Christmas Season, 2011
Christmas in the 1880′s was not the garish consumer feeding frenzy that it is today. It was a time to consider blessings and celebrate the birth of a savior. Attending church through the advent season was looked forward to by all. I am so happy that I was able to present a reading at the […]
Breakfast with the Authors, Cape Codder Resort
I am so pleased to be on the panel of the next Breakfast With the Authors, sponsored by the Cape Cod Writers Center on March 23 in Hyannis at the Cape Codder Resort. See all details for making reservations here, and make them soon! The restaurant is asking for a headcount. There will be two […]
Event at the Bee Hive Tavern, Sandwich, MA
I have managed to collect the most telling of the vintage photographs found in our family attic into a Power Point show (viewed the same way a slide show can be, via a projector). I am honored to have been asked by the Sandwich Women’s Club to present this collection at their November 12 (2012) […]
Torturous beloved fashion: the corset
Women endured the restrictive corset as required daily wear for centuries, and finally cast it off as World War One loomed. Why did they endure dented organs and reduced lung capacity? Oh, the power of the desire to conform, and to actually excel in the conformity. Look into your closets, ladies, and tell me, how […]
A rekindled talent
Thrifty and efficient wives of the nineteenth century were well practiced with a needle and thread, and just as we now depend upon the cell phones that have pushed into our lives in the past decade, the sewing machine became a respected piece of equipment quickly when introduced-despite the understandable reservations of social quilting groups. […]
Walking tour of historic Paine Hollow, South Wellfleet
If you want to know more about the houses in the book Eva and Henry, A Cape Cod Marriage, you should join us for a walking tour down historic Paine Hollow on June 15. We will all meet at the head of Paine Hollow where it intersects the “jug handle” that connects it with Route […]
Blackfish Drive sustains the entire village of South Wellfleet
Here’s a telling photograph that came out of the family attic. This harvest of small whales happened in Blackfish Creek at the site of the Southern Wharf pier in South Wellfleet over a century ago. It was quite the bonanza to herd in so many at once, and all for the “melons” or the brains. […]
The South Wellfleet Railroad Station and General Store
When Eva Paine Smith was a little girl, the railroad was constructed through Wellfleet on its way to land’s end in Provincetown (1870′s). This new, convenient mode of transportation enabled more frequent visits to friends and cousins in other towns, visits which had previously been accomplished by sailboat or stagecoach. But the railroad also robbed […]
The never-ending housework!
I was once told by a social studies teacher that women never really worked until World War 1. I laughed right out loud in class. He asked, “What is so funny, Miss Paine? Do tell!” So, tell I did, all about housework. Having come from a family that kept many records, scribblings, diaries, out-dated cookbooks […]