New Hampshire: Subliminal Advertising Whoas

Posted on 17 May, 2006 by Janice Brown

Question: How do you advertise tourism in the State of New Hampshire?

Answer: carefully…

Have New Hampshire advertising programs improved since the 1870s?  Call me crazy–I say “not always.”

My public relations mentor, Seth Ames, taught that “it’s not always what you SAY, but what you intimate—pay attention to the subliminal message.  Your readers are going to remember the negative implication of your advertising campaign.”

In the fledgling years of New Hampshire’s tourism, the town directories, histories and postcards were an opportunity to spread the word about our scenic splendors, the modern facilities of our hotels and inns, the deliciousness of our farm produce, and the welcoming warmth of our people.  Granted early advertising might be considered “flowery and outdated” now, but are modern day blurbs reeling the tourists in?

You be the judge.

The samples below are genuine promotions.  “Then” examples are from Appletons’ journal: a magazine of general literature, circa 1870. The “Now” examples are from New Hampshire’s official tourism web site, and the “Visit New England” web site.  The “Subliminal” examples, are ‘my take’ on how a tourist might subliminally interpret them.

********************
–THEN VS NOW: New Hampshire Tourist Promotions–
********************

Then: “…the wonders, the sublimities, and the fascinations of the Granite State.”
Now: “…a state loaded with scenic beauty and memorable vistas.”
Subliminal: Tourists should stop by one of our state-run liquor stores and get “loaded” on their way to and from the scenic beauty.

Then: “…the landscape.. has the graceful confidence of never being out of place.”
Now: “…natural vistas to keep your eyes glued the entire trip.”
Subliminal: Glued eyes sound a bit painful, don’t they? Is that similar to the sensation of sticking your tongue to a frozen flag pole?

Then: “…the points of observation are picturesque and poetical in landscape”
Now: “….the long, red-brick mills that line the rivers’ edge have been re-invented, the windows no longer broken.”
Subliminal: …the town is in decline, but the windows are no longer broken–they are boarded up instead.

Then: “…the white hills and diversified landscapes among the lesser elevations of the Granite State, abound in the element without which no natural scenery can attain the last reach of beauty–clear, deep waters.”
Now: “…with its breathtaking views of the surrounding pristine mountains and craftsmanship of a bygone era.”
Subliminal: All of the really good craftsmen are dead, so you will have to settle for buying plastic bobblehead dolls,imported from China, and Cow Super Bouncers in our gift shop.

Then: “…the powerful ocean trembles and dashes itself for pastime and demands a task.”
Now: “…and the rollicking Hampton Beach along the seacoast”
Subliminal: We’ve almost forgotten the riots that used to occur here.

Then:…”the lonely peaks stand up as landmarks of the Almighty”
Now: …”This is quintessential New England”
Subliminal:…”you’ll see lots of dirt roads, trees, and people who talk funny.”

I must admit, my favorite promotion of yesteryear is as follows:

Then: “A visitor at the White Hills says, New Hampshire would be as large as Illinois were it only flat; but it is drawn up into all manner of folds, and plaits, and made a perfect tumble of, and then is tucked away in one corner of the map where nobody would think of looking for it.”
Now: It’s a good thing a few of us did.

Janice

Posted in Current Events, Humor, Travel | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

1801 Advertising

Posted on 17 May, 2006 by Janice Brown

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Hampshire: Paying the Letter "L" Forward

Posted on 16 May, 2006 by Janice Brown

In an oddly alphabetic way of “paying it forward,”

Grain of Salt has assigned me the letter “L.”  My assignment: to write ten words beginning with that letter, along with an explanation of why I chose them.  All of the words below are related to New Hampshire History.

If any readers would like to participate by posting a list on your own blog, leave a comment here, and I’ll assign you a letter.

