Photographs and thoughts on photography and camera collecting
A magnificent, 1940s Fire Truck. I must go by the Fire Department and see if I can find out any additional information on this incredible vehicle.
Taken with a Sony A7IV and Rokinon/Samyang AF 24-70 f2.8 FE
A couple of flag bearers and a single, lonely motorcycle led the parade.
Taken with a Sony A7IV and Rokinon/Samyang AF 24-70 f2.8 FE
We had a little bit of excitement at the Historical Society (BMSHS) the other day. The BMSHS shares a building with the Briarcliff Manor Library, The Vescio Community Center and the Briarcliff Manor Recreation Department.
I was sitting in the Historical Center when there was a loud bang and all the fire alarms went off. Of course we all had to evacuate the building (luckily the weather was quite pleasant) and wait for the powers that be to arrive. Above: the first to arrive, the Fire Chief.
Briarcliff Manor’s fire company existed for more than a year before Briarcliff Manor’s incorporation. Frederick C. Messinger (a fireman in Kingston for ten years) and thirteen local men founded the private fire company in 1901. Thirty-six men became the company’s charter members on March 4, 1902, and dues were set at 25 cents per month. On April 15 of that year, the company took the name Briarcliff Steamer Company No. 1. The company’s first equipment was a 1901 hand-drawn chemical apparatus, with a tank containing a mixture of water and sodium bicarbonate. Sulfuric acid would be added to the tank, creating carbon dioxide, which would propel the solution through the hose and help extinguish the fire. That first apparatus was white, which Messinger thought more visible than the conventional red in a village without street lights, and the village’s engines remain white.
Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XF 10-24mm f4
This post is for fans of vintage automobiles.
On April 24th, 1908 and event took place, the like of which the Village of Briarcliff Manor had never seen before, and has not seen since. It was called “The First American International Road Race”, more informally known as the Briarcliff Trophy Race. It was the first automobile race in Westchester County, NY and the first international stock car race in the United States. There were 22 contestants from five countries: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States.
The Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society (BMSHS) has a wonderful collection of 11 framed photographs of the race participants. It’s not clear what happened to the other 11.
Above: No. 20: Louis J. Bergdoll, Benz Car.
The Society is preparing a presentation on the race, which will go into much more detailed. We’re not yet sure when the presentation will take place so if you live in the area watch out for an announcement.
The pictures are available for viewing at the BMSHS at 1 Library Road (Lower Level, of the Briarcliff Manor Library), Briarcliff Manor, NY .
Pictures of the framed photographs taken with a Sony A7IV and Samyang AF 75mm f1.8 FE
The Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society, where I’m currently volunteering, recently received this wonderful gift of a silver platter from Jeff and Jackie Haught of Santa Fe New Mexico.
The inscription reads:
“Henry Smith Tournament
Low Net
Winner
Leon Svirsky
1963”
The small shield above the inscription bears the words “Briar Hall”.
“Henry Law established the Briar Hills Country Club on the site of the old Briarcliff Golf Club in 1921. A clubhouse was built and an eighteen-hole golf links of 6,366 yards was designed by golf architect Devereux Emmet. The 150-acre property was bounded roughly by Dalmeny, Poplar and Pine roads, with a strip south of Pine extending behind Tuttle Road to Long Hill Road East. The grounds included the Christie, later Melady, property and the large white house named Elderslie, which for a time served as the clubhouse. Two generations of the Law family, Henry and, after him, Theodore Gilman Law, directed the club until some years after World War II, when it was sold and became Briar Hall Country Club (1922-1993). “Besides…golf, tennis, riding, skiing, tobogganing, skating and coasting, the Club…[offered] every facility for indoor entertainment””. (From “The Changing Landscape – A History of Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough” by Mary Cheever.
Picture of the Platter taken with a Sony A7IV and Samyang 45mm f1.8. Other pictures from the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society archive.