Deja vu Opitmism ....1960's ?

 I wanted to write this one before this upcoming  election. Going back to last July , I was in Belmont N.C. sitting outside on a warm summer night {smoking}. The air conditioners were running , cloudless sky , moon visible. Very quiet. Then for some reason I began to have the odd experience of deja vu. That feeling you have been at this particular moment before. Lasted for less than a minute. That was only the third  time in my life that I have had that experience. One explanation is that you have been in a similar circumstance before and you had maintained a latent memory of it. So , where did I experience that before.........
  Well I am not totally sure but from my feelings during the experience it comes from sometime in the late 1960's. That feeling was a light optimism , all most a carefree optimism.  Wow....interesting. As I explored this moment and talked to people like my 88 and 94 yr old aunts I have come to believe that those yrs for some people atleast were optimistic yrs and we have lost that. One can never be quite sure bur I believe my generation was one that believed we could accomplish anything. From landing on the moon to Woodstock and social readjustment to curing illness etc. Not just young  people but the adults around us. We would create a better world though visions could differ. depending on one view.
 Somewhere in these intervening 50 or so years the optimism {which I believe we took for granted} has slowly and often quietly slipped into our angry election time of today. People are angry at this present moment. I have come to believe increasingly that lack of optimism is as destructive as depression both personnel and economically.  I have also begun to understand why  some people  remember those years so longingly. They don't just miss their youth , it was that times optimism they long for. I also think that when I have spent time explaining the 60's to younger people perhaps it is that feeling they look for. Maybe.......?

The Great Piano Factory Chimney of Casteton NY Comes Down

 Recently I explored near the current Castleton Fire Company Bld on Green Avenue in Castleton N.Y. 12033. Taking my trusty linoleum knife I probed in the back of the property. I came up with a small piece of pre= 1950's brick. I knew from childhood that I was in the general location of the old Cheney Piano ActionFactory. There are more than one history on line talking about the piano days of Castleton. So what I am going to quickly discuss is the last remnant of the piano works. The great Chimney. Made of brick and probably 3 stories in height it was a last reminder of when my hometown was the largest makers of piano movements in the world. We had a sign near our old train station so stating. The chimney was the tallest standing structure in Castleton or it's adjoining  Township of Schodack N.Y. It had stood for many years in the then vacant lot. As kids we often played near it. Some citizens of the village thought it may very well be unsafe because there was no structural support around it. An citizens committee was formed with the town board's approval to study whether it could be taken town. Donald Harris a well established member of the Masonic community was it's chair.
 Multiple meetings held etc , and a proposal was set before the board with cost , wrecking companies etc. The board after some discussion passed the resolution in the circa late 50's to do the project. Within 2 months the wrecking company arrived and work began. What I remember was the fact they had to bring in a large crane and wrecking ball. What was thought to be an afternoons work turned into  a two day event. The town Supervisor Lewis Hudson was amazed to witness what it took to demolish that chimney. Of course , there was a cost overrun. Finally , after the brick was all carted away and the dust settled  a woman's group from the Methodist Church  planted a rose bush there which lasted about 2 yrs.
 Many people were somewhat saddened when  the chimney came down ,  a lost piece of their own history was gone , for some a place of play was gone. Such . I guess was and is progress. Oh and by the way in case you might wonder what a piano action  is.....it appears to be the mallet type device that strikes the string on the piano.

My Hometown : Things Do Change : MHHS

 Recently , I stopped by my old high school. Maple Hill High School in the town of Schodack NY 12033. The school was setting up for the graduation ceremonies that evening. Outside graduation is a tradition at the school. After I walked the track I was able to strike up a conversation with the principal , Ron Agostinoni. We talked briefly about the weather , class size. I happened to mention my old principal. Ron , said that he had heard of him. I mentioned that those were rougher days at the school as far as discipline was concerned. What he said next thrilled me. He said he did not believe in that sort of stuff. He wanted the students to respect him not fear him. Wow......what a concept.  Respect not fear. So I wanted to just say that things can change for the better. Ed Psy research does make a difference , kinder and gentler can sometimes prevail.

Golden Farms Milk Bottle Found Schodack Landing New York

 Well , it's not the Cup of Christ but it was an important find for me because it is linked to a part of my family and especially my earlier life as a kid and young teenager. My uncle owned this farm as did my great uncle Burt deeded later to his son and was only recently sold though my cousins and family still own property there.  The bottle was discovered  at my 87 yr old aunts home {Jeannie Harris} in her basement that we were rearranging and getting rid of some stuff. The bottle was a gift from her.
 The bottle is from the 1920's or 1930's and trust me it is rare. Raised glass label , the label reads fully , Kenneth Golden Schodack Landing NY. An area in Southern Rensselaer County in upstate NY. Back 50 or so yrs ago this area was populated with well establishes family farms owned  through multiple generations. Corn , Hay ,  Milk some other veggies in smaller amounts were the main farm staples. Those days are now somewhat of a foggy memory because many of those farms are gone. As are the days where this bottle used to show on peoples doorsteps delivered by people like my great  uncle or his son.
 By the way I spent time during summers helping during haying time at this farm. I helped stack hay bails. I was much younger then. By the way at that farm is where I learned to like my favorite drug.....strong morning coffee. So a piece of my family history rediscovered  , some good memories added.

