A Weirs Souvenir - 1880s-1940s - Part 3
 

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ACTIVITIES and DIVERSIONS
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CLICK here to SUPER-SIZE this MAP
This is a great map and brochure (above) put out by the Weirs
Beach Chamber of Commerce in 1948. Notice how many of the
locales on the map have been chronicled in postcards. Including
Irwin's Gardens, Lakeside Hotel, Veteran's Grounds,
Methodist Circle, Lakeshore Path, Proctor's Cottages,
Sea Plane Base.....
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Since it's 1948 and we have a car let's stay at a Motel....
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CLICK HERE for Proctor's
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OK...let's get out of the Motel and see the sights!
DANCING & BIG BANDS
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"When disaster struck in the form of a fire which leveled the 150-room New Hotel Weirs and the Music Hall on November 7, 1924, Irwin was left without a musical venue. But not for long. Working with Boston architect Arthur Osberg, Irwin devised a plan to build a giant dance hall right over the boat livery, a dance hall that would be grand in scale and would resemble a Miami dance hall, The Pier, that Irwin had seen while taking his band on a swing through Florida." Source: Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society"

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"At one time or another just about all of the big bands played at the Gardens, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Harry James and Paul Whiteman. “About the only big names we didn’t get were Louie Armstrong and Guy Lombardo. It was the liveliest spot in the state, along with the Hampton Casino, for many years,” says Jack (Irwin)".
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An aerial view of the Winnipesaukee Gardens and vicinity.
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"Irwin’s Winnipesaukee Gardens opened on Memorial Day weekend in 1925 and was an instant hit with the music-loving public of the 1920s. Top bands touring the country now had a new, lively place to play in, one with an ideal lakeside setting that was perfect for a summer night. And WKAV was soon conducting live broadcasts from the Gardens, bringing the Big Band sound to listeners all over New Hampshire."
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CLICK HERE for more information on Irwin's Winnipesaukee Gardens.

SPEED BOAT RIDES & RACES
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Concerning the speed boat races, "People started arriving at the Weirs before the holiday weekend to enjoy an extended time in the lakes region, many courtesy of the special Boston & Maine RR service. By Saturday afternoon, hotels, camping grounds and boarding houses were all full to capacity with weekenders and other vacationists. Monday, 5 July, started early at the Winnipesaukee Gardens for the thousands of spectators that packed the Weirs. The Infantry band was busy entertaining the crowds that were estimated at over 6,000 strong and the race judges were setting up their official barge. By 10:00, the last of the speed trials were held and all handicaps were set. Spectators arrived by land, and by boat. Every type of craft from canoes to cruisers were milling about the Weirs to witness the afternoon’s racing program."
CLICK HERE to learn more about the Weirs Boat Races.

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OBSERVATORY
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Now you know how Tower Avenue got its' name!
100 feet high. Perhaps if it were built of granite like
the Bunker Hill Monument it would still be here. Built
in 1881. Burnt in 1885.
WEIRS DRIVE IN
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The Weirs Beach Drive-In site can be found HERE.
Note the buidling with the orange roof was a Howard Johnson's
which burned in 1984. For more drive-in photos CLICK HERE
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AIRPLANE RIDES
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BEAUTY PAGEANTS
http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...ngbeauties.jpg "And Irwin was quick to capitalize on the bathing beauty phenomena which had been started by Atlantic City’s Miss America Pageant in 1919, creating the Miss Winnipesaukee Pageant the very same year that the Gardens opened. The pageant is still going strong and has produced more Miss New Hampshire winners than any other pageant in the state."
Source: Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society
SWIMMING
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Swimming at the Weirs - 1948
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HOT AIR BALLOON RIDES
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LAKESHORE PATH
After some of the activities above, or relaxing on a veranda,
or listening to a set by Duke Ellington's orchestra, you might
like to grab your parasol for a leisurely promenade on the
Lakeshore Path which was adjacent to the Methodist Campground.
(see map above)
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With inviting porch...postmark 1907
A Lakeshore Path not unlike the Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine or
the Cliff Walk in Newport, RI....but would you want all these people
walking through your front yard?
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BOOKMARK -Additional photos of the lakeshore path

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Shore Path at Weirs - 1906 Library of Congress Photo
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Whoops! I think we have strayed off the path. Where are the chaperones?
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Postmark 1907

THE END
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OK ...Skippy boy...we're outta here! :look: :look: :look:
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CLICK HERE to return to Part One.
LINKS
Link to MORE WEIRS HISTORY
Link to LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Link to ENDICOTT ROCK
Link to WINNIPESAUKEE GARDENS
Link to Ed Allard's Article MUSIC IN THE NIGHT
REFERENCES & RESOURCES
"New England Resorts and how to Reach Them" - Batchelder - 1875 - pp. 41-44.

