Brooklyn has recently become renowned as a maker haven, a new identity the borough has taken on as it grows from a Manhattan suburb into a megacity. Yet, a look at history shows that Kings County was teeming with creators in the 19th century that sustained the country’s industrial sector — but instead of MakerBot’s 3D printing or FreshDirect’s grocery delivery, it was pianos, wallpaper and numbering machines.
Here’s a dive into five defunct Brooklyn businesses that made a name for themselves as creators in a far different, long-gone era in the borough’s existence.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
