Thanks to Mr. Fred Morrill of Skowhegan we are reminded that no matter\u00a0what kind of winter we get, there has at some time in the past been one that\u00a0was worse.<\/p>\n
After the bitter cold of a long December, this year we had a beautiful,\u00a0warm, open, and almost snowless January. But even in the midst of that balmy\u00a0month we remembered the stinging cold and the big fuel bi lis of December.\u00a0So it is good for us to be reminded by Fred Morril I that nothing we are\u00a0encountering this year can hold a candle to the winter of 1816. December, 1815\u00a0had been very cold, but January was very mi Id. Ice left the Penobscot River\u00a0and frost throughout Cumberland County came out of the ground. The warm weather\u00a0continued wei I into March, with day after day seeming like May. Farmers started\u00a0spring plowing in February, and planted their gardens in March.<\/p>\n
The change came on Apri I 11, which proved to be the beginning of what all\u00a0down the years has been ca lied “The Year of No SummerY!. have told about that\u00a0cold, almost plantless summer, both on this program and in “Kennebec YesterdaysfT.\u00a0I have tol d you how on that 11th of Ap ri I there deve loped a b Ii zzard wh i ch covered\u00a0the trees, ki I ling the too early blossoms of apple and other fruits, and\u00a0snuffing out the life of corn, beans and other plants just breaking the ground.\u00a0Many a farmer found he had been foolish to plant so early in spite of the prolonged\u00a0warmth.<\/p>\n
The cold continued al I summer, even June, July and August seeing ki I ling\u00a0frosts. But on September 2nd, when it was too late to save the crops, came a\u00a0tremendous change. For ten consecutive days the mid-afternoon temperature\u00a0reached 100 al lover southern and central Maine. Warm winds rapidly dried the\u00a0mud, and the befuddled farmers, thinking a belated summer had at last arrived,\u00a0started planting again. But it was all futi Ie. On SepTember 15th came a ki I ling\u00a0frost. On the 20th The mercury stood at only two above zero.<\/p>\n
After Christmas the weather moderated, the opening rronths of 1817 were\u00a0comfortably mi Id, and the summer turned out to be normal both in temperature and\u00a0in rainfall. So, however erratic may be this winter of 1955-56, we are going\u00a0to have normal seasons again. What is a normal season anyhow? suspect it\u00a0is a nice comfortable one in the past that you have forgotten all about.<\/p>\n
It’s been a long time since we’ve mentioned our good friend One-Eleven,\u00a0but apparently he sti I I listens to this program and occasionally turns in some\u00a0new information. Some time ago he paid his respects to that departed species,\u00a0the pack peddler. He writes: ”They are gone now, I ike the umbre Iia mender and\u00a0the scissors grinder — those hardy men who trudged along dusty roads under the\u00a0burden of a black oi Icloth pack. Half a century ago they entered a Maine town\u00a0from the nearest rai I road station or boat landing, and in most towns they picked\u00a0up a pretty good living by dint of much talk concerning the merit of their\u00a0wares.<\/p>\n
One-Eleven goes on: “I recall one peddler who, among his Yankee notions,\u00a0carried a complete line of hooks and eyes made by a reputable Phi ladelphia firm.\u00a0Upon displaying his huge sample card he would remark, ‘Now these are the most\u00a0satisfactory hooks and eyes made anywhere. know Mr. Hook personally, and he\u00a0makes an excel lent product. Mr. Hook and Mr. Eye are not only business partners,\u00a0but very close fr i ends. ‘”<\/p>\n
One-E leven qui te correct Iy poi nts out that the ci tv counterpart of the\u00a0rura I pack pedd ler was the house-to-house canvasser. One-E leven says, “Both\u00a0male and female, these persistent purveyors of needed articles canvassed the\u00a0cities at al I seasons of the year. Many became so wei I acquainted with their\u00a0customers that they were asked to stop for dinner, or at least to have a cup of\u00a0tea. Needles, buttons, shoe laces, and many other sma I I wares found a ready\u00a0sale, and long before the day of the Larkin soap clubs, those canvassers sold\u00a0soap, perfume, b lui ng and f lea powder.”<\/p>\n
One-E leven remi nds us that, just as undertakers preferred to be ca lied\u00a0morticians, those house-to-house canvassers called themselves direct sales\u00a0peop Ie.<\/p>\n
