September, 2011

OCTOBER PROGRAM:  PRESERVING YOUR FAMILY PAPERS AND TREASURES  –  presented by Christine McCarthy, Chief Conservator at the Yale University Library, on Tuesday, October 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Meriden Public Library Griffin Room (105 Miller Street.) Ms. McCarthy will discuss the basics of good preservation for personal collections of papers, books, photographs and other objects of sentimental value. We will look at the best places to store important artifacts in one’s home, how to find and work with a conservator, and the best practices for individuals looking to organize, display, and protect their collections. There will be examples of file boxes, folders and plastic sleeves as well as handouts to take home for future reference and sources for more information. This program is cosponsored by the Meriden Public Library and is free and open to the public.

 

 

OCTOBER AT THE HOMESTEAD – MERIDEN MEMORABILIA: SHOWCASING A ONE PERSON’S COLLECTION - EVERY SUNDAY IN OCTOBER 11 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.  at the  Andrews Homestead, 424 West Main Street, Meriden, CT

While the city renovation of the Andrews Homestead is not progressing as fast as we had hoped for, we will still hold our bi-annual month-long open house in October. Unlike past exhibits that featured the well known Meriden manufacturing companies, this one will pay homage to the Meriden merchants of yesteryear, their giveaways and gimmicks from yardsticks to shoehorns, thermometers and calendars. The items on display promise to evoke fond memories in those who attend.

We invite you and your friends to come to the Andrews Homestead located at 424 West Main Street Meriden, CT and join in the conversation, the surprises and the good old hometown feeling of Meriden. Visitors will receive their choice of a vintage postcard of downtown Meriden as a souvenir. Admission is free, donations are always appreciated.

 

TAG SALE

Our Summer-long, monthly community-wide tag sale will hold its last session on October 8^th. It is not too late to reserve your spot at this great event that takes place (Weather permitting) at the parking lot of the Research Center: 1090 Hanover Ave S. Meriden, CT 9:00 am – 1:00 pm. Prices to set-up are: $10.00 for members of the Society and $15.00 for non-members. Both the public and dealers are welcome. For more information please call Neda Weathers 203-237-4636 or Bill Siegel 203-235-2217.

 

 

 

TEA AT THE HOMESTEAD

The Tea party/luncheon at the Andrews Homestead was a lovely and tasty event. The event proved to be not just a fun social but also, at the same time a very successful fundraiser.  The society would like to extend its sincere thanks to Jan Franco, who planned and prepared the delicious tea treats, and to the tea angel crew: April, Chris, Martha and Leslie who added some of their kitchen bests and helped set up and serve.

FOR THEIR RECENT DONATION TO THE SOCIETY , SINCERE THANKS TO:

JoAnne Grabinski, Nancy Gluck

A HEARTY WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS:

JoAnne Grabinski

WE NOTE WITH SORROW the passing of Louise Lacey Cowing, our beloved librarian and archivist. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to Ken and the family.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
We have lined up exciting programs for this year. Please mark your calendar:

• September 17th 2011: Tea Party at 1pm at the Andrews Homestead – Tickets required.

• October 11th 2011: Document Preservation at the Meriden Public Library.

• November 8th 2011: Jim Fontana a WWII Pilot will talk about his experiences in the War.

• March 13th 2012: Ghostly Photographs in the Andrews Homestead presented by Julie Griffin.

• April 10th 2012: The History of X-rays presented by Dr Sherwin Borsuk.

• May 10th 2012: Annual membership meeting (members only).

We have also scheduled two month-long open house exhibits at the Andrews Homestead:

• Sundays in October: A One Person’s Collection of Meriden Memorabilia.

• Sundays in May:  To be announced

I look forward to seeing you,
Peter Slavinski

SEPTEMBER PROGRAM: A TEA PARTY LUNCHEON – (Fund Raiser)
Step back in time and enjoy a special tea in the historical ambience of a 1760’s home. The public is invited to attend a tea party luncheon at the historic Andrews Homestead, 424 West Main Street, Meriden, CT on Sept. 17, 2011 at 1 p.m.  Tickets for the tea are $20.
For more information, contact Jan Franco at 203-238-2346. Proceeds will benefit the Meriden Historical Society. Space is limited. No tickets will be sold at the door.

