by Shannon Butler Most of us have come to the conclusion that 2020 was a year for the books. For some of us, that book would be in the genre of horror, tragedy, and maybe even dystopian? Either way, the history books that will eventually be written about this year will be mostly hard to read. So we are all looking forward (perhaps nervously) to the new year and what possibilities 2021 might bring. Most of the celebrations for the coming of the new year are going to be cut-down versions of their former selves. So how have we celebrated New Year's Eve in the past? Big parties, dances, dinners, and a bit of drinking, right? As seen by the two newspaper articles on the right, it was a wild night on December 31, 1921, when everyone welcomed the new year here in Poughkeepsie. There were parties at various clubs, restaurants, theaters, and private gatherings. It should be noted that in 1921, the U.S. witnessed the beginning of the Prohibition era. This means that when people did manage to get their hands on some liquor, it was both illegal and not necessarily safe for consumption. Both of these articles are on [...]

by Shannon Butler Halloween has become one of the most popular holidays on our calendar. Regardless of the pandemic, Americans are still forging ahead, finding new ways to celebrate an old Celtic tradition. As a nation, we still plan on spending a lot of money (only slightly less than we did before the era of Covid), about 8 billion dollars between the candy, the decorations, and the costumes (that’s more than twice the amount of the yearly budget for the National Park Service, just to give you an idea). We spend almost half a million dollars on costumes just for our pets (guilty). As a lover of Halloween, I personally added another $25 to my budget this year for materials to construct a candy chute on my front porch. This will help with the practice of social distancing for anyone who ventures out for trick or treating. Back at the turn of the last century, there were a lot more tricks going on than treats. If you look through the local newspapers in the 1890s and early 1900s, you will find that most of the articles about Halloween are concerning the local parties and pranks from the younger generations. In 1883 [...]

by Shannon Butler The first time the phrase “Father’s Day” appeared in print in our local newspaper was in 1914 when the Presbyterian Church in Lagrangeville decided to pay tribute to dads on August 9th. There was no official holiday for fathers at that time but the idea for such a celebration had popped up in various places around the country. In 1918, a little blurb appeared in the Poughkeepsie Eagle News that said, “Why Not? We forget whether in this grand and glorious country of ours we ever had a fathers’ day. If not there ought to be one. Frinstance a nice big rally alongside some good fishing streams out in the country. Oh you fathers’ day!” A notice from Luckey, Platt & Co. reminded its customers not to forget their father’s on June 15th and this was in 1924 when there was still no official holiday to speak of. Wallace’s Department store also made the same reminder stating, “On Sunday June 15th, the whole world will be thinking of its own father. It's a day when we all like to make him a remembrance if he is still with us.” However, do you notice a trend in the early [...]

by Shannon Butler This Monday is Memorial Day! A.K.A Decoration Day, A.K.A the unofficial start of summer. Considering the strange new world that we live in, this memorial day will not look like the ones we are used to. Typically we would head over to a parade with marching bands, floats, and every organization taking to the streets to say thanks to all of our soldiers and sailors who died while serving in our armed forces. We might then head to any of our local cemeteries to place flags on their graves. And of course, as Americans, we then generally head to backyards, parks, or beaches for food and beer! Sadly, in the time of COVID-19, most parades and celebrations are canceled and our food consumption will be limited to our own personal households for the most part. Given these odd circumstances we should take a look at how our area celebrated this day in the past. As you can see from the newspaper articles on the right, here in Poughkeepsie Memorial day was particularly important to the veterans who served in the American Civil War (they refer to it as, “the late war of the rebellion”). Members of the local [...]

by Shannon Butler As we make our way further along into the 21st century, we history nerds here in the Local History Department thought it would be fun to share with you an old New Year’s tradition. Even though it lasted over two centuries, it has since fallen out of fashion, but we think it’s still pretty cool. Carriers’ Addresses were a form of poetry, a sign of a New Year beginning, and a chance for a newspaper subscriber to thank the carrier for bringing them the news of the day, hopefully with a little tip included. Carriers’ addresses began in newspapers in England in the early 18th century and then naturally made their way over to the colonies and continued after the forming of the new country and government. They were printed on January 1st and in the early years they contained just a simple one page document, usually a poem and a thank you from the carriers. The poem could be written in the form of a look back at the events of the year, or it could emphasize the important work and the daily struggles of the carriers. The earliest in our collection is from 1819 and was [...]

by Shannon Butler So here we are, it’s Black Friday, and we are all recovering from food coma, or our in-laws, or perhaps you are contemplating hitting the fridge for some leftovers. Well, make yourself a turkey sandwich and pull up a chair to read all about “Franksgiving.” Not familiar with the holiday? It’s not well known; in fact it didn’t last very long, only about three years. In August of 1939, our neighbor from Hyde Park and the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was enjoying his summer getaway at his family’s property in Campobello when he held a press conference. He wished to announce that he had decided to change the date of Thanksgiving beginning immediately, and the change would be permanent. When FDR informed the press of his decision, one could only imagine the looks on the faces of the journalist who listened and jotted down the President’s words and reasoning. He proclaimed that since Thanksgiving was on the 30th (there were five Thursdays in November that year) that would only leave folks with 20 days for Christmas shopping. He insisted that by moving Thanksgiving to the 23rd, shoppers would have more time to shop, [...]