Besides the rural peddler and the city canvasser, there was in both areas\u00a0the familiar rag man and nis cart loaded with tinware. Then there was the ladder\u00a0man, with hay rack full of ladders, wicker chairs, and an occasional lawn\u00a0swing.<\/p>\n
One-Eleven also reminds us that the depression of the 1930’s saw considerab\u00a0Ie return of the 0 I d house-to-house se I ling. He reca II s that the Kennebec\u00a0countryside saw during those years a man who sold boxed alewives.<\/p>\n
One of the last of the salesmen calling at rural homes was no pack peddler,\u00a0but a former Watervi lie store clerk, who left the confi ned space beh i nd the\u00a0counter and did a thriving business from his neat truck loaded with draperies,\u00a0sheets, spreads, and dress goods. Many a’ ‘farm home in Centra I Ma i ne we I corned\u00a0right up to within the last few years, the visits of that shining truck and its\u00a0driver, Harry Vose.<\/p>\n
It is to One-E leven that I owe i nformati on about an 0 I d ti me genera I store\u00b7\u00a0sti I I doing business. It is not so famous nor so thoroughly stocked as the renowned\u00a0Farwel I store at Thorndike, but it is worth a visit. It is located at\u00a0Buckfield. There, in spite of modern times, the air of the horse and buggy\u00a0days persists. One-Eleven says, “If you asked there for a hickory helve, either\u00a0of the Norris Brothers would know at once what you wanted, and they could even\u00a0supply you wi,th the proper wedge to hold the helve in the axe head.”<\/p>\n
Just as in the Farwe II store, goods in the Norri s store at Buckf ie I d hang\u00a0from cei lings and wal Is, and even from hooks in the show window. Youngsters\u00a0sn i cker at the fet t boots and the red f lanne I drawers, but they go for the 0 I d\u00a0time candies — red cinnamon drops, genuine stick licorice and brown sugar cakes.<\/p>\n
One-Eleven is always coming up with examples of Yankee ingenuity. Here\u00a0is one of his latest. A Maine sea captain departed for the Spice Islands of the\u00a0South Pacific with several hundred warming pans in his cargo. Finding no use\u00a0for an article so favored among New Englanders during the cold winters, he convinced\u00a0the natives in the tropical Spice Islands that the objects were long\u00a0handled frying pans designed so that the handle would be cool <\/em>whi Ie the pan got\u00a0hot. He sold out the whole lot at a profitable trade for native goods.<\/p>\n One-Eleven also tel Is me an incident which he insists ought to be added to\u00a0my account in “Kennebec Yesterdays n of the steamer Ci ty of Watervi lie. He says\u00a0that when the boat made its maiden trip up the river in 1890, its smoke stack\u00a0was too tal I to pass under the bridge, and the top had to be removed before the\u00a0steamer could proceed up the river. It is strange that the contemporary accounts\u00a0do not mention this incident. The recorded recollections of Dr. J. Fred\u00a0Hi I I, who was one of the Watervil Ie men who made that trip, say nothing about\u00a0dismantling a smoke stack to get the City of Watervi I Ie under the Augusta bridge,\u00a0yet Mr. George Giddings, aged citizen of Augusta, says that he personally was\u00a0one of a big crowd who watched that incident from a point of vantage on the\u00a0Augusta bri dge.<\/p>\n When I recently spoke about the picture cards and the premiums given with\u00a0various kinds of merchandise half a century ago, One-Eleven was quick to pick up\u00a0the scent. He wrote me as follows: “Do you reca I I the famous ‘yard’ chromos\u00a0that were given for 50 labels from cakes of Fleischmann’s yeast? Once in a’while\u00a0I see one of those low grade art attempts in some collection of antiques. There\u00a0was the yard of kittens, the yard of roses, the yard of puppies, and the yard of\u00a0baby chicks. Do you remember the Widow Jones boys’ suits, with a coupon in the\u00a0pocket entitling the wearer to some petty premium? It seemed as if every product\u00a0carried a coupon or prize of some sort. Mother’s Oats went in for china in\u00a0a delirious blue motif. Cups, saucers, cereal dishes and plates were packed\u00a0one in each package of oats. Nearly every cigarette and many packaged tobaccos\u00a0carried a coupon which gave rise to humorous songs. Of course in these days of\u00a0TV giveaways, those ancient means of promoting sales seem picayune and even\u00a0stingy, but at the time literally thousands of people had a lot of fun swapping\u00a0coupons and picTure cards.