• Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 42 - Meyer (Dr. Hans). Across East African Glaciers, limited edition of 50, 1891. £3,000-5,000
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 2 - Agassiz (Louis). Etudes sur les Glaciers, 2 volumes, 1840. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 234 - Bible [English]. [The Holy Bible, Imprinted at London by Christopher Barker, 1584]. £1,200-1,500
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 288 - Florio (John). A Worlde of Wordes, or most Copious, and Exact Dictionary in Italian and English, 1598. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 289 - Cotgrave (Randle). A Dictionary of the French and English Tongues, 1st edition, 1611. £700-1,000
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 368 - Grahame (Kenneth). The Wind in the Willows, 1st edition, 1908. £700-1,000
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 52 - Phillimore (R. H.). Historical Records of The Survey of India, 4 vols, 1st edition, 1945-58. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 92 - Albin (Eleazar). A Natural History of English Insects, 1st London, 1720. £2,500-3,500
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 99 - Leach (William Elford). Malacostraca Podophthalmata Britanniae, 1815-20 & 1875. £2,500-3,500
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 247 - Embroidered binding - Bible [English]. The Holy Bible, 1660. £500-800
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 282 - Nightingale (Florence). Notes on Nursing, 1st ed., 2nd issue, [1860], signed presentation copy. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 66 - Ward (Rowland, editor). Great and Small Game of Africa, limited edition, 1899. £600-800
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 235 - Campo (Antonio). Cremona Fedelissima Citta, 1st edition, 1585. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 355 - Jewish playing cards. Artistic Palestine Play-Cards, Jerusalem: Duchifat Press, circa 1920. £200-300
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 102 - America. Lea (P. & J. Overton). A New Mapp of America..., London: circa 1686. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, Oct. 9: Lot 161 - North America. Laurie (R. H.), Map of the Southern Dominions belonging to the United States, 1823. £500-800
  • RareBookBuyer.com
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    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
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    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
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  • Gonnelli
    Auction 54
    Books, Autographs & Manuscripts
    October 8th-10th 2024
    Gonnelli: Menù di gala per l'incoronazione di Nicola II Romanov e di Aleksandra Feodorovna. Moskva, 1896. Starting price 1000 €
    Gonnelli: Raccolta di 38 albumine, molte colorate a mano, di vedute della Cina, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Giappone e vari ritratti, 1880. Starting price 340 €
    Gonnelli
    Futurism
    Gonnelli: Lucio Fontana. Milan: Achille Mauri, 1968. Starting price 400 €
    Gonnelli: Mucha Alphonse, Documents décoratifs, 1901-1902. Starting price 10000 €
    Gonnelli: Christie Agatha, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. A detective story. London: John Lane, 1921. Starting price 460 €
    Gonnelli: Alberti Leon Battista, Ecatonphyla. Venice: Bernardino da Cremona, 1491. Starting price 10000 €
    Gonnelli: Menabrea Luigi Federico, Sketch of the analytical engine invented by Charles Babbage Esq. London: Richard and John E. Taylor, 1843. Starting price 5000 €
    Gonnelli: Bardi Giovanni, Memorie del calcio fiorentino. Florence, 1688. Starting price 1000 €

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - September - 2020 Issue

Growing Up in New Paltz, NY in the 1950’s

 

I have written here many times about my collection, the challenges in finding the missing pieces, the joys when one place is filled and it’s on to searching for the next. All collectors will understand what I mean. My focus is on the Mid-Hudson Valley of upstate New York, and in particular, the small town of New Paltz, where I grew up. Most people don't know New Paltz, but in the 1950s, it was in many ways Anytown U.S.A.

Some of you have wondered what this community was like, and why I seem so obsessed with it. It is hard to paint a picture of your hometown in words, but fortunately, my good friend and classmate who shared the experience of growing up there has done so better than I. I hope this will help explain to outsiders why I collect this community so passionately, and for those of you who do remember New Paltz in the 1950s and 1960s, it will fill you with memories. And with that, I turn the floor over to my friend and New Paltz High Class of '64 classmate, Keith Matteson.

 

Growing Up in New Paltz, NY in the 1950’s

 

I grew up in New Paltz, NY during the 1950’s. I lived outside the village so I had to be transported to most activities; school, shopping and friends. My world at this time was fairly limited to New Paltz and 10 miles around the area. The following is what I remember about those days to my best recollection.

 

I moved to New Paltz in 1952 from California.

 

The Village

The village started at the Wallkill River, extended up Main Street to approximately the present location of the Middle School. The State College bounded its south side and  J. D.’s Custard Stand and Agway bounded its north side. Main Street was the center of commerce; two banks, Zupp’s Drugstore, Carroll’s Department store, Movie theatre, Buddy’s, Pilches, P&G’s, the Library, the Homestead , a Grocery, Joe’s barber shop and Lane & Sargent’s 5 & 10 cents store. There were 2 lumber yards, New Paltz Lumber and A.P. LeFevere’s.  Badami’s fruit stand lay outside of town on what is now Cherry Hill Plaza. Also two small markets; Hotaling’s and Rinaudo’s. There were maybe two or three gas stations, and four churches.

