Time to take a short break from all the hard-hitting reporting and enjoy the spirit of the Christmas season. Townie Talk will return in January with “BIG” news but for now I take you back to Belmont 1922.
Keep A-Goin’!
When you strike a thorn or rose,
Keep A-Goin’!
When it hails or when it snows,
Keep A-Goin’!
‘Taint no use to sit and whine
When the fish ain’t on your line
Bait your hook an’ keep on tryin’
Keep A-Goin’!
to be continued…
Looking back to 1922
The President was Warren Harding, and his VP was a Republican from Massachusetts (Calvin Coolidge).
The first issue of Readers Digest was published.
The Eskimo Pie was invented.
Betty White was born, and prohibition was just getting started.
Belmont 1922
The Town had about 12,000 residents and a dozen Greenhouses including…
Frost, Holt, Horn, Jackson’s, Long, Richardson, Rose, Shaw, Skahan, Tobey and Wellington.
A dairy (Ross Dairy), fruit company (Hittinger), bakery (Ohlin’s), brick company (New England Brick), two coal companies (C.J McGinnis and Marcy Bros.), a florist (Edgar’s), pharmacies, a motion picture theater (Strand), piano key manufacturer (Tower), and a hospital with farm (McLeans’) among others.
Fire Department
One Chief, 2 assistants, 6 permanent men, 28 call men: One Knox motor combin hose and chemical. One La France motor combin house, pump and chemical. One Maxim motor ladder truck and 45-gallon chemical tank. One Ford Motor combin hose and chemical with a 7000ft standard hose. Gamewell Fire Alarm system with 52 call boxes.
(Interesting Belmont Fire folklore… the “Howard” was a department named renowned two-wheeler with a hose pully that was used in the mid 1860’s. 26-28 men would wheel it to the nearest pond or brook and then carry the hose to the fire. It used to be housed at a blacksmith shop on Brighton Street until a fire burned the building down and with it the “Howard”.)
Another fun fact from a forever Townie and frequent Teddy’s customer Mr. Paul Dulac. The Town had a full time Call Box supervisor and he lived at 21 Hastings Road till 1973.
Streets were Macadamized. Public Lights Electric, No Fire limits.
Humor (Prohibition times).
Traffic Cop “Come on! What’s the matter with you?”
Truck Driver “I’m well, thanks, but me engine’s dead.”
BHS Class of 1922 (Chameleon Yearbook)
The BHS class of 1922 was described as “unruly”, without “pep” and “lacking initiative”. By Senior year though they raised enough funds through food drives and Play’s to purchase a motion picture machine for the school. There were 104 students split between Miss Welch and Miss Swallows teams.
In 1922, Graduates listed their Ambitions.
Stenographer, Secretary, Poultry Farmer, Lawyer, Accountant and Gold Instructor.
Doris Bartsch wanted to be a Worldwide Traveler and Dorothy Peckham an Entertainer. Not sure if either achieved their goals but Eleanor Dorothy Lovegren (who was just two at the time) did both and went on to be one of Belmont’s most accomplished big screen actresses (screen name was Jean Rogers) with roles in Flash Gordon, Hot Cargo, Charlie Chan in Panama, and Conflict.
More 1922 Student humor
Senior: “The opening night of a performance is usually rather poor”
Senior 2: “Then, why not omit it?”
Mary: “I can’t find a single pin. Where do they go to, anyway?”
Bernice: “It’s hard to tell, because they are pointed in one direction, and they’re headed in another.”
Returning home from the Dentist where he had gone to have a loose tooth drawn, little Willie reported as follows:
“The Doctor told me “Fore he began, that if I cried or screamed it would cost me a dollar, but if I was a good boy, it would only be fifty cents.”
“Did you scream?” his mother asked.
“How could I? answered Willie. “You only gave me fifty cents”.
Yearbook Ad sponsors:
Included Batson’s pharmacy and Edgar’s Florist.…. and how Corbett’s Drug lured in customers.
Keep a-goin’!
Candy is to a drug store
What Coffee is to a restaurant
Keep a-goin’!
To
Corbett’s Drug Store
Waverley Square