<\/p>\n Now let me ask One-Eleven a question. Does he remember the craze of collecting\u00a0tobacco tags? Having the advantage of working in my father’s store, I\u00a0was able to induce many a purchaser of plug tobacco to give me the tag, and it\u00a0didn’t take long to collect a coffee can full of them. Now, fifty years later,\u00a0can’t remember a single premium, but I did get several.<\/p>\n To get those tags I used to try some salesmanship of my own. A tag that\u00a0had paper pasted on its back was good in the premium collection. One with a\u00a0bright tin back, not covered by paper, could not be redeemed. When a customer\u00a0would ask for a plug that lacked the paper-backed tag, I would do my best to\u00a0persuade him to buy another brand — and, unlikely as it may seem, I sometimes\u00a0succeeded. I sold over the scarred old counter in the Bridgton store a lot of\u00a0grand old Battle Axe plug tobacco to men who had fi rst asked for another brand.<\/p>\n Now a word about the narrow guage road which was made up of track and roI I\\ing stock from several of the old two-footers of Maine, and whose story I have\u00a0to I din “Kennebec Yesterdays”. I refer to the Edavi lie Ra i I road at Carver,\u00a0Massachusetts.<\/p>\n Here in Watervi lie, in the person of Lawrence Brown of Seavey Street, we\u00a0have a man who is not only an authority on narrow guage roads, but who also was\u00a0well acquainted with the late Ellis Atwood and his wife, who has been operating\u00a0the Edavi lie property since Mr. Atwood’s death a few years ago.<\/p>\n Mr. Brown has ki nd Iy sent me the account whi ch Mrs. Atwood has recently\u00a0written him concerning the passing of that interesting project out of the Atwood fami I y. The corporati on, Ell is D. Atwood, Inc., in wh i ch Mrs. Atwood was the\u00a0principal stockholder, has sold its interests to F. Nelson Blount of Warren,\u00a0Rhode Island, a seafoods processor and well known rai I road enthusiast. Mr.\u00a0Blount is operating the six mi Ie circuit of narrow guage road over the cranberry\u00a0bogs, not on Iy in the cranberry operati ons, but, j us1- as the Atwoods di d,\u00a0as a novel ride for thousands of sightseers. The little road carries more than\u00a050,000 passengers a year.<\/p>\n The unique Christmas holiday illumination, which Mr. Atwood started nearly\u00a0twenty years ago, and which brings several thousand people to Carver in December,\u00a0was continued this year with its usual crowds.<\/p>\n Mr. Blount has written several books and articles on railroads, and he hopes\u00a0to assemb Ie at Carver an i ncreas i ng I y un i que co Ilecti on of hi stori c rai I road\u00a0items.Lawrence Brown has for some ti me gone to Carver every September duri ng the\u00a0cranberry festival and has had the pleasure of running one of the old narrow\u00a0guage locomotives. In both 1954 and 1955 the engine which he operated was the\u00a0old No.4 of the Monson, Maine narrow guage.<\/p>\n I haven’t asked Mr. Brown whether behind his engine was the passenger car\u00a0Pondi cherry. That was my favori te car on the Sri dgton and Saco Ri ver, and I\u00a0always ride in it, if possible, when I ride on the Edavi I Ie line at Carver.<\/p>\n Let us close tonight, as we have on other occasions, with reference to a\u00a0few fami liar expressi ons. Why do we say “to draw a long bow”, when we mean exaggeration?\u00a0It comes down to us through the years because of the tall stories\u00a0Told about feats with the long bow by Robin Hood and his merry men of Sherwood\u00a0Forest. So i mprobab Ie were these yarns that “to draw a long bow” meant to te I I\u00a0a whopper.<\/p>\n Why do we te II an angry, exci ted fe I low to keep his sh i rt on? Because from\u00a0Time immemorial to take off one’s shirt was preliminary to a fight.\u00a0Did you know that the expression “don’t care a rap” has nothing to do with\u00a0a blow? The rap was a small Irish coin that passed for an English haT penny,\u00a0Though it was actually counterfeit. Since the rap was intrinsically worthless,\u00a0it became a synonym for something one would care nothing about.<\/p>\n The expression “nigger in the woodpi Ie” originated in the pre-Civi I War\u00a0days of the underground rai I road, when the woodpi Ie was a common place to hide\u00a0runaway slaves. And with that we’l I say good night for old times’ sake.<\/p>\n Year: 1956<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read the script for “Little Talks” program #295, broadcast on March 4, 1956<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[790,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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