 

There was no Thru-way or Rte. 299. The  Old New Paltz road wound its way through Ohioville, past Tantillo’s Market eventually finding its way to downtown Highland and the Mid-Hudson bridge to Poughkeepsie. Traveling to Poughkeepsie or Kingston was infrequent reserved for special occasions. Rhinebeck, Red Hook, Saugerties, Woodstock and Hurley were unknown to me.

 

I always wanted to ride my bike to town but was never allowed. Too dangerous and also sometimes I didn’t have a bike.

 

At a young age of 7 or 8 my memories centered around J. D’s for ice cream, Lane & Sargent’s for squirt guns, baseball cards, fire balls and disgusting wax figures with syrup inside. There was Carrol’s for shoes and a chance to look into the scope of the foot x-ray machine that never worked. I remember the grocery store with it’s wonderful smell of the coffee grinder and the fore-runner of the cashier’s moving belt; a wooden frame with a handle that moved your items closer to the cashier. There was a barn in back of Buddies where kids played pick-up games of basketball.

New Paltz had its own non-sanctioned Little League where Town teams would play other Town teams; Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox etc. played on the Campus School field. The field wasn’t fancy but did have a fence ; a wooden slat snow fence that leaned in and out.. There was sort of a pitching mound. Refreshments were in the form of soft drinks cooled in a kiddie swimming pool. None tasted better after the game. Sometime we would go past the Highland Little league on 9W. It was a “perfect park” which we longed for but never got. The “World Series” ended with a barbeque for the top two teams and awards such as belt buckles or tie clasps.

 

There was also Boy Scouts, troop 74 and troop 77. I was in troop 77, Bill Morris and Matty Fairweather the troop masters.

My grandmother lived on North Oakwood Terrace. So did Carol Bond. A lot of my friends lived on Tricor Avenue  next to the Campus School; Jerry Sullivan , Al Johnston, Nancy Culver, Steve Spenser, John Gibbons and several others. Herrington Street was a subdivision of newer homes.

New Paltz had one traffic light at the intersection of Main Street and Rte. 208. Frequently the village’s only cop would park his own white  Pontiac Bonneville at this intersection as a reminder to slow down. The former trolley tracks were easily seen embedded in Main St. as it extended up through the village. The hill by P& G’s was a two way street.

 

School

I went to the Campus School; grades kindergarten through 9th grade. We were real students used for practice teachers from the college. I had both Wicks sisters (Henrietta & Florence), Mrs. Tompkins, Mrs. Follette, Mrs. Hamilton, Mr. Myers, Mr. Jones, Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Oakley. I was a polio pioneer. I was on the Safety Patrol. I had Mr. Archard for PT and Mr. Ottosen for music. Mr. Bolas for science, Mr. Harrison for Art, Mrs. Garland for Home Ec. and Mrs. O’Donnell for French. Mr. Bond was the principal.

Mr. Bolas used to tell us to study hard or the Russians were going to get us. Mrs. Garland taught me to bake an apple pie, still do. Miss Wicks liked to read us the morning paper. I was fascinated when she tucked her hanky into her cleavage when not in use. Occasionally we would have Bomb Attack drills. Houses with bomb shelters were not unheard of.

I have some memories of this school as one year lead into another. One of them was the day Paul Blue died. On a brighter note was the day a student teacher decided to tickle us at lunch. We were having hamburgers. My classmate Frank had polio. He told the teacher he didn’t want to be tickled. The teacher persisted. Frank scooped up a spoonful of ketchup and … let fly with a direct hit on the teacher. No more tickling but poor frank got hauled off as we continued to laugh uncontrollably. I also remember the gym dance classes, my first close contact with girls…the foxtrot. School Dances were infrequent and terrifying to me. Tormenting Mrs. Neilson, the librarian, seemed like a regular event. I remember when the Catholic kids left early to go to religious classes. I wanted to go with them,  not to go to the classes but just to get out early.

 

We had a few field trips; Radio City Music Hall which included a movie and the Rockettes, the College camp, the Circus when one of the performers fell off his wire and a trip to a milk plant.

International night was big at the Campus School. Each class choose a country to represent and a dance to perform from that country. International Night was performed at the College Auditorium at night under the lights. A lot of fun.

There were many diversions at school. One I vividly remember is flipping baseball cards; a match game. Kids would bring their collections. Kids would face off with the first laying down as many cards as he dared risk flipping each from waist high. The card would land heads or tails. His opponent would be required to match every card on the ground, heads or tails. If the match was exact he won all the cards; if not he would lose all the cards. Kids got very skilled at flipping and each had his own technique. Three New cards cost a nickel in a pack of gum. The gum was usually thrown out. My mother threw my cards out when I was older, Urghh.

I was in the band trying to play the flute… very average quality but it was fun especially for concerts.

