Kingston (Massachusetts) Public Library
A native of Kingston, William Simmons served in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War, not as an officer, but as a master shipwright and later Constructor at the Navy Yard in Charlestown.
On exhibit for Memorial Day are photographs of Simmons and other residents of Kingston and nearby towns who served a century and a half ago. Stop by and take a look.
This month’s exhibit features a collection of holiday ornaments created by the Kingston Lions Club between 1991 and 2001. Each limited edition glass ball bears the likeness of a Kingston icon — from the old Town Hall and Soldier’s Monument to Bildad Washburn’s Tavern on Main Street and the fish ladder on the Jones River near the Elm Street Bridge. Alongside each ornament is a historic photograph of the building or scene depicted. Stop by and take a look.
Last year, a great color postcard really captured the festivities of the holiday, and the year before, a little dance card prompted a step into the many varieties of the quadrille. This year, Helen Foster provides a look back at Thanksgiving in Kingston history. Above, a preliminary sketch she drew for a publication by the Plimouth Plantation shows the hardy First Comers at dinner outside (OUTSIDE?). And below, something she designed that is both timely and useful in solving any gravy problems that might arise.
What other colors could they have possibly made?
From the always entertaining Joseph Finney Collection.
A rosy-cheeked couple merrily skip along, both dressed in green. She wears a large bonnet, a green empire-waisted gown and dainty black boots. He sports a traditional leprechaun outfit with a green jacket, bow tie and top hat, accessorized with a walking stick and high spats.
In 1928, the first and second grade students in Elspeth Hardy’s class wrote a holiday story about a little dog named Laddie saving Christmas for his family. As Mrs. Hardy described the process, “The children worked collectively; one child started with an opening sentence, the others took the thought and followed on until the tale was finished.” Illustrated by Kingston High graduate Marion Cobb Dries, the book was published in November 1928.
Laddie will be featured at Storytime in the Children’s Room on Monday, Dec. 21 at 6:30 in a special reading by archivist Susan Aprill.
