Made In NYC: Brands, Trends, and Inventions That Began in the Big Apple

The Jewish Deli

Not a huge surprise that this is a New York invention, although you might have thought it was an old country import first. In fact, the original Jewish deli was started by the Iceland Brothers on the Lower East Side in 1888. Willy Katz joined the restaurant in 1903 and bought out the Iceland Brothers with his cousin Benny in 1910. Today you can find Jewish delis from coast to coast, in locations as random as Indianapolis, Beverly Hills, and Orlando.

Packaged Coffee

New York City gets credit for 3 innovations in the birth of coffee making its way into homes, offices, and hotel suites:

1.    During the early years of the Civil War, NYC’s Lewis Osborn created Osborn’s Celebrated Prepared Java Coffee, the first ground, prepared, and packaged coffee in world history. Although it did not give the market a major jolt (the bulky pail it was distributed in probably didn’t help), it opened the door for bigger operations.

2.    In 1862, the first factory in the US to make bags for loose coffee began operations in Brooklyn.

3.    The big win, however, belonged to John Arbuckle and his brother Charles. They founded the Arbuckle Brothers Company in New York City in 1871 and became the first merchants to sell packaged coffee. (The coffee itself went nationwide, sold under the Ariosa brand and becoming popular enough on the frontier to be branded “The Coffee that won the West.”)

Twizzlers

Over 100 million Twizzlers are sold every year in the US, and it’s a $3,000,000,000 business globally, but the origins of the candy are small-town NYC. Two Brooklyn businesses combined forces in 1845 and sold whips and other licorice confections as Young & Smylie. They didn’t pick up the Twizzler name until after later mergers and consolidations; that licorice brand has been around since 1929.

Source: “Made In NYC,” by Ethan Wolff, March 2024, City Guide New York

Contributed by Bobbie Roggemann

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Carolyn Reiss reports that this summer she went to visit her friend Flora on Harvey’s Lake, PA. This turns out to be near Tunkhannock, the home town of Debbie Bell— and in the middle of nowhere. 

Heads up: Carolyn advises that anyone going West or back East on 84 near Port Jervis  who likes homemade reasonably priced ice cream in various flavors and concoctions, along with other homemade quick foods and a picnic spot on the Delaware 1 mile off the highway, should stop at Riverside Creamery.

Though ice cream and such was clearly one of the hits of the trip, so was the beauty of the area.

Old steel bridge over the Delaware River

Hiking the waterfall trail in Ricketts Glen State Park

Boating on the lake with both dogs, and Flora at the helm

Dietrich Theater sports a mural of the famous Nicholson Bridge (aka the Lackawanna Viaduct) near Tunkhannock

I Never Knew That

The Longest Case of Hiccups Was 68 Years

No one likes hiccups. Luckily, these involuntary spasmodic interruptions usually last only a few minutes. On rare occasions, hiccups persist for a few days, and even more rarely still they persist for longer than a month (in which case they can be considered “intractable”). Then there’s the strange case of Charles Osborne, who was afflicted with a continuous case of hiccups for 68 years — recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest case of hiccups in history.

Osborne’s story began with an accident on June 13, 1922, in which he accidentally slipped and fell. His doctor later said he popped a blood vessel in his brain the size of a pin, and theorized that Osborne must have damaged the incredibly small area of the brain that controls and inhibits hiccups. 

Osborne’s diaphragm spasmed 20 to 40 times a minute, on average, during his waking hours — meaning he hiccuped roughly 430 million times throughout his life. To cope with this never-before-seen disorder, Osborne learned breathing techniques that effectively masked his constant hiccuping. Later in life, Osborne appeared in magazines and on late-night television shows to talk about his ailment.

In 1978, Osborne told the Associated Press that he’d “give everything I got in the world if I could get rid of them.” Although he traveled the world in search of a cure — even offering $10,000 to anyone who could find one — the best he could do was cope with the affliction. Finally, in 1990, his diaphragm suddenly ended its 68-year-long spasmodic episode on its own. Sadly, Osborne died less than a year later, but he was at least able to experience the final days of his life sans hiccups.