SUMMER-LONG TAG SALE
Our Summer long, monthly community-wide tag sale is going on strong at the parking lot of the Research Center: 1090 Hanover Ave S. Meriden, CT. Held on the Second Saturday of each month, the remaining schedule is as follows: Aug 13, September 10 & October 8 (Weather permitting) 9:00 am – 1:00 pm. Prices to set-up are: $10.00 for members of the Society and $15.00 for non-members. Dealers are welcome.
Donations for the Society’s booth and volunteers to man the booth are never refused. Your much-needed donations can be dropped off at Fair Weather Antiques (Thursday, Friday and Saturday), and at the Research Center (on Wednesday afternoons). To arrange for a pick-up, or to volunteer call Neda Weathers 203-237-4636 or Bill Siegel 203-235-2217.  No appliances please – collectibles and smalls only.

OCTOBER AT THE HOMESTEAD – MERIDEN MEMORABILIA: SHOWCASING A ONE PERSON’S COLLECTION
The city of Meriden is in the process of renovating the Andrews Homestead. The project should be completed in time for our next month-long exhibit in October: On display will be one of our members’ thirty-year accumulation of anything and everything Meriden. Postcards, milk bottles, advertising give-aways from various banks and stores as well as other ephemeral material (items that would have normally been thrown away,) saved in memory of the good old days. As an added attraction, visitors to the exhibit will receive a circa-1950’s Meriden postcard as a souvenir.
The exhibit will open on Sunday October 2nd and continue every Sunday in October from 11am until 3pm.
The exhibit will delight anyone, and especially those Interested in Meriden’s history, collectibles and memorabilia. Come join in the fun and share your stories of life in your hometown.

FOR THEIR RECENT DONATION TO THE SOCIETY , SINCERE THANKS TO:
Mark Dunn, Paul Gudelski, Pete Hazelwood and Margaret Jenkins.

A HEARTY WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS:
Margaret Arndt, Paula Charneco, Julie Griffin and Betty Ann Hobson.

May 2011

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING & PIZZA PARTY

The Society’s annual meeting will be held on THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 5:30 PM

AT THE SOCIETY’S BERNICE MOREHOUSE RESEARCH CENTER 1050 Hanover Ave, South Meriden, CT 06451.

This meeting is opened to members only! Annual reports and voting in of new directors and officers will follow our traditional Pizza Party.

THE NAPIER COMPANY: SUNDAYS IN MAY AT THE ANDREWS HOMESTEAD

424 W. Main St, Meriden, CT (next to Ben Franklin School) EACH SUNDAY IN MAY 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Although the city is in the process of refurbishing the Andrews Homestead, we will be holding our bi-annual open house as planned. Jones New York and the Victoria & Co. in Rhode Island, the company that bought out Napier, have donated a substantial amount of large, glamorous photos used for marketing their jewelry. Also in the collection are catalogs dating back to the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, as well as a large scrapbook, compiled in 1948, with interior and exterior photos of the factory and office, along with a presentation binder from June 1953. To reflect the company’s contribution to American costume jewelry, we have assembled a collection of Napier Jewelry representing the many years of the company’s operation. All will be on display in the main room at the Andrews Homestead. Come visit the Homestead, share your stories, and help celebrate Meriden’s past. Admission is free though donations are always appreciated.

This and more at our May Napier Exhibit

SUMMER-LONG TAG SALE

To help raise money for the upkeep of our research center, the Society will be holding a monthly community-wide tag sale at the parking lot of the Research Center: 1090 Hanover Ave S. Meriden, CT on the Second Saturday of each month: May 14, June 11, July 9, Aug 13, September 10 & October 8 (Weather permitting) 9:00 am – 1:00 pm. Prices per each set-up are: $10.00 to members of the Society and $15.00 for non-members. Dealers are welcome.

The Society plans on having its own booth at the sale. We need both donations for the sale and volunteers to man the booth. Your much-needed donations can be dropped off at Fair Weather Antiques (Thursday, Friday and Saturday), at the Research Center (on Wednesday afternoons). To arrange for a pick-up, or to volunteer call Neda Weathers 203-237-4636 or Bill Siegel 203-235-2217.  No appliances please – collectibles and smalls only.

WE WISH TO THANK

For their generosity through their

donation to the Society.

Sherwin Borsuk

Janice Franco

Ron Gibson

Nancy Gluck

Charles Herezog

Joan Munger

Margaret Myers

Andy Piatek

Judith Stillman

NEW PROJECTS OF THE SOCIETY

A comprehensive Trade list of Meriden Architects and Builders is being compiled.

RUMOR HAS IT that the old Handel Homestead on Broad Street is haunted.

