A “Shoddy” Building No More!

By Don Rittner

The old non-descript industrial building at 444 River Street that takes up the triangle of land at King, River and Jacob, probably won’t impress too many people.

Yet, the building represents a repository of creativity though the building itself may not claim any fame itself. From 1909 to 1950, it was the warehouse and manufactory for the Troy Waste Manufacturing Company. From 1950 to 1962, the Union Fern, a furniture company owned it, and finally, Marvin Neitzel, the last firm to make collars in Troy occupied it until last year when they sold it.

Troy Waste, established in 1883, was a dealer in cotton, woolen waste, and batting. They manufactured paper and shoddy stock, cotton oats, and various shoddies. Shoddy is a woolen yarn, usually inferior in quality, made from fibers taken from used fabrics and reprocessed. Basically it’s recycled fibers, and in a city that was the collar and shirt capital of the country, there were tons of shoddy in town in need of recycling. They also produced cotton ties for baling and stored metals such as lead, copper, zinc and brass.

The original building on this site burned on February 9, 1907 and the Trojan Hooks lost their truck when one of the walls collapsed on it. However, the old building was quickly rebuilt and the company began processing cotton waste used in making fine paper. Quality paper has a high “rag” content.

The last manufacturer in the building, Marvin Neitzel, also has a long Troy history. In 1886, E.W. Marvin joined the firm of Gunnison & Son, a company that produced ladies linen collars and cuffs, originally located at 11 4th Street. The firm was changed to Gunnison & Marvin and later incorporated in 1908 as E.W. Marvin Company. Raymond Neitzel joined in 1917 and was instrumental in developing a full line of hospital products and the firm became Marvin Neitzel Corporation in 1931. One of their specialties was Nurses uniforms, which they made until 2002, when they finally went out of business.

This part of Troy was the center of the collar and cuff business and 444 River was in the heart of it. Cluett Peabody was across the street. Nearby was the H, C. Curtis & Co. at 421-423 River, George Ide was north of Hutton, Beiermeister & Spicer was at 483 River, Gallup Novelty Works at 481-83 River, Morrison & Turner at 449-51 River, and others lined River, Fulton, Federal, Union, 7th Avenue, and Union.

Today, the Troy Waste building is no longer going to waste. The first three floors are currently being converted to artist work studios. This Friday, November 12, from 5 to 11PM, the building will be transformed for a one-day art show, the type that has never been seen in this city before.

More than 20 visual artists along with cutting edge video and media artists will perform and you will experience living art. A variety of local and non-local artists will be displaying a variety of medium types. Dino from Orange County Choppers, Felice Bochman, a fresco artist; John Fanning, a Boston (now Troy) abstract artist; Joe Tipton, video artist and photographer, to name a few.

Included among the artists will be a group of Native American artists and their art from Montana and a portion of their proceeds will be given to the Blackfeet Buffalo Horse Coalition (www.buffalohorse.org/). The BBHC is a non-profit organization on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation that raises Mustang horses, known as Buffalo Runners. These are the first horses introduced into North America by the Spanish centuries ago. These horses saved the Blackfeet Nation when settlers took their land and they had to turn to hunting Buffalo for survival.

The show is the brainchild of Boston muralist Cindy Alexander who has a studio at 444 River. She wanted to give a venue to local artists that normally do not get a chance to show their work. Like the big city art shows, it’s a chance for underground artists to come above ground. And for the public, especially in the Capital District, it gives us a chance to see what really is happening in the art world, not just those sometime snobby and pretentious “juried” art shows that seem to have the same artists over and over again. This show will bring together a variety of art types including installation art, media (video) and traditional forms that will be sure to please many palates.

Admission to this one of a kind fine art show is free. Remember though this a one-day event only. Troy’s own Café Deli-Icious is catering this exciting event, and parking is free in the Hedley Parking lot, thanks to John Hedley.

I’ll see you there.