Wonderful post by Gordon Harris about the grand hotels of Gloucester and Cape Ann cica 1905. He has posted pages from an early 20th century guidebook, The Summer Hotel Guide, which illustrates and describes the grandest hotels of the day. Of the hotels Gordon has featured in his post, it appears the only hotel still standing is the Brynmere in Annisquam. Read his post here on Stories from Ipswich and the North Shore.
Does anyone know the name and/or have recollections of the hotel that was on Witham Street, adjacent to the Good Harbor Beach Inn?
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During Sunday’s podcast we talked about Harold Burnham’s book The Shipwright and the Schooner and mentioned the book signing at Strawberry Banke on November 12th. On Thursday evening, November 17th, Harold will be giving a talk and book signing at Maritime Gloucester (with spirits tasting provided by Ryan & Wood).
From the publisher:
The Shipwright and the Schooner
Building a Windjammer in the New England Tradition
By DAN TOBYNE – HAROLD BURNHAM
Beginning in 2010, Essex, Massachusetts shipbuilder Harold Burnham took on the challenge of constructing a wooden sailing vessel using traditional techniques. He cut the trees himself from his woodlot, and milled them himself at his boatyard. Using volunteer labor from hundreds of friends, acquaintances, and community members, and recycled and repurposed materials he constructed, in just under a year, the schooner Ardelle at a cost of less than $20,000.
The Shipwriight and the Schooner is an exploration into traditional New England shipbuilding, and it is a journey of discovery for both the author, who has spent his life building wooden boats, and the photographer, who had his first experiences in the boatyard. The book chronicles in words and stunning color photographs the construction, launch, and subsequent season of sailing aboard the Ardelle. The vessel is a testament to community involvement and a badge of honor in the age of mass production. It is a reminder of simpler times, when things were meticulously crafted by hand, and of a lifeway that has mostly vanished.
The Shipwright and the Schooner is published by Rowman and Littlefield and is available to purchase at Maritme Gloucester.
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Have you wanted to learn how to paint your own piece of furniture and learn the basic techniques of chalk paint? Join this workshop to help you get it done.
Students learn the basic techniques of one-two color distressed finish with chalk type paint. and waxing and distressing techniques. Bring your own small piece of furniture and we will help you transform it into a beautiful, vintage piece.
Students will leave confident to tackle any project at home.
We supply all of the materials and professional guidance to teach you all you need to know to create a fabulous finish!!
Bring your own adult beverage
Snacks and soft drinks complimentary
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From where I was standing in Gloucester neighborhoods, here are several homes (and one gallery) with cut out shutters; beginning with the green shutters seen on the Beauport, Sleeper-McCann house, one of Gloucester’s two National Historic Landmarks, and a Historic New England property.
Beyond shutters: beginning with “Lookout Hill”, estate built by Natalie and John Hays Hammond, Sr :
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Call Tim Sanborn for your own free solar consultation- 774-228-3411
I talked to enough people who had over a year’s real world results with Tim’s company’s Solar Installation and every single one told me they were over-the-top happy with the results and how it was the best financial decision they ever made.
Now that it was time to select a company to do the install on our new home I knew it was going to be Tim Sanborn that I’d call.
Today’s the day after all the research and interviews with people I’ve done over the years that our Solar dreams are coming true!
Kate promises to send pictures throughout the day so check back to see how it’s going.
Update 10:19AM- Prepping the roof!
1:30PM Update-First Row Is Up!
3:25PM Update- getting there! Â Love how clean and symmetrical it’s looking!
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Several weeks ago, while rushing from work, to home, to hockey, our home phone rang and the caller ID said, “Tackle Factory.” Â While we didn’t really have time to take a phone call, my husband (a fisherman at heart) was not about to pass up a call with such an intriguing name attached to it.
Turns out, it was a gentleman from Fillmore, NY who was calling about a video that he saw on YouTube of Thatcher and Finn catching minnows in the pond on the backside of Cape Hedge Beach. Turns out also…that the minnow trap they were using was none other than the “GEE’S® Galvanized Minnow Trap (G-40)” that the Tackle Factory has been manufacturing in New York since 1903.
