The Art of Pastry: Frank Cordaro's La Deliziosa

The following interview was conducted in 2002 as part of a Dutchess County Arts Council Folk Arts Program project documenting ethnic bakeries in the region. The project explored the role of ethnic bakeries in sustaining cultural traditions—not only through the creation of traditional baked goods—but also through providing centers for community life and viable business opportunities for some immigrant communities. Using these interviews, folklorist Jean Crandall and Folk Arts Program intern Jill Stein created displays about the area's ethnic bakeries and their traditional pastries for the 2002 One River, Many Streams Folk Festival.

The Dutchess County Arts Council Folk Arts Program researches and presents the cultural heritage of diverse communities through educational public programs that explore and interpret the traditions of ethnic, occupational and religious groups in the Mid-Hudson Valley.

The work of the Folks Arts Program demonstrates how oral history can emerge from many sources in the community. Project goals may vary by individual organization, but the overall results ultimately enrich our knowledge and awareness of local history and traditions.

Jill Stein: ...You told me last week a little bit about the history of the shop [La Deliziosa Pastry Shoppe, 10 Mount Cannel Place, Poughkeepsie]. But if! could get the official story of how this shop began...

Frank Cordaro: Okay, let's see. In 1974, the shop was opened. Prior to that, the owner, Mike Buonaiuto...

JS: How do you spell that?

FC: B U O N A I U T O. Which means "good help."

JS: Was he? (laughs)

FC: Oh, yeah. He trained me. He was working at Caffe Aurora, I believe 17 years, and never really planned on making permanent roots here in America. He learned from his dad—who learned from his dad. And he had a villa in Naples. And really.. .his heart was there. He really didn't want to come back [to America]. He just came here because his wife was from here, and his kids started growing up here... [but] his heart was there [in Naples]. And he felt that they would be happy there. So they moved, they packed up, sold their house.. .he was our neighbor. So our houses were right next to each other, and that's how we knew them...

JS: Was it in this area?

FC: It was uptown.When uptown was uptown. So they sold their house, they moved back to Naples. And I believe five or six months later, they moved back [to Poughkeepsie]. The kids couldn't take it. So he decided if he was gonna be here, he was gonna open a business. And he opened this place-1974.

JS: Had he been in a baking family in Italy?

FC: Yes.

JS: Okay.

FC: His father, I believe his father. I know it's definitely two generations before him. So, I mean. ..when they made their sponge cake, they whipped it by hand. It was very—Good morning, afternoon! (customers walk in)—there was very little machinery. I mean when they made cakes, they made two or three a day. Where we would make like 15, 20, 30, 40.. .depending on what's going on. So you couldn't possibly do what we do, and how much we produce, in the old-fashioned way. And, you know, the copper pot—when they made meringue, [it] was just hand-whipped, half an hour. [Today] it's like, turn the machine on and walk away (laughs). We are spoiled. So he opened up in 1974. I started working here...

JS: So he was doing things that way back then, when he opened the store in the 70s?

FC: No, no. They already modernized. We already had three Hobart machines, which are mixers.. .The oven we had then we still have now. I

La Deliziosa Italian Pastry Shoppe on Mt. Carmel Place in Poughkeepsie

still have not bought another oven. It's what we call a two-stack Hobart, which is just two small ovens. They only fit four pans each, and we do all our baking out of that. So it's a lot of planning and organizing. We're used to it now, but it would be nice to have another oven.

JS: So then you started working here...

FC: Then I started working here when I was 13. Actually, it was just before my 14th birthday.

JS: So you were friends with their family? You were neighbors?

FC: Yes, and I just decided.. .It's funny. I had just started high school, and I was planning on getting a job, and there was a drugstore up around the corner on Washington Street. And I was going to apply for a job as a stock boy, and they had just hired one. Because someone had told me they were looking. I walked down the street, uh, Verrazano, which has Caffe Aurora one block to the left and here, La Deliziosa, one block to the right.

JS: Yeah.

FC: And I was at the corner.. .crossroads of my life.. .deciding whether I should go to Caffe first, which I knew them very well, or come here first.

JS: Right (laughs).

FC: I swear, like it was yesterday, I remember standing at the corner, looking to the left, looking to the right, which way should I go. And I decided to come here, and I started working that day. I never told my parents...

JS: I guess they needed help.

FC: Yeah, it was just two bakers.

JS: So what did you start doing?

FC: Cleaning (laughs). And I remember, just right from the first day, I went into the kitchen. Everything was like odd and foreign because, you know, I'd never been in a kitchen before, a professional kitchen.

JS: Um, hmm.

FC: And it was really interesting. I started out as a pot washer and graduated from there. I was here about two months before I touched my first pastry. Today we get people right in, people that I'm training in the kitchen.. .no time waste. You're gonna learn, you're gonna learn fast. Most people...

