Using tongs, Jim Moran sticks a long, thin piece of wire into the small but very hot fire of the blacksmith’s forge.
When he removes the metal, the tip is white hot.
Saratoga Springs and Lake George have always been popular with the vacation set. During the summer of 1953, the Schenectady Gazette decided to bring the two resorts to newspaper readers. Photographer Charles B. Sellers Jr. and reporter Kathy McGarry hit the road for words and pictures on the two communities, part of a seasonal series. The reports on the resorts were glowing. Posted on June 15, 2009.
This traffic heading in and out of Lake George might have represented a busy day in 1953. Swimming, shopping and camping pushed Lake George to a summer population of 10,000 during the early 1950s.
A young woman — very likely Gazette reporter Kathy McGarry — plays model for staff photographer Charles B. Sellers Jr. in Lake George. Sellers found a quiet spot and aimed his camera north.
The “Victoria Pool” in the Saratoga Springs Spa Park was the first heated pool in the United States. Part of the summer crowd in 1953 may have come from the nearby Gideon Putnam Hotel.
Statues and greenery remain two attractions at Yaddo, the artists’ retreat in Saratoga Springs. This photo of the Spencer Trask family’s onetime estate was taken during the summer of 1953.
