his factory complex, along the south shore of the Mohawk River.
Long Island developer Uri Kaufman in recent years was unable to convince Amsterdam’s Common Council to give him the opportunity to turn the long vacant factory into apartments. The structure was slated for demolition in 2010.
Chalmers sold his mill in 1945 to Lester Martin and Company, which owned manufacturing plants in several cities. In 1946, Martin company controller Joel Kaplan began making trips to Amsterdam to inventory the Chalmers operation. In 1955, Kaplan moved to Amsterdam from New York City to oversee the Chalmers plant, which at one time during Martin’s ownership employed 650 people. Martin died in 1959 and the Chalmers mill closed that same year.
Kaplan stayed in Amsterdam and became widely known for his service to more than 20 local charities. Kaplan has donated artifacts from Chalmers Knitting to the Walter Elwood Museum. Among them are advertisements for union suits, long cotton underwear for men that was Chalmers’ main product in the old days. Kaplan said long underwear was popular before central heating and indoor plumbing.
Chalmers even made long underwear for summertime, according to a sales brochure: “Here’s a ‘keep cool’ tip for hot weather days. Chalmers Porosknit underwear is knit to let the air circulate freely through the fabric. All perspiration is blotted up—no uncomfortable ‘clinginess.’ Porosknit ‘lets the body breathe.’”
In the days when Lester Martin and Company owned Chalmers, the mill was mainly making ladies and children’s underwear and even handkerchiefs under the Fruit of the Loom label.
CHALM ERS BUTTONS
Donlon also noted that another family named Chalmers, Harvey and his son Arthur, started a button manufacturing plant on the north side of the river in Amsterdam in 1898. The Chalmers button plant spanned the Chuctanunda Creek and produced thousands of buttons, originally using clamshells from the Mississippi River area.
Donlon said, “Employment at peak output was about 1,000, including Amsterdam housewives who added to family income by sewing buttons on cards at home.” Buttons were so plentiful in Amsterdam that walkways at the Jollyland amusement park—now Shuttleworth Park--were paved with discarded buttons.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, October 18, 2023
52 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:33AM
Partly sunny, with a high near 61. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
Patchy fog between 3am and 5am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 41. Light and variable wind.
Thursday
Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 67. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Friday
A chance of showers, mainly after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67. Southeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Daily Gazette
Support Local Journalism
To subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/
Paper-Paper, On-line and e-edition
When Credibility Matters
Around Town: A snapshot of the week Oct. 10-17, Amsterdam, Schenectady, Johnstown, Niskayuna and Broadalbin — Images (10 photos)
AROUND TOWN — Each week, our staff photographers travel the roads of our region capturing a variety of moments from…
State Canal Corp. donates nearly century-old boat to Amsterdam for display at Riverlink Park
AMSTERDAM — Riverlink Park has a new attraction with the donation of a nearly 100-year-old work boat by the state…
https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
Inclusive art show set for Wednesday in Amsterda
Liberty ARC staff set up for the agency’s 5th Annual Creative Expressions Art Show at the Century...
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/