1. Lawyer – a professional person authorized to practice law; conducts lawsuits or gives legal advice. From New Hampshire’s earliest days, attorneys practiced here. In 1716, a collection of law books belonging to the provincial government formed the first state library collection. Samuel Livermore was New Hampshire’s first Attorney General (from 1785 to 1786) and Chief Justice of the NH Supreme Court (from 1782 to 1789). Daniel Webster, one of New Hampshire’s most famous orators, practiced law in New Hampshire. Nathan Clifford, born in Rumney NH, was the 19th United States Attorney General (1846-1848). Amos Tappan Ackerman (born in NH in 1821) was the 34th U.S. Attorney General (1870-1872); Harlan Fiske Stone (b 1872 in Chesterfield NH) was the 52nd Attorney General of the U.S. (1924-1925); William French Smith (b 1917 in Wilton NH) was the 74th Attorney General of the United States (from 1981-1985). In October 1864, Lincoln appointed Samuel P. Chase as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, a position he held until his death in 1873. Salmon P. Chase (born in Cornish NH), as one of his first acts as Chief Justice of the United States appointed John Rock as the first African-American attorney to argue cases before the Supreme Court (1865). New Hampshire’s first woman lawyer was Marilla Ricker (1840-1920). She was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the District of Columbia in 1882, and opened the New Hampshire bar to women in July 1890, when she was admitted to the bar of the state. Agnes Winifred McLaughlin (on one web site noted as the first woman ‘admitted’ to practice law in New Hampshire on June 30, 1917, however Marilla Ricker appears to have that honor) was one of the earliest women attorneys in NH. Linda Stewart Dalianis is the first woman to hold a seat on the New Hampshire Supreme Court (appointed by Gov. Jeanne Shaheen in the year 2000). Kelly A. Ayotte, the current (2006) Attorney General of NH, has the distinction of being the first woman and youngest attorney general in New Hampshire. David H. Souter, a resident of Weare NH, became a chief justice of the United States Supreme Court in October 1990. [He was born in Melrose MA]. See more New Hampshire Glossary.

2. Loyalist – also called “Tory,” an American who favored the British side during the American Revolution (especially those who afforded aid and comfort to the British army during the Revolutionary war) were designated “Tories,” a term borrowed from English politics. This term is sometimes used (erroneously) to describe anyone who refused to sign the “Association Test.”

3. Lumbering – this occupation been important in New Hampshire since the first sawmill was built on the Salmon Falls River in 1631. Most of the timber cut now is used in paper production. The first homes were either “lean-to’s” or made of logs. Even after lumber mills were built in the towns, often only the wealthier citizens built the early “framed” houses from sawed boards. A “surveyor of wood and lumber” was an elected town position whose responsibilities, during colonial times, was to oversee the local use of trees and lumber. On a higher level, deputy surveyors of the King’s Woods were appointed by the governor. The Deputy Surveyor and his crew had the authority to mark any and all suitable white pines (to produce masts for the King’s navy) with the broad arrow mark of the king. These masts became reserved for the British crown. The Deputy Surveyor also had the authority to check the sawmills run by the settlers [Learn about the Pine Tree Riot of Weare NH].

4. Lincoln – Abraham Lincoln visited New Hampshire in 1860, and he was introduced to a crowd by Frederick Smyth at Smyth’s Hall in Manchester NH, as the “next president of the United States”. Lincoln’s son Robert Todd attended Phillips Exeter Academy and, it is said, enthusiastic acceptance of Lincoln’s speeches here convinced him that he could run successfully for the presidency). Renomination of Lincoln split the Republican Party in New Hampshire as well as nationally, but in the election Lincoln and Johnson narrowly won this state.
“Commodore” George Washington Morrison Nutt, of P.T. Barnum fame, met Abraham Lincoln in 1862, when he was invited to the white house. Reportedly they had an amusing conversation.
At 10:00 A.M. on the day of his assassination, President Lincoln met with New Hampshire Senator John P. Hale, who had recently been appointed minister to Spain.  Hale’s daughter Lucy happened to be John Wilkes Booth’s fiance at the time.

5. Legislature – The legislative branch of New Hampshire state government is the “Lower House” of the “General Court,” composed of 400 members. (The “Upper House” is composed of the New Hampshire State Senate with 24 members). New Hampshire General Court is the third largest English-speaking legislature in the world (the United States Congress and the Parliament of the United Kingdom have more). They meet in the New Hampshire State House in Concord, New Hampshire.

6. Loeb, Nackey – born Elizabeth Nackey Scripps, Nackey was not born in New Hampshire (she was born in California), she wasn’t married here (either time) and she did not live in New Hampshire until late in life (in Goffstown NH). But whether you loved or disliked her editorials in the “Manchester Union Leader,”there is no doubt that this remarkable woman influenced New Hampshire. She was  b. 24 Feb 1924 in Los Angeles, California. She was educated at Francis Wayland Parker School in San Diego, at Bishop’s School for Girls in La Jolla, and at Scripps College in Claremont, Calif. The college was founded  by her grandfather and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps, in 1926. She m1) George Gallowhur. They divorced in Nov 1949. She m2nd, 15 July 1952, to William Loeb, son of William Loeb (who was secretary to President Theodore Roosevelt), as his 2nd wife.  He was divorced from Eleanore McAllister in 1952. Eleanore McAllister Loeb was b. 11 Oct 1909 in NY and d. 26 July 1984 in Sharon CT (she did not remarry). “Bill” Loeb was a newspaper publisher (for many years publisher of the Manchester Union Leader. In 1999 Nackey established the Nackey S. Loeb  School of Communications. Their residences included Reno, Nevada, and (later in life) Nackey lived in later in Goffstown NH. See her family genealogy.

