Carpenter Museum News January 2016

Hello, Connie Wenzel-Jordan!
Welcome to our new trustee Connie Wenzel-Jordan. She joined us last May and has already energized our trustee board with great ideas and lots of enthusiasm. She also enjoys being a docent at the museum.
Connie and her husband John have lived in Rehoboth since 1984, and have two adult daughters. She has been a writer and graphic designer for over 35 years specializing in marketing communications and now websites. Her flagship is RehobothNow, a daily online newspaper she publishes for the people of Rehoboth as a community service.
Connie will be involved in the newly formed RAS Development Committee that will oversee membership, marketing and fundraising.
All of the staff and volunteers look forward to working with you, Connie!

We Visited Christmases Past
’Twas two weeks before Christmas when over 40 people gathered at the Carpenter Museum to hear a holiday talk by Ken Turino of Historic New England. While mulled cider warmed and chestnuts roasted, Ken entertained visitors with stories of the evolution of New England Christmas traditions over the centuries.
Early on, he said, the Puritans forbade the observance of Christmas, which in England was a rowdy celebration of drinking and begging. The holiday became a family affair by the mid-nineteenth century. Christmas trees and Santa Claus became popular.
The holiday became commercialized very early, too. At first, presents were meant to hang from decorated trees. Soon they grew so large and abundant that they were placed under the tree instead.
Ken’s talk concluded with traditions from the 20th century that many in the audience remembered. Afterward, attendees viewed a small display of Christmas cards that the late local artist Joe Carpenter created to send to friends. These are a new acquisition from Kathy Knight, whose mother and father, Mary and Joe Perry, received them over the years.

“Remember When We Were Kids?”
Family, Friends, and Outdoor Fun

“When We Were Kids” will be our theme at the Carpenter Museum in the coming months. Our 2016 programs and exhibits promise to be fun-filled, with toys, dolls and entertaining childhood stories from local residents.
Thinking about the oral histories we’ve been compiling for the past few years at the museum, we looked up some of the memories life-long Rehoboth residents shared about being a kid in times past, from the Depression-era up through the ’50s and ’60s.
Not surprisingly, children who grew up on Rehoboth farms in those years had to spend a lot more time doing chores and much less time playing than the average child today. They also spent a lot more unstructured time outdoors when they were playing than kids do today.
1930s: Playing with Rag Dolls
A few years ago, Evelyn Bois talked of what it was like growing up in Rehoboth during the 1930’s. Evelyn died last winter at the age of 94. During her later years she volunteered at Hornbine School and said that she “enjoyed every minute of it.”
While times were so hard in the 1930s that Evelyn made her own graduation dress from a flour sack, kids managed to have fun even then. Evelyn recalled skating and sliding on pond ice in the winter, back when men were still cutting ice for refrigeration. “At recess, you played hopscotch or you might have played Ring around the Rosie or Fox and Goose… We played with handmade things. We had dolls but they were rag dolls.”
Mid-century Rehoboth memories also centered on outdoor play and the importance of family and friends. Sally Knox commented that “… my best friends were my cousins. My cousin Nancy lived downstairs with my grandmother and she was like a sister to me. We used to play all kinds of games, especially at night. We would play Kick the Can, or Shadow Tag, or Hide and Seek, games that you just don’t see kids playing today.”
1940s, ’50s: Girls’ Softball and No Traffic!
Sally also enjoyed playing ball. “I used to play softball when I was young. We had quite a girls’ softball team here in Rehoboth and had a really good time.” Like others we interviewed, Sally remembered playing in the snow and on the ice. “During the winter we used to slide on what I thought was a great big hill onto a meadow, but when I look at it now, it’s not so big.”
Describing Rehoboth then, Sally said, “It was a very country place. We could go out and walk on the streets. No need to worry about cars going by. We just had a wonderful time. Living on a farm, it was a place that other kids came to play with my two brothers. I was the sister who was always in the way. We lived upstairs and my grandparents lived downstairs. I think I had the best grandparents in the world. They always had time for us kids.”
1950s, ’60s: Watching Hopalong Cassidy on Small Screen TV
Things did change a bit for Rehoboth farm kids in the ’50s and ’60s. They still had their chores, but Ken Santos recalled that “my generation was weaned on TV; we were the TV generation.” He recalled that Hopalong Cassidy and other cowboy shows were especially popular. But outdoor activities were still the best way to play. “We’d play tag, we’d play Hide and Seek. When it was hot, you went swimming in the Palmer River,” Ken said. “I used to go swimming where the Shad Factory conservation area is on Water Street. In the winter, there was skating on Najarian’s pond at School and Brook Streets.”
Ken also recalled playing with many cousins in Providence, where his mother grew up. “I had lots of cousins in Fox Point; there were 14 in that family. So we’d go there and I’d play with my cousins.” He noted that Rehoboth remained rural for a longer time, even as nearby towns like Swansea became more suburban and began to offer more organized sports for young people.
Rehoboth, too, eventually became more suburban and less rural. Speaking of the old trolley line from the early 20th century, Sally Knox noted that “the old trolley barn had to come down because it was falling apart. Now we have Dunkin Donuts there. I like having Dunkin Donuts close by, but it would have been nice if Rehoboth could stay a farm town. But all things change as time goes on.”

Watch for these Upcoming Events this Spring at the Carpenter Museum!
January: Rehoboth Genealogy Group meeting: January 13, 7-9pm
March: American Girl Doll Tea
April: Historic Homes Bus Tour of Old Rehoboth
June: Strawberry Country Festival
Plus, more events and programs! Visit our website: www.carpentermuseum.org.

Why is Your Membership so Important to us?
Yes, a strong membership base supports us financially. And yes, it helps us obtain grants. But it also tells us that you care about the valuable artifacts we’re protecting, the new stories and items we’re collecting, and the valuable programs offered by not only the Carpenter Museum, but also the Blanding Library and Arts in the Village. Please send us your membership dues today.