Chamberlain and the Blue Angels, in one moment

Navy’s Blue Angels

  

While the whole east coast trembled with anticipation of Hurricane Irene, on Saturday (Aug. 27) we decided to drive up to Maine to shop for antiques. 

We wound up in Brunswick, Maine, and looked for David Day’s Antiques, right in the center of town, on Park Row. 

Brunswick was called Pejebscot when it was settled in 1628, and renamed a century later. It is home to Bowdoin College, and from 1943 to 2010 was home to Brunswick Naval Air Station. 

If you drive along Route 1 from Portland north, all you see of Brunswick is strip malls—gas stations and fast food joints. But, just a couple of blocks away is a charming little town that has been a strong part of Maine since its settlement nearly four centuries ago.

As we drove along Park Row looking for this antique shop, we noticed a bunch of antique-looking tents set up on the town green.  Then we saw some antique men, most of them looking like they were ready to find some Rebels to fight.  They were suited up in 1861 style, with blue Union army uniforms.  A few men were wearing 1861-era civilian clothes, and some women attired in bonnets and long dresses were selling Civil War era baked goods, including molasses cookies and hardtack.  For 2011 prices.  They were celebrating “Chamberlain Days”, an annual Brunswick event.

Re-enactment

Marty, my wife, made a bee-line for the antique shop, which contains approximately one million antiques, large and small, stuffed into three floors of an elegant old home on one of Brunswick’s fine residential streets.

I continued to watch these Civil War re-enactors, when who should arrive, in a station wagon but Brevet General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain!  The Michigan license plates on his car said “BG  JLC”. 

Gen. Chamberlain (1828-1914)

General Chamberlain was born in Maine in 1828, graduated from Bowdoin in 1852, and later returned to teach here, (and later was president of the college).  In 1862 he obtained a commission as a lieutenant colonel in the 20^th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. During the Civil War he fought in 26 battles and numerous skirmishes, was wounded six times and had six horses shot from beneath him.  He led the 20^th Maine as they heroically held the extreme left flank of the Union line against a fierce Rebel attack (16^th Alabama) at the battle of Little Round Top at Gettysburg, and later was chosen by General Grant to receive the formal surrender of weapons and colors from the Confederate forces at Appomattox.

Now, here I saw General Chamberlain, a handsome older man with well-groomed silver hair, getting out of his car, and putting on his sword belt and sword, as he prepared to go see his troops.  (It is difficult to drive a car with sword and belt by your side.)

Just as the General approached his troops, a formation of F/A-18 Hornets of the Blue Angels zoomed over.  The Blues were performing an air show for mid-coast Maine, flying from the former Naval Air Station.

Then it was time for me to carry two small antique tables Marty had bought, and stow them in our car.  Back to reality, and Hurricane Irene.

For us, it was a stirring intersection of American history and American life. 

Blue Angels

  

The Personal Navigator offers these books and papers:

  

Centennial History of Cottage City, A: Published by the Oak Bluffs, MA Historical Commission         Stoddard, Chris 1980 Oak Bluffs, MA: Oak Bluffs Historical Commission. This is an interesting story of the history of Oak Bluffs and Martha's Vineyard, an island off the coast of Southeastern Massachusetts.  The town became a famous "watering hole" for Americans and foreigners in the late 1880s, and was re-named Cottage City in 1880, then reclaimed the name of Oak Bluffs in 1907. This booklet provides pictures of the old days of towering Victorian gingerbread buildings, and stories about this Methodist enclave. History of Methodist meetings and huge camp meetings on Martha's Vineyard go back to the early 19th century, and this booklet shows a woodcut of a camp meeting ca. 1840 and a photo, ca. 1860. 112 pp. 25 x 20 cm. Paper booklet, slight smudge on cover, owner name on title page, dated 1990. Very good.  (8156) $15.00. Travel/History

