Hello to Autumn!

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Happy first day of fall! In celebration of the occasion, check out this postcard from around 1915. The message on the back reads: “We need you on Rally Day. Remember the date: October 29. Do not disappoint. Help us make this our best Rally Day. Cordially yours, Grace W. Cobb”. The postcard was not mailed, and the text was pre-printed, except for the date and the signature, which were written in.

 

Source: This image is from the Joseph Cushman Finney Papers (MC11).

Welcome Home from the War to End All Wars

For more on Kingston’s Welcome Home parade, see this post.

Marcher with Red Cross flag in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marcher with Red Cross flag in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Riders and marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Riders and marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Spectators at the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Spectators at the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Riders in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Riders in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers and cars in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Marchers and cars in the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Spectators at the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.
Spectators at the Welcome Home parade, October 18, 1919.

 

Source: Emily Fuller Drew Collection MC16. Negatives scanned with LSTA funds through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and digitized at the Boston Public Library in conjunction with the Digital Commonwealth)

For more, visit the Kingston Public Library, and the Local History Room, and the full blog at piqueoftheweek.wordpress.com

New Exhibit: Memorial Day

Memorial Day exercises on the Training Green, circa 1943
Memorial Day exercises on the Training Green, circa 1943

Decoration Day, which we now know as Memorial Day, started in 1868.  Kingston’s first documented observance was 1879, with formal Town funding starting in 1881.  Stop by the Library to see photographs of Memorial Day parades dating back over a century.

Source: Mary Hathaway Collection MC21

For more, visit the Kingston Public Library, and the Local History Room, and the full blog at piqueoftheweek.wordpress.co

Happy 4th!

In 1910, Kingston’s first 4th of July parade rolled through town.

Captain Jones in the Shallop float, 4th of July Parade, 1910
Captain Jones in the Shallop float, 4th of July Parade, 1910
Jones River Village Club float, 4th of July Parade, 1910
Jones River Village Club float, 4th of July Parade, 1910
Grand Army of the Republic float, 4th of July Parade, 1910
Grand Army of the Republic float, 4th of July Parade, 1910
Parade riders, 4th of July Parade, 1910
Parade riders, 4th of July Parade, 1910

More photos from this parade are here and here.

 

Source: LHR General Image Collection IC7

 

For more, visit the Kingston Public Library, and the Local History Room, and the full blog at piqueoftheweek.wordpress.com.

Memorial Day parade

Another Memorial Day is upon us.  Here are a few photos from the Local History Room collections which provide a glimpse of one of Kingston’s Memorial Day parades sometime before 1961.*

Sailors from the U.S.S. Des Moines march on Main Street
Sailors from the U.S.S. Des Moines march on Main Street
Majorettes on Main Street
Majorettes on Main Street
Solemn moment on the Training Green
Solemn moment on the Training Green

 

*This date is based on a flag carried by the color guard, which reads “U.S.S. Des Moines.” This heavy cruiser was launched in 1946 and decommissioned in 1961.

 

Source: LHR General Image Collection IC7

 

For more, visit the Kingston Public Library, and the Local History Room, and the full blog at piqueoftheweek.wordpress.com.

 

Happy Thanksgiving dance!

Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920
Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920
Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920
Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920
Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920
Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920
Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920
Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920
Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920
Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920

As a descendant of First Comers and an indefatigable researcher of their occupations, genealogies, land swaps and lawsuits, Emily Fuller Drew was perhaps more entitled than most to dress up like a Pilgrim.  It certainly seems to have suited her.

More Thanksgiving posts here and here and here and here!

For more, visit the Kingston Public Library, and the Local History Room, and the full blog at  piqueoftheweek.wordpress.com.

Go Fourth and Parade!

In 1910, the first of many Fourth of July parades rolled in Kingston.

In honor of this most American holiday, here are a few views of one of our favorite floats from the inaugural year: the “Guardians of the Clam Flats.”

"Guardians of the Clam Flats" float, Fourth of July parade, 1910
“Guardians of the Clam Flats” float, Fourth of July parade, 1910
"Guardians of the Clam Flats" float, Fourth of July parade, 1910
“Guardians of the Clam Flats” float, Fourth of July parade, 1910
"Guardians of the Clam Flats" float, Fourth of July parade, 1910
“Guardians of the Clam Flats” float, Fourth of July parade, 1910

 

Source: LHR General Images IC7 (top two); Hathaway Collection MC21

And now, a word from our sponsors…

If you can spare a moment, please help the Library Needs Assessment Committee plan for the Library’s future by sharing your thoughts and ideas in this short survey. Even if you don’t currently use the Library, we want your input.

 

 

For more, visit the Kingston Public Library, and the Local History Room, and the full blog piqueoftheweek.wordpress.com.

A timely favorite

St. Patrick's Day Cheerful Memories, no date
St. Patrick’s Day Cheerful Memories, no date

One of the things I love about this blog is the list of search terms that people use to get here.  It’s like a secret glimpse of what they want, and the sometimes very specific and other times wildly divergent ways they describe whatever that is.  The top searches are a mix of general and Kingston-centric — Nick’s Rock, delivery wagons, dance cards, famous hermits, Old Colony Railroad, all with hundreds of hits.  But my all-time favorite is a little ways down the list, at 23 searches over the last 4 or so years: leprechaun couple.

So glad I could oblige!