7/14/2021 Fun Times in the Summer 100 Years AgoA local newspaper article about South Acton a hundred years ago made us start thinking about what life was like for Acton residents that summer. The article mentioned that a new staircase and walk were being added to the west side of the old Post Office building, giving access to the newly-formed Young Men’s Athletic club rooms. “The walk in the rear will be six feet in width thereby [a]ffording the comforts of a piazza, where the members can sit, enjoy the beauties of nature in Theron park, watch the passing aeroplanes which of late has been of frequent occurrence, and wonder when the road sign is to be placed on the fountain.” (Concord Enterprise, August 31, 1921, p. 1) Curious about long how young athletes would be content to sit contemplating a road sign, we started investigating what people did for recreation in the summer of 1921. Reading the local newspaper, it would be easy to assume that summer vacations in 1921 were not so different from our own. The Enterprise reported on residents’ comings and goings as they had guests and visited friends and relatives. People vacationed at destinations similar to many visited by Acton residents today. They often headed to the beaches and mountains of New England, but some set out for places farther afield. Though not noted in the newspaper, much travel would have been done by train. ![]() Automobiles were by now a more common part of life than they had been at the turn of the century, but residents’ car purchases were still reported in the paper. On August 31, for example, it was reported on the front page that Dr. Mayell was driving a Buick touring car, selectman Kingsley had a Ford, and Wesley Flagg and John Mekkelson had sport cars. Residents’ road trips by auto were highlighted in the paper all summer. It is easy to forget how different those trips would have been from our own experiences of the road, but occasionally an item in the newspaper reminds us of how driving has changed. The June 29 Enterprise reported on John Pederson’s trip to St. Albans in northern Vermont. (p.2, “Some Trip”) He drove continuously except to stop for meals, water, gas and oil. That sounds unexceptional, but it took him 23.5 hours to get there. The article did mention that Vermont’s roads were rough and mountainous in places. (The return trip in his truck loaded with furniture took even longer; hopefully he stopped somewhere for sleep.) John Pederson’s experience puts light on the ambition of Joseph Oliver who was reported in the August 10 paper to be leaving for California in his auto with his camping gear. (p. 1) It was probably helpful that he had previously been working in West Acton as an auto mechanic. By the early 1920s, autos were evolving. In 1915, Massachusetts had become the first state to mandate lights on automobiles, and federal standards for headlights were introduced in 1921. That summer, the local paper reported on the need for car owners to get their headlamps adjusted by authorized mechanics. (July 27, p. 7) Garages had sprung up in Acton and elsewhere to meet growing demand for service. John McNiff had closed up his blacksmith shop after 30 years of labor; he was reported to be contemplating opening a garage. (May 26, 1920, p. 7) There would have been competition. In the summer of 1921, ads ran in the Enterprise for the South Acton Garage, Fitzgerald’s Garage in West Acton, and the recently opened East Acton repair garage of Benjamin A. Kimball and Orville J. Fuller, the latter having already worked in automobile construction and repair for fifteen years. (June 29, p. 8) John Coughlin advertised that he would provide service “at your own garage”. (July 13, p. 4) Having a number of repair shops in town was quite useful. Despite improvements in automobiles, the downside of increased driving was dangerous interactions. The August 17 Enterprise reported on two serious accidents at Kelley’s corner the previous Saturday. (p. 1) In the late afternoon, a seven passenger touring car from Missouri struck broadside a Ford coming from Acton “with such force as to hurl it up against the building which stands at the northeast corner.” Fortunately, the occupants survived. Later Saturday evening as Mary McCarthy, Clara Binks, Bertha Gould and Frank Hayward were driving home from Lowell, they were struck by a “big car from Maryland.” Luckily, the damage was more serious to the cars than to the people. The paper called for improvement to the approaches to the busy intersection and for caution on the part of drivers. As one sits in traffic at that intersection of Main Street and Massachusetts Avenue, it is worth remembering to be