Source: interesting facts.com

Contributed by Jane Hart

Art by Hart

The last day of summer camp was poignant for Seth and Lauren, but they promised to email every day

The Swinton-Rueful residence was small, even for a tiny home, but the leaded window reminded Sissy of Downtown Abbey

It had taken Marty all summer to grow his full-body Mohawk, but he was ready for the first day of school

Delilah said the date was off unless he got a haircut

A touch of Fall in the air was bracing

Art and photos by Jane Hart

In and Around Kendal

Storm over the Palisades

Photo by Philip Monteleoni

Storm Debbie’s Damage in the Park

Photos by Mimi Abramovitz

Rockwood Park at Peace Again

Illumined pathway

Afternoon of a fawn

Photos by Edward Kasinec

Royalty Comes to the Terrace

Visit of a Monarch

Photo by Harry Bloomfeld

Out and About

Sleepy Hollow Connected

Each month, the Village of Sleepy Hollow puts out an online newsletter—Sleepy Hollow Connected—that outlines pertinent issues and happenings for the coming month.

You can also sign up for the newsletter to be sent each month to your email.

Lobster Night at Kendal

It happens once a summer: a night of hearty lobster feasting. Bring on the drawn butter! Bring on the accoutrement, aka, corn on the cob, cole slaw, and watermelon! Summer as summer should be. One party of lobster eaters, in particular, enjoyed the treat. And, they are:

Now that you’ve seen the “movie,” here’s a formal portrait of the evening’s fare:

Photo by Jennifer Gardy

Made In NYC: Brands, Trends, and Inventions That Began in the Big Apple

Entenmann’s

You know them for crumb cakes, loaf cakes, doughnuts, and chocolate-chip cookies, among more than 100 products in all. They can be found in most every grocery store in the country. Before they were a nationwide force, Entenmann’s was a Brooklyn original. The company’s first bakery was at 594 Rogers Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens (the storefront is still there today). William Entenmann was the founder in 1898 — it remained a family business for more than 7 decades.

12 Steps

More than 2 million people across 180 countries are members of Alcoholics Anonymous. It dates its founding to 1935 and the commiseration between Bill Wilson (Bill W.) and Bob Smith (Dr. Bob). The 1939 publication of Wilson’s Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism (aka “the Big Book") gave the organization a major push. One of the foundational principles in the book is the 12 Steps, which also serve many other mutual-aid societies. They came out of a writing session at Bill Wilson’s home: 182 Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights in December of 1938.

Bristol Myers Squibb

Bristol Myers Squibb had $45 billion in revenue in 2023, making it one of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world. Its origins are a classic New York story, as Dr. Edward Robinson Squibb formed his own laboratory in 1858 near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where he had been employed. A brownstone at 149 Furman St. was the first Squibb lab, at least until a fire claimed it. William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers later joined the fold, but Squibb’s name is still on the company 166 years later.

 Source: “Made In NYC,” by Ethan Wolff, March 2024, City Guide New York

Contributed by Bobbie Roggemann

I Never Knew That

Michelangelo’s David Was Censored by Queen Victoria

The statue of David is among Michelangelo’s greatest masterpieces, but the sculpture isn’t without detractors. One such critic was none other than Queen Victoria, who reigned over England from 1837 until 1901, centuries after the original David was sculpted in 1504.

In 1857, a plaster replica of the David was shipped to Great Britain as a gift to Victoria from Leopold II, the grand duke of Tuscany. While the queen accepted the diplomatic gesture with grace, she was, according to some anecdotal reports, left aghast by the statue’s blatant nudity. The work was sent to be displayed at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, where curators crafted a plaster fig leaf to obscure the reproductive organ that some found offensive. This leaf was attached with the help of “strategically placed hooks” that allowed it to be lowered in place in anticipation of any visits from female members of the royal family, as the statue otherwise remained uncensored.

The leaf — a replica of which can still be found in the museum’s collection — was last used during the first half of the 20th century, leaving the replica of David fully nude as Michelangelo initially intended. 