7. Loon – although not designated as the New Hampshire state bird (the purple finch has that honor), this intriguing bird is one of the best known and easiest to identify by both residents and visitors to New Hampshire. According to a study, nearly half of all adult loon deaths on New England’s breeding lakes were determined to be the result of the birds ingesting lead sinkers and jigs left behind by fisherman. Leading the way, as usual, on January 1, 2000 New Hampshire became the first New England state to outlaw lead weights in fishing tackle.

8. Likenesses – Did you ever wonder what some of the movers and shakers of New Hampshire’s past looked like.  Visit the “Likenesses of New Hampshire War Heroes & Personages in the Collections of the New Hampshire State House & State Library”

9. Lake Winnipesaukee – The largest lake in New Hampshire covers 72 square miles (186 km²) in the east-central part of New Hampshire. It is the sixth largest natural lake lying within the United States. The name is of Native American origin and means either “smile of the Great Spirit” or “beautiful water in a high place”.

10. Live Free or Die – adopted as the New Hampshire state motto in 1945; first stated by General John Stark. Also found on the New Hampshire state emblem (The state emblem is an elliptical panel with a picture of the Old Man of the Mountains. Surrounding the Old Man is the state motto)

Posted in Carnivals and Memes, History, New Hampshire Glossary | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Common Loon

Posted on 16 May, 2006 by Janice Brown

Posted in Creatures | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Claremont New Hampshire Author: Constance Fenimore Woolson aka Anne March (1840-1894)

Posted on 15 May, 2006 by Janice Brown

Did she commit suicide, or did she simply lose her balance on a Venetian balcony?

…probably the mystery will never be solved.

Constance Fenimore Woolson, a grand-niece of author James Fenimore Cooper through her paternal grandmother, was born in Claremont, New Hampshire on March 5, 1840. She died January 24, 1894, in Venice, Italy. She wrote short stories, novels, and poetry, sometimes under the alias of Anne March. Her stories and novels are particularly notable for evoking a sense of place.

When she was young her family moved to Cleveland, where she grew up, and attended the Cleveland Female Seminary and afterwards Madame Chegaray’s School in New York City (this school was later known as Hunter College). Reportedly, Constance was “precocious.”

She worked in local hospitals during the Civil War.  After her father died in 1869, Constance traveled with her mother to various locations in the eastern and southern United States, including spending time in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and constance f woolsonOhio.  Excelling in writing, she began to publish her works starting about 1870. During this time she wrote travel sketches and regional stories for periodicals of the time [i.e., Castle Nowhere: Lake Country Sketches (1875)].

Starting in 1879 she resided in Europe, living in lived in various European cities, including Venice, Florence, Rome, London, Warwickshire, Cheltenham, Oxford, cities in Switzerland and in the Black Forest region of Germany. While in Europe she became friends with Henry James. She never married.  Near the end of her life she experienced a serious illness (one source states she had a long bout of influenza). She died in Venice Italy under suspicious circumstances, apparently falling from a balcony. Some sources state she committed suicide.

According to one source: “Henry James came to her house in Venice to help Constance’s sister sort through her many possessions.  It seems she was a shopper on par with Imelda Marcos.  James most wanted to find and destroy any of his letters she had kept, which he did-none are extant.  It was also is job to dispose of the scores of black silk and black taffeta gowns she had bought.  He hired a gondola and piled them in.  Sitting beside the pile he had the gondolier row out to the middle of the lagoon, where, one by one, he cast them into the water.  They wouldn’t sink.  He used the gondolier’s pole to beat them down into the water, but they kept rising to the surface.”

HER WORKS:
Horace Chase is considered her best novel. Her other works include Castle Nowhere; Lake Country Sketches; Two Women, a poem; Rodman the Keeper: Southern Sketches; Anne; For the Major; East Angels; Jupiter Lights; The Front Yard, and Other Italian Stories; Dorothy, and Other Italian Stories; Mentone, Cairo, and Corfu; and The Old Stone House.

