Month: October 2018

Posted in Operation ORCHID

Op. Orchid: Where There’s Hope…

Posted on by HarpieLyn

 

Stream beneath the motorway, CoachBarn Gate
Coach Barn Gate pillar, restorative mortar evident
The immaculate job cleaning up the gates to the main resident’s footprint
Another great shot of the stone wall from the motorway
Otter lake with minimal algae
The troubadours of the meditation garden
Grass growing in lieu of a mansion
Harvest decor welcomes visitors to the or
Meditation garden bridge

Recently the team at RRBlog had the luxury of a calm weekend afternoon to ourselves. In an ever-busy world, its a beautiful commodity to get to slow down and enjoy the scenery at a place like Duke’s Estate. Of course, even on the loveliest of days with the most charming picnic box lunches, it is impossible to shut our eyes to progress or demise of any sort. You see, we’ve got a rich history on the land of historic riches.

So what exactly caught our eyes this time around? Admittedly, it’s been a while since we’ve had this opportunity for a self-guided tour. We didn’t cover everything, but it was enough to shake a stick at. First thing we noticed as we got into the park was a small cart carrying individuals to the Orchid Range who otherwise would struggle with that distance. In the absence of a tram, this was a relief to see. Next, we made our way to the orchid range, where we met a frog in the doorway. Most impressively, there were decorations for the harvest season flanking both sets of doors and a boisterously successful growing arch. We didn’t have time to tour the entire facility again, but the explicit use of space and attention to detail was a welcome contrast to years prior.

Next up was the Old Foundation after a nice cardio walk uphill. That remains essentially unchanged, except for the excess of trees and other debris blatantly left to overgrow the structure. Surely the roots alone are causing irreparable damages to the shapes of concrete rooms below. I also remember years ago that visitors would have no problem seeing the fireplace on the northernmost wall of the foundation, or the two stories beneath the ground. Now, it’s nowhere near the same caliber of visibility.

Ahead, we veered off the path to wander west across the bridge at the Great Falls. The very same balustrade post from years ago still stands cracked and badly in need of repairs, but we remain hopeful. We had to pause for lunch by the Great Oak Tree. It was just getting sunnier out and we had the distinct pleasure of befriending yet another, much larger frog in our trek back to the Coach Barn. This is where the real amazement started to settle in. Just as the two of us emerged to greet the Bull Durham statue, my eyes instantly darted to the gates to the mansion’s footprint. Gone were the sprays of ivy, cracks, and unblended patch-up jobs of the last year. Restored, clean, and painted a clean coat of ivory, the gates that once welcomed Doris Duke home and all her guests to their destination stood tall and proud. Naturally, we were inclined to take a closer look, because this was a splendid step in the right direction. And we were blown away with the steps toward a true vision that awaited us.

Yep. You heard right. Things within the realm of historic integrity are actually looking up. We aren’t about to overlook the catastrophic losses of the Duke Mansion (2016) or the Garden of Nations (2008), but we are here to serve as a source of encouragement and support for future endeavors to improve on what is left.

The mortar of walls along the borders of the Coach Barn and pillars that lead to the new pedestrian-accessible Coach Barn Gate, which offers a unique new trail for visitors to use. This was once a turn-of-the-century motorway for the Dukes and their company to drive along the banks of the Raritan and now gives an expansive look of wetlands and views of the same lovely river. As if this wasn’t enough of a re-ignition of hope and positivity, we decided to venture into the ‘arboretum’, which actually held up its name with some hints still lingering of a summer’s blooms.

The meditation garden was remade so effectively that we at the RRBlog want to give our compliments to the landscape team for this area. The tea house, babbling brooks, paths, and diverse array of non-native plant species all support the magnificent display. Icing on the cake? We got it. Despite the dramatic absence of a one-of-a-kind mansion, there is maintenance of the landscape of its footprint and the flanking palm room fountains.

