HISTORY & MYSTERIES
LIQUOR LADEN PLANE FROM CANADA FALLS AS IT NEARS CITY Drops 250 Quarts of Scotch Near Croton, Where Water for Highballs Comes From FLIER ESCAPES IN AN AUTO Car Apparently in Waiting Whisks Limping Aviator From Scene “Dusk was deepening into darkness” on the night of May 15, 1922, as a Curtis biplane circled slowly … Continue reading The Mystery of the Rum Plane
This postcard shows a sign that once existed along Truesdale Drive, marking the entrance to the Mikado Inn. The card was published circa 1920 by the Photo & Art Postal Card Co. in New York, but it was doubtlessly commissioned by the inn’s proprietor, “Admiral” George T. Moto. The sign is long gone, but part … Continue reading This is Mikado Inn
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
In a previous post we displayed two ads from 1917 for Goodyear Cord Tires, featuring detailed pen-and-ink drawings of Nikko Inn. These clever bits of Jazz Age cross-promotion appeared in magazines ranging from the Atlantic Monthly and The New Country Life to Travel and Forest & Stream. Now we’ve discovered a much more elegant ad … Continue reading A Sharp and Palpable Difference
Come take a stroll in the beautiful Japanese gardens of the Mikado Inn, in Harmon-on-Hudson. Enjoy a dinner of exotic oriental dishes (or, if you prefer something more familiar, try the $5.00 Porterhouse Steak for two). After dinner you can listen to that clever young man, Oscar Levant, play “Yes, We Have No Bananas” on … Continue reading Mikado Inn “Real Photo” Postcard, circa 1920
Here’s a tasty bit of Harmon history, currently being offered on eBay. This vintage menu from the Mikado Inn features two Spring Lamb Chops for $1.50, Filet Mignon Mikado for $3.00 and a Porterhouse Steak for two for $5.00. Just between us, I recommend the house specialty, Chicken or Beef Sukiyaki , “seasoned with Soyu … Continue reading What’s Cookin’ at the Mikado?
Oscar Levant, the quick-witted pianist, composer, actor, author and quiz-show panelist, had his first "extended engagement" at the Mikado Inn in 1922. In his 1965 book, The Memoirs of an Amnesiac, Levant wrote about those days, which must have been quite an experience for a young man who was then just 16 years old. "During … Continue reading Oscar Levant Plays the Mikado
Here are ads for three Croton "road houses" from the June 12, 1921 issue of the New-York Tribune. They were part of a full page ad for Westchester hotels and restaurants that appeared under a banner reading "Westchester County, the Motorist's Playground, 900 Miles of Good Roads." It's hard to imagine what driving was like … Continue reading The Motorist’s Playground
CROTON 