Some men bring their wives a dozen long-stemmed roses when they want to express their affection. Dr. Guy Esposito digs deep for the perfect gifts for his wife, Italian chef Mary Ann Esposito, in his own way. He literally digs into the ground for fragrant bundles of basil. Or he plucks tomatoes from the neat […]
Yankee
Yankee
Antiques: Store Signs
Centuries before Nike introduced its signature swoosh, and Apple its nibbled pomme, the idea of branding — creating an iconic image and a distinct personality for a business — was simply old hat. It was called the “trade sign.” Early trade signs were America’s first attempt at branding, and a darned good one. The origins […]
Cabdriver Oscar “O.J.” Berlin knows how to take a show on the road. After all, he once led tours for the Bolshoi, Kirov, and Royal ballet companies. On his island tours he’s been known to croon “Smilin’ Through” as he cruises past the pretty cottage where Arthur A. Penn composed it in 1918. Block Island […]
For Katherine Siner, an Appalachian Mountain Club “croo” member, summer in the White Mountains is all about the people she meets. She welcomes guests to AMC lodgings, points the way to scenic spots, cooks, cleans, packs in supplies, and hikes every day. “I came to the huts seeking adventure and family,” she says. Fellow croo, […]
Dick Vincent guarantees you’ll catch fish while out on his Flashy Lady — maybe bluefish, but probably large striped bass (which he’ll fillet for you back in port). If you don’t catch a fish, you don’t pay. That happened just twice last season, and both customers paid anyway, probably because in addition to any fish […]
Photo/Art by Erik Rank In 1997 Jenna Sammartino, a newly minted Cape Cod resident, first started hearing stories about the Whydah, a 28-gun pirate ship that sank in 1717, just off the coast of Wellfleet. Today Jenna’s a ranger at Cape Cod National Seashore, teaching others about the ship, whose watery grave was discovered in […]
Randy Spencer sits on the porch of his 80-year-old log camp on the shores of West Grand Lake in eastern Maine, and points to a rocky promontory just beyond the guest cottage. “That’s Moot Point over there,” he quips. That’s the kind of humor you might expect from a fishing guide who’s also a singer, […]
Family lore has it that Ken Gloss’s first spoken word was “book.” How could it be otherwise? His father, George Gloss, made the Brattle Book Shop, in business since 1825, a local landmark. But Ken has put his own stamp on the place, too. With his frequent appearances on Antiques Roadshow, he’s today’s most recognizable […]
The Rayes run the last remaining cold-process stone mustard mill in the nation, using an ancient technique they say enhances mustard’s natural flavor. (Other manufacturers cook their mustards.) These massive millstones have been grinding seed since 1900. They once served the sardine industry, making mustard only for canning. That changed in 1990, when Nancy Raye, […]
We start arriving at dusk, setting out lawn chairs and blankets in front of the bandstand. We may hear the Temple Town Band perform in any number of small New England towns, but we’ve come here because their music is one summer sound that binds the generations. The first Temple Town Band was founded in […]
To say Dick Pulsifer makes boats is to say Stradivari made fiddles. Every year for the past three decades, he has painstakingly crafted an average of three finely made small boats, plank by plank, at his modest workshop outside Brunswick. And these beguilingly simple boats — he’ll be completing #104 in 2008 — are treasured […]
In 1905, the Thomas Brayton family hired Joseph Carreiro to create gardens on their estate overlooking Narragansett Bay. He clipped the first green animals out of privet, yew, and boxwood, and tutored his young son-in-law, George Mendonca, who created his own legacy for more than half a century. Eugene Platt now carries on under the […]