Photo Hunters: Music

This is a terrific theme for this week, but I wish I had more energy and was feeling better to devote to it. Everyone in the family is a musician, and most of the kids have composed their own music… but I’m too exhausted and congested to muster the energy to snap photos of all their instruments!! So instead, I will treat you with some photos from our archives.

Here’s an interesting musical device: it’s a polyphon. It is very old, and we saw it when we toured the FX Matt Brewery in Utica, NY. There was a fire there a few years ago; I hope the polyphon was not damaged.

The thing looks like a music box, and lo and behold, it is! Kind of… It’s from Germany, judging by the engraving on the metal disk. I think it was considered to have been the German jukebox of the 1800s. I couldn’t tell what song was engraved on the large metal disk, but I strongly suspect it was a rousing rendition of “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” Ha! You can read more about polyphons here.

This is a photo from the Higginbotham home, in Oneida, NY. The Higginbothams were a prominent family in the settlement of the city. The first bank of Oneida was in their pantry room! Julia Higginbotham, an invalid daughter, was an accomplished musician, Read more

Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, NY, Part Two

See Part One of our visit to the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse. This is Part Two.

After pulling the children off the packet boat and into the Museum, we wandered around the halls. There was a great deal to see and explore, and I wanted to soak it all in. From the packet boat display, we entered into the original 1850 building. I was overcome by the architectural beauty of the building.

The ceilings and walls were covered with elaborate pressed metal from the 1850s (I have some of it in my own house, still). There were several layers of paint covering it, which gave it a soft appearance. I’d never seen walls done this way. The trim was in wood. The lighting looked original, too; I later saw a photo of NYS engineers’ office from the 40s, and the lights were the same. Imagine– a canal weighlock building designed so beautifully! It’s funny, how such elegant buildings were built for such mundane or totally pragmatic functions. I’d recently seen photos of the Utica Psychiatric Building, which is the greatest example of Greek Revival architecture, but was built as a mental hospital and later became a place for alcohol and drug rehab. Amazing.

We wandered around a few rooms and enjoyed displays of everything from packet boat models to artifacts to office reproductions.

I was thrilled to see an entire section devoted to Elizabeth Cotten. How I used to love singing her old songs! I didn’t know she was from Syracuse until I moved away. Her song, “Freight Train,” was one of my favorites as a kid.

Libba Cotten’s Grammy and her SAMMY award were on display, too. There were displays about Syracuse’s salt mines, shoe manufacturing, and the lovely Syracuse China.

As if all this wasn’t enough, there was another floor to the Museum. We enjoyed our elevator ride up.

We entered the second-floor into a number of life-sized displays from the Erie Canal days, including a tavern, a general store, and a theatre stage. Elsewhere on the floor are an exhibition called “The Art of the Draughtsman” which featured original drawings of the Canal plans, and photographs. And there was a huge dress-up area with children’s tables, books, toys, bean bags, and puppets and a puppet stage. Needless to say, the kids LOVED every second of it.

I saw another hair wreath! I’d first seen one when we visited the Old Stone Fort in Schoharie. What weird things! This one was very intricate.

A curio cabinet displayed beautiful dishes. We found one with Utica on it!

The Utica plate information had me stunned. I never knew Utica was once “inferior to none in the western section of the state”! This is proof that Utica was thriving before the Italian mafia took over! Ha!

The kids had a blast in the children’s area, even the teenagers.

We had an absolutely wonderful time! I’m glad we decided to go!