Kingston (Massachusetts) Public Library
Christmas and Santa Claus are meant for children. This Christmas party was held in 1949 at the Beal House on Main Street for the Sunday School of the First Parish Church. Frank Randall served as Santa and Helen Williams, the director of the Sunday School, stands to his right. Some of the excited children have been identified. Do you know any of them?
How times have changed: that is a REAL evergreen tree decorated for the holiday!
The Friends of the Kingston Public Library are offering a lovely set of notecards featuring 12 historic scenes of Kingston from the Local History Room. Some larger prints of these photographs are on display in the lobby. Please stop by, take a look and if you like, pick up a box of cards for the low, low price of $10.
So said the Old Colony Memorial newspaper on July 9, 1910.
The Jones River Village Club (now the Jones River Village Historical Society) had discussed for several months how to promote the state’s new restrictions on fireworks, which limited the use of blank cartridges, cannon rockets and other explosive means of celebration. The grand result: a Fourth of July parade for the whole town that the paper reported as “a great success in every way.”
Police Chief Ephraim Pratt served as Marshall. Houses along the parade route sported “handsome decorations.” The procession included riders, floats, automobiles and bicyclists.
Most of the floats were pulled by teams of oxen or horses. Above, what looks like a dirigible graces one gaily decorated wagon, while below, riders include a knight from the King Arthur Flour Company, a rough-ridin’ Teddy Roosevelt look-alike, a dude and a clown. Festive!
Many of the floats bore advertising, like the wagon of grocer E.S. Wright which pitched Sherwin Williams Paint, or the cart below, unfortunately not listed in the paper, which apparently touted somebody’s clams!
Source: The Old Colony Memorial, July 9, 1910; minutes of the Jones River Village Club, 1910.
In April 2009, Town Meeting approved spending from the Elizabeth B. Sampson Memorial Fund for a number of projects, including one specific to this holiday weekend. Kingston’s Veterans Agent received $5,000 from the Sampson Fund for “memorial stones and flags at veteran’s graves in local cemeteries,” continuing local observance of a custom that dates back at least 140 years.
This photograph show the Kingston post of the G.A.R. — veterans of the Civil war and their sons — marching on Memorial Day. At the rear of the group, Lemuel Ford carries a bunch of small flags to be placed in the grave-marker or standards of the deceased comrades. The photo is undated but must have been taken no later than 1914, as Mr. Ford died in April of 1915.
The 2001 snapshot below shows the Civil War Soldiers Monument, which was placed on the Training Green and dedicated in 1883, with flags in place. Be sure to take a moment on Monday to remember the sacrifices of America’s veterans.
Sources: Emily Fuller Drew lantern slide cardfile; Kingston Reporter April 10, 2009
This month’s exhibit highlights photographs, programs and other documents from Kingston’s Memorial Day celebrations.
Originally called Decoration Day, the holiday originated during the Civil War and spread across the country by the end of the 19th century. After the First World War, Memorial Day expanded to honor the memory of all whose lives were sacrificed in war.
For more information on the history of this solemn holiday, look here and here. To see how Kingston has celebrated the day, stop by the Library!