I rode the bus . It made one trip to pick up all the kids in my area and deliver them to the High School, the Campus school and St. Joseph’s Catholic School. The High School and Elementary School were in the same building which is now the Middle School. Discipline on the bus was swift and final. If a student misbehaved, the bus stopped and the student was escorted off the bus, left to walk home. My driver was frequently Mr. Van Gonsic who continually smoked a big cigar while he was driving. The bus route was wide. It would pick up kids along Albany-Post, Butterville, Mountain Rest Road  and continue on to the Ohioville area before delivering the kids to school. Art Stegen , lived near me but choose to run to school. He always beat the bus. When the “Flats” were flooded the bus would have to detour through Gardner.

 

 

Halloween

Halloween was an exciting holiday in New Paltz. I lived outside of town where there were few houses so getting candy on Halloween was not profitable. I was transported to go out trick or treating in town with my friends where there were plenty of houses and business was good. There was plenty of shaving cream, eggs and toilet paper to arm yourself against rival kids in costumes. Lots of fun. The next day one could see evidence on Main Street of the many soaped windows of store fronts; toilet paper and broken eggs all over.

 

Today I recognize New Paltz but I don’t know it very well. I have fond memories of what appears to me now as a very small and protected world of the time.


Posted On: 2022-05-14 19:26
User Name: rpgross13226

Hi Kieth -- Richard Gross here. I was just checking a few facts about my own time in New Paltz. Lots of good memories. Hope we can exchange emails. grossrp@gmail.com -- take care Rich


Posted On: 2023-01-20 13:01
User Name: wexlerd1

Hi Keith! Very interesting. I grew up New Paltz in the sixties (HS class of '73). Not much had changed from your time, so your descriptions resonated with me. FYI I lived on the Cherry Hill block until '69 before we moved to Springtown Rd.


Posted On: 2023-06-08 22:18
User Name: jphilips1@gmail.com

Would love to chat about New Paltz, late 1950's. Any ideas


Rare Book Monthly

  • Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. London, 1954-1955.FIRST EDITIONS, FIRST IMPRESSIONS, ALL IN THE EXTREMELY RARE FIRST STATE DUST JACKETS.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Francesco Fontana. Novae coelestium terrestriumque rerum observationes... Naples: Gaffari, 1646. FIRST EDITION. Contains the first observations of spots on the surface of Mars.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London: Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1776. FIRST EDITION of “the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought” (PMM).
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Benjamin Franklin. Mémoires de la Vie Privée de Benjamin Franklin, écrits par lui-méme… Paris: Chez Buisson, 1791. FIRST EDITION OF FRANKLIN'S MEMOIRS IN THE PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL WRAPPERS.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Samuel Johnson, Jr. A School Dictionary… New Haven, [Connecticut]: Edward O'Brien, [1798]. FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST DICTIONARY IN ENGLISH BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR, AN EXCEPTIONAL RARITY.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Joseph Smith, Jr. The Book of Mormon. Palmyra: Printed by E. B. Grandin, for the Author, 1830. FIRST EDITION.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Miguel de Cervántes Saavedra. El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid: Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. THE BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED IBARRA EDITION.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: James Joyce. Ulysses. London: John Lane The Bodley Head, [1936]. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, SIGNED BY JOYCE. Designated a “Presentation Copy” in ink beneath Joyce’s signature.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: [Photoplay]. Delos W. Lovelace. King Kong. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, [1932]. FIRST EDITION of "a most sought after title" (Davis).
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, [1993]. 40th Anniversary Edition. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR TO HUGH HEFNER.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Neil Gaiman. Original manuscript for the "Neverwhere" BBC television miniseries. [London: Crucial Films, LTD., 1995-1996]. TYPESCRIPT "NEVERWHERE" WITH NEIL GAIMAN'S NOTES AND AMENDATIONS THROUGHOUT.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: [DICTIONARY]. Noah Webster. An American Dictionary of the English Language... New York, 1828. FIRST EDITION OF WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY, UNCUT IN THE PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL BOARDS
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Stephen King. Full Dark, No Stars. Baltimore: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2010. WITH AN ORIGINAL TWO-PAGE COLOR ILLUSTRATION BY GLENN CHADBOURNE
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: George Orwell. Nineteen Eighty-Four. London: Secker & Warburg, 1949. FIRST EDITION, IN THE ORIGINAL DUST JACKET.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: H. G. Wells. The Time Machine: An Invention. London: William Heinemann, 1895 [but 1897]. With a SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHIC POSTCARD laid in.
  • Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 1. Rare First Edition of Oronce Fine Double-Cordiform World Map (1531) Est. $50,000 - $60,000
    Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 2. French Edition of "Rudimentum Novitiorum" with Woodcut Maps of the World and Palestine (1543) Est. $27,500 - $35,000
    Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 3. Complete Edition of Munster’s Cosmographia with over 100 Maps & Views (1560) Est. $32,500 - $40,000
    Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 4. Purchas' Important Collection of Voyages with 88 Maps, Including John Smith Map of Virginia (1625-26) Est. $55,000 - $70,000
    Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 5. Complete First Latin Edition of De Bry's "Grands Voyages," Parts I-IX (1590-1602) Est. $120,000 - $150,000

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