Missing Places: Yoken’s Restaurant in Portsmouth NH (1947-2004)

Posted on 27 September, 2013 by Janice Brown

Yoken’s Restaurant on Lafayette Road in Portsmouth NH closed in September of 2004. yokens postcardThe property was sold, and the original landmark demolished.  Now some are trying to rescue the “Thar She Blows” trademark sign. In a city known for the preservation of its ancient buildings, the enthusiasm for a metal and neon artifact of a mere 66 years is not surprising. Continue reading →

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September’s National Honey Month–A Time for New Hampshire to Buzz

Posted on 24 September, 2013 by Janice Brown

Can you imagine New Hampshire without its apple orchards, (or Massachusetts without Honeybeeits cranberries)?  According to the National Honey Board, both apples and cranberries are 90% dependent on honeybee pollination (along with a variety of other plants).

Without the humble honeybee, New Hampshire’s apple harvest that we are currently enjoying, would be ‘toast‘ so to speak. And though the tiny insect is responsible for much of what we love to eat, they too produce a wonderful crop.
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New Hampshire’s Aviation Museum: A Bridge Between Past and Present

Posted on 20 September, 2013 by Janice Brown

A building seemingly tucked away at the edge of the Manchester-Boston Airport runway holds many New Hampshire Aviation Museum in art deco building keys to New Hampshire’s aviation past, and I suspect also has great significance for its future.  I had the wonderful opportunity to tour there today, with acting director Wendell Berthelsen as my guide. Continue reading →

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A Window into World War II: Grenier Field aka Manchester (NH) Airport

Posted on 17 September, 2013 by Janice Brown

When we think or read about air bases during World War II, the great metal birds–the Album Cover, World War II, US Army Airforce Cow Hampshirebomber and surveillance airplanes–are what frequently come to mind.  Yet like any microcosm of society, an air base had to organize, to inform, to feed, to train, and even to entertain the thousands of service men and women who lived there, worked there, or just passed through.  I was fortunate to spy a vintage U.S. Army Air Force photograph on Ebay and quickly purchase it. Continue reading →

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Earthquakes in New England

Posted on 8 September, 2013 by Janice Brown

Eighteen years after the pilgrim fathers landed on Plymouth rock they experienced their

Chinatown in San Francisco after 1906 earthquake

View of Chinatown buildings in ruins following the earthquake in 1906 San Francisco, California. DN-0053564, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum. From American Memory

first New England earthquake. This was in 1638, and was very severe, so much so as to throw persons to the ground. Since it occurred down to the year 1850 one hundred and

forty-nine earthquakes are registered as having been experienced in these Eastern States, of which 40 happened in winter, 16 in the spring, 32 in summer and 46 in autumn, while of 15 the year only is stated.  Nearly twice as many have occurred in winter and autumn as in spring and summer. In these cooler latitutdes the severest earthquakes take place in cool or cold weather, a rule that in the tropical countries is reversed.  The shock of November 18, 1855, was very severe. “Let this shock be repeated,” writes W.T. Brigham “and half Boston would be destroyed and the loss of life would be terrible.”  It came near being repeated October 20, 1870.
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