Monthly Archives: July 2013

Provincetown Cape Cod 60 years ago

Provincetown, Massachusetts Town Hall and Cafe Poyant circa 1970

Provincetown, Massachusetts Town Hall and Cafe Poyant circa 1970

Right beside the town hall in Provincetown, on the tip of Cape Cod, was a favorite outdoor sidewalk cafe called Cafe Poyant. Next to the cafe was a bakery with French pastries and donuts. Who remembers the place? It was a great place to “people watch”. The red and white awnings were classic. The large white building in back, once a church as shown on some of the earlier postcards on this website, was the Art Cinema movie theater. They showed wonderful foreign films. The bakery and cafe were owned by Gene Poyant, who in his later years volunteered as the Provincetown Town Crier. Today there is no outdoor sidewalk cafe at this location. As the town has continued to grow and expand. stores and restaurants change, although some favorites remain.  What did it feel like to live in Provincetown year-round 25 years ago? If you’ve read Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook,  you might have gained a different perspective.  If you haven’t read the book yet, read what everyone’s saying about it. Now available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble and other online sites in trade paperback and on kindle. Signed copies are at the Provincetown Book Shop while they last. Like us on Facebook. Keep the conversation going.

Provincetown Race Point beach shipwrecks

Fishing Schooner "Buema" wrecked near Race Point Light in Provincetown, Cape Cod

Fishing Schooner “Buema” wrecked near Race Point Light in Provincetown, Cape Cod

Race Point Beach in Provincetown, now a part of the National Seashore is a favorite spot for swimming, fishing, and nature watching where one might catch a glimpse of a seal or whale, depending on the season. But Race Point is also the site of many shipwrecks and between 1873 and 1902 had a Lifesaving station known as Race Point Station. Unfortunately the station was no longer in operation when the fishing schooner Buema crashed into the surf and was wrecked on January 7, 1908.  The above postcard, purchased in 1924 tells the story.  During the time the Race Point Station was in operation they had three surfboats which aided hundreds of seafarers. Among the names of men who served at the lifesaving station and lost their lives aiding others were Captain Dave Atkins and Frank Mayo. Is that where the name for the road Atkins Mayo, the dirt road where two characters in the mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown  live, comes from?  Curious to read the new murder mystery set in Provincetown, the book everyone’s talking about.  You can pick up a signed copy at the Provincetown Book Shop while they last or buy a book online at Amazon.com in trade paperback or ebook. Like us on Facebook and keep the conversation going.

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Remaining in Provincetown By S.N.Cook. Truro Works. 306 pages $12.95 Trade Paperback

Remaining in Provincetown
By S.N.Cook.
Truro Works. 306 pages
$12.95 Trade Paperback

The Provincetown approach to wooing shoppers

purchased in 1940 This antique postcard shows the Town Crier Gift Shop.

purchased in 1940
This antique postcard shows the Town Crier Gift Shop.

Provincetown, Massachusetts has always been a mecca for shopping. It’s one of the busiest towns on the Outer Cape.  This postcard shows 265 Commercial Street, when it was the Town Crier Gift Shop. Prior to that time, this location was the home of the Advocate Gift and Souvenir Shop according to John Wright Hardy the author of Provincetown Vol. I. The gentleman in the pilgrim outfit standing outside the shop, which boasts itself as being the largest gift shop on Cape Cod, was not the official Town Crier for the town of Provincetown but was hired by the store to attract business. His name was Charles Walton. To learn more about Town Criers in Provincetown read some of our previous postings. To be entertained by a Provincetown mystery story read Remaining in Provincetown , available at bookstores and online in trade paperback and as an ebook. Like us on Facebook and keep the conversation going.

Provincetown to Boston ferry come back soon!

Boston Boat from Provincetown Departing

Boston Boat  Departing from Provincetown, Massachusetts

This antique postcard, circa 1900, was not as popular a card as the one tourists arriving from Boston to visit Provincetown. That’s when the excitement begins. These folks, although they are so nicely dressed with those handsome hats, long dresses, vests, and waist coats, look a little downcast. Their friends are on their way to Boston after a fun time in Provincetown.  They’re leaving.  Hope they get to come back soon. Times have changed, but a boat– the Fast Ferry– still travels the same route.  And some of us still send postcards, although often we do so by email. The Fast Ferry is having a postcard contest, so check it out on their website.  Meanwhile, if you haven’t visited the Remaining in Provincetown facebook page, we are also having a contest. We want you to like our page, if you haven’t already, and tell us your favorite month to visit Provincetown and why. We’ll be sending the winner a signed copy of Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook specially inscribed to the winner. So play the game and enjoy the town.

