The Good Old Days
By Sally Gunning
Sometimes we think history repeats itself and sometimes we think “the good old days” are gone forever. Here are a few bits the folks at BHS gleaned from The Yarmouth Register and The Barnstable Patriot. You decide.
September 23, 1879
“The contrast between summer and winter can scarcely be realized by those who are not here during the whole year . . . The winter is quite as much to be dreaded on account of the vacant houses, as on account of the dreary weather. . . May the good time come when our friends and neighbors shall learn to appreciate the truth that the Cape, and especially Brewster, is a very desirable place to spend the winter as well, especially when we are here who rightfully belong here.” -- Scribe
December 22, 1885
“Mrs. Freeman Cobb [granddaughter of Elijah Cobb] left town on Thursday last with the purpose of spending the winter with her son, who has taken to himself a wife and settled down in Chicago. The good lady will be much missed, and her absence will be felt by the Unitarian Parish, where she has given her excellent services as organist.”
December 14, 1886
“Miss Emily Cobb [granddaughter of Elijah Cobb] gave her charming reading on “English Literature” last Friday morning . . . Miss Cobb and her sister, Mrs. Freeman Cobb, are at 91 Huntington Ave. [Boston] for the winter.”
Helen Dugan
November 26, 1889
“Mrs. Helen Dugan [granddaughter of Elijah Cobb] has gone to Boston for the winter. Her son Stephen is having extensive repairs made to the old homestead [the Cobb House].”
December 20, 1892
“Mr. Roland C. Nickerson has closed his beautiful residence [Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club] and gone with his family to Chicago for the winter.”
But some don’t venture quite as far:
January 8, 1895
“Miss Alice Sears is spending the week with friends in Harwich.”
And lest anyone gets the idea that the Brewster of old closed up tight as a fresh clam in winter, here’s this. After listing various Brewster winter activities that included reading clubs, whist clubs, sewing circles, dancing schools, meetings of the Knights of Honor, baked bean suppers, and “vestry gatherings,” the Barnstable Patriot declared on January 9, 1883: “Even city life cannot do much more for the busiest of mortals.”
Anyone for a game of whist?
Sally Gunning, President
The Brewster Historical Society
Visit our Cobb House Museum at 739 Lower Road, Brewster, to discover more about our local history stories. (For museum hours go to www.brewsterhistoricalsociety.org)
Sally Cabot Gunning is President of the Brewster Historical Society.
