Saturday, March 30, 2013

Small Town America Framingham Cushing Hospital for wounded troops

http://youtu.be/x4PvJpQBt-c     This arrangement of this song, brings me back to the late 1940's in our hometown.    In the 1940's  Cushing Hospital was  serving our wounded troops, maybe that is why there were a number of uniformed young men in our town.    It is almost a forgotten time, lets not let it be erased.  

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Small Town Framingham Sock Hop April

Let's Go to The Hop!
Fifties Family Dance Fun For All Ages!
Friday, April 5
7-9 pm
Historic Village Hall
2 Oak St, Framingham
Don your poodle skirts and saddle shoes ('50s dress optional) and dance like they did on American Bandstand! DJs Dave and Jeanne Bowman will be spinning the "45s" with doo-wop dance tunes and ballads that remain popular to this day! Try out or show off some dance styles of the era - like the twist, jitterbug, cha-cha, and lindy hop. There will be prizes awarded in a number of categories, including most authentic outfit and best dancers! Refreshments and hula-hooping too!
$5/person, max $20 per family.
Purchase tickets online by clicking here.
Tickets available at the door on April 5th.... or at the Edgell Memorial Library, 3 Oak Street, Framingham Wednesdays - Saturdays 1-4 pm
* please note that Historic Village Hall is not handicap-accessible. We're working on changing that!
Framingham History Center
16 Vernon Street
Framingham, Massachusetts 01703
508-872-3780

Monday, March 25, 2013

Small Town Framingham, a song I remember Hey Daddy

http://youtu.be/c8nGrDarRJQ   I listened to this at my Aunt Mary's house in Marlboro, while her son Bob danced in the kitchen....I loved every minute of it...

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Small town, Framingham, the great Earl Bostic - Flamingo

http://youtu.be/lcxBLiKpRm0   Here it is again, in all his glory!  He had a secret with his instrument, that no one has discovered yet.  Storyland featured him and we all went to Boston to hear the great jazz artists that came to our area.

Small Town Framingham, EARL BOSTIC - NIGHT & DAY

http://youtu.be/sebbktK31zc    This is one of the most outstanding songs we grew up with in the United States from the 40's-60's a whole generation or two..., Frank Sinatra recorded it three times, (I have the dates in my book) and just listen to this jazz rendition, have you ever heard anyone play like this....Earl Bostic, was one great jazz musician, I particularly like his version of Flamingo.  Is there anyone that can make his sounds come to life today?

Small Town Framingham, meet Bing's brother, Bob Crosby - Big Noise Blew In From Winnetka

http://youtu.be/QWTf0DIoqTk   This is  a song of the Greatest Generation, they knew how to swing!  I loved to watch them and was dying to grow up and dance like that.  My cousin +Robert Gabriel was the greatest swing dancer , I loved to watch him dance with his then girlfriend , now +Beverly Gabriel

Small Town Framingham George Jones and Gene Pitney - Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You) (1965)

http://youtu.be/G07jid1hjP0    Country music was not popular in our area, and if you liked it, you were referred to as a hillbilly, but I liked it, and so did many others, so it was not long before the juke boxes in the Wellworth in downtown Framingham started to play country music.

Small Town Framingham The Lawrence Welk Show: Mairzy Doats

http://youtu.be/Dny_JDlwGFM    If you have read my book and wondered about this song, that drove us crazy....it played everywhere, until we wanted to scream

Small Town Framingham High Jazz Band Wins Gold in State Finals -Patch#photo-13772234

Framingham High Jazz Band Wins Gold in State Finals - Framingham, MA Patch#photo-13772234

If you have been away for years, it is fun to catch up here and there.  We have a newspaper in addition to the old Framingham News, which now has a new name.  The new paper is The Patch...here is an article on the Jazz Band we have at Framingham High, imagine that?