JS: But they're not thirteen years old!

FC: No, no, of course not. That's true, that's a good point. And I remember it was two months after I was here, my first pastry. It must have taken me 45 minutes to make six pastry, which now takes about three, four minutes.

JS: Do you remember what you made?

FC: Yeah, Cannoli Neapolitan. It's one of the simpler pastries, but I re-

member I was just trying to make them perfect. Now I don't even think twice about it, but it's very interesting.

JS: So how did you learn from that point forward?

FC: Hands-on. I worked every day after school, Saturday and Sunday. I was doing probably about 30 hours a week, and then up to 80 during a holiday.. .but then I wasn't in school. I learned the hard way.

JS: So he would just sort of show you how to do things, or you would watch?

FC: Yeah, just hands-on. There was no watching, there was just...

JS: Doing.

FC: Well, there was. Yeah, he was just, "Try this. ..Okay, you can't do this yet. Go do something else." And then we always made our creams by hand, which we still do. I just have a machine that mixes it now. But there was always young people working here. He trained a lot, and a lot of people come back, and.. .Oh, I remember this. He had a very strong Italian accent. He used to always have jokes about certain words and then, when we'd see someone, we'd just say a few words and just start having a good time with that. It's very funny.

JS: He would laugh at that also?

FC: No, he didn't! (laughs). We wouldn't say it when he was in the room.

JS: I see... So at what point did you take over the business?

FC: I worked for him for ten years and in 1984, with my folks' help, we purchased it. My mom worked in the front, I worked in the back, and up until two years ago.. .my mom stopped working here. She passed away last year, and that's it. And I feel very fortunate that I came here, that I got an education, and I got paid.

JS: Yeah.. .that's a good deal.

FC: And I didn't expect then, when I first started working here, baking

wasn't considered a profession. It was considered menial labor. And a lot of things have changed in the country, where, you know, a little bit of Emeril—and Julia Child really pushed. But that was more the French line [of] cooking then; but now more the pastry arts. With Culinary's [The Culinary Institute's] help, really makes people realize that it is an art form.

JS: Um, hmm.

FC: And I don't know half of it.

JS: It seems like you know a lot (pointing to bakery cases).

FC: I know a lot of this line, but there's so much to learn. I'd really love to work with sugar. To do, learn, pull sugar and that type of thing.

JS: What is that for... for candies?

Frank Cordaro

FC: Uh, no.. .pulled sugar, if you've ever seen—they make roses out of them. They make animals. It's just endless what can be done. It's along the lines of how [in] ice carving, you create shapes and things with it. Ice, sugar, sugar sculptures. Also, butter sculptures. I've done butter sculptures. Where you literally take a specific type of butter—it's not your regular kitchen butter—there's ones that can sit out. And I've done like Mickey Mouse carvings; and I did a butter sculpture—well, butter and candy sculpture—out at the entrance to the South Hills mall, when they had their—not South Hills, Galleria Mall—when they had their second anniversary. You know, it's just...

JS: It's just for decoration.

FC: Yeah. It's definitely not an edible (laughs). Well, you could eat the sugar but it's just pure sugar. It's not something you...

JS: Sounds good to me.

FC: It's just for beauty.

JS: Well, tell me about the kinds of things you do make, especially that would be considered traditional Italian?

FC: Okay. One of our popular things that people come in for is Biscotti.

JS: Okay.

FC: Biscotti traditionally is what is known as "twice baked." A lot of our items are twice baked, and then some are in their own natural state very crunchy. So they're known as Biscotti, but they're not really a Biscotti by its true nature. The true nature is...

JS: But they're still called that.

FC: But they are still considered a Biscotti. Like, your Anise Toast and the Chocolate Chip Toast there, they are the type where you normally see. They're baked in a loaf, sliced and then toasted, laid on their side and then re-baked. So they have the toast, the toasted look.

JS: Uh, huh.

FC: Like the Quaresimali, the almond and filbert cookies there. They, after they're baked, they air dry; and they get extremely crunchy. We never say "hard" here.. .everything's crunchy.

JS: Okay (laughs). But those are not twice-baked.

FC: They're not twice baked. Actually, the Chocolate Chip Toast, the Anise Toast we do. Oh, the Angel and Devil there—the almond and the pecan—and the Biscotti Neapolitan are the only ones in there [in the display casej...I do a cranberry, cranberry-walnut also, just on the holidays.

But that's the only true Biscotti. Other than that, I think they're mostly considered traditional favorites.

JS: And those would be just year-round?

FC: Yeah. I almost always have these. Another thing, the Cuccidari are...

JS: The second ones from the left?

FC: Yes, the sign's not on there. They are a fig-filled cookie.

JS: How do you spell those?

