Jud's New England Journal Podcasts

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Monthly audio commentary on travel and life in New England from Jud Hale, Editor in Chief of YANKEE Magazine. Primary Format : Blogs Also Listed as: Talk City : Dublin State/Province : NH Country : USA Country : NA User Tags: User Votes: RSS Feed Website People found this Podcast Searching for: Commentary | Car talk | Travel | Talk | View this Podcast on a Google Map. Add to iTunes Text Only listing of Jud's New England Journal Podcasts Trumix.com listings available of Jud's New England Journal Podcasts Click Here to Update the directory of this podcasts programs.

Trumix.com listings available of Jud's New England Journal Podcasts Build your own playlists with this podcast. Making Fun of Democrats and/or Republicans Welcome to the August 2008 edition of Jud's New England Journal, the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published since 1935 in Dublin, New Hampshire. Making Fun of Democrats and/or Republicans Actually, New Englanders have always managed to make fun of just about everyone Since the days of Roosevelt and even further back, the Democratic party has, rightly or wrongly, been associated with the antithesis of New England thrift. Therefore, ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Do You Think Grits Are a Southern Invention? Well, not really. Fact is, they originated in New England... Welcome to the July 2008 edition of "Jud's New England Journal," the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published since 1935 in Dublin, New Hampshire. Do You Think Grits Are a Southern Invention? Well, not really. Fact is, they originated in New England When most people think of New England food, they think of lobsters, clam chowder, Boston baked beans, scrod, Indian pudding, cr ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Anyone Ever See a Sailing Ship on Fire? A few people on Block Island say they have -- more than once. Welcome to the June 2008 edition of "Jud's New England Journal," the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine published since 1935 in Dublin, New Hampshire. We love taking the Point Judith Ferry (Galilee, Rhode Island) out to Block Island, and so do more people than Block Islanders would probably like. It's such a magical place. But I wonder how many have seen a sailing ship burning and ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website New England's Secret Season Welcome to the May 2008 edition of Jud's New England Journal, the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published since 1935 in Dublin, New Hampshire. New England's Secret Season It's not ever mentioned in regional or resort promotional material. Never. However, all of us New Englanders are very familiar indeed with what's known among us as "bug season." Bug season starts out with a sort of subseason known as "blackfly season" and then continue ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website So Where, Exactly, Is the Cradle of Liberty? Welcome to the April 2008 edition of Jud's New England Journal, the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published since 1935 in Dublin, New Hampshire. So Where, Exactly, Is the Cradle of Liberty? Concord, Massachusetts, has always claimed that distinction. But then so has neighboring Lexington The official first battle of the American Revolution is often referred to as "the Battle of Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775." That doesn't se ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website About Boston and Bostonians Juds New England Journal For March 2008 Welcome to the March 2008 edition of Jud's New England Journal, the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee magazine, published since 1935 in Dublin, New Hampshire. About Boston and Bostonians Probably "snobby" is too harsh a description. "Proud" might be better Old-time New England humor typically includes the "asking directions" jokes and those deadly "put-downs," too. It also includes Bostonians, relying on ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Day I Learned About Salesmanship -- and Deadbeats Jud's New England Journal February 2008 Welcome to the February 2008 edition of Jud's New England Journal, the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published since 1935 in Dublin, New Hampshire. The Day I Learned About Salesmanship -- and Deadbeats It happened quite a few years ago. But the lessons still apply Much of my early education at Yankee Magazine resulted from us all being in one room. There were no private offices. As a result ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Three MORE Often-Asked Questions About New England Jud's New England Journal for January 2008 Welcome to the January 2008 edition of Jud's New England Journal, the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, the editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published for over 70 years in Dublin, New Hampshire. Three MORE Often-Asked Questions About New England 1. Widow's walks: Were they built atop homes so that women could look for their husbands' returning ships? 2. Why is (or was) Connecticut known as the Nutmeg State? 3. Who in Sam Hill ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Three Most-Asked Questions About New England Welcome to the December 2007 edition of "Jud's New England Journal," the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published for over 70 years in Dublin, NH. The Three Most-Asked Questions About New England 1. Where's 'Down East' begin? 