RIP : The Cremated Cairstairs

Arrived last night from Belmont North Carolina around midnight. Over a twelve hr drive. Brought my Grandson Hudson back after a week long visit with grand ma & pa. One of the things I did  was bury a handful of ashes in a beautiful botanical garden down there. Daniel Cairstairs , pronounced Carstairs. By request of him and his sister I was given 2 packets of cremated remains to bury somewhere in my travels. He wanted to be spread out. The other place he is "resting" is at a small wooded area next to Maple Hill High School in the Town of Schodack New York. Both places you might walk very near him  close to rocks.
 I knew Cairstairs when I spent one yr in boarding school. We met at a rowing event and we rowed against each other. We did not particularly like each other at first.....I thought him a snob. He thought me a jerk. Somehow in a complicated life we both came across each other in more accepting times. At Lime Rock race track in the late 70's. We kept in touch. We both like cars. He went into finance at first.....me.....education. He later became an adjunct professor in Connecticut. So I thought he might as a symbol of his life to be buried near a school. And so he is. His sister seems pleased with where I selected for both places. I know part of him remains in 06037 in an area known as Webster Ridge.  So goodby DC. RIP

Angry Elections 1968 , 1016

 As I tend to do , I have been paying attention to this years Presidential Primaries and general politics in this year of 2016. Many commentators have remarked that this is as angry an electorate as they have seen. Well  that may be so. But the angriest year I can remember was 1968. Let me take you back for a moment. to that time as I remember it.

A. The Vietnam war was raging on , every Thursday the body counts would come out telling us how many we had killed and how many of us were killed. The country was deeply divided over the conduct of that war. Families were often split , anti war protests were taking place on college campuses and the streets.

B. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were both assassinated that year. My brother was sent into Washington DC along with troops across the country to help quell riots. I can still remember watching smoke rise from Albany NY from my hometown of Schodack. The police in Albany had to surround the Governors Mansion as rioting crowds began to push north towards that area.

C. There were counter culture riots at the Democratic Conventions in Chicago that summer. It was a bloody angry night.

D. Politics were consumed by Vietnam and angry push back from the 60's. It was a 3 way race that year but it is often forgotten that  it was George Wallace  who ran the 3rd party run . He was very angry over the entire civil rights movement and took out his outrage out on Federal Power.  He won a couple of states. It was joked back then that he woke up angry.

E.  We were a highly divided nation , over war & peace , social programs ,  young vs old. etc. People wanted blood . My hometown of Schodack was even angry. A small indication was at Maple Hill High School  a janitor discovered in Mr Crosses room a Album of speeches by Adam Clayton Powell ,  a former Congressman and Black Activist. One evening in late September he took it out to the soccer field and poured some gas on it and burned it.  He was quite proud of that act though he never admitted it at work. He did brag about it in the bars.

F. Finally in November Richard Nixon was elected to the Presidency. He ran on saying he had a secret plan to end The Vietnam War. I still am amazed he got away with that.

G. Finally as a Post Script a small story. At Christmas time we first circumnavigated the moon. We all watched as we saw earth rise over the moon for the first time. It seemed to  truly move many  people as we stumbled towards a new year. After the astronauts returned safely they received hundreds of  telegrams of thanks and praise. One in particular caught the astronauts attention. All it said was "thank you ....you saved the year.'

 So much for angry voters. , a rocky road ahead. But one advantage of being older is I been by this rodeo before. By the way , I still retain some of my anger from back then in case you care.

Albany Products Company Inc Anti-Corrosive Castleton NY 12033

 Recently discovered in an old storage barn in South Schodack NY a box of nuts and bolts and a post card  and a sales brochure from a company called Albany Products Inc. As it said on the brochure , nuts , bolts and non ferrous fasteners. The address on the post card had the corporate address 351 Connecticut Avenue South Norwalk , Connecticut. This was at one time a fairly successful nearly nationwide company. They had offices in Norwalk , Boston , Chicago , Cleveland , Dallas and San Carlos. It was a consortium of manufacturing companies that produced hardware.  In my hometown of Castleton NY 12033 a company called The Anti- Corrosive was part of this consortium. It was located on route 9J by the Hudson River. There was a large billboard sign next to the road which announced the company. It was well known in Castleton/Schodack because it had a super large representation of a nut and bolt screwed together on the billboard.
 One might ask why if they had a corporate headquarters in New England , why would the company call themselves Albany Products. Well first of all it made them first in the phone book , which was important back in pre-www eras. Secondly , with the incorporation most officials and initial sales force came from the Albany , Tri Cities area. Hence the name , reflecting the origins. Two salesmen that I knew came from Castleton NY. One was a  Jack Davis and the other one Henry Peters who started the New England office of The Anti Corrosive. Peters ended up selling many of the specialty items used on a once famous submarine called The Nautilus which was the first atomic powered submarine in the world and the USA fleet.
 The oddest part of this company was their corporate logo which was on the post card. It was a picture of a man , dressed in a gray suit perhaps 1950's style  with a bow tie with a } type symbol on the tie. He has a rather happy sublime smile. Protruding from his ears is a large nut and bolt. Truly one of the more unusual  corporate logos I have ever seen anywhere.
 You may wonder what happened  to this once successful American Company. Well it was bought out in the mid to late seventies. Also as American manufacturing goes, it went  , overseas to such countries as China.
  As a post script , I knew Henry Peters , he was a favored uncle. Hence my limited knowledge of this company. He lived in Berlin Ct. 06037 on top of a ridge. Upon finding these materials I was flooded with rather fond memories of the 60's and 70's when I knew him best. By the way he was a top salesman in their workforce for many yrs. This blog is so dedicated to him.