grateful for stoplights. Finding Things to Do Despite the fact that roads had not yet caught up with the needs of automobiles, people in the summer of 1921 were on the go. Lawn parties were very popular, particularly as fundraisers. On the evening of July 21, the Acton Grange held its annual lawn party and dance. As announced on July 13, “The Maynard brass band will furnish a concert in the evening and the Highland Ladies’ orchestra of Somerville will play for the dance. There will be the usual attractions which make these lawn parties popular events of the summer.” (p. 5) The party was indeed a success. With convenient means of traveling, visitors came from Acton’s villages and elsewhere, including quite a few from Maynard. “It is said, that over two hundred automobiles were parked on the sides of Monument square.” (July 27, p. 4) Another popular diversion was “moving pictures,” regularly advertised in the Enterprise. There were often movies in the Concord State Armory to benefit the Red Cross and at a theater in Maynard, admission 25 cents for adults. Occasionally, a moving picture was shown in West Acton at Odd Fellows Hall. Acton residents also attended special out-of-town events. In June, several townspeople ventured to Lowell to see the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus that offered “the greatest congress of attractions in history” with hundreds of performers and a huge “wild beast” display. “Not only will you see the artists who occupy the three rings, five stages, the great hippodrome track and the aerial rigging in the tent top, but four spacious steel arenas filled with wild beasts as well.” (June 8, p. 7 and June 29, p. 2) In mid-August, various people from Acton attended the Pilgrim Pageant at Plymouth. The paper proclaimed that “Although pageants have been greatly in vogue for the last 10 years or more, this one entitled 'The Pilgrim Spirit’ and written by Prof. George P. Baker of Harvard university in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth has been pronounced by an eminent professor of pageantry as the greatest performance since the pageants of the ancients.” (Aug. 24, p. 1) ![]() Despite the reporting of some residents’ comings and goings in the newspaper, there were undoubtedly many Acton residents who found their amusement in town. The first challenge for them would have been to beat the heat. Shade was appreciated; Acton benefited from earlier residents’ foresight in lining streets with trees. Ads for electric fans at MacRae’s in Concord appeared in the Enterprise for those whose homes and businesses had been wired for electricity. (Getting electricity was also newsworthy in 1921.) Piazzas seem to have been quite popular. Presumably they offered the chance of catching whatever breeze there may have been and, for those on the more traveled thoroughfares, a chance to see the world go by. With summer came insects, of course, and the newspaper reported that Edward Conant, Harry Tuttle, George Dusseault and the West Acton Baptist parsonage were all adding screening to their piazzas. (July 13, 1921, p. 5; July 20, p. 4) Some of those out on their piazzas would have been able to watch the President’s cavalry escort from the Plymouth Pageant as they traveled to an overnight campsite in Maynard. Fifty-seven men came through with sixty-seven horses and eighteen mules. (Aug. 10, 1921 p. 1 and 5) While references to the military in the Enterprise were fewer than they had been in previous years, war’s aftermath occasionally was mentioned. In August, Charlotte Conant and Gertrude Daniels organized a clambake and corn roast at the Conant place for twenty ex-servicemen from the Groton hospital. It was followed by an informal dance in the afternoon at the town hall. (Aug. 24, p. 4) For those actively inclined, summer meant sports. The Acton villages had baseball teams, as in the past. The West Acton team was briefly dubbed the Pirates, but the name does not seem to have stuck. (Aug. 24, p. 8) The newly organized (or perhaps re-organized) Campfire Girls and the Young Men’s Club had a track meet reported June 15. Reverend R. J. May coached the young men, and Mrs. May led the Camp-Fire girls. The paper noted, “It will be unique in having both boys and girls as participants although not competing against each other.” (p. 5) In July, the groups were putting on plays at the Congregational Church. The young men were trying to pay for baseball equipment. The “Nashoba” Camp Fire Girls, meanwhile, “were completing their beaded head-bands and hope to earn their costumes by their entertainment.” (July 13, p. 6) Golf was taking off as an activity. During the summer of 1921, the Calvin