For the Final Time | Lost Then Found

Longtime Yankee readers will recall the name of Joe Allen. He lived in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, and from March 1946 to September 1979 he answered reader inquiries in his “Sayings of the Oracle” column. Readers probably also recall he had a short fuse when it came to questions regarding the origin of the covered bridge. One of his last answers proved to be the hottest. “Jesus for Guard Almighty, we thought all hands knew by this time,” he wrote back to one inquisitive soul. “Bridges were covered, damn fool, for the same reason women used to wear petticoats—to protect their underpinnings. Ever hear that wood rots when it gets wet? Your asinine suggestion that they were covered to keep the snow off the road is dead wrong. In fact, I recollect throwing snow inside the bridges after a snowstorm so our sleighs wouldn’t grind on the wood.”

Rest in peace, Joe.