Miracles in Marble: A Story of Modern Methods Applied to One of America's Oldest Industries ca. 1910 Proctor, VT: Vermont Marble Co. Little booklet tells story of how shell fish and lime-producing animals began the work of building marble beds, and how, in 1870 there entered the field a man who took a slipshod mill and half-developed quarry and organized the Vermont Marble Company. Photos show processing of quarried marble to produce such masterpieces as the United States Supreme Court Building and the Arlington Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. 24 pp. 13 x 19 cm. Paper booklet, cover lightly soiled, good. (8157) $16.00           History

 Custom of War: A Solemn Review of the Custom of War; Showing That War is the Effect of Popular Delusion and Proposing a Remedy; eleventh American edition, revised by author  Pacificus, Philo (Noah Worcester)            1833    Boston, MA: S.G. Simpkins. Author notes that we regard with horror the customs of ancient heathens,in offering their children in sacrifice to idols.  We are shocked by the customs of the Hindoos, in burning woman alive on the funeral pyres of their husbands, and by casting living children into the Ganges in a living sacrifice-- yet Christian nations decide controversy among nations by the edge of a sword, by powder and ball, or the point of a bayonet!   The depravity occasioned by war is not confied to the army. Every species of vice gains ground in a nation during war.  Author declares that war is a heathenish and savage custom, of the most malignant, most desolating, and most horrible character. 24 pp. 15.5 x 24 cm. Paper booklet, bound by strans of thread. Several pages have never been opened. Fair.  (8174) $26.00. Educational/Religious   

Our Dumb Animals--a national and international magazine; The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; The American Humane Education Society, February 1924 Norwood, MA: MSPCA, 696 Washington St. Cover of magazine shows photo of  three children behind Blue-Ribbon Shepherd Dog and her new-born puppies. Editorial explanation for delay in the Slaughter-House Reform Campaign. More and more critical patrons watch for cruelty to animals on stage and screen.  Work horses have Christmas Dinner and Tree in Boston. Facts about Hawks you ought to know. No more furs for her. Will You Stand for Tortures Like This? (Cruel double-jaw traps). 16 pp. 23.7 x 30.7 cm. Magazine, edge of cover has chips and wear. Fair. (8169) $15.00. Farming/Animals          

Our Dumb Animals--a national and international magazine; The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; The American Humane Education Society, June 1924 Norwood, MA: MSPCA, 696 Washington St. Cover of magazine shows photo of cats in a hammock aboard U.S.S. Mississippi, Navy battleship."The Humane Slaughter of Our Food Animals" --demonstration of devices invented in competition for ASPCA $10,000 price took place at Armour Abattoir in Chicago. Winning device was an air gun which drives a bolt into the brain of the animal with the speed of a bullet.  Indifference to Trained Animal Acts Giving Way to Indignation."The Value of Humane Education in the School".       16 pp. 23.7 x 30.7 cm. Magazine, edge of cover has chips and wear. Fair. (8170) $15.00. Farming/Animals          

New York Tribune, New-York, Wednesday, February 6, 1867 New York, NY: New-York Tribune. Lead article in News of the Week reports that Governors Orr, Parsons and Sharkey, now in Washington, have telegraphed Southern governors, asking them to hold their legislatures in session, and if adjourned, to call an extra session immediately, to consider a new policy of Reconstruction which relates mainly to the question of Negro suffrage.  Obituary for ex-Governor Washington Hunt, first a Whig, then a Democrat. 8 pp. 44 x 62 cm. Newspaper, worn, fair.      (8175) $25.00. History, Civil War/Newspapers

Great Question, The: Tariff Reform or Free Trade?  By L.M.S. Amery and Free Trade or Tariff Reform? By J.M. Robertson, M.P.           Amery, L.M.S., Robertson, J.M., M.P. 1909   London, England: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons Ltd., No. 1 Amen Corner, E.C. Unique little book is bound with Amery's text, making the case for Tariff Reform at front of book, and Robertson's text, making case for Free Trade, bound upside down so HIS text is at the front of a book one might read in Chinese or Arabic fashion. Amery makes point that free trade is harmful and government intervention is helpful; Robertson points out that in union-controlled (protectionist)  countries like Germany and the United States, with tariffs, there is much more unemployment. 106 pp. 12 x 18 cm. Hardbacked cardboard covers, both loose. Front cover shows Britannia with shield, with factory smokestacks in background; Back cover shows her shield cast aside, as she welcomes birds labeled "imports".  In view of loose covers, poor.  (8163) $36.00. History/Economics  