–FURTHER READING–

– Constance Fenimore Woolson’s Works –

Constance Fenimore Woolson and Henry James in Venice

Miss Woolson: from Partial Portraits, 1894, by Henry James

***FAMILY TREE OF CONSTANCE FENIMORE WOOLSON***

Thomas Woolson, came from Wales; b. abt 1626, died 5 Apr 1713 in Watertown MA. Buried in “Old Cemetery” Weston MA; served in King Philip’s War, Mt. Hope Campaign, 27 Aug 1675 under Capt. Thomas Prentice, and later 23 Sep 1676 under Capt. Pool. Occupation: innkeeper from 1686 to 1708. In 1685 arrested and convicted of selling liquor without a license and fined 20 shillings, costs of 8 shillings, and one hour in the stocks. In 1653 living in Cambridge MA; in 1660 Watertown MA; in 1672 Weston MA. On 20 Nov 1660 in Watertown MA he married Sarah HYDE, dau of Samuel & Temperance Hyde. She b. 19 May 1644 in Cambridge MA, and d. 11 Sep 1721 in Weston MA.
Children of Thomas & Sarah (Hyde) Woolson:
1. Sarah Woolson, b. 2 Jan 1661 in New Cambridge (now Newton) MA
2. Nathaniel Woolson, b. 19 Nov 1664 in Watertown MA
3. Thomas Woolson, b. 28 Feb 1666/67 in Cambridge MA
4. Elizabeth Woolson, b. 30 Apr 1668 in Sudbury MA
5. Mary Woolson, b. 28 Nov 1673 in Watertown MA
6. +Joseph Woolson, b. 16 Nov 1677 in Watertown MA

Joseph Woolson, son of Thomas & Sarah (Hyde) Woolson, b. 16 Nov 1677 in Watertown MA; d. 16 May 1755 in Weston MA; will written 27 Nov 1751. He married Hannah –. She b. abt 1680, d. 30 April 1721. Landowner, farmer; “had care of the meeting-house there.”
Children of Joseph & Hannah Woolson:
1. Betsey Woolson, b. abt 1698
2. +Joseph Woolson, b. 12 Dec 1699 in Watertown MA
3. Mary Woolson, b. 13 Sep 1701 in Weston MA
4. Hannah Woolson, b. 8 Aug 1704 in Watertown MA
5. Jonas Woolson, b. abt 1706 in Watertown MA
6. Thankful Woolson, b. 3 June 1708 in Watertown MA
7. Isaac Woolson, b. 17 Feb 1710/11 in Weston MA
8. Beulah Woolson, b. 1 March 1713/14 in Weston MA

Joseph Woolson, son of Joseph & Hannah Woolson, b. 12 Dec 1699 in Watertown MA, d. 15 Oct 1766 in Weston MA; m. 26 Oct 1726 in Malden MA to Elizabeth Upham, dau of Thomas & Elizabeth (Hovey) Upham. She b. 30 Nov 1695 in Malden MA, and d. abt 1760.
Children of Joseph & Elizabeth (Upham) Woolson:
1. Asa Woolson, b. 23 July 1726 in Weston MA; m. Elizabeth Knight
2. Elijah Woolson, b. 18 March 1728 in Weston MA
3. +Thomas Woolson, b. 28 Jan 1730/31 in Weston MA
4. Nathan Woolson, b. 17 Dec 1731 in Weston MA; m. Miriam Bigelow
5. Elizabeth “Betsey” Woolson, b. 24 Feb 1734 in Weston MA; m. David Green

Thomas Woolson, son of Joseph & Elizabeth (Upham) Woolson, b. 28 Jan 1730/31 in Weston, Middlesex Co MA; d. 10 Sep 1823 in Amherst NH; married 1st) 18 Oct 1759 to Martha Upham. She died 21 Oct 1773 in Wakefield MA. He married 2nd) 2 Aug 1774 to Joanna Dexter, daughter of John & Joanna (Green) Dexter. She b. 4 Aug 1736 in Stoneham MA and d. by 10 March 1803 in Amherst NH; he married 3rd) 1 Jan 1805 in Amherst NH to Mrs. Joanna Read/Reed. She b. 1728
Children of Thomas & Martha (Upham) Woolson:
1. Ezra Woolson, b. 6 Jan 1761 in NH
2. Martha Woolson, b. 26 Aug 1763
3. Mary Woolson, b. 13 Dec 1764
4. David Woolson, b. 11 Nov 1769
5. Thomas Woolson, b. 1777
Children of Thomas & Joanna (Dexter) Woolson
6. +Thomas Woolson, b. 1777 in Danvers MA

