HISTORY & MYSTERIES
Sixty-nine years ago today, on April 1, 1948, the postal service officially added hyphens to the cancellation stamp for what had been the “Croton on Hudson” post office. The transition was recorded on this pair of envelopes, called “commemorative cacheted covers”, inscribed by Croton postmaster Augustus W. Dymes, Jr.—the uncle of Croton’s current Village Historian, … Continue reading Croton-on-Hudson Gets Hyphenated, April 1, 1948
For more than 60 years the Danish Home in Croton has been issuing what most people would think of as Christmas seals—stamp-like labels placed on mail during the Christmas season to raise funds and awareness for charitable programs.1 The American Lung Association has become so well-known for its Christmas seals that they’ve trademarked the term, … Continue reading Danish Home Christmas Seals
Here’s a real treat—a double-fold promotional postcard for the Nikko Tea House, probably printed circa 1907 to 1910.1 An artist with the initials “W.K.” created the beautiful images and hand-lettered the map and poem on the centerfold. The map has a wonderful depiction of the Nikko and helpfully provides the location of “police traps” on … Continue reading If You Follow the Road to Harmon, You Surely Can’t go Wrong
Thanks to our friend Carl Oechsner we were able to get our hands on a copy of the 1938 Croton-on-Hudson phone directory.1 The plan was to scan some of the ads like the ones for the Mikado Inn, Konco’s Garage, and Robbins Pharmacy shown below. But when we looked closer and saw listings for well-known … Continue reading Croton-on-Hudson Phone Directory, 1938
Today is the 172nd anniversary of the Croton Water Celebration, when what we now call the Old Croton Aqueduct opened to public use on October 14, 1842. The day-long celebration included a massive seven-mile-long parade, songs written and performed for the occasion, and culminated in jets of pure, sparkling water rising fifty feet in the … Continue reading Croton’s Waves in All Their Glory
These two nineteenth century puzzles, showing the Old Croton Dam and High Bridge, were part of a set called Sliced Objects, published by E. G. Selchow & Co., circa 1867 to 1880. The puzzles came in a box (shown below) along with puzzles of other New York landmarks—the Bethesda Fountain, St. Paul's Church, the statue … Continue reading Croton Aqueduct Puzzles
Card #33 in the Engineering Wonders series of cigarette cards, publishing in the United Kingdom by Will's Cigarettes.
CROTON 