What were Mainers reading in the nation’s infancy? The Maine Historical Society blog sheds some light. Hot topics included religious instruction and sermons, Masonic rites, practical lessons for living and military preparedness and true stories of survival and adventure. In addition, the Society’s collection gives some idea of where publishing was taking place in Maine during the late 1700s.
How to beat the beach traffic – 1910 edition. There have always been schemes to make transportation more convenient around the summer resorts. But perhaps the strangest, and shortest-lived, was the effort to establish a route between Hazard’s Beach in Newport and Narragansett Pier – via zeppelin. The Newport Historical Society has posted a brief description of the venture, with a photo of this unusual (and unique?) effort at establishing zeppelin-based mass transit in Rhode Island.
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Ever wonder where the six-masted schooners of Maine ended up? Four of them wound up in the waters around Martha’s Vineyard where they sank. Cruising too close to shore to get a view of vacationing presidents, perhaps? Well, it’s just a theory. Martha’s Vineyard Museum Library will have some real answers from real experts next week.
Baseball the way it was meant to be. Are you tired of the designated hitter destroying baseball? Oh, yeah. Do you think today’s players shouldn’t be afraid to make a barehanded catch or two? Darn right! And shouldn’t pitchers have to pitch underhand? You better believe . . . wait, what? That’s the way the game was played in the 1860s, and to see what an old-time game looked like before the era of steroids and free agency, the Easton (CT) Historical Society will be hosting the Friends of Vintage Baseball this weekend for two exhibition games.
Today’s Flashback
Stillman Street Park, North End, Boston, undated. Courtesy of Boston City Archives.
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