Radio Script #208
Little Talks On Common Things
January 3, 1954
We have more than once on this program said a good word for old-time Yankee thri ft, for the pol I cy of spendi ng Just a little less than you earn. In this connection, that valuable contributor to our program, the man who calls himself One Eleven, has a novel suggestion concerning the prlgin of Installment buying, what folks used to call the partial payment plan. He points out that in the early 1900’s It became the fashionable thing to have a plano in the par_ lor. A piano cost a lot of money, and the people who felt that they had to have one to keep up with the Jones, were much more numerous than those who could pay cash for the instrument. So the piano dealers worked out a plan of Installment payments, based on the catchy slogan, “Pay as you play”. The result was, as One Eleven puts it, “Up and down the street the du I cat tones of practl cI ng prod i gi es were heard at a II ~ours of day and even I ng.”
Just as happened so often in later years, even the Installment payments proved too much for some fo I ks, and the word “repossess i on II carne I nto our commercial vocabulary. Speaking of vocabulary, some of the misuses of common words in the old-time advertiSing are amusing. There was, for instance, the ad for Stryker’s Kitchen Soap. Because It was,·made i n far away San Franc I sco, it was p robab I y not common in Maine stores, but it was sold in 1910 by at least one store in Augusta.
It was a strong soap. If used in sufficient strength, cut up and bol led in water, it would remove several coats of paint. It was advertised for brightening tin ware, removing stains from marble, and was especially recommended for washing the hands of printers, blacksmiths and bot ler makers. Then the ad says:
“It wi I I remove stains from garments quicker and more cOl’f1) letely than any known eras i ve.” of course, what they meant was abras i ve.
Town reports can be pretty dry publications~ but after the years go by they reveal some interesting items. Two reports of the town of Winslow at the turn of the century recently came into my hands. The Winslow town farm did pretty well fifty years ago. Produce of the farm sold for $483 •• The largest single item was hay, Though milk, cream and but1er, taken together, exceeded IT. Apparently the town farm kept chiefly a dairy herd, because they sold fourteen calves for $95. Think what a calf brings today; then think of selling them in 1900 for less Than seven do I I ars a piece.
In 1901 only one person was supported on the Winslow town farm for the ful I 52 weeks of the year. For three weeks a woman and her four chi Idren were kept There. 8esidesthose children, only five adulTS were at the town farm at any time during the year. Somebody figured out that the average cost of keeping a I I the town farm paupers for the who Ie year was $2.26 a week — nOT $2.26 each, but for the whole lot. The superintendent and his wife received a Joint salary of $275 a year.
Town reporTs in those days were pretty thorough. The voters wanted deTai led information about the expenditure of every tax dollar, and they got it. Three full pages are needed to give the list of expenditures for the Winslow town farm in 1901. Among the unusual items are: mending tin ware 20 cents, sled pole 55 cents, sulphur and camphor 45 cents, ironing sled $1.25. The superintendent and his wife did a thrifTY Job. The total cost of articles purchased for the place came to $469, whi Ie the articles sold amounted to $483, a neat prof i t of $14. But of course the re were othe r expenses bes ides articles purchased, so that it cost the town some $350 to operate the town farm. Among the deaths recorded in the 1902 report is Daniel Taylor, ninety years old, who had been born when Thomas Jefferson was President of the United States. The Board of Health report for the same year contains the following section:
“On the outbreak of sma II pox In Watervi lie 1 n June, one house In th I s town became infected, but was thoroughly fumigated at once. Thirty persons In this town who had never been vaccinated were exposed. By pro~t and successful vaccl nat I on, an outbreak of the dl sease was stopped.”
When we cons I dar what a fl ne school WI ns low HI gh is today, It is hard for us to realize what it was like in 1902. When the town books closed in February of that year WI ns low High Schoo I had a tota I of Just twenty students. Not one of them was a senior; seven were Juniors, six sophomores, and seven freshmen.
The names of a II students were gl van I n the town report, and I am sure some of our I I steners w I I I recogn I ze such namas as Everard Grl nda I I, Freeman S I~son, Fred Colby, David Herd, Clarence Howard and Alfred Pltterson. Among the girls were Amy Withee, Katie Larkin, Jessie Whitehouse and Lulu Smart. The superintendent of schools was no less. a person than Winslow’s veteran teacher and librarian, Jennie Howard. She was In charge of fourteen Cllfferent schools and 19 teachers, only one of whom was a man. Total pupi I enrollment was 290. The largest school was Number 18, where Emi Iy Garland had 60 primary pup I I s and May Ho lmas had 24 .1 n the granrnar grades.
