STOUGHTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY FOUNDED 1895

Volume V1, Number 4  - May  1975

SPRING CLEANING . . . Remember your Society when you practice that yearly ritual, celebrated ever since cave persons first scrubbed their rocks with water from the melting snows. Some of those things you will find in the cellar, garage, attic and barn are really authentic mementos of a time well worth remembering. They belong in our museum rooms. Remember the Society. Your "useless junk" might become one of our treasured finds.

ANOTHER STOUGHTON AUTHOR ... Ada Litchfield, now a local resident, was born in Warwick; educated beyond public schools in the State Teachers College, Hyannis, where she earned a B.S. in Education; taught for eleven years; worked as writer and editor for four years. Mrs. Litchfield is now an elementary education editor at Houghton Mifflin and has written stories, operas and plays for children's magazines. Three of her popular books are The Wonderful Wonderful Book, The Good-Morning Book, and The Good-Night, Sleep-Tight Book. (Thanks for assistance from Anne Petterson in obtaining this information.)

FLY OLD GLORY . . . Let's show everyone that the town which is the "Birthplace of American Liberty" still cares ... and is proud.

HELP SUPPORT Our Town's 250th Anniversary celebration activities by investing in its commemorative coins now being sold in local banks. Bronze are $3.00, bronze in a Lucite paper weight are $7.00; and a few silver may still be available at $12.00 . . . all are quite attractive. Some jewelry items in which you may wear your coins will be on sale in the Public Library beginning Saturday, May 10, from two to four. They will then be on sale those same hours on Saturdays only . . . until sold out. Mrs. Estella Curtis, as a service to those in our Society who find it difficult to get to the library, will have the jewelry on sale at our meeting on May 19. Most items are $3.50

MAY WILL RE A BUSY MONTH for our members. Besides May 7, the forty-fifth anniversary of Arthur Fiedler's reign as conductor of the Boston Pops, and Mother's Day on the 11th, our Society goes on its annual pilgrimage on May 17 (Did you make your reservation yet? Call 344-4011) On May 19 we will hold our annual meeting and on May 24 we have our second Geranium Sale ($1.35 each for fine plants. Use the coupon in the April special "Newsletter" for advance orders NOW. 0r Call 344-2494 or 344-2222)

OUR NEXT MEETING will be the annual meeting with election of officers on Monday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m. We will have a surprise program for the evening. We are looking for local talent to present programs for next season. Anyone who has interesting information regarding Our Town and/or its citizens or who would like to tell us about their hobby will be welcomed ny our planners. Our Town has character . . . and it has characters, too . . . what can you tell us?

GIRL SCOUT TROOP 566 has again done a splendid job of cleaning up the grounds of the Lucius Clapp Memorial. This was accomplished as part of Stoughton's Clean-Up Week early this month. This troop are members of our Society, having joined us last spring after their fine grounds "manicuring" job.

WE HAVE SENT a representative to talk to the residents of the Blue Hills Convalescent Home on the evening of May 7. These folks are unable to attend our Meetings but are vitally interested in Our Town and the Historical Society. We have, also, been host to the younger members of Troop 566 and an older Cadet Troop on May 8 and May 15. All are very interested in what we have to offer . . . and most are quite surprised that Stoughton has a museum at all.

WE HAVE RECEIVED MANY GIFTS RECENTLY. Among these are: a Massachusetts Bicentennial platter from the Co-operative Bank through LeRoy Clark; old, really old, glass negatives of Stoughton from the estate of Ed Fleming through the kindness of his daughter, "Mrs. Louise Smith; George Belcher family pictures from Mrs. Dorothy Collins of Hyde Park through Lenore Cleary; two cash gifts from kind but anonymous members (one approached ye ol' Ed on the Saturday when the Girl Scouts cleaned up our lawn); 1898 Drake School class picture and other memorabilia from Eugene Toomey; 1926 issue of the "Semaphore" and other historic pub'ns from Phil Hanley; grandma's and grandpa's things from Helen and Natalie Lanigan; a 3-foot replica of the Town Seal done by Robert Ivaldi, son of members Eddie and Nancy (this was used in the 1974 Fourth of July parade); a bicentennial calendar from the Historical Commission. Three fine photos of George F. Malcolm's corner store on Morton Street are on loan from Andy Pappas, the present owner.

AN AMERICAN PATRIOT . . . Mercy Otis Warren, sister of James Otis and close personal friend of John Hancock, was an early American writer. She used her sharp and satirical wit and her equally sharp pen to write for the American cause. Her plays and propaganda poems were popular reading in the Colonies. She was the first American to write a history of the War for Independence. (From a pub'n of the Randolph Savings Rank,) 

IN THE BEGINNING ... 200 YEARS AGO, toothpaste and toothbrushes were un- ^ heard of; a chewed twig served as a brush and salt was the cleaner, if teeth where brushed at all. As far as taking baths was concerned, very few people bothered. First, a bath was a complicated process since water had to be heated and then poured into a tub. It was also believed that bathing the entire body was dangerous. In fact,even swimming was believed unhealthy.

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