Feel like another round? From the sound of Twitter, the Education Cottage is the revival of the Visitor’s Lodge that leads guests to the grassy esplanade of the greenhouses. We revel in what comes next in this pattern in pursuit of preservation. Until next time, we carry on the inspirations through Operation Orchid.

#JusticeForDoris

Posted in The Publications

The Brooklyn Boys Bring it Back

Posted on by HarpieLyn

Brooklyn Seltzer Boys got their moment in the limelight on CBS 2 News here on the east coast on Sunday, September 2nd, 2018. This small startup has a large following and an even larger impact on modern retro living. After ages of collecting decades-old glass seltzer bottles, the staff at BSB offers New York City a taste of timeless sparkling water in a classic delivery.

According to CBS’s report, the market is precisely right for this type of business to grow and emerge. Currently, about 821 million gallons of sparkling water are consumed in America alone each year. The healthy alternative to sodas and other fountain drinks has made itself a staple of today’s culture through the classics like Vintage brand and the newer La Croix brand. No matter which you like best, seltzer water is a great beverage served cold, iced, or at room temperature.

So the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys struck gold at the intersection of green methods, trending health foods, retro living, and timeless traditions within their business.

Once again, retro is a green style of living. Not too long ago, the RRBlog team found a small quote on Facebook that read simply, “We didn’t have to worry about carbon footprints in my day because we didn’t have disposables. Paper napkins used to be linen, bottles were cleaned over and over again, and we wouldn’t dream of throwing out towels because they sure weren’t made of paper either”. The collection of glass, reusable bottles is not only aesthetically pleasing, but economically sound for this incredible small-but-growing establishment. So already, the appeal expands well beyond the generations that remember seltzer deliveries. In an effort for consumers to reduce their carbon footprint and enjoy a much healthier alternative to fountain drinks like sodas and sugary artificials, many conscious buyers turn to seltzer- delivered the way it used to be.

So Alex Gomberg welcomed an interview with our dear Manny Dylan. And here’s how it went!

To understand the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys now, we need to understand where they came from: Gomberg Seltzer has been a bottling center for seltzer men for decades. Started by the great-grandfather of the current vice president of Gomberg Seltzer and the Brooklyn Seltzer boys, Mr. Alex Gomberg. The founder of Gomberg Seltzer had been a seltzer man for a very long time; a decade-long career of delivering the goods to homes in New York and when they felt the need to not only have more control over the product they were sending out, as well as wishing to be involved more so with the bottling and then with the transportation, because of the amount of labor involved, Gomberg Seltzer was born as an organization by and for seltzer men. Before the founding of Gomberg Seltzer there was a conglomerate of seltzer bottling plants that multiple organizations used. The spirit of innovation and progress runs in the Gomberg family, with Alex as the current vice president taking up the mantle of being a Seltzer Man. Utilizing the product that is Gomberg Seltzer, something used by multiple seltzer delivery services in the area as well, Alex realized that Gomberg Seltzer was struggling to keep up in the modern market. By introducing the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys, the first seltzer delivery service utilizing internet subscription services and reaching out to restaurants, Alex revived his family’s business and showed the viability of the retro methods and incredibly innovative spirit that runs in his family. It becomes very clear from our conversation embedded in the YouTube video below that Alex Gomberg is not only a family man but someone who respects what is family has built, and wanted to make it something that can continue on, hoping to have some young seltzer men coming up in his family with some time.

At the intersection of American history and family, I find myself fortunate enough to be interviewing the vice president of the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys company, and heir to the Gomberg seltzer family business, Mr. Gomberg is an incredibly humble and extraordinary person, family man, and heir to a generations-long legacy of seltzer water. According to the man himself (and his father and other family members), seltzer runs in their blood, I had the distinct pleasure sitting down as Mr. Gomberg poured a chilled glass of seltzer water for me during this interview. In every sentence uttered regarding his family’s business and seltzer water in general, you can hear there’s a care and passion for the art of the old ways of the elusive seltzer man. With the more recent inclusion of having a website, Mr. Gomberg is part of the new seltzer revolution using new tools as well as old ones in promoting his expansive beverage empire.

