Perham's of West Paris will be closing in July after 90 years in business.The store, which sold minerals and gems as well as books and equipment for prospecting, was opened in 1919 by Stanley Perham. In December, Stanley's daughter and current owner Jane Perham said she would close the store until June 1, but the business did not reopen.In addition to the store, the business includes a museum display of gems and minerals unearthed at local quarries. Perham and her father have sent samples to the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian...
Friday, 26 June 2009
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Ed McMahon, Bingo Caller
Posted on 12:55 by blogger
Ed McMahon got his professional start calling bingo at a carnival in Mexico, Maine.On our arrival in Mexico it turned out we had joined one of the toughest carnivals on the road. The night before a guy had been killed by another guy. He got angry and hit his friend over the head with a sledgehammer. That smarts!The carnival had closed for the night and the wake was going on when we pulled into the grounds and started setting up to be ready to start calling bingo bright and early the next morning. This was hard work and all five men in the troupe...
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Free Access to Images of America
Posted on 10:29 by blogger
Until July 31, 2009, you can browse several Maine titles from the Arcadia Publishing Images of America series. If asked to log in, enter:Username: reviewerPassword: 69preventative2Local and Regional History Online: A History of American Life in Images and Texts is a unique new resource cultivated from Arcadia Publishing's award-winning series of local history books. At completion, it will include over 1 million historical images and texts, celebrating the places and faces that give America its spirit and life. All of the images and texts have been...
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Portland Ink
Posted on 10:52 by blogger
There's a great post today at Strange Maps about the city of Portland, inspired by an unusual tattoo.Fixing her regional loyalty in indelible ink on skin, Julia had a map of Portland, ME tattooed on her shoulder. A comparison with the more conventional map on the right indicates that her tat clearly shows the Portland peninsula, the Fore River, Back Cove and surrounding coastline, plus a large part of the road network connecting Maine’s biggest city to its hinterla...
Endangered Sturgeon Found in Saco River
Posted on 09:53 by blogger
A rare shortnose sturgeon was caught in the Saco River this week.While the Atlantic sturgeon had seemingly disappeared for about 100 years, its more rare cousin had apparently never been seen in the Saco. At least not until researchers pulled one up Tuesday."It's crazy," said James Sulikowski, assistant professor of marine sciences. "Nobody had any idea that we would catch a shortnose."Squiers, for one, thinks it may be another sign that the state's only known spawning population of shortnose sturgeon – in the Kennebec and Androscoggin rivers –...
Saturday, 13 June 2009
The Duke Launches a Battleship
Posted on 09:46 by blogger
Lisa Paul shares this story of John Wayne christening a ship at BIW.An executive at the Bath Iron Works, the shipyard that has been producing US Navy vessels for over 100 years, told me about the time John Wayne was invited to christen a battleship. He smashed the champagne bottle over the hull, which was supposed to signal the hydraulics to release the ship down the ramp and into the water. Nothing happened. In as superstition-riddled an industry as the maritime world, this is the greatest bad juju — pretty much a curse on a ship for all time....
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Law Forbids "Squaw"
Posted on 09:55 by blogger
A bill signed yesterday will tighten the law that bars use of the word "squaw" for official place names in Maine.After Maine's law took effect, Big Squaw Mountain in Greenville became Big Moose Mountain; Squaw Pond became Sipun, the Passamaquoddy Indian word for blackfly; and a couple of dozen other names were changed.But there have been efforts in some communities to end-run the restriction by using shorter versions of the word, such as "Squa," or combining it with another word to form place names. In northern Maine's Aroostook County, a lake...
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Extreme Frugality
Posted on 19:05 by blogger
W. Hodding Carter and his family are attempting to live in rural Maine on $550 a month. In the most recent of his Extreme Frugality blog posts at Gourmet.com, Carter scavenges a roadkilled duck.Since it was not only dark but also misty, I was driving slowly down Route 52 when suddenly my frugal eye spotted a vibrant green-and-orange something lying alongside the road. Given the conditions, it was just a blur, but my sharply honed penny-pincher’s sixth sense knew it was food. I jerked the car to a stop, ran out in front of a truck, and snatched...
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