2021 marked the centennial of the opening of Sherman’s. To mark the occasion, the museum mounted an exhibition tracing the history of Sherman’s through picture postcards. The show was curated and designed by Allen Farber and Dick Loomis. This webpage presents a web version of the show.
For a complete collection of Sherman’s postcards see the Canada Lakes Conservation Association’s website. There you will also find collections of Caroga Lake, Canada Lake, and Pine Lake postcards.
For many of us this postcard from the 1950s elicits memories of the way Sherman’s was. All the rides are there, each bringing back recollections of specific days and people. Buildings like the Bumper Car Pavilion and the Carousel seem like they have always been there. This exhibit focuses on postcards going back to when Frank Sherman built it in 1921. What these cards reveal is the progression of Sherman’s from a dance hall and bathing beach into the amusement park many of us think of. The iconic rides like the Ferris Wheel, Carousel, and Bumper Cars were relatively lat in the history of Sherman’s.
Central to this exhibit are a series of postcards published by Charles W. Hughes. Based in Mechanicsville, N.Y., the Hughes company published cards depicting scenes from upstate New York, Vermont, and western Massachusetts. It would contract with the Curt Teich company to print the cards. Teich, based in Chicago, was the dominant printer of half-tone postcards in the first half of the twentieth-century. Teich cards regularly bear production numbers which can be connected to inventory records to allow an accurate dating of the cards.
Both of these cards feature West Caroga’s iconic leaning pine tree. The card on the left has a production number that indicates a date of 1917. The production number of the card on the right dates to 1925 showing Sherman’s dance hall originally built in 1921.
1921
The card on the left produced in 1921 is the first Teich card showing Sherman’s with the dance hall and diving tower. The card is based on the real photo postcard on the right. As in many Teich cards, the designers made significant changes to the original. The launch in the center was eliminated, and a roof was added to the diving tower. The designer also made the “Dancing Sherman’s” sign more prominent which was lost in the original.
Frank Sherman realized that the automobile combined with improved roads opened up access to Caroga. Visitors could easily make day trips from the towns in the region. Fort’s Hotel can be seen in the background. The hotel was originally built by Frank Sherman as a store and residence and then leased to George Fort in 1904.
This photo taken from the diving tower shows the original dance hall building. Big name bands, local bands and night club acts drew huge crowds to Sherman’s. Performers included Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, Louis Armstrong, and Frankie Carle. Liquor was never served at Sherman’s.
The designer of this card from 1921 has made more prominent the sign on the building advertising Sherman’s and its dancing and bathing.
In this Real Photo Postcard from 1921, the crowded beach and line of cars along the road testify to the immediate success of Sherman’s
1922
This card from 1922 shows a wing has been added to the main dance hall building. The card’s designer has again accentuated the Sherman’s sign.
By 1922, there is growth of a summer population with the construction of cottages.
1923
This ad appeared in Albany and other regional newspapers during the summer of 1923.
1925
These two cards from 1925 show West Caroga Lake with Sherman’s in the distance.
This view shows what is now Caroga Lake Shore Rd. It was then the State Highway. The present NY-10 was added later. The Grove with picnic benches is visible on the right.
This image shows an addition to the wing added to the original building, The outdoor carousel is visible on the left.
This Real Photo Postcard, signed by Fitz who had done a number of other postcards in the region, identifies erroneously the expanded Sherman’s as a Casino.
Sherman’s bathing pier with rental boats and ladies sunning on buoyant devices outfitted with sails. The curious watercrafts appear again in the beach scene on the right.
1928
Roadside view of Sherman’s showing elevated walkway from the Dance Hall that led to the bathrooms.
1930
This card from 1930 marks the major shift from Dance Hall and Bathing to an amusement park. Rides include from right to left: a large water slide, a structure identified as the “Zoo,” an outdoor carousel, and a tower called the “Giant Whirl” which was actually a Traver’s Circle Swing, an example pictured in the card on the right at Vinewood Park in Topeka, Kansas.
A building on the far left has a sign promoting “Custer Cars.”
Among the bands that played at Sherman’s was Jimmie Lunceford (1902-1947), a jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era. His orchestra became popular in the 1930s, playing at venues like Harlem’s famous Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater.
1934
Custer Cars are shown in the foreground with the open air carousel and Giant Whirl tower in the background.
Around 1925, Levitt Custer developed a battery operated Custer Amusement Park Car. In the 1930s, Custer patented the Custer Car for the public road. Available with a gasoline motor or battery-operated, the car came with an unusual transmission: the driver moved the steering column forward or backward, and the car would move in that direction.
View of Sherman’s in the distance from the west. The outdoor carousel is visible, but the water slide is no longer there.
These postcards attest to the continued popularity of the bathing beach. In the card on the left notice the long dock has been shortened.
1939
The full Midway has been constructed. The Arcade, Bumper Car Pavilion, Carousel, and a structure containing “Snap the Whip” have been added. Notice that the Ferris Wheel does not appear yet.
Records indicate that the Carousel was purchased from “The Utica Park” in 1932 for $4,000. The original horses were created by Charles Loof, renowned animal carver. Opposite are examples of the exquisite wooden carousel animals.
1950s
Amsterdam Merchandise Co. published a series of 12 Sherman’s postcards that are mostly reissues of the Hughes /Teich cards. These cards were printed by Tichnor Brothers in Boston. Their postmarks indicate a date before 1956.
These two cards show the Ferris Wheel for the first time and the “Octopus” ride with its undulating arms and spinning cars, forerunner to the Tilt-A-Whirl.
E. F. Gregorka ran a camera shop in Little Falls. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he published postcards of the region with an emphasis on the Mohawk Valley. He did a series of postcard scenes including Sherman’s as well as Pine Lake. They show Sherman’s as the fully developed amusement part of the 1950s to the 1970s. According records, the Ferris Wheel and Tilt-a-Whirl were acquired in November, 1954.
This aerial view card of Sherman’s and the enlarged area below show the addition of a Go-Cart ride behind the Bumper Car Pavilion.
These two cards published by Gregorka effectively -if not intentionally- create a panorama of the Sherman’s shoreline during the 1960s.
Sherman’s
…thrived through the 1960s but went into decline in the 1970s. It could not compete with the large theme parks in Lake George made possible by the expansion of the interstate highway system with the Northway being opened in 1967. In 1970 Sherman’s was sold to the Morris family who were succeeded by the Carbone family in 1980 and Ruth and George Abdella in 1989. Their donation of the park to the Caroga Arts Collective in 2019 perhaps heralds a new era. What began as a bathing beach and dance hall is returning to its roots and attracting a wide diversity of musicians and musical traditions…