As both a tremendous act of kindness…and also a pretty intriguing marketing strategy…this gentleman was offering to send the boys some new gear. Â He was calling not only to get our address, but also to be certain that the gift of new equipment wouldn’t be lost on them. Â Do they fish often? Â Is some new gear something they would enjoy? Â After the boys were out of the house for hockey, I called this gentleman back and we chatted about the boys. Â I told him that, for sure, their two favorite past times involve hitting the ice or hitting the water. Â Fishing is something that they have loved for years already and I can’t imagine them ever losing interest in. Â They have spent hours on end sorting through their massive tackle boxes and have already added a long list of fish tales to their repertoires.
Confident that the boys would indeed use some of the awesome gear that the Tackle Factory makes and that it wouldn’t sit sad in the corner of a garage or basement, he took our address and told me he’d be sending them a package soon. Â Happy to see two young boys enjoying their product…the only thing he asked in return (if at all possible, but certainly not mandatory) …was that once they started fishing with their new traps, that maybe we take the time to make another short video. Â No problem!
With November upon us and hockey season in full swing, the boys may not get to splash their new traps until the spring, but I kind of loved this whole story enough to write about it now. Â And…I obviously look forward to watching the boys enjoy their new gifts like crazy and catching it on film for the Tackle Factory to enjoy in return.
In a world that is a bit crazy at times, my heart gets happy about things like this. Thatch and Finn enjoyed a perfect day at the pond with some friends, the simple little video has been viewed more than 2,000 times, the manufacturers and owners of the minnow trap company stumbled upon it, they loved that the boys love their gear, they sent the boys fantastic gifts, the boys and I got to learn about the pretty interesting history of Cuba Specialty and the Tackle Factory, I get to help spread the word about their excellent products (not to mention how kind and generous they were)…..and the boys get to look forward to more great days spent fishing. Â Full circle…and nothing but good. Â And, after looking through their catalogue, I know where I can do some perfect Christmas shopping. Â Win, win.
They also manufacture a full line of minnow, eel, crawfish, crab traps and nets. Look for us under these trusted names:
GEE’S®
FRANKLIN®
FOXY-MATE®
ROD CADDY
BIG NORM’S FISH SCALER
LINEMINDER
Look at the unbelievable amount of awesomeness that arrived in the mail! Â You can also check out both the original video of the boys using their Gee’s Minnow Trap below and a great video about how the traps are made.
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Hannah KimberleyThanks, Joey! Here’s a synopsis: Annie Smith Peck is one of the most accomplished women of the twentieth century that you have never heard of. Peck was a scholar, writer, lecturer, suffragist, mountain climber, swimmer, oarswoman, horsewoman, splendid conversationalist, and well-trained listener. She was a feminist and an independent thinker who never let gender stereotypes stand in her way. Peck gained fame as the third woman recorded in history to climb the Matterhorn—not for her daring alpine feat, but because she climbed wearing pants—and would eventually be the first climber ever to conquer Mount Huascarán (21,812 feet) in 1908 and would race Hiram Bingham (the model for Indiana Jones) to climb Mount Coropuna in 1911.
Peck marched in suffrage parades, was the president of the Joan of Arc Suffrage League in New York City, became a political speaker and writer before women had the right to vote, and was also a propagandist, an expert on North-South American relations, and an author and lecturer contracted to speak as an authority on multinational industry and commerce before anyone had ever thought to appoint a woman as a diplomat. This empowering biography will give Peck her rightful place in history.
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This Election Day, November 8th, at the Gloucester High School polling site, you can also receive your annual flu shot. Clinic times are 7 AM to 10 AM and 4 PM to 8 PM.
This clinic is open to the public. Please bring your health insurance cards.
For more information, contact Public Health Nurse, Kelley Ries, at 978-325-5266.
Basking Harbor Seals dotting the rocks all around Brace Cove during sunrises this past week. The funny thing is watching them battle for top dog spot. When standing on the Niles Pond/Brace Cove causeway you are close enough to hear their quite audible grunting and snorting. Click photos to enlarge to get a closer look.Â
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Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. 
Good Morning Gloucester 