“Silent Cal,” as President Calvin Coolidge was commonly known, was a pioneer in development of the talkie.
“An address by President Coolidge in which he sounded a message of peace and prosperity tonight was broadcast tonight (April 21) from a specially prepared photo-film made a week ago at the White House, making what was said to be the first attempt ever made to broadcast a voice from the motion picture screen,” The Post-Star of Glens Falls reported on April 22, 1925.
The experimental talking-picture was shown at an event at the Friar’s Club which newspaper publishers and editors and other guests of the film industry attended.
“Expressing his amazement at the wonder of the invention, President Coolidge said that he had chosen to speak of matters as old and familiar as the the new process was new and novel.”
In other news of the lighter side of politics collected from Northern New York historic newspapers:
- Edward Casavant, “the postcard king,” was in Glens Falls selling his new post card of Gov. Al Smith, The Post-Star reported on April 18, 1925. Casavant previously published postcards of Calvin Coolidge and Theodore Roosevelt.
- In 1881, the first telephone was installed at the White House, The Glens Falls Times reported on May 4, 1925.
- On April 14, 1925, President Calvin Coolidge shook hands with 1,400 people, The Glens Falls Times reported. “Even though you’re a Democrat, you’ll admit that Coolidge has some ability.” The Times weighed in again on the feat on May 28th, saying “Coolidge shook hands with 1,420 in less than half an hour, which is what comes from from milking cows when young.”
- Former U.S. Sen. Chauncey Depew, R-N.Y., was asked when he was in his 90s if he had a regular exercise routine. “No, I keep fit by acting as pall bearer for my friends who do,” he quipped, The Post-Star reported on June 19, 1930. Depew, who lived until about a month before his 94th birthday, often joked about old age. “Chauncey Depew announces that he will take up golf when he is 100. – Probably on the theory that the second 100 years are the easiest,” The Glens Falls Times chimed in on May 1, 1924.
- Former President Benjamin Harrison arrived in Saratoga Springs from the west for a visit at the winter home of his daughter, Mrs. James R. McKee, The Morning Star reported on Oct. 17, 1895.
- This is not a recommended weight-loss plan. “Governor Smith has lost 11 pounds and has been ‘worked up to a white heat’ in his conflict with legislative leaders over the executive budget, tax reduction and other issues. The governor disclosed his loss of weight and the state of his mind at a dinner in New York City,” The North Creek Enterprise reported on April 2.
- Mother nature smiled on Atlanta when President Grover Cleveland visited on Oct. 23, 1895. “No brighter or balmier sun shone over this particular portion of the southland than that which dawned on Presidential Day at the Cotton States International Exposition,” The Morning Star reported on Oct. 25.
- Smith, the Times Building Tailor of Glens Falls, offered a free pair of trousers, valued at up to $10, to the person who could most closely guess the plurality in the upcoming state treasurer’s race, The Morning Star reported on Oct. 25, 1895. Gambling on elections was common in the 19th century, you can read about there here.
- Franklin Pierce had a Buy American distinction. “The first American service of China and glassware ever furnished to the White House has been manufactured by order of the President. It is said to be of exquisite make, superior to the foreign productions.” The Elizabethtown Post reported on July 15, 1853.
- Here’s a fun fact from 1881. — “Of the men who ran on the four presidential tickets of 1860, only one is alive today – Hanibal Hamlyn of Maine,” the Elizabethtown Post & Gazette reported on May 19, 1881.
- Missouri Gov. H. C. Handley and New York Times Publisher Adolph Ochs were among those who attended a society dance at The Sagamore Hotel in Bolton Landing, The Lake George Mirror reported on July 18, 1925.
Some Editorial Wit
- “Chauncey M. Depew is 91 years old, and ‘Uncle Joe’ Cannon 89. That is not much, in mere years. Any Galapagos turtle can beat it, several times, and doubtless many men in many ages.” – The Glens Falls Times, May 18, 1925.
- “Senator Wadsworth is probably repeating the old nursery rhyme, ‘Stick and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” – Ticonderoga Sentinel, April 30, 1925.
- “Some of the state political platforms this year are perfect models of how not to say things.” – The Morning Star, Oct. 24, 1895.
- “The champion gymnasts of the year 1895 are the experts who dodged issues in the political platforms.” – The Morning Star, Oct. 24, 1895.
- “An exchange says that March came in like a western congressman and went out like an Independent Republican.” – The Post & Gazette of Elizabethtown, April 7, 1881.
Illustration: A New York Times pressman checking a newspaper for defects in 1942.
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