Whitney farm in Maynard was being turned into the Maynard Country Club. By August, its charter members included a number of Acton residents, although applications from some who already had been on the waiting lists of the Framingham and Concord clubs were being held back to give Maynard residents priority. (Aug. 24, p. 1 and Aug. 31, 1921, p. 1) When it was time to cool off, a popular spot was a swimming hole on Martin Street (near present-day Jones Field) where there were often twenty people swimming at a time. (July 27, p. 4) Apparently, however, there were a few problems with the place as a recreation spot. On August 3, the paper reported: “CITIZENS IMPROVING BEACH – In response to the call for workers issued last week, a number of citizens met at the swimming pool at the Martin street bridge and proceeded to do what they could to improve the general appearance of the place, both in and out of the water. This spot has long been utilized as a dumping place for all kinds of rubbish, such as tin cans, bottles, lamp shades, bicycle frames in quantity and variety sufficient to stock an old curiosity shop and a generous amount was dragged out of the water and put where it can no longer be a menace to the bathers. ... This bathing place has been a source of much pleasure to many people this season, even though those who lived at some distance from the pool were obliged to return home wearing their wet bathing suits, under raincoats. With the place once put in good condition and a suitable bath house built there, it would be a great public benefit.” (p. 8) Summertime Wasn’t Always Drowsy There are always those who push the boundaries to create a little excitement. On July 6, the Acton Center reporter mentioned that “The Fourth was very quietly celebrated except for the ringing of the town hall and church bells from midnight to daybreak, which act of over-celebration should never be permitted in the future. Someone who stopped at the drinking fountain on the common as an act of rowdyism, broke the two water pipes.” (p. 7) Another item of interest for many would have been hearing amplification for the first time. The August 17 paper reported that the meeting of the Acton Agricultural association (attended by 150 members) was followed by a social hour, “one feature of which was the exhibition of a ‘magno box’ attachment to a victrola, by Robert W. Carter, a member of the association, the effect of which caused the music to be heard with wonderful distinctness in homes over a quarter of a mile away.” (p. 1) The paper did not mention what music Mr. Carter shared with Acton Center, but records advertised for 85 cents in the Enterprise that August were variations of the Fox Trot and songs with catchy titles such as “Anna in Indiana” and “Molly on a Trolley By Golly With You.” (Aug. 24, p. 8) A different kind of noisy excitement was reported from South Acton on Aug. 17. The milk train was coming toward Martin Street on the Boston and Maine tracks at about 8:40 on a Sunday morning. The engineer, as usual, blew the whistle in warning. However, the valve that controlled the whistle could not turn off the steam, so the train stopped at South Acton with the whistle “shrieking at a terrific rate.” The engine with the disabled valve was backed into a rear yard, still shrieking, and another engine took the milk train to Boston. “During the time of making the shift and for fifty minutes after the fire had been dumped from the engine, the whistle kept up a continuous shriek causing consternation throughout the town. Many persons rushed to the station supposing it to be an alarm of fire or that some serious accident had taken place.” (p. 7) The most exciting event of the summer, however, seems to have happened in Maynard. On the first page of the August 10 issue of the Enterprise was an article entitled “Knickers Invade Maynard – What Will the Women Spring on Us Next?” Apparently, a woman had the audacity to walk down Main Street dressed in “knickers, just plain pants they looked like, golf stockings, high brown tennis shoes, shirt waist, topped with a bit of rouge on the cheek and hair bobbed.” The result was commotion, men “pop eyed with astonishment,” and all of Main Street agog at the woman who was (supposedly) “as indifferent to the stare of the world as the sunburned one pieced bathing suit extremist. Business was suspended as clerks and staid proprietors made for a glimpse ... At first stunned, curiosity soon let loose a chatter and exchange of opinion as to the new styles.” In 1921, it was apparently a sight worth sitting on one’s piazza waiting for. Comments are closed.
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