The Brooklyn Seltzer Boys use a vast amount of mostly repaired and soon-to-be repaired glass vintage seltzer bottles. These bottles are not your run-of-the-mill plastic bottle from the supermarket: These are high-pressure controlling and valve construction, at least in the tops used. As described by the man himself, these bottles are part of the history as well, being made of particularly thick glass that is no longer made at this point. But usually, stocks of these bottles being found in people’s basements or from previous seltzer men find their way to being donated, which keeps the Gombergs’ business ready for a larger customer base. There is always a need for more seltzer bottles! According to Mr. Gomberg, their facility is working very hard to repair the damaged ones, and have new cases of seltzer out as often as possible. The sense of responsibility to reuse the past is in many ways thought to be new, but I was personally enlightened to the realization that the old way is the new way now.

In older business models you had organizations such as milk men, likewise there were seltzer men, who would come and take empty bottles and fill them and return them to families and this would continue in cycles. There was very little waste in these services because the same bottles are being used after they were emptied of whatever their contents were. Likewise with the nozzle heads that are utilized by the Seltzer bottles they are mechanisms in themselves. In no larger than 2 square inches of a piece of metal, there are valves and springs at work making sure that the pressurized seltzer inside of these unique bottles is always fresh for everybody who is lucky enough to press them. Mr. Gomberg is revolutionizing the industry by bringing things back to the good old days, yet incorporates very new and relevant things to revive his family’s business. As well as joining the Seltzer delivery business again after several generations of bottling seltzer, Mr. Alex Gomberg brought his business into the digital age, with a website and internet presence powerful enough to make Brooklyn Seltzer Boys the main source that comes up whenever one searches vintage seltzer, retro seltzer, or seltzer delivery on a google search. Another very big change as noted in some interviews with some of the other members of Gomberg Seltzer is the marketing of these seltzer services every month to restaurants, so instead of wasting a small plastic bottle of seltzer there is an interactive experience for people at those bars, and there’s a great appreciation of what is the current pattern in how people consume products.

The Brooklyn Seltzer Boys deliver around NY and into NJ so give them a call and get your fizz on! Check them out at www.brooklynseltzerboys.com.

Posted in The Publications

Op. Orchid: Duke’s Neighbors

Posted on by HarpieLyn

When we talk about neighbors, often we think of the people residing next door, across the street, or maybe bordering us along the backyard fence. In this case, when we talk about Duke’s Neighbors, we are actually referring to a well-intentioned old soul named Arthur Brisbane. These two are practically neighbors in the macrocosmic scope of things- one lived in Somerville while the other made his estate mansion just about an hour and so away in Wall Township. What’s truly stifling is the uncanny turn of events that unfolded after each of their respective deaths. Much like Doris Duke’s will was parsed and considerably ignored, and her subsequent New Jersey property was only quasi-adherent to her final will and testament, Mr. Brisbane’s legacy suffered the same, if not more dangerous twist of fate.

Brisbane had a considerable amount of land in Wall Township, which he left to the state to be used as a public park following his passing. Heaven knows how exactly (we are still pulling research) things changed, but his mansion was converted into a children’s psychiatric treatment center. It was later closed indefinitely due to a lawsuit and the tragic death of one of its patients in the 1990s. In no way does this reflect Brisbane’s interest in the natural environment or suggest that his executors were remotely on board with his wishes.

Similarly and that which can’t be ignored, Doris Duke’s will set expectations for Duke Gardens Inc. to remain an entity and that a separate foundation for the preservation of rare and endangered wildlife of both plant and animal kind was to be established. Neither such foundations/organizations presently exist, and it has only been 24 years since her death. Most impressively, Duke’s name outshines Brisbane’s as far as celebrity status and philanthropic/net worth, yet the rapid degeneration of their good will is exactly the same.

Food for thought brought to you exclusively by RRBlog.