New Collection Items

New Collection Items

Firemen’s parade lineup, in front of 57 Second Street, circa 1875.

The Hart Cluett Museum recently acquired some items that add to the depth of Troy related materials currently within the permanent collection, including the above image.

Firemen’s parades were very popular, bringing many fire companies to the city from the surrounding region. This photo appears to be a review, but the actual parade or event is not yet identified. Looking closely, the north corner of the Hart-Cluett House is just visible at the far left of the image.  Note the family, (mother, little girl, father and at least 3 boys climbing on the ironwork for a better view) on the front stoop of the building that is now the museum. This is the earliest image of the original doorway – the current front doorway is a reproduction based on an early 20th century photo.

The fire men in the light-colored jackets appear to be from Troy Fire Company No. 1 which would have been known as the Arba Read Steam Fire Company located at the northwest corner of State and Third Streets where the Bank of America office is today. The three firemen in the darker jackets with “2” on their helmets (bottom right of image) would have been from the Hugh Ranken Fire Steam Fire Company located on Federal Street.

Both companies played critical roles in the Great Fire of May 10, 1862 in part due to the steam-powered fire engines each company had acquired.

2021.32.1, HCM Permanent Collection

This piece, a detachable cuff used as a postcard, was also just recently brought into the HCM permanent collection. ✉️📮

Dated 1902 and addressed to a Sam Davis, Esq. of Cropseyville, NY, the message reads “Consider yourself “cuffed” for not replying to my letter” and was signed and sent by George R. Kelly of #TroyNY. Further research is being conducted in order to detail just who these men were and their contributions to #RensselaerCounty.

We won’t know for sure if George ever received a response from Sam, but we can certainly appreciate his sense of humor in his efforts.