2. Why were bridges covered? 3. Were spring dance floors built to be that way? I thought by now everyone knew the answers to these. But during this past year, I've received quite a few e-mails indicating that qui ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Time to Walk in the Woods Again With the leaves gone and the ground bare, this is the month to discover weird rocks 'n' stuff Welcome to the November 2007 edition of Jud's New England Journal, the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published for over 70 years in Dublin, New Hampshire. Time to Walk in the Woods Again With the leaves gone and the ground bare, this is the month to discover weird rocks 'n' stuff There are lots of peculiar dry-stone "beehive" constructio ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Happiest Time in the Life of a Community Church Welcome to the September 2007 edition of Jud's New England Journal, the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published for over 70 years in Dublin, N.H. The Happiest Time in the Life of a Community Church Oddly, it's often during those months -- sometimes even a year – when it's searching for a new minister. While larger towns in New England naturally have several churches of various denominations, innumerable small communities across our ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Social Structure of a New England Town Welcome to the August 2007 edition of Jud's New England Journal, the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, Editor-in-Chief of Yankee Magazine, published for over 70 years in Dublin, N.H. The Social Structure of a New England Town Over the years, it really hasn't changed all that much The social structure of every New England town can be basically divided into two categories: the "haves," known as summer people, and the "have-nots," known as townspeople. Of course, the entir ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Sure, It's Only 47 Miles Long, But... Welcome to the July 2007 Edition of Jud's New England Journal, the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published for over 70 years in Dublin, New Hampshire.Sure, It's Only 47 Miles Long, But...... don't get Rhode Islanders started on the subject of their state. That is, unless you have plenty of time ...First of all, you ought to know that its official name isn't just "Rhode Island." Rather, it's "The State of Rhode Island and the Providence Pl ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Behind the Scenes at the Community Church Some things that happen here just aren't included in one’s local church or town history. Welcome to the June 2007 edition of "Jud's New England Journal," the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine, published for over 70 years in Dublin, New Hampshire.This month "Jud's New England Journal" is brought to you by The New England Quarterly: Publishing the history of our region for eight decades. Come explore the past from new perspectives.Behind the Sc ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Behind the Scenes at the Community Church Some things that happen here just aren't included in one’s local church or town history.Welcome to the June 2007 edition of "Jud's New England Journal," the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief ofYankee Magazine, published for over 70 years in Dublin, New Hampshire.This month "Jud's New England Journal" is brought to you byThe New England Quarterly: Publishing the history of our region for eight decades. Come explore the past from new perspectives.Behind the Scene ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website MORE Reasons Why New Englanders Are Annoyed with Longfellow Even Connecticut Yankees have a pretty good reason to complain about him... Last month, we wondered why Henry Wadsworth Longfellow omitted the name of Paul Revere's horse in his famous poem that begins, "Listen my children and you shall hear / Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere." After all, every horse has a name. Well, now it turns out that's not the only reason New Englanders are annoyed with Longfellow. Also irritating to us is that he omitted the name of the man who hung the two lante ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website MORE Reasons Why New Englanders Are Annoyed with Longfellow Even Connecticut Yankees have a pretty good reason to complain about him...Last month, we wondered why Henry Wadsworth Longfellow omitted the name of Paul Revere's horse in his famous poem that begins, "Listen my children and you shall hear / Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere." After all, every horse has a name.Well, now it turns out that's not the only reason New Englanders are annoyed with Longfellow. Also irritating to us is that he omitted the name of the man who hung the two lanterns ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Why New Englanders Are Annoyed With Longfellow One reason has to do with Paul Revere's famous horseback ride the night of April 18-19, 1775 ... Some history buffs in New Hampshire -- myself included -- have always believed that the colonists' attack on Fort William and Mary in New Castle, New Hampshire, four months before the battles in Lexington and Concord, was, in fact, the beginning of the American Revolution. We feel that the only reason the rest of America doesn't have the same perception is simply because Henry Wadsworth Longfell ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Why New Englanders Are Annoyed With Longfellow One reason has