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Small Town America Framingham, event March 24 at History Center

The Framingham History Center
celebrates Women's History Month with...
Libby Franck portraying
Mary Ware Dennett -
Survivor of Scandal, Agent of Reform
Sunday, March 24
2:00 pm
Historic Village Hall
2 Oak St, Framingham
While living in the Dennett enclave in Framingham, Mary and her architect husband Hartley were leaders of the local Arts and Crafts Movement. Mary faced public disgrace as her husband pursued his client and "soul mate" Margaret Chase. After notorious divorce trials to win custody of her two young sons, Mary turned to her New England roots as a fearless reformer for the betterment of society. Her contributions to Women's Suffrage, World Peace and Birth Control were significant, yet her fear of public scrutiny borne from her personal trials compelled her to hide from the limelight. Libby Franck, well-known local reenactor, brings Framingham's Mary Ware Dennett to life with an amazing story that is deserving of study and appreciation.
$5/person; Reserve your seat via email to charlene@framinghamhistory.org
Editor's Note: This program serves as a wonderful precursor to actually visiting Mary and Hartley Dennett's house, a featured stop on the FHC's House Tour May 19th!
Framingham History Center
16 Vernon Street
Framingham, Massachusetts 01703
508-872-3780

Monday, March 18, 2013

Small Town America Framingham Eric Felten: How the Taxman Cleared the Dance Floor - WSJ.com

Eric Felten: How the Taxman Cleared the Dance Floor - WSJ.com  I often wondered why the wonderful opportunities Mom and Dad had to go dining and dancing disappeared.  They had so much fun!  When we were ready to have fun, dining and dancing had almost disappeared except for a few places like the Rainbow Room in New York which I just had to go see, so I could experience the glamour I had seen in the movies, and to learn about the good times Mom and Dad had experienced.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Small Town Framingham Wow! The Beatles: 1962 - Love Me Do - BBC Documentary

http://youtu.be/X3jO1OAEPzo   The poor dances, the twist , the pony, and all the other crazy names, took a dive, when The Beatles took the world by storm!   Their music was beautiful, longing and tender, it issued back into vogue, music with meaning in the sounds of the instruments, the melody and the words, once again, as illustrated by the long living music they recorded.

Small Town Framingham Peppermint Lounge New York and Miami

http://youtu.be/MSV0_ll_3AQ   My friend +Thurley Henderson and I wanted to see the famous Peppermint Lounge in Miami, when my Mom was living there in the early 60's.  It was a crazy place where people did the twist, and other fad dances.  There was  a railing around the dance floor which  was used as a dance location for a  handsome man dancer, who introduced the main act, Chubby Checker...The dancer twisted and turned along the railing...It was a one time visit to see how the other side lived....we did not know that a gangster owned the club. 

Small Town Framingham The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order (Council on Foreign Relations Books (Princeton University Press)) (9780691149097): Benn Steil: Books

Amazon.com: The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order (Council on Foreign Relations Books (Princeton University Press)) (9780691149097): Benn Steil: Books

My Mother and Father were discussing this at the kitchen table in 1944, they talked about it being in New Hampshire at the Mount Washington Hotel.  At my age,  (9 years old),I caught the location, the name of the meeting and the fact that everyone was concerned about what was going to come out of the meeting, for our post war monetary policy.  I am not sure where my Dad stood on this eventful meeting, but, I recall his concern, that the loss of the gold standard would cause us great distress in the future.  Dad was always discussing world events with Mom,  I loved to listen and ask questions.

"Money has to be tied to something we can get a grip on, I prefer the gold standard..",  I overheard.  It was at this meeting that the  dollar became the currency that the world would look to in the future

.  Could it be that many of our problems today stem from what happened here at Bretton Woods, I guess I will have to read this interesting book.  Just reading the review in the March 15, 2012 Wall St Journal, which you can get on line is enough to whet your appetite.



SMALL TOWN AMERICA, FRAMINGHAM
Can you find your grandparents in this picture below, I see+ Richard Belli and +Fred Ablondi in the front row.+ Arlene Scansaroli Chao and +Carol Reichert Waters in the 2nd row. Many others you might know,+ Rita Stevens Hodi, +Gertrude Rogers Wakeman +Richard Rotelli, +Olga Zaffino Bartels etc...

From Kirkus Reviews...
"A first generation Italian-American born in the midst of the Great Depression, shares her real life childhood experiences during World War 2. In this conversational recollection of her rural Massachusetts upbringing, Fafard, (Secrets of the Heart,2010) writes a paean to."The Greatest Generation."


Sixth Grade, Memorial School on Hollis Street, just after the end of the war.