A TV crew has been spotted around the old Victorian home…

Greetings,
Our April program will be held on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 6:30PM at
the Meriden Public Library (105 Miller Street, Meriden, CT 06450).
Dianne Tobin will present a talk on local glass artist Carl Helmschmied and Belle Ware. The meeting is free and opened to the public. Please join us
and bring a friend.

March, 2011

MARCH PROGRAM:

MARCH 22 6:30 PM AT THE MERIDEN PUBLIC LIBRARY, 105 Miller St. Meriden

W. SCOTT BRAZNELL will present “SILVERSMITHING AS A TREATMENT FOR TUBERCULOSIS: WILLIAM WALDO DODGE, JR., AND THE BEGINNINGS OF GAYLORD SILVERCRAFT.”

Meriden Historical Society’s member W. Scott Braznell, a museum consultant, an author and an independent scholar, is an invaluable source of information pertaining to the silver and silver-plate craft in the US, its trends and historical impacts on society.

“…The Gaylord Silvercraft workshop was part of the Gaylord Farm Sanatorium, Wallingford, CT, run by the New Haven County Anti-Tuberculosis Association.
The following information is taken from an annual report for Gaylord Farm Sanatorium for 1923.
The silver working was done as part of the vocational training and occupational therapy for the tuberculosis patients. After the Federal Board for Vocational Education ceased funding this work at Gaylord, the board feeling that the silverwork would pay for itself persuaded Mr. & Mrs. William Waldow Dodge, Jr. of Meriden to come on board at a nominal salary to develop this workshop…” http://imageevent.com/bluboi/gaylord

The workshop was founded in 1923 and ceased operation in 1944.

Sponsored by the Meriden Historical Society and the Meriden Public Library, the meeting is free and open to the public.

WE NOTE WITH SORROW the passing of long time Life member Emily Fontanella

FOR THEIR RECENT DONATION TO THE SOCIETY , SINCERE THANKS TO:

John Arndt, Martha Colaresi, Ruth Ann Davis, Donald Heckler, Mr. & Mrs. C E Mosher and to Karen Roesler

A HEARTY WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS: Lesley Carabetta, Brian Cofrancesco, Timothy F. Slamon, John Strillacci, and Paul Tobin

Special Thanks to our
SILVER CORPORATE MEMBERS

Naugatuck Savings Bank.
http://www.naugatucksavingsbank.com
251 Church St, Naugatuck CT 06770
203.729-4442
With Branches in Meriden at
100 Hanover St. Meriden, CT 06451
203-639-8866
&
1295 E. Main St. Meriden, CT 06450
203-317-3856

Nest Egg Auction
http://nesteggauctions.com
30 Research Parkway, Meriden CT 06450
203 – 630 – 1400
800-448-0692

and to our
CORPORATE MEMBERS

The Record Journal
http://myrecordjournal.com/
11 Crown St, Meriden CT 06450
230-235-1661

San Souci Restaurant
www.sanssoucirestaurant.com
2003 North Broad Street, Meriden, CT 06450
(203) 639-1777

San Souci Restaurant

www.sanssoucirestaurant.com

2003 North Broad Street

Meriden, CT 06450

(203) 639-1777

April-May, 2009

APRIL PROGRAM: THE 1860 LINCOLN LECTURE TOUR SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 1:00 PM HUBBARD PARK AT THE EVENT TENT

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

THE 1860 LECTURE TOUR

Presented by the Co-chairs of the Connecticut Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (CALBC)

Michael Burlingame, Professor Emeritus of History at Connecticut College, writer and editor whose latest book Abraham Lincoln: A Life, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, November, 2008 is a seminal, 2 volume biography of the 16^th president of the United state.

&

Howard Wright, Dean of Students, Science Department Head, and teacher at Renbrook School in West Hartford, CT Mr. Wright is the first and currently only Connecticut-based member of the Association of Lincoln Presenters, an organization dedicated to the serious portrayal of the 16^TH president

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2009

1:00 P.M.

HUBBARD PARK EVENT TENT

WEST MAIN STREET

MERIDEN CT

Free parking at the park

Free admission

A donation to the Meriden Historical society is requested.