FC: C U C C I D A R I. Now Cuccidari is what today everyone knows as a Fig Newton. It's a pastry. It's, you know, like a cookie pastry on the outside and a fig filling. But I think someone that made Cuccidari said, "Let's mass-produce." And I believe Fig Newton was born that way. I don't know that for a fact. But it is the same concept. So I really think that somewhere along the lines, some Italian said, "Hey, let's get rich!" (laughs)

JS: There's some money to be made here!

FC: I have a few ideas of my own, but I don't seem to move on them. The pignoli cookies and the sugar macaroons are traditionally known as Amaretti.

JS: Both of those are?

FC: Yes, they're different versions of the same cookie.

JS: Because there's like almond in them?

FC: Yes, the dough is made with the almond paste—that's A M A R E T T I—Amaretti. They're fiourless. So I have a lot of people that come in looking for fiourless cookies. Also the cookies over there, the Coconoli—the white and the chocolate. They're known as "Brutti ma Buoni," which is "Ugly but Good."

JS: (laughs) Okay...

FC: We've gotten it down, so they always look nice. But they used to always break or they'd puff to left and right, they'd crack, they'd always look terrible.

JS: Do people actually call them that, or is that just...?

FC: They just point at them and say, "Can I have those?"...I don't know if their traditional name is "Brutti ma Buoni," but I do know that the real name is Coconoli. I don't know if..different regions...

JS: Right.

FC: You can have one cookie and have seventeen names.

JS: Right.

FC: There are so many regions, so...

JS: That was my other question. Do you have things from a particular region or is it all...?

Pastry case at La Deliziosa

FC: Certain things, in the pastry, you can tell regions a lot more easily. Custards tend to be more northern, and Naples—a lot of our pastries

that I know are from Naples because the man I learned from was from Naples. The Cannoli everyone knows, with or without the filling, is a Sicilian Cannoli.

JS: Right.

FC: And then we have a Cannoli Napolitan, which is a cookie-shell log with a little bit of sponge cake soaked with rum in the center and custard on the outside dipped in chocolate. That's a Cannoli Napolitan. See, I don't know where their origins are. I don't know all the origins. But I do know that we make a Baba Rum, which is a sweet yeast bread soaked in rum, and the custard one is mainly from Naples; where the Cannoli-filling one comes from Sicily. Sicilians are farmers, a lot of dairy, ricotta...I was in Sicily before I started working here—the summer before I started working here, so I was thirteen. And I had no idea that I would be going into the bakeries.. .because I remember about four bakeries in my mom's home town. I remember walking by there every day, `cause I used to play outside and stuff.. .but I never, actually going in, looking around, trying to talk to the baker—my Italian isn't that good.

JS: You didn't know at that point.. .So you were born here.

FC: I was born here, yeah. Born and raised in the U.S.A.! (laughs)

JS: Are both your parents from Italy?

FC: Both my parents were born in the same hometown in Sicily.

JS: Okay. What town was that?

FC: San Giovanni Gemini...

JS: So when did they come over to the U.S.?

FC: Oh, geez. Let's see, my grandmother was born here.

JS: Okay...

FC: Well, let me backtrack quick. My grandfather was born in Sicily, on my dad's side. And my grandmother, her parents came here.. .turn of the century, I believe. And my grandmother was born here and her mom

had gotten sick. And the doctor said go back, she misses her country, and that's why she's sick.

JS: Right.

FC: So, she was two when she went back to Sicily.

JS: Your grandmother was two.

FC: My grandmother was two. My grandmother was a citizen, a United States citizen. So when the war [broke out], my dad was like, I'm going, I'm going to America. We had a lot of family still here. He's like, I'm not fighting for the Italian army. I'm going to America.

JS: So your grandmother got married in Sicily, and raised her family there...

FC: My grandmother got married in Italy. My grandfather had a HUGE farm, and he grew all kinds of nuts. He had nut trees, and he had a lot of fruit trees. So he had a huge farm. And my dad decided, he was the first one to come here out of everyone that was living there. He came here for about a year. My sister was born in Italy, and my mom and my sister stayed there. And then they came back [to America]. My dad and my mom...my mom and dad got married. My mom was 16, my dad was 17. Crazy!

JS: Wow.

FC: Happily married.

JS: So I'm wondering about the kinds of things you make that might be seasonal, for Italian celebrations.

FC: Uh, let's see. What I've found.. ..I'm getting it more and more every year: People that buy things for holidays strengthen what their past holidays were—with their grandparents that have passed away. And today's society, where they don't have the time or the inclination—they definitely don't have the desire to do them [baking traditional pastries]—but they still want them in their life. So they're like, "Oh, can you make this? Oh, my grandmother used to make it. I don't know how to make it. I have the recipe, but I have absolutely no idea...I can't even read it."

You know, that type of thing.

JS: Right, right.

FC: So they're like, "Oh, do you make this?" "Yes." Like the Angel Wings, they're a fried dough.

