History

Ordeal on Bay Ledge Buoy

Just before a sudden winter squall swamped his 15-foot open boat, the young clammer managed to leap to the comparative safety of the Bay Ledge Buoy. It was the beginning of the longest — and nearly the last — 27 hours of his life.   Sunday morning. January 15, began as any working day for […]

History

Boston Ballet Nutcracker | New England by The Numbers

1892 year The Nutcracker ballet débuted in St. Petersburg, Russia 2012 year Boston reimagined its Nutcracker performance 3,600 jewels worn by the Sugar Plum Fairy 363 Boston Ballet students auditioning for The Nutcracker (only Boston Ballet students are considered) 8 dancers hidden under Mother Ginger’s skirt 2,400 Boston Ballet performances of The Nutcracker since 1963 […]

History

Thomas Jefferson’s Mammoth Cheese

On the first day of 1802, the residents of Cheshire, Massachusetts, presented Thomas Jefferson with perhaps the oddest gift ever offered to a U.S. president — a stupendous cheese weighing 1,235 pounds. A local paper reported how the event came about. “The old dairy town, in a triumphant mass meeting, resolved to put its curds […]

History

Understanding New England Camps

To many, the word camp goes with the words fire and counselor. But to New Englanders, it’s a whole different concept. Around this time of year, you’ll hear many New Englanders announce, “We’re going up to camp for the month.” This could mean a trip of anywhere from 200 miles to 200 yards. A camp, […]

History

Noank’s House of Fables

Excerpt from “’Noank’s House of Fables,” Yankee Magazine, August, 1967. The “House of Fables” stands on a hill in Noank, Connecticut, overlooking the harbor. Not very long ago children called it the ghost house. In the daytime it appeared to be a large, dark, ornate Victorian house in need of repair and a coat of […]

History

New England Fashion | Project Driveway

Welcome to New England, where people dress like it’s nobody’s business … because it is nobody’s business. Fashion for Compliments Traditional fisherman’s garb is based on those ceramic figurines sold in every tourist shop from Biddeford to Bar Harbor. A pipe and beard are considered de rigueur accessories, although many female fisherfolk omit the pipe. […]

History

The Year We Predicted Snow for July and August

Welcome to the October 2014 edition of “Jud’s New England Journal,” the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, the Editor-in-Chief of Yankee Magazine, published since 1935 in Dublin, NH. The Year We Predicted Snow for July and August And it turned out there was lots of it that summer!Get Our FREE Yankee Best New […]

History

It’s Not Easy to Believe in Ghosts

NOW WITH HALLOWEEN coming along at the end of this month, it’s time for ghost stories again. Over the years we’ve heard dozens of them, all supposedly “true.” But, you know, some are not easily explained. For instance, the late Dr. James Huntington, a Boston obstetrician who gave his 18th-century house, Firth Acres, in Hadley, […]

History

About the Sacred Cod…or Haddock…or Schrod…or?

While “scrod” may be delicious, have you ever heard of anyone actually fishing for “scrod”? There is, of course, no such fish as “scrod” in New England waters or anywhere else. The term began years ago when fishing schooners would return from the Grand Banks to the Boston fish pier, loaded with fish ready to […]

Unlock Your Roots – One Free Account, Endless Discoveries.

Get access to New England templates, research tools, and more.