In the warrant for the 1902 town meeting we find the following Items: “To see If the town wit I take action to establish a state road. To see what action the town wi II take to establish price for entering the tOlim sewer. To see if the town will take any further action In regard to a water system.” Those are not unusual Items, but among the 36 articles of that 50 year old warrant are two of historical interest: “Article 34 – to see if the town will authorize the se lectmen to borrow a sum of money to repal r the te~orary brl dge I n case It should be damaged by the spring freshet.” In the big flood of 1901 the Sebasti cook bri dge had been swept away and had not been rep laced by a permanent structure when the 1902 town meeting came around.
Now note Arti c Ie 29: “To see if the town wi II take any acti on to care for the block house or appo i nt anyone to mave I n the matter. II That arti c Ie refers, of course, to Fort Ha II fax, and shows what a sad state of di srepa i r the one remaining block house had fallen into unti I patriotic interests, especi a II y the OAR ~ restored it.
Certainly some of our older Winslow citizens remember how a high school began in that town. Because of the proximity of Waterville High School and Coburn Institute in one direction and the then co-educational school of Oak Grove in the other direction, Winslow was late In getting a public high school.
On March 13, 1899 the town voted, as the 1900 report puts It, “rroney for the support of free high school u. Strange Iy enough, that meant not one high school, but actually two high schools, for it was decided to establish one high school on Sand Hili and another In East Wins low, at Schoolhouse No.7. In that fi rst year of operation the high school on Sand Hi II had a total of 18 pupi Is, all freshmen. The high school pupi Is at East Winslow numbered seven.
John Taylor, who was school superintendent in 1900, said in his published report: “Mr. Charles Clement was employed as principal of Winslow High School. The school has been more of a success than was anti cipated. Teachers and pupi Is are looking forward to the time when they will enter high school and are eager in their preparation for that event.
Now letts give Fairfield a chance on this program. What did the Fairfield Journal have to say sixty years ago? Well, on January 2, 1894 the Journal published this item: “Breaking an axle on one end of the electric cars opposite the Free Baptist Church at eight o’clock this morning caused delay on one trip_ A barge with horses was put on to convey the passengers to th i s end of the route. II When was the last ti me a horse car operated between Watervi I Ie and Fairfield? Unless a simi lar mishap caused horses to be put on later, Just as they were In th is case, the I ast horse car on that road ran Just fl tty years ago yesterday.
Older Fa I rfle I d res i dents remember the I r famous seaman, Captal n Kreger. The Journal for January 16, 1894 said: “One of the largest cargoes of Ice ever shipped out of Rockport will be that of the four-masted schooner Sarah C. Ropes, now I oadl ng for Wash I ngton, D. C. Her captal n I s Capt. W. R. Kreger of Fal rfield, who is part owner and manager. She wi II carry 2,000 tons.”
That same week a new invention appeared In Fairfield: “Mr. Hadley of Exeter, New Hampshire Is In town selling his folding bath tub. For convenience and economy it surpasses anything of the kind offered to the public. Those des i rl n9 a bath tub w II I do we I I to ava i I themse I yeS of th i s opportun i ty to save money and keep clean.”
The Journal had something to say about one of the era’s new necessities. ”There were reports last fall of a substantial reduction In the price of bicycles, but the ads of such reductions have not yet appeared. Bicycles are gatt I ng to be as much a~’)necess ity as telephones , and the prj ce ought to go down. n What memories are brought back to older minds by a statement made by the Fa i rf I e I d Journa I on January 30, 1894. “BI II Nye and W I II I am Haw ley Smi th w I II appear at City Hall, Watervi lie, tomorrow evening. It is the chance of a life time to hear these two noted men. The e lectrl c cars will acoonmodate all from Fa I rf I e I d • tI
On July 3, 1894 the Journal again referred to Captain Kreger. “Captain Kreger of the Sarah C. Ropes arri ved home Frl day from a voyage to Cuba and other ports. Among the things he brought from foreign parts was a parrot for Mrs. W. J. Bradbury, which Is said to talk the Spanish language very fluently.” And with that Item we say, with Mrs. Bradbury’s parrot, “Buenos noches”.
Year: 1954