JS: Um, hmmm.

FC: We make the Honey Balls, which are deep-fried dough. And we roll it in honey and cinnamon and orange peel.

JS: Is that for a certain time of year?

FC: Yeah, that's traditionally Christmas, but we tend to make it for Thanksgiving.. .Our three main holidays are Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. But there's holidays going all along. St. Joseph's Day is a big holiday that most of the Italians celebrate, that a lot of Americans don't know of. But we're trying to spread the word.

JS: Is that in the Spring?

FC: That is two days after St. Patty's...So it's the 19th. And this year, we had St. Patty's Day—and we make a mean Irish soda bread—Maria's half Irish, that works in back, and she's got a family recipe, so... St. Patty's Day, then two days later was St. Joseph's. And then.. .that was Friday.. .and then three days later was Palm Sunday, and then a week later was Easter.

JS: Oh, so you were really busy...

FC: It was a killer. It was tough this year. We mold chocolate for Easter as well. We do about five or six hundred pounds of milk, semi-sweet, and white chocolate. We have old, antique molds that we mold and decorate. It's another tradition people have here. I have people coming.. .it makes me feel old. "Oh, when I was a kid..." You know, these grown men... "When I was a kid, I used to come here to get my candies, and now I'm getting it for my kids." I'm like, oh my god!

JS: (laughs) That's funny. So what kinds of things, what do you make for St. Joseph's Day?

FC: St. Joseph's, yeah. We have two pastry. One's called Zeppole—Z E P P O L E. And that is from Naples. The St. Joseph's pastry from Naples, which is custard and cherry—it has a filling. And the doughs are the same, but they're prepared a little differently. ...If you've ever seen a French Cruller...

JS: Um, hmm.

FC: That's what Zeppole look like. Sliced in half, put a little custard and cherry in it, and then you top it with a little more custard. Sfinge is.. .looks like a baked potato. The best way to describe it is it looks like an Idaho potato. It's hollow. We squoosh it, fill it with cannoli cream or ricotta, and you top it with candied fruit. And it's supposed to be shaved chocolate, but we use chocolate sprinkles. It's easier.

JS: Yeah. And you only make those for that time of year?

FC: We make them again for holidays. It used to only be for St. Joseph's, but people tend to... "Oh, please, make them...." So, we make them for Christmas and sometimes for [unintelligible]. We have them from St. Joseph's straight through to Easter. And, uh, they're tasty. Again, they're fried. They're a fried dough also. So, people tend to not pay attention to cholesterol when...

JS: During the holidays (laughs).

FC: When it's the holidays, yes (laughs).

JS: Do you know much about the history [of the neighborhood]? I mean, it used to be predominantly Italian, and I don't know if it is anymore, and how that's shifted.

FC: No, no. Because everybody's moving. My family's all over the country now, so... When I was a kid, I remember some of the stores... Aiena's was here. I used to go to Mt. Carmel [Church], right across the street. And I remember Aiena's. Actually Aiena's was on this corner. Sardi's and...there was another deli, another little store down the street. Now these places were wood floors, dark and dingy, ,shelves...you walked in...

JS: The real Old Style.

FC: It was like scaly. It was like real Old World.

JS: Like, where am!?

FC: That's the way it was...Just thinking back.. .like you would see a picture of an old store, a picture from maybe sixty, seventy years ago. And that's the way it was, oh, probably about twenty-five years ago. Well, thirty years ago. I'm getting older!

JS: (laughs)

FC: I keep thinking, it's not that long ago, but it is! (laughs)

JS: I guess there wasn't a need as much any more, because people had moved away.

FC: Well, when so many people lived in the area, no one had cars. There was a fish market. This used to be a meat market. So we had a meat market, a fish market, there was about four or five grocers. There used to be a gas pump, right in front of the pizzeria. So, what did you, I mean, you didn't need to leave the neighborhood.

JS: Right.

FC: There was a tailor up the street. Anything you can think of was probably here. Anything you needed.

JS: Let me just ask you one more thing. What do you think is the community that you serve now? Is it predominantly Italian-American families, or is it just people who want Italian pastries? Plus...

FC: Well, I think that there's a little Italian in everybody.

JS: Yeah (laughs), that's true.

FC: I don't even know now who's Italian when they come in. When I first opened the store, I always had the little Italian ladies coming in. Now the little old ladies that are coming in, I don't know if they're Italian anymore, because you can't tell. A lot of people have lost their accents, and you know, it's a strong mix now... .1 can remember a time, when if a Black person came into the store, it was like, "Whoa..."

La Deliziosa has been in business at the same location in the Mt. C a niel neighborhood since 1974.

JS: It was rare.

FC: You know, now it's like very common, which is great, because people like sweets. ..if you like a cannoli, you like a cannoli. You don't have to be Italian to enjoy it.

