Halloween is less than three weeks away, so we're thinking about historic costume inspiration! This photograph shows Alice Delisle, who won the fancy dress contest at one of the first Winter Carnivals in 1898. Her image was printed in a 1909 commemorative Winter Carnival program. What figure from Saranac Lake history would you like to dress up as?


[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 280. Courtesy of Hope Coons.]

This year's Winter Carnival theme, Totally 80s, has been announced, so here's some inspiration from the 1984 Ice Palace! This postcard shows an elaborate ice palace lit up at night. What do you remember about Winter Carnivals in the 80s?

[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 298. Courtesy of Rosamond Nadon.]

Patients at work in the old workshop at Trudeau Sanatorium, 1908. Patients could take courses in photography, bookbinding, and hand-lettering and illumination. The original workshop first opened in 1905, and in 1909 it was replaced with the much larger Scholfield Memorial Workshop (which still stands today). Mark your calendars: the Art of the Cure exhibit, which explores the use of occupational therapy with tuberculosis patients in Saranac Lake, will close on Saturday, November 13! Don't miss this last chance to see the exhibit at the Saranac Laboratory Museum!

[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, 2021.4. Courtesy of Trudeau Institute.]

Image of the week: a group of patients bird watching at Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium (later Trudeau Sanatorium), c. 1915. Patients sometimes took part in light excursions around the campus, including snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and more. This photograph is part of a collection of glass plate negatives depicting patient life and facilities around the San. How are you planning to explore outdoors this fall?

[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 284. Courtesy of Trudeau Institute.]

Image of the week: Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau at work in the Saranac Laboratory, c. 1895. According to Marguerite Armstrong, Superintendent of the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium and friend of Dr. Trudeau, this is the "best picture ever taken" of him. Visitors to the Saranac Laboratory Museum can see Dr. Trudeau's office as part of their visit!

[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 682. Courtesy of Trudeau Institute.]

A gathering in the main room of the Saranac Lake Free Library, sometime in the early 1910s. The photograph includes some big names in the local community, including Mary Baldwin, Adah J. Hallock, Ernest H. Baldwin, Alice M. Vosburgh, Margaret Duryee, and others. The purpose of this meeting is unknown, but the photograph was taken in the very early days of the Saranac Lake Free Library. The single-room library building was built in 1910 on a parcel donated by George V. W. Duryee, husband of Margaret Duryee. The original building had room for 5,000 volumes; today, the circulating collection has more than 82,000 volumes! Stop by the Saranac Lake Free Library and see what features of this room you can spot today!

[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 708. Courtesy of Barbara Baldwin Knapp.]

IWe're trying to cool off from the August heat by looking at historic Winter Carnival photographs! This hand-colored image shows an ice pyramid in the intersection of Main Street and Broadway in 1920. The Berkeley House is visible behind the pyramid, decorated for Winter Carnival. The hotel would be heavily damaged by fire just 5 years later, and burned down a final time in 1981.

Stay cool -- we feel better already!

[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 273, Courtesy of Audrey Vanderhoof.]

Saranac Lake was once a happening destination for the silent film industry! This photograph shows Norma Talmadge as Princess Marie Pavlovna, and Marc McDermott (with beard) as Vasili Lazoff in "The New Moon," filming in Saranac Lake in 1919. Many outdoor adventure films were shot in the snowy wilderness in Saranac Lake.

A transplant from Alaska known as "Caribou Bill" ran a film set on Edgewood Road and provided dogsled services for dramatic race scenes. Locals even got in on the action, serving as extras and stunt doubles.

[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 151. Courtesy of Linda Friel.]