2^nd ANNUAL APPRAISAL FAIR A-LA ANTIQUE ROAD SHOW: SUNDAY MAY 3^RD , 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM SANDMAN GALLERY – 39 W. MAIN ST. MERIDEN, CT

We will be holding our SECOND Annual Appraisal fair. Fashioned after the PBS program The Antique Road Show, we have taken the fair on the road and are bringing it to the Sandman Gallery, 39 West Main Street, Meriden – across from the court house. The event will be held form 12:00 to 2 pm. it is open to members and non-members alike. The appraisers will be Meriden Historical Society member Kathy Connolly of Village Antiques in Plantsville, together with long time antique dealer and appraiser Dick Blaschke of Dick’s Antiques in Bristol. The fee will be $4 for each item or three items for $10. This is a fundraiser to assist The Meriden Historical Society in collecting, researching, and archiving Meriden’s past for future generations. Bring your treasured antiques, jewelry, prints, paintings and collectibles, or photos of large items, and have them identified and appraised. Come and enjoy a day of fun and discovery!!

MAY PROGRAM: ANNUAL MEETING – THURSDAY, MAY 14 – PIZZA PARTY, PRESERVATION OF MERIDEN’S HISTORY AWARD & ELECTION OF OFFICERS Come have some Pizza; meet old friends; see what’s new at the Research Center; sign up for the Society’s Tag Sale; express your gratitude to This year’s recipients of the society’s Appreciation Award for the restoration of East Cemetery and for the restoration of the Fairview Observatory (known as Fairview Pavilion or Halfway House) at Hubbard Park ; and finally, cast your vote for a new slate of officers. All will take place at the Bernice Morehouse Research Center, 1090 Hanover Street, South Meriden.

MERIDEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY TAG SALE APRIL 25^TH

Saturday April 25, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm and thereafter on the last Saturday of each month (May through September) we’ll hold a tag sale at the parking lot of the Research Center. Cost for Society members is $5.00 per booth per Saturday – $10.00 for non-members. Call Neda Weathers 203-237-4636 or Bill Siegel 235-2217 to reserve your spot.

To help raise money for the upkeep of our research center, The Society will have its own booth at the sale. Donations to the Historical Society’s Booth are welcomed and can be dropped off at Fair Weather Antiques or at the Research Center – or, to arrange for a pick-up, call Neda Weathers 203-237-4636 or Bill Siegel 235-2217. No appliances please – collectibles and smalls only.

MAY AT THE HOMESTEAD: BANKING IN MERIDEN: SUNDAYS MAY 10, 17, 24 $ 31 11:00 – 3:00

Our Member Larry McGoldrick, who dreamed of, organized and brought Castle Bank to town, together with our capable exhibit team are planning an exhibit on Banking in Meriden… Sundays in May at the Andrews Homestead, 424 W. Main St. Meriden,

We are also planning on opening the Second floor to visitors who can negotiate the stairs.

The exhibit is free and open to the public – Donations are always appreciated.

MYSTERY HOUSE TOUR: SATURDAY MAY 23^RD, 2009

Members of the Meriden Historical Society are invited to tour a restored historical house in Meriden. The tour is for MEMBERS ONLY and is by RESERVATIONS ONLY. For more details call Lesley at 203-440-3686

March, 2009

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Greetings! Welcome to spring (finally!) and the second half of this Historical Society year. We have some interesting and unusual programs planned starting this weekend at the library with a slide show of historical pictures of Meriden. The Historical Society had a chance to buy eight carousels of slides and we have selected some to show. Many are from the early 1900’s including a whole series on the building of Hubbard Park. Others are from the 1976 Bicentennial, which many of you remember.

We had the opportunity to partner with the Governor’s Commission to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth. The Commission decided to offer a special program in the five towns in which Lincoln gave speeches, Meriden being one of them. The program in Meriden will be in conjunction with the Daffodil Festival at Hubbard Park. The Lincoln impersonator will be in the Parade and will give his talk immediately afterwards at the park

We have two events scheduled in May: the first being a repeat of our home-grown Antiques Roadshow, which was very successful last year. So gather your antiques and come see what they are worth. Secondly, we have been invited to tour one of Meriden’s historic houses, which has been beautifully restored. This will be a reservation-only, members only meeting, so watch the next newsletter for details on making your reservations.

I hope your interest in piqued and that we will see you at one, or more, of these programs.

Lesley

MARCH PROGRAM: SLIDES OF MERIDEN FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE MERIDEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Saturday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m. at the Meriden Public Library – 105 Miller Street

A rare opportunity to gaze into Meriden’s past… Can you identify the sites?

Bring a friend and enjoy a trip to Meriden of the Turn of the Last Century…

We are counting on participation and comments by those attending!

The program is co-sponsored by the Meriden Public Library and is free and open to the public.