JS: Have you changed your products at all based on...?

FC: We've reduced the amount of sugar in a lot of our products.

JS: Um, hmm.

FC: The way I could describe it is a lot of the stuff we used to make, a lot of the [unintelligible] was throat-sweet. As soon as you tasted it,

you would almost need a drink of water because it was so sweet. But that's how it was, that's the way it used to be. I don't like it that way, and my other chef Maria, we used to be like, "Well, how can we make it a little less. ..a little more palatable," you know. So we changed a lot of the recipes. Just enough, but we've also made them so they last a little more...I've probably doubled the product list.

JS: Um, hmm.

FC: When we made cookies years ago, we made like three batches of cookies, and that was all our cookies. Now we make maybe 10 or 12 batches. Now, when I say one batch, there might be like eight different cookies out of that one batch. [I] Make cut-out dough.. .it might be half-moons, it might be chocolate-chips that are oval, with peanut butter chips, and we do sandwich cookies, and that's all just that one type. ...We make real fruit ones. ..the strawberries, the grapes, the pistachio, the orange, the lemon. Mocha, and then we do them with the walnuts on it. So butter cookies, or what we call our dip and fill type. So we make like all sandwich cookies with them, and we make ones that are like shells and dip them and sprinkle them with chocolate.

JS: So those are new things that you've added.

FC: Yeah. We've really strengthened the variety.. .With the miniature pastries, we've done different things. If we found something wasn't selling, we'd change it all. And the strong rule of thumb is: if it's not selling, add chocolate.

JS: (laughs)

FC: ...We used to throw a lot of a particular pastry away. It wouldn't sell. You know, we'd make it every morning, it wouldn't sell. So we'd throw it away. Well, we stopped eating them.. .because there's only so much you can eat. That's why I don't make Croissants any more, because they wouldn't sell, and I just kept eating them.

JS: (laughs)

FC: So one particular pastry, we changed the filling a little. We just made it a little lighter, put chocolate on top.. .1 can't keep it in the store. It's much better than throwing them out.

JS: Oh, yeah.

FC: And a lot of them are more Americanized. Like our Napoleans. There used to be a way we made them before. Now we make them like the traditional way the French do. Like the Bavarian. It's very light, and the icing on top. Where before, it used to be powdered sugar. So it's definitely more.. .whatever the customer wants.

JS: Where do you get your recipes from?

FC: Anywhere. I've picked up recipes in magazines. I do research. I go to Barnes and Nobles and just look through, and if something looks good...Some people, you know, [say], "I had this. I'd really like to see if you can make it for me." Alright, and it's a family recipe, and it's good. It's mine now! (laughs) Why not?

JS: Do you still make any of the stuff that you learned when you first started here?

FC: The majority, the majority. All the Biscotti. Like the Bow Ties we made always, but we added Chocolate Bow Ties to it. The Chocolate Chip Toast is a spin-off of the Anise Toast. We drop the anise flavor and we add chocolate chips. Cranberry Toast, same thing. So we take one particular recipe and...

JS: Innovate?

FC: ...we spin on [it]. Yeah, we get bored! I've been doing this 28 years.

JS: Yeah, keep it interesting.

FC: I've been doing this 28 years. Chocolate Quaresimali was an original...we just added the cinnamon.

JS: Do you have one thing that you think is like your specialty?

FC: Cannoli tends to be the big, most popular, most known... it's like a slice of pizza. Everybody knows a Cannoli.

JS: Right. And everyone loves a Cannoli!

(This interview transcript was reprinted courtesy of Frank Cordaro and the Dutchess County Arts Council Folk Arts Program.)

INDEX

Aeolus 43 Allen, F.J. 104 Anderson, Julia Hill 120 Ariel 51 Ashton, Leonora Sill 72-78 Astor House 104 Avalanche 42 Bailey, Dr. Guy C. 95, 97, 98, 102, 103, 104 Barksdale, Susan (Sudie) 120121 Baron, Dr. J.C. 42 Bartlett, Edward O. 17 Black History Committee of Dutchess County Historical Society 118-119 Blacks chippie joints 120-121; church life 123; discrimination 123, 124, 126-128, 129-130, 131, 132; education 127-128, 129130, 131, 132-133; employment 123, 131, 132; farm jobs 124, 125,-126; migrant workers 125-126, 128; politics 121 122-123, 130-131 Blass, Mary Jane (see also Mrs. Robert C. Workman) 94, 98, 99, 100 Blizzard of 1888 58 Blodgett, Stephen 125-126 Blodgett's Farm 125-126 Briggs, Samantha 99-100 Brown, Samuel 98 Browne, Edith 112 Buckhout, Jacob 47, 48 Buckhout, Lewis D. 53 Buonaiuto, Mike 181, 182, 183, 185 Burroughs, John 72-79 Caesarians (see Medical) Caffe Aurora 182, 183, 184 Calhoun, Gilbert 80-86 Cary, Edward F. 88-93 Churchill, Winston 82 Civil War army formations 14; Atlanta 7-9; casualties 4-6; Chicamauga 2;