to do with Paul Revere's famous horseback ride the night of April 18-19, 1775 ...Some history buffs in New Hampshire -- myself included -- have always believed that the colonists' attack on Fort William and Mary in New Castle, New Hampshire, four months before the battles in Lexington and Concord, was, in fact, the beginning of the American Revolution. We feel that the only reason the rest of America doesn't have the same perception is simply because Henry Wadsworth Longfello ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website It's Best Not To Call the Moderator at Town Meeting a Liar And, if you want to get along in a small New England town, there are a few other "don'ts" we'd suggest, too...Good attributes for functioning effectively in a small town include common sense, humility, patience, compassion and, perhaps most important, a good instinct for the sensitivities of others. I think all of those would be perfectly obvious to everyone. I mean -- one would assume most wealthy summer people wouldknowthat the habit of not paying bills to local businesses for months and ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website It's Best Not To Call the Moderator at Town Meeting a Liar And, if you want to get along in a small New England town, there are a few other "don'ts" we'd suggest, too... Good attributes for functioning effectively in a small town include common sense, humility, patience, compassion and, perhaps most important, a good instinct for the sensitivities of others. I think all of those would be perfectly obvious to everyone. I mean -- one would assume most wealthy summer people would know that the habit of not paying bills to local businesses for months a ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Thoughts on Turkeys and This Winter's Weather Unbelievable as it may seem, there may be a link between the two... There's been a whole lot of talk about the weather lately. It's been weird all across the country, but particularly here in New England. And many of the old reliable "signs" have been way off -- at least so far. I personally had a hint of said confusing weather this past Thanksgiving Day, when I examined, as I always do each year, the breastbone of our cooked turkey. You know the drill, I'm sure -- if the breastbone is lig ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Thoughts on Turkeys and This Winter's Weather Unbelievable as it may seem, there may be a link between the two...There's been a whole lot of talk about the weather lately. It's been weird all across the country, but particularly here in New England. And many of the old reliable "signs" have been way off -- at least so far.I personally had a hint of said confusing weather this past Thanksgiving Day, when I examined, as I always do each year, the breastbone of our cooked turkey. You know the drill, I'm sure -- if the breastbone is light ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Story That Never Dies It's unbelievable. And weird. But people still ask us about it...It's not possible to freeze old people in the beginning of winter, store them outside, almost naked, and then thaw them out in time to help with the spring planting. Is it? Well, in 1939, a Dr. Temple S. Fay of Philadelphia, who had done some experiments freezing human organs, gave a talk in Providence, Rhode Island, in which he related a grotesque storyhebelieved to be true. He said it occurred just outside Montpelier, Vermon ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Story That Never Dies It's unbelievable. And weird. But people still ask us about it... It's not possible to freeze old people in the beginning of winter, store them outside, almost naked, and then thaw them out in time to help with the spring planting. Is it? Well, in 1939, a Dr. Temple S. Fay of Philadelphia, who had done some experiments freezing human organs, gave a talk in Providence, Rhode Island, in which he related a grotesque story he believed to be true. He said it occurred just outside Montpelier, Ver ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How I Learned Everything One Christmas Eve Because it's one of my favorite memories of all time, I can't resist remembering it once again... WHEN I WAS GROWING up on our farm in Vanceboro, Maine, during the 1930s and '40s, my mother always put on a Nativity play for the townspeople on Christmas Eve using mostly members of the family and various animals from the farm. I first participated at about age 5 or 6. My role the first year was to sing four verses of "We Three Kings" all by myself. A solo. Well, I did it without any problems ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How I Learned Everything One Christmas Eve Because it's one of my favorite memories of all time, I can't resist remembering it once again...WHEN I WAS GROWINGup on our farm in Vanceboro, Maine, during the 1930s and '40s, my mother always put on a Nativity play for the townspeople on Christmas Eve using mostly members of the family and various animals from the farm.I first participated at about age 5 or 6. My role the first year was to sing four verses of "We Three Kings" all by myself. A solo. Well, I did it without any problems and ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How Best to Get Along in a Small New England Town An important requirement is one many outsiders find particularly difficult to learn or accept. It's called patience. MANY YEARS AGO, a member of the Grange in Brattleboro, Vermont, told me proudly that from the program of recycling hearing-aid batteries, the Grange had