Please see response below.....
__________________________________________________ _____________
Please add your thoughts and comments, memories or photos! This will
be the last web thread for this winter season. Time to get involved
in another favorite hobby of mine called "Cottage Maintenance"
...the water gets turned on at the camp this week-end!

The legend revealed ...
 

With the assistance of the historical map referenced above, I believe I may have discovered the key to how the original Railroad theme evolved into an aviation theme at my great, great, great, great, great grandmother's place. It appears that a rather large seaplane arrived at the Weirs Seaplane Base, said seaplane being so enormous it eclipsed the little railroad engine heading down the tracks, and collided with it! The subsequent explosion being so fierce and mighty it caused the aircraft to be flung over the bridge, where it landed on top of a small Real Estate Office. Having collided with the locomotive and causing sufficient damage, the aircraft carried with it a small section of the locomotive. Upon further investigation it was found to bear a portion of the locomotive's name! Legend has it that the family having discovered that the fine old engine Peppersass, having lost a certain portion of it's name :eek: , took this as an omen. Not wishing to tempt fate and the financial implications of having lost that particular portion, a decision was made! The aircraft being newer, more advanced, and certainly larger must be the wave of the future and the path to success. The family had a pow-wow and determined that the old must blend harmoniously with the new, and being superstitious believed that the name Pepper was "taken" from the locomotive intentionally. Thus, this name must be incorporated in the new endeavor. And there you have it!

Great history mcdude and interesting info from Pepper
 

You mcdude and a select few others have obviously devoted considerable time to adding great information and history about the area. Thank you all so much.

I do not remember when Anchor Marine started but I enjoyed seeing the pictures before it was there. The bikinis are a riot. Time has not changed all things for the worse :look: .

Pepper, I'm in shock! I thought there was a real Waldo Pepper person. I didn't think your namesake was a locomotive that lost its caboose. Plus, after reading your posting I figure that you allow smoking at your restaurant,
or at least you yourself smoke something :laugh:

See you after ice out.

Commodore, I think the wild imagination may be a residual effect of ancesters who were smoking the peacepipe too often, perhaps. :laugh:

Fortune smiles on the name Waldo Pepper
 

Pepper.

Great to finally hear the real story behind the name. Those that govern omens must have realized what the restaurant would have been called if they had recovered the piece of tail end of the nameplate. Otherwise your screen name might not be "Pepper" and your restaurant might be named something else, like Waldo Sass or, use your imaginations here :laugh:


I look forward to seeing you again real soon Pepper - I'm ready for boating season. Too bad there is no more delivery service from the menu. I wanted to tie myself up at the the Weirs dock and phone you to come over so I could see how you delivered. Now I'll just have to go to your place to visit and satisfy my hunger. Speaking of imagination and family trees, do you think we may have some genetic connection via our ancestors? We even speak 10-code! 10-37's, could we be related :) ?

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Thanks for the great history lesson, McD. That's a wonderful collection of postcards and photos.

And to Pepper ... thanks for the laughs! (As always! :D )

References and Resources
 

This is finally done! All links and text have been interspersed throughout. I couldn't finish "References & Resources" above because the thread response section was "full". If you try to put too much 'stuff' in one response thread you get the following message "The text that you have entered is too long (10211 characters). Please shorten it to 10000 characters long." So....any individual response thread may contain only 10,000 characters for anyone wondering why a certain thread is broken up into smaller sections. So after adding the text and links I wanted, to finish this thread off, I ran out of space. Here is the finale!

REFERENCES & RESOURCES
"Popular Resorts and How to Reach Them" - John B. Batchelder - 1875 - Boston - pp. 41-44.
"Lake Winnipesaukee" - Issued by the General Passenger Department - Boston and Maine Railroad - Boston, MA - No date or copyright.
"New Hotel Weirs" - A promotional brochure from about the turn of the century - No date or copyright
"New Hampshire Weirs Souvenir" - A promotional brochure - Published and copyrighted by George W. Armstrong - Boston, MA -1897.
"New England Lakes" - A promotional brochure - Engraved and printed by R.A. Supply company - Boston, MA - No date or copyright
"New Hampshire's First Tourists in the Lakes and Mountains" - Written and edited by Charles Stuart Lane - Meredith, NH - June 1992
"The Weirs Recreation Center and the Lakes Region" - Apromotional brochure and map produced by the Weirs Chamber of Commerce - circa. 1948
"The Weirs" - Warren D. Huse - Arcadia Publishing - Dover, NH - Copyright 1996. This book was utilized to check dates and facts for accuracy.
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Once again - great job!
 

Yes, cottage maintenance is now the activity of the moment. Really nice job of putting it all together. I know my parents visited the Weirs during their honeymoon. I will have to show them your threads.

Hope to see you this season.