Confederate attitudes 8, 10-11, 14, 15; the dead 2, 15; families of soldiers in Dutchess County 12-14; Grand Review of troops 15-16; Lincoln's assassination 14; Marietta, seige of 5; noncombatants 3, 6, 7; Peach Tree

Creek, Battle of 6-7; Pine Hill,

Battle of 5; prayer meetings 3;

Reseca, Battle of 3-5, 12; Richmond, taking of 14-15; salary of soldiers 8-9; slaves 10-11; Union attitudes 8, 11, 14, 16-17 Clearwater 160 Cordaro, Frank 181-197 Crumwold 46 Curran, Tubby 83 Davids, George W. Jr. 49, 66-71 Davids, George W. Sr. 66 Davy Crockett Hook and Ladder 68 Deliziosa (see La Deliziosa)

Deyo, Gertrude 94, 96, 97, 98, 101, 104 Dobson, Dr. William G. 60 Dodge, Cornelia Annie 30, 34 Dodge, LeRoy 34-35 Drake, Lillian Husband 127-128 Dutchess Community Action Agency 160 Dutchess County Folk Arts Program 181 Dutchess County Historical Society, history of 64 Earthquake of San Francisco 68-69 Edwards, Dorothy L. 130-131 Evans, Robley D. 68 Fala 85-86 FDR 45 FDR gravesite 80-83 Fishkill Farms 126 Flash 51 Gallup, C.H. 51 Garrison Train Wreck 69 Gibson, Robert 52 Graves, Lucy 122, 126-127 Gravestone inscriptions 63 Griggs, James A. 104 Hamilton, Adolphus 27, 30, 32 Hamilton, Matilda 27, 30, 31 Hancock, Robert H. 124 Hawk 45 Hood, General John 6, 7, 8 Horton, Levi Daniel 124-125 Hudson River 12-13, 49, 53 (see also Ice Yachting) Hudson River Ice Yacht Club 41 Hudson River Valley Institute 165 Hughes, James A. 103-108 IBM 123, 125, 136 Ice Yachting accidents 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47; boats (see Icicle, Jack Frost, Avalanche, Northern Light,

Aeolus, Quick as a Wink,

Hawk, Vixen, Ariel, Flash); challenge pennant of America race 41, 42, 46; ; ice conditions 49; ice cracks 43-44, 49; Minnesota yachts 46; racing trains 40, 46, 50, 53; sailing conditions 40; sailing techniques 45, 47-49; spectators 40, 42, 43, 47, 53; speed 44, 45, 46, 48; size of races 41 Icicle 41, 45, 46 Jack Frost 42, 44, 46, 49, 50 Journalism scooping competitors 69-70; stealing stories 70-71 Karnofski, Martha (see also Mrs. Robert Ogden) 94, 95, 96, 97, 98 Kinkead, Cornelia 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 Kinkead, Elise Stewart Hamilton 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36-38, 39 Kinkead, Dr. John 26, 30-32, 34, 35 Kinkead, Elise 26-39 Kinkead, George 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 Kinkead, Jennie 27, 30, 32, 36-37, 39 Knickerbocker, Webster 91 Koenig, Caspar 89 Krieger, Dr. William A. 103 Krushchev, Nikita 86 La Deliziosa Pastry Shoppe 181-197; baker's training 184, 185, 186; baking methods 182, 183, 186; traditional baked goods 187-190,191-193,195-197

Lane, Dr. Charles 109 Lansing, Lewis E. 71 Linich, Billy (see Billy Name, Andy Warhol) Linlithgow 63 Livingston Woods 63, 96 Locust Bluff 104 Loedy, Ed 165-180 Luckey Platt 136 Luckey Platt and Company additions and expansions 89; advertising 88, 89; carpets 93; china dishes 93; display windows 88, 89; lighting 89; making change for customers 89-90; mannequins 88-89; merchandise 91-92, 93; price codes 92; store design 88; work hours 88 Lyman, Hannah 18-25 Mackey, Althea 98 Magill, Cecelia Bostic 126 Maine 66-68 Maple Grove 26-39 (see also Kinkeads) Mayflowers 64 Medical caesarians 59, 61-62; geographical territory in a physician's practice 57; house calls 60; night calls 58; nurses training 60-61, 95-102; physicians training 60; prescriptions 58; specialist practices 60, 61; surgery 55-57, 106; (see also