Donald Duck was born in 1934 and Disney paved the way to a magical world that helped keep us all from the moment to moment horrors of what was happening on distant shores. We were so lucky to grow up in small town America.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Small Town Framingham Moon Over Miami

http://youtu.be/X1RelStGcuw   Moon over Miami, the clothes the elegance we all longed for was not available in our little town of Framingham , Mass., most of the folks were building homes that finally had indoor toilets. By the early to mid 1930's depending on your family income, we still had outhouses, and now, an oblong type water tank at the top of the wall near the ceiling that had a chain on it, to pull which caused the toilet to open and the water to come down from the tank and flush. In the early 1940's we had the new homes from Sears with toilets that look like what we have today. Just little tidbits from a little girl that questioned everything, why, who, what , and rambled on about it in her book, Small Town America, Framingham.

Small Town Framingham Lester Young - Count Basie 1936 ~ Lady Be Good

http://youtu.be/-Iq2N0ZsRo0    Sorry the share to blogger  button is not working on youtube, so I have to use the links...  The Charleston was the dance that was fading out and jazz dancing, as we knew it the jitterbug was on the way in....I once saw Mom and Dad do the Charleston in our dining room, and asked to learn this crazy type of dancing.

Small Town Framingham Count Basie Jumpin at the woodside

http://youtu.be/-Iq2N0ZsRo0    Count Basie and Jazz were eating up the air waves ...Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Glen Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, the music of the big bands, was incredible....it is interesting that we don't remember songs like this as much as we remember the romantic ones that told a story. 

Snall town Framingham At the Woodchopper's Ball - Woody Herman (1939)

http://youtu.be/2wcVtUNMQsQ   Here is the song....I could not find the old cartoon...

Small Town Framingham,There Is No Greater Love (1947)

http://youtu.be/92WoPrrwbzA  this song is from the long ago, and the little bit of history in the comments below about Woody Herman are interesting.....because I always remember a cartoon, at the Hollis Theater, when I was a child, called the Woodchoppers Ball, and it was the music of Woody Herman that accompanied it.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Small Town America Framingham Frances Langford

http://youtu.be/YI8x0uG_NRI   The flavor of the times in Framingham as we  mourned the effects of the war on our families.

Small Town Framingham, Van Cliburn

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Suddenly, in our small town, Framingham, we were astounded to hear that a young man had won a prize in Russia, for his piano playing.   He was young  an unexpected winner!  We stopped listening to jazz, even stopped what we called the jitterbug, for a few minutes to learn about him and join in the wonder of his accomplishment! Maybe that is when I learned to love Rachmaninoff!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

FRANKIE LAINE - TWO LOVES HAVE I

Two Loves Have I....by Frankie Laine....played on the car radio in 1947, and ensuing years, on WKOX  Framingham, and the Boston radio stations. http://youtu.be/2pJ2WnEewOw     What a wonderful time! We were  just becoming teens and oh my gosh, we had cars!   How lucky could we get?  Off to Nantasket, Revere and Wareham beaches in summer on our own....!  Kids today don't realize that we were trapped in our towns for the most part , unless we took the bus or train....travel was not easy til cars became popular.  Thanks to Knudson and the beginning of General Motors, he provided competition to Ford and with that cars got color, bigger engines and great prices in the late 20's, and the price then was in range of $400.00 but still they were not available to the mass market. who could not afford them even at that price...until the 30's then the war stopped car production til 1945 ....when all Hell broke loose!  Yes, we went crazy with tv's , washing machines, refrigerators, cars, and more....we had savings from war bonds, and for years we had gone without to provide for the troops first!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Small Town Framingham, Guild Road and memory begins

Our first home was on Guild Road in Framingham a rented house, where Mom got her first piano.  What brought the house, the first floor room layout and the piano to mind was my first memory. It was the first time I was aware and had memory of something.  I was about three years old, and Mom had some Russian dolls that fit inside each other.  They are what did it!  I was mesmerized, astonished and inquistive...and so the day went down in memory forever, and then memory faded away for a few months until a new event was announced.....my brother was joining our family!  Then awareness began from that point onward.  I don't think it was just the notice that Frank was coming to our home, but rather I was turning 4...

