This column appeared in the Bangor Daily News on March 3, 1977. Aunt Fanny is a fictional person Ted occasionally addressed his columns to. Also in this column are a couple of news items you may remember from that time.
Never Again Aunt Fanny
By Ted Sylvester
NEWS Rockland Bureau
Rockland, Maine
March 2, 1972
U.S.A.
Dear Aunt Fanny:
After about eight years our family made an auto excursion to Massachusetts and Connecticut last weekend and I just had to write and tell you of some of the things we saw.
I think foremost on the minds of all of us was a visit to a Hartford, Conn. Museum and more specifically the modern art exhibit. I will have more to say about that.
As planned trips usually run into snags, ours was no exception. The morning of our departure developed into a blinding snowstorm. We had just about decided to call off the whole thing, but a favorable weather forecast from Boston and a let up on the storm changed our minds and away we went. I must say that highway crews all along the way are to be congratulated for their efforts in keeping the roads open. We did not experience one bit of difficulty.
After staying a couple of days with relatives in Massachusetts we headed for the city of Hartford for visits with more kinfolk. One stop, after finding our way through a maze of turnpikes, and interstate highways which integrated with turnoffs to overpasses, underpasses, and around the passes, landed at one of those new fangled apartment house complexes where sister lives.
It was very nice, complete with everything including a sauna bath. To penetrate it though is like getting into Fort Knox. First you have to get the attention of the person you are going to visit on an intercom. This lets you into the hallway where all apartment doors are equipped with two locks. If this is not security enough, guards patrol the outside area, accompanied by guard dogs. (But only at night)
Another relative lives away from the city in a new house in the country. This house came equipped with a burglar alarm.
While in Hartford, we were given a sightseeing tour of the city. The brand new insurance buildings were impressive, especially the Phoenix Building, a 29-story office structure which appears to have been built almost entirely of glass and in the shape of a huge double-ender.
We stopped for a tour through the Mark Twain house. The sign out front said the estate was open daily to visitors, but the little sign on the big front door said the home was closed for the day. This was a big disappointment. (I was also very disappointed. It is really an interesting house to see inside and the Harriet Beecher Stowe house is next door.)
Next stop was at the museum. I would guess it was probably seven or eight times larger than the Farnsworth, and was really very interesting. The marble floors and staircases were impressive. There were displays of suits of armor, statues of Roman gladiators, a room full of antique Colt firearms, a J.P. Morgan collection of beautiful glassware. Also on display was a mummy that dated back to 30 years B.C., and on the top floor there was the modern art exhibit. This I’ve got to tell you about.
There was one about six feet tall by four feet wide painted completely white, another of about the same size was painted completely black. Still another of the same proportions with a little variation. This one had a hammer (a real honest to goodness hardware store claw hammer) attached to the side of it. On the lower edge the outline of a hammer was painted on and below this tacked under the frame was a piece of wood with four ten penny nails sticking into it.
We saw a large painting with one white stripe painted across it, and under this a black stripe. The title of the work was “a White Stripe and a Black Stripe.” Another titled “Simple White Painting”, was four pieces of something wrapped in adhesive tape and painted white. Several exhibits consisted of pieces of angle iron, pipe and other scrap metal welded together and painted. They resembled pieces of angle iron, pipe and other scrap metal welded together and painted.
Truthfully, the only other thing I can say that I recognized in the whole exhibit was a claw hammer.
That was the trip in a nutshell.
Noticed a couple of things on the way home that struck us a little odd. On Route 86 in Connecticut we kept seeing these signs that said “Trash can one-half mile”. On the surface this would appear to be a good deterrent to the litter problem, except that we never actually saw any trash cans. On the Maine Turnpike there are signs stating “Rubbish disposal prohibited.” But the rest areas all have trash barrels.
Well, Aunt Fanny, I guess the next time the family has the urge to get away from it all for a weekend, we will head up your way where people are not in such an all fired hurry to get nowhere, and you still know who your neighbors are.
CATV Contract
It is now expected that the city of Rockland will sign a contract with Cable Vision, Inc. of Lewiston on March 13 to supply the city with cable television antenna service. Details of the contract are being finalized and are expected to be completed by the next council meeting on the 13th…
Disaster Loan Assistance
Knox County is one of eight counties in Maine which was declared eligible for federal disaster loan assistance due to the northeast storm of Feb. 19 and 20.
For the most part the county escaped damage in the storm. Local Civil Defense Director Elmo Crozier said the most damage was done at Matinicus where an estimated $8,000 loss occurred to boats, equipment, and piers. Also, Crozier said, fishermen lost quite a lot of gear in the storm…
Some time back we purchased a spray can of ice defroster to use on the car windows when we experienced conditions of freezing rain, etc. The occasion arose Thursday morning and we reached for the can in the back of the car. The nozzle was frozen.
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