Vassar Brothers Hospital) Mid-Hudson Bridge 141, 166 Millbank, William 104 Miller, Gordon Schreiber 173177 Milton fire 69 Moreno, Vito 175-176 Morgan House 104 Morgan House fire 69 Morse, S.F.B. 29 Mt. Carmel Church 135 Mt. Carmel Neighborhood 193195 "My Day" column by Eleanor Roosevelt 81, 84, 86 Myers, Helen 87 Myrick, Ryland 132 Name, Billy (aka Billy Linich) artistic process 143, 144, 149, 163; early life in Poughkeepsie 135-136, 138; filmmaking 134, 143-146; leaving the Factory 156-161; life in the 1960s 157159; life in Poughkeepsie as an adult 160-163; meeting Andy

Warhol 138-139; role at the Factory 135, 141-143, 148, 153-154, 163 (see also Andy Warhol) New Hamburg Ice Yacht Club 44 Newspaper reporting (see journalism, George W. Davids Jr.) Night, Dick 41 Northern Light 42-43 Nurses (see Medical) Ogden, Mrs. Robert (see also Martha Karnofski) 94, 979, 98, 101 Old Men's Home (see Vassar Home for Aged Men) Parish, Tom 41 Patrice, Walter 121-123 Pest House (see also Vassar Brothers Hospital) 95, 96 Physicians (see Medical) Pop Art 134 (see also Billy Name, Andy Warhol) Poucher, Dr. J. Wilson 54-65, 98-99 (see also Medical, Vassar

Brothers Hospital) Poughkeepsie Cracker Bakery 17 Poughkeepsie Journal 87 (see also Journalism) Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge foreclosure by Dutchess County 174; redesigning and reusing 167-171, 179, 180 (see also Ed

Loedy, Gordon Schreiber Miller,

Vito Moreno, Bill Sepe, Walkway over the Hudson) Quick as a Wink 45,51 Rendes family 33, 39 (see also Maple Grove, Kinkeads) Reynolds, Helen Wilkinson 63, 64, 118, 120 Rhinebeck Hospital 57 Riverby 72, 74 Roads: travelling by horse and buggy 57-58, 59 Robert Main 72 Rogers, Archibald 42, 46-49, 50 (see also Ice Yachting) Roosevelt Johnny 82-83 Roosevelt Point 41 (see also Ice Yachting) Roosevelt, Eleanor 81, 82-86, 122 (see also "My Day" column) Roosevelt, Ellen 45 Roosevelt, Franklin Jr. 82-83 Roosevelt, John A. 41, 45-46, 48, 50, 51 (see also Ice Yachting) Roosevelt, Sara 84 Rosedale 45, 51 Sanford, E. Harrison 42 Schatz Federal Bearing Company 126-127 Scott, Thomas 52 Sepe, Bill 175, 177 Sherman, General W.T. 1-2, 8, 9, 11, 17 Sherman's March to the Sea 1, 9-11, 17 Shipyard Point 63 Silver Factory (see Billy Name, Andy Warhol) Sinatra, Frank 80 Slabsides 72, 74, 75-77, 78 Slavery (see Civil War) Smith Brothers Restaurant 68 Smith, Edward C. 91 Smith, William 52 Southwood 26, 27, 31, 37, 39 Spanish American War 66-68 St. James Church, Hyde Park 72 St. Simeon's Senior Apartments 33 Stewart, Audrey Myrick 131-133 Stone, Corporal Harry 5-6 Stoutenburgh, Blanche 109, 116 Stratford Theater 113-114 Sweetser family 29-30 Tamas, Fala's grandson 84 Tennis Club 62 Thompson mansion 33 Townsend, Dr. Howard 112 Trailing Arbutus 64 Travel, by horse and buggy (see Roads) Truman, Harry 80 Tuthill, Dr. Robert K. 58 Van Ingen, Henrik 107 Van Ingen, Henry 107 Van Keuren Lieutenant 7 Vassar Brothers Hospital 55, 60, 61, 94-102, 103-108, 131; ambulance 106; gate 107;

Pest House 95, 96; retaining wall 107; (see also Medical) Vassar College

Bible classes 25; chapel 22, 24, 25; Commencement 23;

dining hall 19-20, 23; dress 19, 21-22, 23; gate lodge 22; Main

Building 23; Silent Hour 25 Vassar Home for Aged Men 109-117 Vassar, Matthew Sr., home of 110, 116 Vaughn, Benjamin 129 Vaughn, Ethel Green 128-130 Vixen 50, 51, 52 Walkway Over the Hudson 165, 177, 179 Warhol, Andy artistic and personal power 150-153; artistic subject matter 134, 148-149, 152,154-156; attitude toward fame 149-150; death of 147; Silver Factory daily life 148, 163; Silver

Factory decor 134, 139-141, 142-143; shooting of 146, 156 (see also Billy Name) Wilderness estate 33 wildflowers 54, 64 Willett, Ada B. 109-117 Williams, Tennessee 147, 148 Wilson, Dr. John S. 61 Withers, Frederick Clark 95 Workman, Mrs. Robert C. (see also Mary Jane Blass) 94, 97, 99, 101 Wright, Norman 40-45, 51 (see also Ice Yachting)