Monday, March 11, 2013

Small Town Framingham motorcycles and me

My mother was not happy to think I would be on a motorcycle, and I was told, "No, no, no."  +Richard Caferelli, decided to give me a ride on his motorcycle one day down town in front of Liggetts drugstore.  I got on, and guess what.....my mother was driving by!   Why me?  I always got caught!  What made me think of this was this weekend, the bikes were out in full force.  We drove to Amelia Island,  off Jacksonville, Florida and we were escorted by all kinds of bikes, all the way from Jupiter, Florida, and all the way back to Jupiter, Florida.  There were plenty of signs to watch for motorcycles, and one accident, where I don't think anyone got hurt, but there was plenty of opportunity for some bloody wrecks...Speeding bikes over 80 miles an hour, no helmuts, no protective gear, darting in and out between the cars....Wow, it was a little nerve wracking to be behind them...but, they had lots of fun up in the New Smyrna Beach area, this weekend, there appeared to be a big meet at the big motorcycle dealers up there .

Small Town Framingham fun at History Center coming events!






e-news banner
Greetings,

Sign lighting on opening night
c.Damianos Photography

Many thanks to over 200 members who showed up for opening night of our Shoppers' World 1951-1994 exhibition. The '50s decor, the libation and the obvious enjoyment of sharing memories made the evening truly special. On opening day we saw another 100 people and we've had many more visitors during the Wed-Saturday 1:00-4:00 open hours. This looks like one of our most popular exhibitons yet so come on down!
Annie Murphy
Executive Director

Women's History Month Program
Mary Ware Dennett - Survivor of Scandal,
Agent of Reform
Sunday, March 24
2:00 pm
Historic Village Hall
2 Oak Street

While living in the Dennett enclave in Framingham, Mary and her architect husband Hartley were leaders of the local Arts and Crafts Movement. Mary faced public disgrace as her husband pursued his client and "soul mate" Margaret Chase. After notorious divorce trials to win custody of her two young sons, Mary turned to her New England roots as a fearless reformer for the betterment of sociey. Her contributions to Women's Suffrage, World Peace and Birth Control were significant, yet her fear of public scrutiny borne from her personal trials compelled her to hide from the limelight. Libby Franck, well known resident Reenactor, brings Framingham's Mary Ware Dennett to life with an amazing true-life story that is deserving of study and appreciation.

$5/person. Refreshments served
Editor's Note: This program serves as a wonderful precursor to the Hartley Dennett house, a featured stop on the FHC's House Tour May 19th!

Shoppers' World 1951-1994
Edgell Memorial Library
3 Oak St. Framingham, MA
Wednesdays - Saturdays, 1pm - 4pm
Come revisit this "kinder, gentler shopping center" with a display of special images, stories, and memorabilia designed to rekindle memories of a place that helped define Framingham for 43 years. Open to the public. Admission $5.00; free for children and FHC members. If you're not presently an FHC member, click here to join at a special introductory Shoppers' World rate - just $19.51 for the year.

.Let's Go to the Hop!
Friday
April 5
7:00 - 9:00
Village Hall
2 Oak Street
Don your poodle skirts and saddle shoes ('50s dress optional) and dance like they did on American Bandstand! DJs Dave and Jeanne Bowman will be spinning the "45s" with doo-wop dance tunes and ballads that remain popular even today! Learn common dance styles of the era - such as the twist, jitterbug, cha-cha, and lindy hop... with prizes offered in a number of categories. Refreshments too! Appropriate for all ages. $5/person, max $20/family. Order tickets online here.

Michelle runs for history - again!
Pasta Party
Thursday
April 11
6:30 - 8:00
Village Hall
2 Oak Street
Michelle McElroy is running in her third Boston Marathon to benefit the Framingham History Center! Join us in support of her run and help send her off in style with a feast that includes salad, pasta, rolls, beverages and dessert. $26/person includes dinner and a donation to the FHC. For information, reservations, or to make a donation even if you can't attend the party, click here.
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In This Issue:
Mary Ware Dennett
Shoppers' World exhibition
50's Family Dance Fun!
Convery Scholarship
House Tour tix on sale
Summer Teacher Training
Praying Town
Blueberry Benefit

Ed Convery Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser

Ed Convery with Pat Lavin
The Ed Convery Memorial St. Patrick' s Day Bash takes place Saturday March 16th, 6-11pm at the Framingham Elks. The event includes dinner, step dancers, raffles, music and good company. The scholarship benefits a Framingham High School senior who wants to pursue a degree in education, history or religion. for more info or to purchase tickets, email jeffconvery@msn.com or


House Tour May 19th!
House Tour logoDreaming of Spring? It's not too early to order your tickets for the Framingham History Center's 12th Annual House Tour! Click here for details!
Sponsored by:
Bernardi logo

Civil War Teacher Training Workshop at the FHC - July 9-11
We are now taking registrations for "From Framingham to the Battlefield and Back" at the Edgell Memorial Library this summer. The FHC is partnering with Framingham State University's Center for Global Education to bring this opportunity to History and English teachers from Metrowest High Schools. Teachers will have the opportunity to explore the FHC's Civil War collection and hear from guest speakers as well as local authors. Stipends of $200 are available thanks to a grant from the Foundation for MetroWest and graduate credits are available as well. Click here for registration information.