raised about $70 for its scholarship program. "You mean you personally raised seventy dollars for the Brattleboro Grange by recycling hearing-aid batteries?" I asked. "Heavens, no," he replied. "I mean all the Grange organi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How Best to Get Along in a Small New England Town An important requirement is one many outsiders find particularly difficult to learn or accept. It's called patience.MANY YEARS AGO,a member of the Grange in Brattleboro, Vermont, told me proudly that from the program of recycling hearing-aid batteries, the Grange had raised about $70 for its scholarship program."You mean you personally raised seventy dollars for the Brattleboro Grange by recycling hearing-aid batteries?" I asked."Heavens, no," he replied. "I mean all the Grange organization ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website It's Not Easy to Believe in Ghosts Perhaps the main difficulty is convincing the skeptics ... NOW WITH HALLOWEEN coming along at the end of this month, it's time for ghost stories again. Over the years we've heard dozens of them, all supposedly "true." But, you know, some are not easily explained. For instance, the late Dr. James Huntington, a Boston obstetrician who gave his 18th-century house, Firth Acres, in Hadley, Massachusetts, to the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation (which maintains it today), was absolutely convi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website It's Not Easy to Believe in Ghosts Perhaps the main difficulty is convincing the skeptics ...NOW WITH HALLOWEENcoming along at the end of this month, it's time for ghost stories again. Over the years we've heard dozens of them, all supposedly "true." But, you know,someare not easily explained.For instance, the late Dr. James Huntington, a Boston obstetrician who gave his 18th-century house, Firth Acres, in Hadley, Massachusetts, to the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation (which maintains it today), was absolutelyconvincedof ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Going "By the Signs" Forecasting the weather is full of hazards ... GOING "BY THE SIGNS" has always been a popular method of individual weather forecasting here in New England, other than simply hearing the weather on radio and television. The signs are everywhere, particularly beginning this month and extending through the fall, and they do seem to have some significance in the overall weather scheme of things. But interpreting them is something else. For example, if, in a given fall, a group of wasps build t ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Have You Ever Cut the Devil's Throat? New Englanders don't necessarily need either adjectives or adverbs to describe something.... In this column last February, I recalled my old friend and barber, Bill Austin, telling me a joke I might use in a forthcoming speech I was to make at the local Women's Club and assuring me that, no, I needn't worry. It was clean. In fact, he said, it was so clean "you could tell it to your grandmother sitting on the john." Well, over breakfast at the Peterborough (New Hampshire) Diner a few week ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Have You Ever Cut the Devil's Throat? New Englanders don't necessarily need either adjectives or adverbs to describe something....In this column last February, I recalled my old friend and barber, Bill Austin, telling me a joke I might use in a forthcoming speech I was to make at the local Women's Club and assuring me that, no, I needn't worry. It was clean. In fact, he said, it was so clean "you could tell it to your grandmother sitting on the john."Well, over breakfast at the Peterborough (New Hampshire) Diner a few weeks ago ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Birth of a Legend It requires just the right circumstances, occurring in just the right order, for a legend to be born. Take the legend of Kilroy, for instance... To those of us who were around during World War II, and even as late as the 1970s, the name Kilroy is as familiar as MacArthur, Truman, and Lyndon Johnson. During those years, the words "Kilroy Was Here" were penciled on rest room walls, carved on picnic tables, painted on bridges -- you name it. Everyone knew his name, but no one seemed to know ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Birth of a Legend It requires just the right circumstances, occurring in just the right order, for a legend to be born. Take the legend of Kilroy, for instance...To those of us who were around during World War II, and even as late as the 1970s, the nameKilroyis as familiar as MacArthur, Truman, and Lyndon Johnson. During those years, the words "Kilroy Was Here" were penciled on rest room walls, carved on picnic tables, painted on bridges -- you name it.Everyone knew his name, but no one seemed to knowwhoKilr ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Which of Our Six New England States Is the Most "Yankee"? That would be Connecticut. Of course. And here's why....OF ALL THEtheories as to the origin of the wordYankee,the one that makes the most sense to me is the so-called Dutch theory. It says that the early English settlers in Connecticut sold cheese to the early Dutch settlers in New York. So the New Yorkers began referring to the English as "John Cheese" which, in Dutch is "Jan Kaas." The wordYankeecould easily and logically have evolved from that. (We can all be grateful they didn't sell pu ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Which of Our Six New