Jim Bailey is a retired teacher who lives in Plattsburgh with his wife, Anne. When Jim was five, his father died and he was sent to live with his grandparents, Edith & George Brown, who lived in Elizabethtown. George was a local postmaster and the newspaper editor for the Essex Record Post, and Edith was […]
Switchboard operators in the telephone office on their last day of work. They ran the switchboard for the whole township and a number of the islands. The building still remains on Church Street; in 2019, it is an AT&T store. 1962. Alexandria Bay, NY. Courtesy of the Alexandria Township Historical Society.
A line of women working as telephone operators. Date unknown. Saranac Lake, NY. Courtesy of the Saranac Lake Free Library.
Saranac Lake’s tourism industry, made possible by the labor of villagers, brought some of the most famous people of the day, including Albert Einstein and Mark Twain. Pictured here is Olga Petrova, (left, in hat), a vaudeville actress, screenwriter and film star. Alongside her film career, Petrova was a champion of women’s rights and an […]
Dale Hobson in Racquette River Printshop, 7 Market St., Potsdam, NY, January 1978. Press is a Davidson Dualith Duplicator Model 241, c. 1950. It could be used both for offset lithographic printing, or for relief printing from cast plates. Photo: courtesy Dale Hobson
Dale Hobson in Racquette River Printshop, 7 Market St., Potsdam, NY, January 1978. Machine is a cast-iron powered paper cutter built by Oswego Machine Works in 1903. Originally designed to be powered by belt and pulley from a central shop motor, its own massive 3-horsepower motor was attached c. 1930. Photo: courtesy Dale Hobson
Racquette River Printshop sign, designed by Paul Davison, depicts view from nearby bridge upstream toward Ives Park in Potsdam, NY. Photo: Dale Hobson
Proprietor Dale Hobson outside the back door of Racquette River Printshop in downtown Potsdam’s historic Cox Building, 1978. Out of frame to right is the shop canoe, on the river bank below the downtown bridge. Meal breaks on the water and evening paddles were a regular employee benefit. Photo: courtesy Dale Hobson
Poet (and small press publishing partner) Allen Hoey (left) examines printed proofs. Artist and press operator Paul Davison looks on. Racquette River Printshop, 7 Market St., Potsdam, NY, January 1978. Photo: Dale Hobson
