Downtown 1887 — Birds, beasts and ice cream

Perhaps this bird was looking for a pear tree.

“A partridge flew through one of the back windows of G.F. Bayle & Co.’s dry goods store, yesterday, breaking the glass into fragments,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on Oct. 14, 1887. “Some of the employees captured and caged the feathery biped.”

Live animals were in the front window of another downtown retailer.

Coolidge & Bentley clothing store placed two live lambs with placards reading “All Wool” in front of a background of wool underwear in the display window of its Glen Street store., The Morning Star reported on Oct.13, 1887.

The lambs continued to attract “considerable attention” the next day.

“They are decked in bright-colored ribbons, and, as they munch the new cut grass placed before them, are as apparently as contented as if in their native element,” The Morning Star reported on Oct.14.

It could be said that a scoopful of ice cream makes deadline writing and the press run go smoothly.

“F.H. Partridge, proprietor of the ice cream parlor in Martime & Co.’s store, Ridge Street, favored the night toilers of the Star, last evening, with a supply of ice cream,” The Morning Star reported on June 24, 1887. “The office force can vouch for the excellent quality of the delicious compound.”

On Aug. 11,1887, The Morning Star reported that George C. Millham, most recently of Utica, was opening a photo gallery on the third floor of the Wait building on Glen Street, above the Adams & Co. hardware store.

On Aug.18, 1887, The Morning Star reported that Glens Falls letter carriers were measured the previous day for their new uniforms.

Here’s a reminder to only shop from a trusted local retailer.

“Those who bought ‘watches’ of the cowboy on the street corner the other night do not make satisfactory replies when asked the time of day,” The Morning Star reported on Oct.1, 1887