Category Archives: Collections
Camp Tamaqua
Bob Calabro published his book “Tamaqua: Remembering Hoboken Y’s Camp Tamaqua 1955-1965” in 2016. In 2017, the Hoboken Historical Museum hosted the first Camp Tamaqua Reunion. With Bob’s help, the Museum is building a Camp Tamaqua archive at the Museum πηγή του άρθρου. The first step is to present Bob’s book here, and let everyone know that I’ve set up an email address camptamaqua@hobokenmuseum.org, which you can use to send Tamaqua-specific queries and comments. Once we get moving, there will be more added to our Collections database, and I’ll make updates here, too.
I’ve set up some Albums with the photos that Bob and Alice Galmann have shared. Click the links below! If you have a Google account, you’ll be able to add comments the photos.
Activities – Facilities – Staff
Here are some PDFs with Tamaqua song lyrics, enjoy!
Camp Tamaqua Songs #1 – Camp Tamaqua Songs #2 – Camp Tamaqua Songs #3
– Rand Hoppe
Collections Manager, Hoboken Historical Museum
Archives & Research Center
Collections of artifacts and documents are the heart and soul of any museum. The public sees glimpses of it in the items and images on display during our one or two themed exhibits each year, but most are carefully stored away for posterity.
The Hoboken Museum’s first exhibition, “Hoboken’s Changing Scenes,” opened in November 1986 in display cases at City Hall, featuring vintage postcard views of early 1900s Hoboken, side-by-side with present-day photographs. Museum founder Jim Hans donated the postcards to inaugurate the Museum’s permanent collection.
Catalogued, digitally scanned and packed in archival boxes by David Webster, our former Collections Manager, the Museum’s collections grew to over 100,000 items during his tenure. After David passed away in 2015, the Museum created the David Webster Memorial Fund to begin raising funds to expand and modernize our collections operations.The Museum’s collections have been growing ever since, through generous donations, strategic purchases and salvage, such as racks of police mug shots from the 1920s, or business signs like Apicella’s leaping swordfish and the 12-foot-high neon “Last Drop” from the iconic Maxwell House Coffee sign. Our space (pictured above) is maxed out.
To date, we have raised over $40,000, with a goal of raising $100,000 to create The Hoboken Museum Archives and Research Center (conceptual rendering at left), where we can welcome visitors and researchers to explore Hoboken’s history, and our new Collections Manager, Randolph Hoppe, can continue cataloguing and digitizing our ever-expanding collections.
Any amount is appreciated, just choose one of the categories below. To donate your own amount; simply scroll down to click on the button in the lower right corner.
PS – David will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him. His legacy lives on in the highly searchable online collections catalogue on our website.
Gifts and Acquisitions
A selective offering of some recent gifts and purchases. Clicking on an image or link will open it in a new window.
Testimonial Dinner Tendered to Marty [Martin] Veth, Union Club (Hoboken), March 17, 1962. Black-and-white group photo, catalog 2012.023.0001. Gift of Patrick Lombardi who worked at the Bethlehem Steel Hoboken Shipyard from 1957-1968. The dinner was a retirement party for Veth, the Hoboken yard superintendent. Lombardi was present with his wife among the hundreds of attendees.
Randolph Hoppe donated three Hoboken business letterheads (accession 2012.022) with engraved images of their buildings. R.B. Davis Sales (1933), the distribution arm for Davis Baking Powder and Cocomalt, The Independent Sugar Refinery Co., New York, (1901) showing their Hoboken Refinery and the Steneck Trust Building (1912), a bank building still seen at First and River Streets.
Arthur E. Miller donated a group of items (accession 2012.021) that belonged to his father, Arthur Edwin Miller, who was Hoboken born-and-raised. He worked at Keuffel & Esser Co. in Hoboken from his late teens in the 1930s to the mid-1950s. Among the items were his ID badge with holder and an Army-Navy ‘E’ Award to Keuffel & Esser Co., Hoboken, N.J., issued to employee Arthur E. Miller, Nov. 4, 1942. It included the pamphlet about the award and K&E plus a presentation envelope. This was the third of seven awards – see another, different style pin here – K&E was one of only 13 companies to receive as many as seven for their World War II efforts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Collections
Our on-line catalog is at hoboken.pastperfectonline.com and as of 2015 it is mobile adaptive for use on phones and tablets. On a DESKTOP or LAPTOP, this link brings you to a SEARCH TIPS screen. To do a search, use the buttons at the top to see Random Images or enter words most likely to fulfill your interest. On PHONES, due to screen size, the SEARCH TIPS is the welcome page and you have choice of two buttons: KEYWORD SEARCH or RANDOM IMAGES. The database is also available through Google or other search providers except for the most recent records.
The database represents over a third of our holdings with cataloging work diligently proceeding on the other materials along with digitization and transcription. We believe that the offerings available provide a respectable overview of the collections and, as a small museum with typical limited resources, useful detail regarding Hoboken history
Yes, we can make prints for most items with some subject to copyright, donor or technical restrictions. For usage other than personal use, contact Museum collections ( collections@ hobokenmuseum.org or 201-656-2260) for availability, current pricing and any restrictions.
All prints are digital inkjet prints on a semi-gloss paper, without a matte or frame. We offer a variety of sizes, from 8×11 to 13×19 at the same price: $25 per image. (Some popular images are offered in our online store.)
Prints up to 24” wide can be made for some images and the price will be quoted upon request. Special requirements regarding cropping or sizing for mattes can be considered, although charges may be made depending on the project.
In the database is an ORDER IMAGE email button (below every image) that can be used to order that specific image. Just fill in the form and send. (Note: you cannot order or pay for prints from the collections database in the online Museum Store; we will contact you to arrange payment.) Generally, orders are fulfilled within a week of receiving it.
No, the watermark only appears on the web images which are low resolution and not intended for printing.
We offer a 16×20 black frame with matte for 12×16 prints. Price: $75 including print. Local pick-up only and stock is limited.
Not every building or address in Hoboken will be found in our catalogue.
Try the name as a KEYWORD SEARCH using quotes around the name. Also under ADVANCED SEARCH make sure to click the PEOPLE box at the top. Remember that the spelling of names often varied over the years as well as first names (i.e. Philip – Phillip or nicknames, Dom for Dominic or Dominick.) Genealogy is one use for the database that we are constantly trying to improve.
Some of these files are available in the on-line database along with video, audio and similar files using the MULTIMEDIA LINK. Note that some of these are large files and may take a while to download or display; your capability with mobile devices will vary.
Yes, use the SEND FEEDBACK button (at top of every page) to tell us what you know and also, what may be incomplete or incorrect. Just complete the form and send. After our review, the information may be compiled in the record and credited as appropriate.
Use the EMAIL PAGE button (at top of every page.) Just complete the form and send.
You can see selected items from the collections that are on exhibition in the current main exhibition, but the collections themselves are not on permanent display. The Museum’s home is dedicated to changing exhibitions and programs and regrettably does not have room for permanent displays. Collections are housed off-site in a secure, non-public space.
Due to limited space and staff, research access is restricted. While all inquiries receive attention, we are unable to allow access to the storage areas. It is not a browsing collection as most items are boxed, shelved and stored in an appropriate manner; they can be retrieved for specific need.