Chris and Lise,
For quite awhile I’ve been meaning to tell you both how much I enjoy the ” This Day in History” column. It’s fascinating to see that while many, many changes have occurred -both historically and in the make up of the town; It’s also quite interesting (and amusing) to see that some dissatisfactions remain the same: For instance:
“1892: Muttered curses, not low, but deep, are daily heard in reference to Brattleboro’s railway service”
I love the flowery writing and the wonderful formality of the language. It’s one of my favorite parts of the site. I’m guessing it must be quite enjoyable to be able peruse all the activities and actions of our town so many deacdes ago and to note the what has changed and what remains the same -for better or worse. So, thanks for keeping me educated and amused at the same time!
Kris Alden
I agree!
I, too, enjoy this feature. And I’m wondering if past columns are archived somewhere accessible? I often want to pass along a tidbit to someone and don’t always have time to do that as I peruse the column. Would love to be able to revisit these.
Thanks!
I’m a big fan of history, and of making it relevant.
These news stories come mostly from the Phoenix. They had a column called “Local Intelligence” for over half a century, supplying exactly this type of info. Often, what you see here is the full story of what was published then. Only in rare occasions do I edit things down to fit them in.
After doing this for almost a year straight through, I have an even greater appreciation for language and am very thankful that things written long ago can, for the most part, still be understood. A few words have changed, and some words we no longer use. It took me a while, for example, to realize that not all Saloons were bars – some were what we might call salons.
Another one that held me up for a while was “irrigation station.” I thought it might have to do with the roads being sprinkled, or trains getting water. Nope. Just slant for illegal drinking establishments.
I’m only selecting a few from a long list of stories. I tend to leave out most of the accidents at factories and deaths in town, and mention only handful of the buggy accidents and horse runaways.
I try to get the overall flavor of the times, and also try to follow certain people, companies, and organizations. Strange clubs are always a delight to find. It’s fun to follow the technological improvements in town, too.
And yes, what we do today is similar to what we’ve done before. I think we may have lost a bit of the fun, social spirit of adventure of long ago – the attendance at the old events puts the modern day to shame. But in regards to town matters, we’ve always had a bit of rough and tumble, back and forth, between citizens and authorities. The number of times issues have been re-voted is almost comical.
For now I’m mostly confining myself to pre-1900. The plan has been to get the full year done, then publish these as e-books to make them widely available and easy to search. A print version might be fun, too, someday. Then I may move on to fill in the 1900-1930 era next. We also might work on a game show with the historical society.
Glad you enjoy the time machine!
"I tend to leave out most of
“I tend to leave out most of the accidents at factories and deaths in town…”
This reader is glad for that, enough of that in the media now.
I think a compilation printing is a good idea.
wow, and...
You are ambitious and dedicated!! The “column” I was referring to, though, for archives is YOURS/ibrattleboro’s!! I think I knew that the content was mostly from The Phoenix. I want to go back your compilations. Thanks for all the background color you provided here, though. It, too, is interesting.
archives
In addition to the books, we may also come up with a more interactive way to look at the data here online, now that we almost have the full year filled in through 1900, and a good deal more.
Until then, it’s a daily look at a single day.
I like that it's for one day
I like that it’s for one day at a time. It’s enough variety to be interesting but small enough to really pay attention to and absorb the information. Although some type of book that a person could peruse at their leisure is something that I would love. s would many other people, I’m sure.
oh yes, one day for the home page, but
I just want to be able to go back and find old posts so that if I didn’t have the time to copy and send along an interesting tidbit to someone that specific day I could click on an archive link and go back through old ones to retrieve it later. But I know maintaining this site takes a lot of work as it is.