March 16, 1928
The most comprehensive collection of prints and paintings of old Brooklyn that has ever been assembled in the Borough is now on view on the fourth floor of the Brooklyn Museum. The collection was brought together by the Brooklyn Heights Association and given its first showing of their recent meeting at the Packer Collegiate Institute. It consists of approximately one hundred prints and the oldest scene is a picture of Fulton Ferry in 1740, when its situation was barren and bleak. Nearby is another grandiose picture of the same spot in 1863 showing the very elaborate iron building which adorned the place at this time. Another interesting picture is the Fleet Mansion in 1830 which stood on the present site of the Dime Savings Bank building. There is also an interesting set of five lithographs in color from the shop of A. Brown in New York, setting forth the glories of the Sanitary Fair in 1864. One of the most amusing pictures is that of the first fire engine ever used in Brooklyn and there are two other items that are also touched with humor. The first is a small one posted on June 13, 1833 in which it was tactfully suggested to the citizens that it would be a good idea to remove vehicles from the principal streets at certain hours as the President of the United States was going to visit the city. This may be one of the earliest traffic notices in Brooklyn. The other one is the picture of a stream of people crossing to New York on the ice in 1852, an event which excited tremendous public interest, if one can judge by the crowds watching the event and participating in it. Two rather elaborate prints are the large broadside of Butterick and Company's Quarterly Report of New York fashions in the winter of 1872 and 1873 done in color and the fireworks display on the Brooklyn Bridge at the opening of that structure.
Loans have been made by four groups and several individuals. The Long Island Historical Society has lent two dozen, the Brooklyn Club ten, the Brooklyn Edison Company sixteen and Packer Institute two. Individuals who have made loans are Mrs. Glentworth R. Butler, Mr. Harry J. Davenport, Mrs. Clarence R. Hyde, Mrs. Fred L. Johanns, Mr. William G. Kelso, Jr., Mrs. Stephen Loines, Mrs. David Lanman, Mrs. Ralph H. Pomeroy and Mrs. George Prentiss.
The exhibition will be on view at the Museum until June second.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1916 - 1930. 01-03/1928, 046-7. View Original