However, even the original David statue endured years of unceremonious censorship. Upon its unveiling in Florence in 1504, the sculpture was covered with a garland made of 28 copper leaves to cover its nakedness, and the garland remained around David’s waist until at least the mid-16th century. Concurrently, around the year 1541, the Vatican implemented a “Fig Leaf Campaign” to censor nudity in art that it deemed offensive. At first, the Catholic Church sought to cover up the naked figures in Michelangelo’s painting “The Last Judgment,” as well as similar works. Thankfully, many of these once-censored works of art have since been restored to their original condition.

Source: Interestingfacts.com

Contributed by Jane Hart

Art by Hart

One way or another, the Covington-Tharps were all related

The flowers Gwen could never grow in garden soil grew like gangbusters in a swatch of nylon Redi-Cut carpeting

Pistachio and Shamrock and the other precious green puppies were the joy of Sally's life

Mr. Ed was bummed when Jockey suddenly canceled his 70-year endorsement contrac

Hoyer complained about Cecelia-Ann’s recreational shedding until he was blue in the face

Art and photos by Jane Hart

Out and About

Carolyn Reiss and Mimi and Bob Abramovitz recently checked out one of the near-by treasures: The New York Botanical Gardens. (Note: The gardens, as you’ll see in the first photo following, are hosting a display inspired by the Alice in Wonderland story.)

Alice’s rabbit in topiary

Exploring the native garden

The lily pond in close-up

Stopping to smell the roses

Resting by the Conservatory

Photos by Carolyn Reiss

Made in NYC: Brands, Trends, and Inventions That Began in the Big Apple

Minwax

Arthur B. Harrison invented a cotton waterproofing that became widely used in tunnels, bridges, and foundations. The company he launched is even better known. Minwax began in 1904 in Brooklyn, when Harrison developed the earliest version of “the Rolls-Royce of wood finishing products.” He eventually took over the business on his own, trademarking the name in 1914. It remained a family business for close to a century.

Schaefer Beer

Schaefer Beer seems like it should be a Milwaukee stalwart, but it started out in New York City — Manhattan to be specific. The F & M Schaefer Brewing Company, founded by Frederick Schaefer and his brother Maximilian, goes all the way back to 1842. Their first expansion was to Park Avenue and 51st Street, which is hard to imagine holding a brewery at any time. In 1916 they moved again, to bigger digs at the corner of Park and Kent Avenues in Williamsburg. They stayed on into the 1970s before finally leaving New York City for good.

Kickstarter

Although not the first crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter expanded the original concept to a wide range of creative projects. It remains a major force, responsible for more than 20% of the market. Some $7 billion has been pledged through the site. The company was born in New York City in 2009 and is still based in Brooklyn.

Source: Source: “Made In NYC,” by Ethan Wolff, March 2024, City Guide New York

Contributed by Bobbie Roggemann

To be continued . . .

I Never Knew That

How long is the world’s shortest commercial flight?

Passengers aboard Loganair Flight LM711, which travels 1.7 miles between the Scottish islands of Westray and Papa Westray, are airborne very briefly. On a good day, the world’s shortest commercial flight takes less than a minute — as little as 53 seconds, in fact. There’s no co-pilot, no lavatory, and only 8 passengers aboard the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander aircraft. Tickets for the journey, which is made just 2 or 3 times a day, cost roughly $22. Both Westray and Papa Westray are part of the Orkney archipelago, a sparsely populated set of islands popular with adventurous travelers in search of a scenic journey that happens to include a record-setting flight.

Most of the world’s other shortest flights are likewise between islands. Those who’d prefer not to take the hour-long ferry connecting the Greek isles of Karpathos and Kasos can instead fly between them in just 5 minutes. Meanwhile, passengers flying the 12 miles from Sint Maarten (one of the Netherlands’ constituent countries) to Anguilla (a British Overseas Territory) can expect to be in the air for closer to 10 minutes.

Source: interestingfacts.com

Contributed by Jane Hart

Art by Hart

Ditz-E1 was hoping to be Microbe of the Year

The Small-fry Synchronized Swim Club was already dreaming of the L.A. Olympics

To Bibsy’s dismay, unsettled weather was forecast to continue for another 6 years

It seemed to George that a prom to celebrate the puppies successful completion of obedience training was over the top

Dr. Dromedary-Knox’s classes were extremely popular

Art and photos by Jane Hart

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Photographs of life at Kendal on Hudson are by residents.