New York's Capital Region in 50 Objects

New York's Capital Region in 50 Objects

Introduction

Each region of the nation has its own distinctive history and identity. The New York’s Capital Region—consisting of Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, and Saratoga Counties—is no different. But what best identifies the region? What events, objects, people, and ideas have contributed to its character and uniqueness?

To learn the answers, we presented these questions to the numerous museums, historical organizations, libraries, and residents of the Capital Region. The fifty objects that were ultimately selected present an exciting history of the Capital Region, including well-known favorites but also unexpected surprises. Some of the fifty objects characterize very broad topics like the textile industry and the Hudson River School of art, while others embody large populations of people who shaped the character of the region, such as the Dutch and the Iroquois. Many objects represent specific people or events, such as writer William Kennedy and the Battle of Saratoga. In some instances, the objects represent themselves, like the GE Monitor Top refrigerator and Albany’s beloved Nipper statue. A complementary image accompanies each of the fifty objects, providing context and additional information.

Overall, the fifty objects clearly demonstrate that this narrowly circumscribed part of New York State has played an astonishing role in shaping the history of the nation and, in several instances, the world beyond the confines of our national borders.

Nipper

Across the long and rich history of Albany, Nipper ranks as the top dog. The twenty-eight-foot tall, four-ton steel and fiberglass canine statue anchored atop a warehouse on North Broadway has captured the hearts and minds of young and old alike for three generations.

Nipper was a real-life dog in nineteenth-century England who was painted by the dog owner’s brother, Francis Barraud. He depicted the curious dog listening to a gramophone and titled it “His Master’s Voice.” It became an internationally recognized logo for several audio recording companies, including RCA.

Nipper came to his downtown Albany perch at 991 Broadway in 1958 following renovations of a rundown reinforced concrete warehouse built in 1900 to house the American Gas Meter Co. The refurbished structure became the new home of RTA, an appliance distributor specializing in products by RCA. The sculpture was fabricated in Chicago, shipped by rail in five sections, assembled on the roof with the help of a ten-story crane, and attached to a metal frame.

Nipper has no formal legal protection as a landmark, although its place in the heart and soul of the city is unassailable.

Nipper at 991 Broadway, Albany

Photograph by Gary Gold

2015

Digital photograph

Courtesy of Gary Gold

Nipper Advertising Statue

Twentieth century

Painted plaster

Courtesy of Nancy Carey Cassidy

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Perforated Toilet Paper

On July 25, 1871, the United States Patent Office issued Albany businessman and inventor Seth Wheeler a patent for his improvement in wrapping papers. His simple but novel idea consisted of a “roll of wrapping-paper with perforations on the line of the division between one sheet and the next, so as to be easily torn apart.” The invention revolutionized not only the appearance and dissemination of wrapping paper, but also toilet paper, which became the most important product of Wheeler’s company, the Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company (later known as APW), incorporated in 1877. Before the development of perforated rolled papers, manufacturers manually cut their paper into sheets, bundled and wrapped them in more paper, and tied the bundles with string.

Over several decades, Wheeler received nearly a hundred patents in the United States, Canada, and Europe for both machinery and new developments with paper products, including several for improvements with perforations. APW also produced cabinets and fixtures for dispensing their rolled papers and it manufactured a medicated paper “heavily charged with ointment approved by the profession,” which by the 1880s received glowing testimonials from across the country. According to a history of the company published in 1886, “their specialty is hotel paper with fixture,” indicating a broader market than just home consumers.

When Seth Wheeler died in 1925, APW was a flourishing company with headquarters on Broadway in Albany. The rolls shown here with their original bright pink wrappers date to the 1930s and were designed by a German-born graphic designer named Hajo Christoph who updated APW’s packaging with bold, Art Deco styling.

Rolls of Perforated Toilet Paper

Made by Albany Perforated Wrapping Company (APW), Albany, New York

Wrapper designed by Hajo Christoph

c. 1935

Paper, ink

Courtesy of Stewart Wagner

A.P.W. Brand Poster

Designed by G. H. Dunston

Unidentified printer

c. 1900

Chromolithograph on paper

Albany Institute of History & Art Library, PB 281

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New York State Capitol

Construction of the new New York State Capitol began in 1867. The cornerstone was laid in 1871, but the collapse of the national economy through the 1870s plagued the project with work stoppages and lack of funding. The building was only partially occupied by 1879. Twenty years later, in 1899, when it was declared finished, cost overruns had raised the cost from its original estimate of $4 million to a spectacular $25 million, reputed to be the most expensive building in America. The massive “Chateau on the hill” with its elaborate designs by Thomas Fuller, Henry Hobson Richardson, Leopold Eidlitz, and Isaac Perry remains a marvel of Victorian eclectic architecture and the American Gilded Age.

In 1883, the remaining occupants of the old State Capitol were moved out and, after seventy-four years, the building was demolished. It was a classically designed building by noted Albany architect, Philip Hooker, and stood in what is now East Capitol Park.

Thomas McEneny, an Irish-born brick and stonemason living in Albany’s Arbor Hill neighborhood, worked on the new capitol building, shown in the foreground of the photograph from August 1870. He constructed this keepsake box from wood salvaged from the demolition of the old Capitol. The old Capitol is captured in the background of the photograph with the domed cupola and statue of Themis, the representation of Justice. To workers like McEneny, who was raising nine children during the uncertainties of the nineteenth-century boom and bust economy, work was a blessing. Ironically, the box returned to Capitol Hill from 1993 to 2012, where it sat prominently on the office desk of Assembly Member John J. McEneny, its creator’s great grandson.

Joseph Henry’s Electrical Apparatus

Thomas McEneny

c. 1883

Wood and metal

Courtesy of Terry and Jack McEneny

Condition of the Work on the New Capitol, at Albany

Haines photography | August 2, 1870

Photographer: Haines photography

Medium: Albumen print

Dimensions: 16 ¾ H x 21 ½ W

Credit: Albany Institute of History & Art Library

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