Hon. Thomas Woolson, son of Thomas & Joanna (Dexter) Woolson, b. 1777 in Danvers MA; d. 3 July 1837 in Claremont NH; invented an iron cook stove, cast iron plow blade, designed town clocks, invented and patented one of the first successful iron cooking stove in America; member of the electoral college (11th presidential election in 1829), NH State representative 1825/1826, state senator 1828; he married about 1805 to Hannah Peabody CHANDLER, daughter of David & Hannah Chandler, and a niece of James Fenimore Cooper.
——-
Mortuary Notice] Paper: The Farmers’ Cabinet.; Date: 1837-07-14;Vol: 35; Issue: 46; Page: [3]; “In Claremont, on the 3rd inst., Hon. Thomas Woolson, aged 60.Mr.Woolson during his lifetime fulfilled several important publications. he was one of the Presidential Electors for New Hampshire in 1828., and was for several years a senator in the legislature from this district. He was a great mathematical and mechanical genius, and a man of strong and vigorous mind. he has been a most useful member of society, and dies lamented by his numerous conuexions (sic) and friends-Eagle.”
——–
Children of Thomas & Hannah (Chandler) Woolson:
1. +Charles Jarvis Woolson, b. 29 June 1806 in Chester, Windsor Co VT
2. Mary Ann Woolson, d. 1842; m. 1834 to Ezra Lowell
3. Thomas Woolson, b. 1808, d. 26 Apr 1826
4. Samuel Woolson, b. 27 June 1814 in Amherst NH, d. 11 Dec 1814 of spotted fever
5. George Woolson, b. Jan 1816, d. 26 Oct 1816
6. Henry C. Woolson, possibly the Henry Woolson who b. abt 1819, m. Emily –, and lived in Nashua NH (1850), Hubbard Wisconsin (1860), and Buffalo NY (1880)
7. Stella Woolson; m. 28 Nov 1840 in Cleveland Ohio to Freeman C. Pomeroy

Charles Jarvis Woolson, son of Thomas & Hannah (Chandler) Woolson, b. 29 June 1806 in N.H., d. 6 Aug 1869. He married 28 Apr 1830 to Hannah Cooper Pomeroy, dau of George & Anne (Cooper) Pomeroy and niece of James Fenimore Cooper, through her mother. She b. 15 Nov 1808 in Cooperstown NY and d. 1 Feb 1879.
—–
1850 United States Federal Census > Ohio > Cuyahoga > Cleveland Ward 2
Charles J. Woolson 43 Stove Dealer N.H.
Hannah Woolson 40 F New York
Georgianna Woolson 19 F N.H.
Emma Woolson 17 F N.H.
Constance Woolson 11 F N.H. [b 1839]
Clara Woolson 9 F Ohio
Charles Woolson 4 M Ohio
Ann Osborn 21 F Ireland
Jane Jones 23 F Ireland
Patrick McPhillips 17 M Ireland
—–
Children of Charles J. & Hannah Cooper (Pomeroy) Woolson :
1. Georgiana Pomeroy Woolson, b. 2 March 1831 Claremont NH, d. 2 Nov 1853; m. 24 Sep 1850 to Samuel Livingston Mather, son of Samuel & Catherine (Livingston) Mather. Had 2 children (Mather): Samuel L. (b 13 July 1851) & Katharine L. He m2nd) 11 June 1856 to Elizabeth L. Gwin. He died Oct 1890.
2. Emma Cornelia Woolson, b. 22 March 1833, d. 14 Aug 1852; m. Jarvis Carter
3. Anne Pomeroy Woolson, b. 1 Jan 1835, d. 10 march 1840 of scarlet fever
4. Gertrude Woolson, b. 28 June 1836, d. March 1840 of scarlet fever
5. Julia Campbell Woolson, b. 30 Apr 1838, d. March 1840 of scarlet fever
6. Constance Fenimore Woolson, b. 5 March 1840 in Claremont, NH, and d. 24 January 1894 in Venice, Italy. Writer. [see biography above]
7. Clara Woolson, b. 20 Dec 1843; m. 31 Jan 1867 to George Stone Benedict. Had issue.
8. Alida Woolson, b. 8 June 1845, d. 1846
9. Charles Jarvis Woolson, b. 7 Sep 1846, d. 6 Aug 1869 unmarried

[Editor’s note: article updated January 2014]

Posted in New Hampshire Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments