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This interview was conducted in an office at Town Hall and there is
occasional noise interference such as a telephone, adding machine
and voices. 15-born in 1904, moved to Chelmsford in 1908 18-lived at the "Homestead" on Warren Avenue 26-early education 30-school at site of fire station on North Road 35-there were originally nine grades of grammar school and four grades of high school 39-at that time there was only one principal for the entire school 43-Common was the athletic field 63-it was fenced in at the time 69-Emerson Farm 74-Chelmsford Center, there were a few stores 79-there were lots of opportunities for young people to work 89-vandalism was unheard of 93-Courier Citizen paper delivery boy;the routes were rugged 98-the papers arrived on the first trolley car from Lowell at 5:30 A.M. at Parkhurst's Grocery in the Emerson Block 108-there was lots, more snow then 113-description of paper routes 125-papers were 25 cents a month 130-Courier Citizen received 56% of Proceeds 132-paperboy kept 44% which was approximately six dollars and fifty cents per month 139-Coal Pockets at Chelmsford Center Railroad station 147-coal was taken from here by horse and wagon 150-accident, the misfortune of Mr. Dryden 160-the entire Town came to his rescue 166-Grain Store 171-grain came into town on the train;had to be unloaded and bagged 184-graduated from High School in 1922 187-Mill Pond, controlled flow of Beaver Brook nice place for swimming abd skating 194-Baptists used to have Baptisms there 201-Mill Pond, at the end of Cushing Place,once extended to the Bartlett Property 207-Chelmsford Ginger Ale 213-fire burned out plant 216-fire alarm was Church Bells; there was a small box outside the church containing a key to get inside to ring the bells in case of fire 221-everyone went to help 225-fire equipment-hand pumper and two hose reels 229-housed in building behind Town Hall 235-crude equipment, not much could be done if there was no water hole or well near the fire 236-the hose reel was drawn by horses 244-sidewalks only were plowed in winter by a horse drawn °Vflshaped plow 247-snow was always left on the streets for sledding 254-the sidewalks were always sanded 259-transportation;streetears, seats along the sides 265-in summer,open cars were used 267-fare into Lowell was five cents 272-there was passenger servtce on the Railroad 274-the Center depot was on Littleton Road where the Texaco Station is today, next to the Vlahos Block 277-there were two passenger trains in the morning and two at night 286-boys could get jobs carrying the mail from the train to the post Office,the job payed well 297-there were three general grocery stores 301-there was a meat market under the Hotel 308-hotel owned by George Wilson 311-Odd Fellows Hall 318-second floor hall 321-Grange, more popular then 328-there were only a few centers of social activity 1) Church 2) Grange 3) 0dd Fellows which was similar to the Masons 334-Odd Fellows Hall contained the first movie theatre in town l in the days of W.S.Hart and Charlie Chaplin 338-admission to Park's Theatre was five cents (a higher admission charge is recalled by another interviewee,perhaps there is a difference in the particular years each party is referring to) 340-the theatre was operated by Mr. Park, Charlotte DeWoif's father 345-Fletcher and Donovan's Plumbing Shop 351-wheelwright shop 354-Blacksmith shop 363-Adam's Library,George Hall addition 368-no school libraries then 376-girls always took out fairy tale books 377-only two books could be taken at one time, for two weeks 382-the population of Chelmsford was about five thousand until the late 1930's 386-the North section was where the factories were G.C. Moore's Wool Scouring 393-electric car line, Stoney Brook Railroad carried a lot of Freight 402-Steam Train went through Chelmsford at 11:30 P.M. it was known as the "Bull Moose because of its unusually loud whistle and bigger engine 407-Circus came through town by the Center Railroad on its way to Lowell,There were two or three small circuese each year in addition to Barnum and Bailey 414-they came through Chelmsford on route to the Fiar Grounds on Gorham Street in Lowell 417-groups of boys slept on the Common,waiting'for the train, then they followed it to Lowell, worked for free admission 422-winter sports, ice skating l could skate from Russel's Pond (man made) on Mill Road to the Harvard Brewery on Hale's Brook 436-sledding on Bartlett Street 442-double runners for ten or twelve people 445-people of all ages enjoyed sledding 447-took some long runs 453-Church suppers 456-Wednesday night prayer meetings provided a night out 460-social life centered around the churches 462-attended the new high school on Billerica Street the first full class entered in 1918 469-first school buses were called "Barges" they were covered wagons pulled by horses 476-consolidation of North and Center high schools first four year graduating class, 1922 479-sixteen graduates 485-organized sports, baseball and track 490-engaged in sports which didn't require equipment 498-"barges" truck chassis with body and seats 510-serviced students who lived one mile or more away 515-ice storms stripped branches off trees, knocked phone lines down 527-Town Band, bandstand on Common 534-North Chelmsford Silesia Symphony, Mr. Larkin the director 529-there was also a big Band in Forge Village sponsored by the Textile mills 548-Poor Farm,intersection Golden Cove and Billerica Streets 554-a lot of land connected with it 556-farm maintained by a married couple 559-inmates were usually elderly; occasionally there was a maiden lady the farm raised beef to defray expenses 571-normally families took care of their own elderly 575-inmates were people without families, it was a dignified and well operated place 579-class distinctions 581-wealth on Bartlett street and High Street,lawyers, president of the Appleton National Bank,an Insurance Agent 597-most worked in Lowell 599-Blackadar's father was a piano tuner and refinisher 602-he traveled around the area on a bicycle 609-Blackadar came from a family of seven 611-father worked at Bon Marche which had a large music department they guaranteed to tune their pianos twice a year 619-popularity of the piano dwindled with the introduction of radio 625-the Harvard Brewery employed many persons in the area 630-and there was a knife factory 632-Lowell was not strictly devoted to textiles 642-train travel was common and comfortable 654-life after high school 656-worked for highway department rebuilding Acton Road 660-in the fall,went to work at the Grain Mill 662-Saco-Lowell Shop for two and a half years on the erecting floor. Set up machinery for test runs, dissembled and packed the machines.Then became time keeper 676-Went to work at the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank, but it was dull indolent work. The bank was open until nine on Saturdays because it was the only day the mill workers were free to shop 685-starting pay was fifty dollars a month 687-rented a room in Lowell 689-but the pay was difficult to live on 692-after a year his pay was raised to seventy five dollars a month 697-then he joined a friend in the construction business in Philadelphia SIDE TWO 15-soon returned home but couldn't find work 25-joined the Army in 1927, spent three years in the Engineers Corps in Honolulu 33-returned home in 1931 worked picking apples 38-then went to work for an ice company in Westford 41-Ice harvesting;had to be fourteen to sixteen inches thick 58-a peice of horse drawn equipment scored the ice 67-men sawed along the score marks;used a big saw with a stick through the handle so two men could operate it 71-size of ice cakes 30" wide X3Plong X14-16" thick 79-cut flow of six blocks, floated then to the runway of the ice house 91-filled the ice house then insulated it with sawdust this preserved it all summer 98-ice houses were usually three stories high 104-the mass prevented melting, and there was sawdust insulation in the walls 111-ice was sold in large blocks 114-each house had a card which they displayed in the window whenever they needed ice, the ice man fit the block into the ice chest 123-a pan caught the water as it melted 135-there were large ice houses on Crystal Lake on the west side where the dam broke, near the highway 143- there were two ice houses on Baptist Pond l one belonging to Gage of Lowell, the other owned by the Boston Ice Company, The ice was moved by train 159-some of Gage Ice Company Houses in Lowell were four and six stories tall 161-ice harvesting ended with the onset of artificial ice making 174-advent of refrigeration 194-ice harvesting was not especially dangerous work 224-after 1932,Blackadar worked at the Lawrence Manufacturing company o got job through friend's influence 238-then he bought out a cardboard box shop and began a small business 244-sold out in 1958 259-worked for brother-in law's plastic moulding firm for ten years 259- became Town Accountant in 1967 265-had served two years as a Selectman 281-exempted from World War II because of his children and his business 289-at the time he manufactured armament materials 310-Franklin Roosevelt 326-suffered less in the Depression than others 330-NRA 344-WPA 348-Lowell Post Office 351-WPA work on sewer lines 355-revision project, Town Maps 358-project transcribing old records 362-WPA worked three days a week 385-Republican opposition to FDA 389-Socialistic programs 396-experimental administration eg. bank holiday 407-some banks didn't recover 408-Trust Company at Towers Corner 428-FDR and autocrat, had a "King Complex" 511-growth of Chelmsford after World War II, especially housing 515-1950 population was five thousand 517-1975 population thirty four thousand 519-"bedroom town" for Boston and Rte 128 industry End of interview |
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