Tag: PostcardsfromFalmouth

Postcards from Falmouth: Falmouth Heights Ball Field

Posted on by K.C. DeWall

If you’ve set out to enjoy Falmouth in the height of summer, chances are you’ve been to the Falmouth Heights ball field. But have you heard of the Falmouth Falcons, or learned how that ball field came to be?

Let the late Richard Kendall take you back in time, to a boyhood spent practicing, playing ball, and facing off against local legends on this iconic field. His oral history spans the early days of Falmouth Heights to the postwar era of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he rubbed shoulders with professional talent and watched new players get to know the game.

Visit our Heights Ballfield digital exhibit here.

Explore the postcard collection online here.

Postcards from Falmouth is a local history project of Falmouth Public Library, funded by a LSTA grant and administered by the MBLC.

Postcards from Falmouth

Posted on by Phoebe Acheson

We are delighted to celebrate our historic postcard collections with three talks related to the history of Falmouth and postcards. Join us for any or all three talks which will be held digitally via Zoom on Tuesday, September 22nd at 10:00 AM, Wednesday, September 23rd at 10:00 AM, and Thursday, September 24th at 10:00 AM.

On Tuesday Tom Turkington will talk about his memoir Before I Forget: A Boyhood of Little Drama, Wednesday will be Gus G. Widmayer talking about his postcard collection and his books A Gentleman’s Guide to the Belvidere Plain in Falmouth, Massachusetts and The Belvidere Plain Revisited, and finally on Thursday, September 24th will be Mary L. Martin discussing her newest book A Guide Book of Collectible Postcards which was just published by Whitman Publishing, as well as her job of being the owner of the world’s largest postcard shop!

Feel free to bring your favorite Falmouth postcard, and tell us why it is your favorite. This event is made possible thanks to FCTV, The Trustees of the Falmouth Public Library, and an LSTA grant administered through the MBLC. You can register for one or all by going to our online calendar.

POSTCARDS FROM FALMOUTH: The East End Meeting House

Posted on by K.C. DeWall

POSTCARDS FROM FALMOUTH: The East End Meeting House

The East End Meeting House was the topic for the first Postcards from Falmouth oral history recording at FCTV. Troy Clarkson interviewed Rabbi Elias Lieberman, who shared a wonderful history of the Meeting House. For instance, did you know that the East Congregational Religious Society, owners of the Meeting House, gave it to the Falmouth Jewish Congregation in 1982? According to the Director of the American Jewish Archives, the gift was “the first time (in history) that Christians have given Jews a building for congregation.” In fact, Rabbi Lieberman also mentioned that the Church of the Messiah carried on the friendly gesture by helping bring the Torah to Falmouth, which came all the way from London, as it was there that sacred Scrolls and other ceremonial objects and vestments that were captured during the Holocaust period were repaired and then distributed throughout many parts of the world.

What a nice way for the Falmouth community to make history!

The oral histories are part of a two-year local history/community engagement grant based upon the Library’s historical postcard collection. The recordings are on-going and will be available for viewing next year. Contact us for more information.

We’ll keep you posted!

Postcards from Falmouth: Greetings from Camp Cowasset

Posted on by K.C. DeWall
Before there was Wild Harbor Estates in North Falmouth, there was Camp Cowasset, a girls’ summer camp.   
 
According to The Book of Falmouth, the camp offered horseback riding, sailing, swimming and crafts to about 100 girls each summer, including Robert Frost’s daughter.  The campers slept in tents, and were required to bring “two pairs of black serge bloomers and six pairs of black stockings.” Activities also included dinner at the “French  table,” where only French was spoken and where Madame Mensendieck stressed correct posture, which  was thought to bring “health and poise to the growing girls.”
 
Featured in the Falmouth Historical Society’s Legendary Locals of Falmouth, the camp was owned and managed by Beatrice Hunt, or “Miss Bea,” from 1915 to 1962.  In fact, the Historical Society acquired a collection of Camp Cowasset memorabilia in 2016.  The collection includes the personal diary of camper, Miriam Thomas, who describes “her struggles with horseback riding and hijinks with her cabin-mates.”
 
Nous ne pouvons pas attendre l’été! 
 
Do you know anyone who was a Camp Cowasset camper? Contact us!
 
To see more historical postcards of Falmouth, visit our digital collection.
 

Teaticket Inn: Best Cooking on Cape Cod

Posted on by K.C. DeWall

“Long before there was Falmouth there was Teaticket.  ‘Tataket’ was the name the Wampanoag Tribe gave the area.  It translates roughly and appropriately as ‘at the principal tidal stream.'”  The Book of Falmouth

…and some might say that the Teaticket Inn was the “principal” inn for many traveling gourmands.  Owned by Joseph and Margaret (Pherson) Fish, the Inn was “a favorite stopping place” for travelers and drummers [sales people] who made the Inn their “home,” and who “greatly relish[ed] the good things prepared by ‘Aunty’ Fish as she was affectionately called.” In fact, Mrs. Fish was described in The Enterprise as the “best cook on Cape Cod,” who was “reputed to serve a hearty meal and plenty for seconds or thirds or more.”

Do you know any stories about Tataket back in the days of the Teaticket Inn?  Contact us!

#postcardsfromfalmouth