Praying Town Documentary
If you missed the film at Village Hall last year, it's being shown at the South Acton Congregational Church, 35 School Street, March 14th, 7:00 pm - sponsored by Iron Work Farm in Acton, Inc. visit www.ironworkfarm.org for more info.

John Harvard's Brew House supports FHC
Before or after you check out the Shoppers World exhibition, head to John Harvard's Brew House for a pint of Shoppers Ale or a Blueberry Muffin Sundae! $1 for each pint or dessert sold benefits the Framingham History Center!

 

Framingham Historical Society and Museum | 16 Vernon Street | P. O. Box 2032 | Framingham | MA | 01703

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Small Town Framingham diners convert to big restaurants

In the early days before Rt 9 became a Megaplex...+.Kens Steak House, was Ken's  a diner on Route 9.  In those days diners were all we seemed to know in our area.    Although my Mom and Dad went to Chicken Petes to go dining and dancing on Saturday night, as most of the folks out our way did in those days,.(It was out in Medway, I think.)  

 Ballrooms were the rage, it was the era of the big bands, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Jimmy Dorsey, Glen Miller, hugh bands that crossed the country on terrible roads in buses.  It was a difficult life.  You know of course that the highway system was not built until Eisenhower became President after the war, and Route 66 was the road we sang and dreamed about in our fantasies of travel across our vast country.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

small town Framingham Louis Prima------Jump,Jive an'Wail

Oh, did we love Louie Prima, we went to Las Vegas as soon as we could to see and hear him perform.  +Bob Boucini, could swing and sing just like Louis Prima...what fun we had swinging to this great music and the great performers...

Earl Bostic - "Flamingo" - '51 - (ORIGINAL vinyl issue)

Oh, did I love this, what a sax player.  We even went into Boston to see and hear him at one of the clubs.  In those days we had a couple of good clubs in Boston( in addition to the Totem Pole in Newton),  that brought in Ella, Gene Krupa, and Earl Bostic...

Sunday, March 3, 2013

One Minute to Zero (1952) - IMDb

One Minute to Zero (1952) - IMDb  A little information on the movie I just mentioned, if you have not seen it, you might want to  put it on your list of to do.

Nat King Cole sings "When I Fall in Love"

An early 1950 song, introduced in a movie, One Minute to Zero, according to Wikipedia....what a song/1

Small Town FraminghamTito Puente Mambo Birdland

1950's Mambo, and Birdland...we all wanted to go to New York to Birdland

Small Town Framingham It's No Sin - 3 versions. Four Aces, Eddy Howard, Duprees

Come back to the high school days of the early 1950's when we all hummed and sang this song.  It rang out of our juke boxes and car radios thru the open windows in summer.  It played on the records in our victrolas....that is what we called the record player.

Small Town Framingham

+Richard Rotelli  born in Framingham and schooled in our public schools,  wrote a piece about his summer of work at the Dennison.  It was eye opening about factory work in our town, the people who worked there, and the culture of the time.  He may have given it to the Framingham History Center, in case you want to read it.  Richard Rotelli is also the author of two books, which you can find by googling him, or going to Amazon.com

Friday, March 1, 2013

small town Framingham, basements before air conditioning

A basement was a wonderful treat in the long ago days of the 1940's and 1950's.  Before air conditioning we had the front porch and a small fan that whirred hard to keep us all cool. The basement on the other hand remained cool most of the time, and so our parents had a living room in the basement, or a family room....but we did not know family rooms in those days, so it was our summer living room.  Some people even had a basement kitchen.

Our room had chairs, table, phonograph player and radio, plus standing lights to go between the chairs so the folks could read the evening paper and listen to the radio, or turn on the phonograph and dance on the basement concrete floor.  The summer living room in the basement doubled as our playroom, and when I became a teen, it was my party room.  Many times I had a party in the basement with my friends, thanks to a great Mom.