England States Is the Most "Yankee"? That would be Connecticut. Of course. And here's why.... OF ALL THE theories as to the origin of the word Yankee, the one that makes the most sense to me is the so-called Dutch theory. It says that the early English settlers in Connecticut sold cheese to the early Dutch settlers in New York. So the New Yorkers began referring to the English as "John Cheese" which, in Dutch is "Jan Kaas." The word Yankee could easily and logically have evolved from that. (We can all be grateful they didn't ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Very Best Way to Cook a Lobster You may not cook lobsters this way. But if that's the case, then yours are simply not quite as good. THE WEEKEND BEFORE Memorial Day is when a lot of wonderful commercial enterprises along the Maine coast open up for the summer tourist season. Bertha Nunan's Lobster Hut, in the tiny fishing village of Cape Porpoise (just up from Kennebunkport), is a case in point. Multiple generations of Nunans have been hauling lobster traps off Cape Porpoise for well over 70 years, but, toward the end of ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Very Best Way to Cook a Lobster You may not cook lobsters this way. But if that's the case, then yours are simply not quite as good. THE WEEKEND BEFORE Memorial Day is when a lot of wonderful commercial enterprises along the Maine coast open up for the summer tourist season. Bertha Nunan's Lobster Hut, in the tiny fishing village of Cape Porpoise (just up from Kennebunkport), is a case in point. Multiple generations of Nunans have been hauling lobster traps off Cape Porpoise for well over 70 years, but, toward the end of ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Humpty Dumpty? Sure. Moby Dick? Never! New Englanders can accept a certain amount of fantasy and artistic license in literature. But not always... NEW ENGLAND HAS often claimed the poems, songs, and ditties known as the Mother Goose nursery rhymes even though, I'll have to concede, their origin was most assuredly in England during the 1600s. But at least there is a New England connection. That connection stems back to an Elizabeth Foster of Charlestown, Massachusetts, who married one Isaac Goose of Boston. As the legend goes, s ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Humpty Dumpty? Sure. Moby Dick? Never! New Englanders can accept a certain amount of fantasy and artistic license in literature. But not always... NEW ENGLAND HAS often claimed the poems, songs, and ditties known as the Mother Goose nursery rhymes even though, I'll have to concede, their origin was most assuredly in England during the 1600s. But at least there is a New England connection. That connection stems back to an Elizabeth Foster of Charlestown, Massachusetts, who married one Isaac Goose of Boston. As the legend goes, s ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Three Most-Often-Asked Questions 1. Were "spring dance floors" built to spring? 2. Where, exactly, does "down east" begin? 3. Why were bridges covered? WELL, LET'S BEGIN with the term "down east." We all know it's a nautical way of referring to sailing with the wind or down wind when traveling northeast off the Maine coast. Where down east begins, however, is more controversial. A few people, mostly summer people, equate down east with the entire coast of Maine. In other words, they maintain that it begins the second ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Three Most-Often-Asked Questions 1. Were "spring dance floors" built to spring? 2. Where, exactly, does "down east" begin? 3. Why were bridges covered? WELL, LET'S BEGIN with the term "down east." We all know it's a nautical way of referring to sailing with the wind or down wind when traveling northeast off the Maine coast. Where down east begins, however, is more controversial. A few people, mostly summer people, equate down east with the entire coast of Maine. In other words, they maintain that it begins the second ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Can You Imagine Anything Cleaner Than a Hound's Tooth? ... or Even a Pig's Whistle? EVERY REGION HAS certain words that reflect its history, its geography -- and its personality. For instance, Southerners seem to me to be immediately open and friendly, even with total strangers. "Y'all come!" they'll say, which would appear to include mankind. We New Englanders are more reserved about extending invitations, or anything else, and our language reflects it. In fact, as far as I can ascertain, New England does not possess any word or expression th ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Can You Imagine Anything Cleaner Than a Hound's Tooth? ... or Even a Pig's Whistle? EVERY REGION HAS certain words that reflect its history, its geography -- and its personality. For instance, Southerners seem to me to be immediately open and friendly, even with total strangers. "Y'all come!" they'll say, which would appear to include mankind. We New Englanders are more reserved about extending invitations, or anything else, and our language reflects it. In fact, as far as I can ascertain, New England does not possess any word or expression th ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website So How Slow Is Molasses in January? A bizarre tragedy in Boston's North End once answered that age-old question for all time. IT WAS UNSEASONABLY warm in Boston on Wednesday, January 15, 1919. Forty-three degrees above zero, to be exact. But during endless court hearings carried on later, it was determined that temperature played no role in what occurred that day in the low-lying section of Commercial Street, between Copps Hill and North End Park. That's where a 58-foot tank filled with no less than 2.5 million gallons of mo ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website So How Slow Is Molasses in January? A bizarre tragedy in Boston's North End once answered that age-old question for all time. IT WAS UNSEASONABLY warm in Boston on Wednesday, January 15, 1919. Forty-three degrees above zero, to be exact. But during endless court hearings carried on later, it was determined that temperature played no role in what occurred that day in the low-lying section of Commercial Street, between Copps Hill and North End Park. That's where a 58-foot tank filled with no less than 2.5 million gallons of mo ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Maybe New Englanders Weren't So Stuffy After All Some romantic customs were even, well, sort of shocking ... NEW ENGLANDERS WERE always so stuffy about love, sex, and romance, how come it was commonly approved practice for young couples to go to bed together before they were married? And also, more surprisingly, to get married in the nude? Both are true. Young New England unmarried boys and girls would indeed go to bed together as part of the courting routine -- but with their clothes on. It was called bundling. When I was a teenager, I ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Maybe New Englanders Weren't So Stuffy After All Some romantic customs were even, well, sort of shocking ...NEWENGLANDERS WEREalways so stuffy about love, sex, and romance, how come it was commonly approved practice for young couples to go to bed together before they were married? And also, more surprisingly, to get married in the nude? Both are true. Young New England unmarried boys and girlswouldindeed go to bed together as part of the courting routine -- but with their clothes on. It was called bundling. When I was a teenager, I knew a ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website It's Fun to Believe in Ghosts But not on blind faith. New Englanders have to actually see or hear them ... NEW ENGLANDERS WANT to believe in ghosts -- and we have so many of them -- but we're often too practical and hardheaded to believe in anything we haven't seen or heard. There's the old story, for example, of the New Hampshire farmer who was cornered by a scholar researching New England religious history. The visitor asked him whether he believed in baptism by immersion in water. "Yep," replied the farmer. "I see ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website It's Fun to Believe in Ghosts But not on blind faith. New Englanders have to actually see or hear them ...NEWENGLANDERSWANTto believe in ghosts -- and we have so many of them -- but we're often too practical and hardheaded to believe in anything we haven't seen or heard. There's the old story, for example, of the New Hampshire farmer who was cornered by a scholar researching New England religious history. The visitor asked him whether he believed in baptism by immersion in water."Yep,"replied the farmer."I seed it done. ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website So Who Was this "Molly Stark" Woman? For reasons never fully explained by anyone, Molly Stark is really big in New England today ... THERE SEEM TO be certain New England legends that evolve out of no logical sequence of events at all. Merely a little something someone said can catch our imagination, be repeated and perhaps somewhat embellished, and eventually ... voila! It takes its place among the New England legends we love. There are dozens of examples I could cite, but perhaps the most puzzling is the legend of Molly St ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website So Who Was this"Molly Stark"Woman? For reasons never fully explained by anyone, Molly Stark is really big in New England today ...THERE SEEM TObe certain New England legends that evolve out of no logical sequence of events at all. Merely a little something someonesaidcan catch our imagination, be repeated and perhaps somewhat embellished, and eventually ... voila! It takes its place among the New England legends we love.There are dozens of examples I could cite, but perhaps the most puzzling is the legend of Molly Stark. Puz ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Best of New England -- Plus a "Worst" Some would probably describe my list as downright odd ... IF I WERE TO compile a list of what I consider to be New England's "bests," I wouldn't include many restaurants, resorts, specialty boutiques, museums, country fairs, and the like. Those things change too quickly and, besides, the current September issue of YANKEE Magazine, celebrating its 70th anniversary in grand style, is devoted to that sort of current, useful, practical stuff. My personal list would be made up of mostly littl ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Best of New England -- Plus a"Worst" Some would probably describe my list as downright odd ...IF I WERE TOcompile a list of what I consider to be New England's"bests,"I wouldn't include many restaurants, resorts, specialty boutiques, museums, country fairs, and the like. Those things change too quickly and, besides, the current September issue of YANKEE Magazine, celebrating its 70th anniversary in grand style, is devoted to that sort of current, useful, practical stuff.My personal list would be made up of mostly little bits a ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Yankee Sentimentality There doesn't seem to be much of it here in New England (at least as far as I can tell). ASKED SOME YEARS AGO by a Boston Globe reporter for his description of the "ideal wife," Captain Eliot Winslow, a well-known tourist boat operator out of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, replied, "She ought to be able to dig clams. She ought to be able to split wood. And she ought to be able to row my dory standin' up." As to the "ideal husband," an elderly lady in Saco, Maine, supplied that definition in a l ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Yankee Sentimentality There doesn't seem to be much of it here in New England (at least as far as I can tell).ASKED SOME YEARS AGOby aBoston Globereporter for his description of the"ideal wife,"Captain Eliot Winslow, a well-known tourist boat operator out of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, replied,"She ought to be able to dig clams. She ought to be able to split wood. And she ought to be able to row my dory standin' up."As to the"ideal husband,"an elderly lady in Saco, Maine, supplied that definition in a letter to YANK ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Yes, Virginia, There Was a REAL Uncle Sam But his brother, Eben, could have changed everything. Oh, sure, people in the states of Delaware and Indiana still think Uncle Sam was a Sam Wilson, born in Wilmington, Delaware, and buried in Merriam, Indiana. But in the 1960s, even the United States Congress recognized the New England-born Samuel Wilson as the Uncle Sam. And, as is the case in so many so-called legends, a series of minor historical circumstances had to follow one after another. In our Uncle Sam's case, there were 10. 1 ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Yes, Virginia, There Was a REAL Uncle Sam But his brother, Eben, could have changed everything.Oh, sure, peoplein the states of Delaware and Indiana still think Uncle Sam was a Sam Wilson, born in Wilmington, Delaware, and buried in Merriam, Indiana. But in the 1960s, even the United States Congress recognized the New England-born Samuel Wilson astheUncle Sam. And, as is the case in so many so-called legends, a series of minor historical circumstances had to follow one after another. In our Uncle Sam's case, there were 10.1. The Wi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website New Englanders Don't Really Believe in Bad Luck On the other hand, why take unnecessary chances? Superstitions are actually so deeply ingrained in New England character that we seldom recognize them -- or, for sure, admit to them. And I guess I'd have to include myself in that category. For instance, I've always felt that it's not necessarily "bad luck" to return for something you forgot after beginning a trip. It's just that the delay will be worse than going without the forgotten item. Even if it's your suitcase. They used to say it ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website New Englanders Don't Really Believe in Bad Luck On the other hand, why take unnecessary chances?Superstitions are actuallyso deeply ingrained in New England character that we seldom recognize them -- or, for sure, admit to them. And I guess I'd have to include myself in that category.For instance, I've always felt that it's not necessarily"bad luck"to return for something you forgot after beginning a trip. It's just that the delay will be worse than going without the forgotten item. Even if it's your suitcase. They used to say it's bad l ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website North, South and West of the Hub Like all the New England states, Massachusetts has always been able to laugh at itself -- thank goodness. Boston is called Hub of the Universe. And that's not a name given only in jest. As a Boston native, I can say that pride in the Bay State has always spilled over into what outsiders sometimes might consider to be, well, arrogance. (Hub of the Universe?) The Massachusetts image exported to the outside world consists of Harvard, Boston Brahmins, the Puritans, the Kennedys, pa'hking our ca ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vermont Isn't Just a Geographic Area But it's not easy to be a true Vermonter... Being a Vermonter carries with it some heavy responsibilities. First of all, he/she must possess a great deal of common sense. Although somewhere around 100,000 adults living in Vermont today never finished high school, ignorance is not a lack of education but rather a lack of common sense. "That Hardwick road sign back there is pointing off in the wrong direction, isn't it?" "Sure it is, but anyone with a little common sense knows how to ge ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website More on New England Humor ...including possibly the best put-down story of all time. I love to recall in my mind some of the old stories and jokes I've known for years. To me, it's like humming a favorite tune over and over. Maybe one of the reasons these old stories live on in my mind-and in the minds of others-is that they each seem to reflect one or more of the traits we've come to accept as sort of representing old-time New Englanders. I'm referring to such traits as frugality, shrewdness, contrariness, a sense ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Speaking About Sex and Romance Years ago, New Englanders were very careful when referring to such things. Well, usually... Here in New England, we don't much want to talk about things in the area of sex and romance, particularly in mixed company and even when the mixed company is one's own spouse. We may be noted for calling a spade a spade, but all of us country people over 70 remember that we never, for instance, referred to a bull as a bull when ladies were around. And, I'm told that ladies never referred to a bull di ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Can New England Claim the First American Christmas Tree? After considerable investigating, I believe I've come up with the answer... Not long ago, while watching from my office window the fireman putting up lights on the town Christmas tree here in Dublin, New Hampshire, I began wondering if perhaps New England might lay claim to the very first Christmas tree. Well, the first American Christmas tree. (It is well established that the use of the evergreen tree as part of the Christmas celebration started more than 400 years ago in Germany.) So, I b ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Some Tall Tales are Almost True ... particularly when it comes to the typical New England description of how we think our cider and our tea ought to be. While rum and other spirits are widely consumed throughout New England today, the traditional New England drink is, of course, cider. Hard cider. Sure, there's always been plenty of sweet cider handy-particularly during the fall months-to be served when the minister calls, but during my growing-up years in Maine the favorite recipes had names such as "Hard Cider Eggnog," ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Confession of a "Yankee Moseyer" Once upon a time long ago, the perfect YANKEE Magazine story, all written and photographed, never appeared in the magazine. Now, after all these years we know the reason why... It was eight years after YANKEE Magazine's "House for Sale" first appeared (in the April 1950 issue) that Robb Sagendorph, my uncle and Yankee Publishing's founder, assigned me to be responsible for what had by then become a popular monthly feature. My very first appeared in the November 1958 issue and described the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Exploring a Few New England Oddities Some you'd never discover unless you knew to look UP... I couldn't begin to list all the physical manifestations of famous legends that can be viewed in New England today. They're everywhere. My favorites, however, are those with which I've had some personal connection. For instance, I've snooped around a certain little house nestled in some pines on the shores of a river in Hopkinton, New Hampshire -- a little house made from the crate used to ship Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis back to A ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Legend of the Sacred Cod. Or Haddock. Or Scrod? While "scrod" may be delicious, have you ever heard of anyone actually fishing for "scrod"? Of course not... There is, of course, no such fish as "scrod" in New England waters or anywhere else. The term began years ago when fishing schooners would return from the Grand Banks to the Boston fish pier, loaded with fish ready to be auctioned off. Now, fancy hotels like, for instance, the Parker House (still going strong) didn't want to serve fish that came out of the bottom of any ship's hold. ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Still An Incredible Story We all know the ship Essex was sunk by a whale. It was a bizarre enough event for the instant creation of a New England legend. But then, when you add the gruesome aftermath... One hundred and eighty-five years ago next month, on August 12, 1819, the whaler Essex sailed out of Nantucket on one of those multi-year whaling voyages of the old days. More than a year later, on November 22, 1820, she became one of New England's most bizarre and, to my mind, intriguing legends. Yes, on that long-a ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Thoughts On Ups and Downs and Overs and Outs From southern Maine, you must go up to Bangor but down to Eastport. Confusing? Well, not to New Englanders... The New England language is probably easier to learn than one of the numerous New England accents. But like English itself, there are few rules. As soon as you've identified a rule, you discover more exceptions than examples. For instance, you might hear a Maine man say he intends to go gunnin' for partridge that afternoon. You figure gunnin' is used instead of huntin'. But it isn't ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Frankly, We'd Sooner Old Throughout our six-state region, many of us have felt that way for years and years. (Most of the time.) In New England, old is good while new is, at best, suspect. For instance, in the vague but nonetheless real social scheme of things, old houses are better than new houses. Old companies are better to work for than new companies. Better to own an old barn than to build a brand-new one. Old wooden boats are wonderful. New fiberglass boats, particularly fiberglass motorboats, are not. Old-ti ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website About "Peepahs" and Peas Both are integral parts of a New England April... Although March is my favorite month of the year -- I'm told I'm in the minority on that opinion -- April comes in a close second. By then the "promises" of March -- that aspect of the month I so enjoy thinking about -- have begun to change into a myriad of wonderful spring realities but, nonetheless, it's still within that time of year when we can take comfort in the fact things are going to get better and better and better. (For a while.) ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website