American Mercury, The, A Monthly Review Edited by H.L. Mencken, June 1929 Mencken, H.L., Editor 1929            New York, NY: The American Mercury. Lead article, "Murder in the Making" by Lawrence M. Maynard, who is currently serving a seven years' term at Trenton. He has written several articles, short stories and a play while in prison. "The taking of Montfaucon" by James M. Cain, who served in The War. Mencken has a blazing editorial in this issue about the status of Negroes in America today. "The Negro realtors, insurance magnates, bootleggers and other grotesque upstarts of today are accumulating a fund which, in the long run, will achieve more for their race than any conceivable white philanthropy.....From among the best of them will come a new leadership....What the Negroes need is leaders who can and will think black."  "Black Babbitt may turn out to be a more useful man, in the long run, than either Washington or DuBois."  "The Elephant and the Donkey" by Edward Lee McBain.  Ad on back cover for Camels shows man with cigarette in mouth offering a cigarette from a pack to a lady. 256 pp. + adv. 17.5 x 25.5 cm. Magazine, edges worn, good. (8177) $28.00. History/Race Relations  

Socony Road Map of New England 1925 New York, NY: Standard Oil Company of New York, 26 Broadway. Folded road map printed in blue and red shows New England states with inset maps of New York City and Boston, index, and distances of main traveled roads, e.g.: New York to Calais, ME, 647.5 mi.; New London to Fitchburg, 98 mi.; Portland to Ft. Kent, 386 mi., Portland to Quebec, 282.5 mi. map 56 x 72 cm.       Paper folded map, cover moderately soiled, one hole at intersection of folds on map, fair. (8166) $29.00. Maps 

Boston Almanac For The Year 1853 with fold-out map of Boston 1853 Boston, MA: Damrell & Moore, and George Coolidge. Lists businesses, national, state and local leaders. Excellent engravings of local sights. Fifteen page article "Ancient and Modern Boston" by D. J.V.C. Smith compares Boston of 1722 (shown in map) with today (1853). Plans are in works to fill in the whole of Back Bay between Roxbury Mill Dam and the Neck. He predicts that South Boston is "predestined to be the magnificent section of the city, in respect to costly residences, fashionable society and the influence of wealth. Monody to Daniel Webster, who died Oct. 24, 1852. Very interesting ads for ink, removers, carpeting, plumbers, tea, curriers. shell combs, cutlery and more.  Fold-out map of Boston includes Map of Town of Boston in New England by Capt. John Bonner, 1722, engraved for Boston Almanac 1853, and detailed New Map of Boston Comprising the Whole city with the new boundaries of the Wards, 1853.  Map shows Receiving Basin adjacent to Public Garden, South Bay between Albany St. and South Boston. Inset map of East Boston. 188 pp.        8 x 13 cm. Cloth on board with gold printing and blind-stamped design. Back cover spine broken,  Map worn, small tears in folds, fair. Overall fair condition. (8173) $68.00. Reference       

Watchman and Reflector, December 29, 1870 Boston, MA: Watchman and Reflector. Lively, intelligent religious paper set the tone for a straitlaced, sober Boston readership. Long tribute to Bartholomew T. Welch, D.D.(b. 1794 d.1870) His grandfather was a lieutenant on United States Frigate Alliance, and his father a midshipman on that same ship.  His mother was daughter of Capt. Barthol Trow, one of the tea party. Report of celebration Dec. 21, 1870, of 250th anniversary of landing of Pilgrims at Plymouth. Instead of a bleak, hostile shore, behold the beautiful town of Plymouth, and long trains of Old Colony railroad cars bringing hundreds to this jubilee. Editorial decries quarrel going on now in Washington between two of "our" political faith, President Grant and Senator Sumner, both Republicans. 8 pp. 41 x 58 cm. Newspaper, uncut, some tiny holes in folds, good. (8176) $27.00. Religious/History           

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