Historical Societies of Dutchess County

Amenia Historical Society P.O. Box 22 Amenia, NY 12501

Beacon Historical Society P.O. Box 89 Beacon, NY 12508

Clinton Historical Society P.O. Box 122 Clinton Corners, NY 12514

Dover Historical Society N. Nellie Hill Road Dover Plains, NY 12522

East Fishkill Historical Society P.O. Box 245 Hopewell Junction, NY 12533

Fishkill Historical Society P.O. Box 133 Fishkill, NY 12524

Hyde Park Historical Society P.O. Box 182 Hyde Park, NY 12538

LaGrange Historical Society P.O. Box 112 LaGrangeville, NY 12540

Little Nine Partners Historical Society P.O. Box 243 Pine Plains, NY 12567

North East Historical Society P.O. Box 727 Millerton, NY 12546

Historical Society of Quaker Hill and Pawling, Inc. P.O. Box 99 Pawling, NY 12546 Pleasant Valley Historical Society P.O. Box 309 Pleasant Valley, NY 12569

Egbert Benson Historical Society of Red Hook P.O. Box 1813 Red Hook, NY 12571

Rhinebeck Historical Society P.O. Box 291 Rhinebeck, NY 12572

Museum of Rhinebeck History P.O. Box 816 Rhinebeck, NY 12572

Roosevelt/Vanderbilt Historical Association P.O. Box 235 Hyde Park, NY 12538

Stanford Historical Society P.O. Box 552 Bangall, NY 12506

Union Vale Historical Society P.O. Box 100 Verbank, NY 12585

Wappingers Historical Society P.O. Box 974 Wappingers Falls, NY 1259

Town of Washington Historical Society 551 Route 343 Millbrook, NY 12545

Municipal Historians of Dutchess County

County Historian: Vacant

City Historians: Beacon: Robert Murphy, 1 Municipal Plaza, Beacon 12508 Poughkeepsie: George Lukacs, 62 Civic Ctr. Plaza, Poughkeepsie 12601

Village and Town Historians: Amenia: Arlene Pettersen, 82 Separate Rd., Amenia 12501 ameniahistorian@mac.com • Beekman: Thom Usher, 96 Hillside Road, Poughquag 12570 beekmanhistory@aol.com • Clinton: Craig Marshall, 1375 Centre Road, Rhinebeck 12572 • Dover: Donna Hearn, 126 E. Duncan Hill Rd., Dover Plains 12522 historian@townofdover.us • East Fishkill: Dave Koehler, 330 Rte.376, Hopewell Jct.12533 • Fishkill (Town): Willa Skinner, 807 Rte. 52, Fishkill 12524 • Fishkill (Village): Karen Hitt, 91 Main Street, Fishkill 12524 • Hyde Park: Carney Rhinevault, 4383 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park 12538 • LaGrange: Georgia HerringTrott, 120 Stringham Rd., LaGrangeville 12540 • Milan: Patrick Higgins, Milan Town Hall, 20 Wilcox Circle, Milan 12571 • Millbrook: David Greenwood, 510 Sharon Turnpike, Millbrook, 12545 • Millerton (Town and Village): North East Historical Society, PO Box 727, Millerton 12546 • North East: North East Historical Society, PO Box 727, Millerton 12546 • Pawling (Town): Robert Reilly, 160 Charles Colman Blvd., Pawling 12564 • Pawling (Village): Drew Nicholson, 18 Valley Drive, Pawling 12564 • Pine Plains: Little Nine Partners Historical Society, PO Box 243 Pine Plains 12567 • Pleasant Valley: Fred Schaeffer, Town Hall, Route 44, Pleasant Valley 12569 • Poughkeepsie (Town): Jean Murphy, 1 Overocker Rd., Poughkeepsie 12603 • Red Hook (Town): J. Winthrop Aldrich, 109 S. Broadway, Red Hook 12571 • Red Hook (Village) Richard Coon, 34 Garden St., Red Hook 12571 • Rhinebeck (Town and Village): Nancy Kelly, 80 E. Market St., Rhinebeck 12572 • Stanford: Dorothy Burdick, 26 Town Hall Road, Stanfordville 12581 • Tivoli: Bernie Tieger, 96 Broadway, Tivoli 12583 village-books@webjogger.net • Unionvale: Fran Wallin, 249 Duncan Rd., LaGrangeville 12540 • Wappingers Falls (Town): Vacant • Wappingers Falls (Village): Brenda Von Berg, Town Hall, 2 South Avenue, Wappingers Falls, 12590 • Washington: David Greenwood, 10 Reservoir Drive, Millbrook 12545