Provincetown Cape Cod vacation includes art gallery visits

Interior view of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum in 1940

Interior view of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum in 1940

The caption on the top of this vintage postcard sent in 1940 says “Provincetown Art Gallery” but those old timers familiar with the town will instantly recognize this photograph as the interior of the Provincetown Art Association founded in 1914 the way it used to look before various renovations and additions. The organization is now known as the Provincetown Art Association and Museum or PAAM for short.  If you are in Provincetown this weekend, you still have time to catch the “Art in the Garden” exhibit which includes work by Will Barnet, Mona Dukess, Pasquale Natale, Sideo Fromboluti, and Judith Shahn.  You can also attend the opening reception of the Jim Peters exhibition  this Friday ($10 admission to non-members of PAAM) Peters teaches painting and drawing at the Museum School at PAAM and is a member and former chair of the visual arts program committee at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.                                                     One of the characters in the new mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown, Annie Tinker, came to Provincetown to study at the FIne Arts Work Center. Is she a possible suspect? Or is it her husband Beau Costa who put the fatal bullet in Sonny Carreiro? You’ll have to read the book to find out. SIgned copies, while they last, are at the Provincetown Bookstore, or buy your trade paperback book online or as an ebook. Like us on Facebook and keep the conversation going.

Remaining in Provincetown By S.N.Cook. Truro Works. 306 pages $12.95 Trade Paperback

Remaining in Provincetown
By S.N.Cook.
Truro Works. 306 pages
$12.95 Trade Paperback

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Shipwreck on Provincetown sandbars averted

Swedish Freighter the Monica SMith

Swedish Freighter the Monica Smith

The sandbars off the tip of Cape Cod , even with the Provincetown lighthouses  at Race Point, Woods Hole, and Long Point to alert passing ships can be treacherous. Fortunately in the case of the Swedish freighter, Monica Smith, enroute from New Bedford to Nova Scotia, no damage was done. This photograph was taken on February 23, 1960. A storm caused the vessel to be beached at Provincetown, Massachusetts, where the boat remained until tugboats could be assembled and then during high tide, with the help of her anchors, she safely floated out to sea and started up her engines.
When you live by the sea, you learn to deal with unexpected weather and unexpected events like a murder. What happens in a small town like Provincetown, economically dependent on tourism,  when a crime takes place? Who had a motive to kill one of the town’s leading citizens? The ending may surprise you. Get your copy of the new novel Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook in time for summer beach reading. Now in bookstores and online, in trade paperback and as an ebook. Like us on Facebook and keep the conversation going.

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Remaining in Provincetown By S.N.Cook. Truro Works. 306 pages $12.95 Trade Paperback

Remaining in Provincetown
By S.N.Cook.
Truro Works. 306 pages
$12.95 Trade Paperback

Provincetown Cape Cod your heart’s desire

Old Cape COd That Land of Heart's Desire by John Chipman

Old Cape Cod That Land of Heart’s Desire by John Chipman

Cape Cod is often referred to as “God’s Country” as it is in the poem by John Chipman printed on the above  antique postcard. The top illustration shows the steamer Dorthy Bradford (the Boston Boat ) heading from Boston to Provincetown,  the best town from which to start your Cape Cod visit.   Today you can visit via the Fast Ferry. Chipman writes of hearing the waves pounding on the short  and says “no place in the world shines the sun so bright or the moon so full on a summer’s night.”

“”They make you as welcome as flowers in Spring                                               A hand clasp that thrills way down to the toes                                                       In the greeting one gets whereever he goes.”

That sense of intimacy is one of the characteristics of a small town. It’s one reason why so many people gravitate towards places like Provincetown. Want to experience more of what it’s like to live in Provincetown, who maybe what it could have been like for some residents in the 1990’s.  Buy a copy of the fabulous new novel,  Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook available at bookstores and online in trade paperback and ebook.  Like us at Facebook and keep the conversation going.

Provincetown inns and guest houses offer quality lodging

Provincetown Cape Cod The Bradford Inn when postcards costs one penny to mail.

Provincetown Cape Cod
The Bradford Inn when postcards cost one penny to mail.

Inns or what have long been referred to as “Bed n” Breakfasts” and “Guest Houses”  enable Cape Cod visitors when staying in Provincetown to fully grasp the unique flavor of the town. As shown in the above postcard circa 1900,  gracious well maintained Inns have long been a Provincetown tradition. We have dozens of wonderful such places to stay in Provincetown, although you are cautioned to make your reservations early because the best ones fill up fast. One of our favorites is the Revere Guest House which has  been  featured on the HGTV  TV show “If Walls Could Talk”, The HGTV episode provides some insight into the history of the building, revealed by some unusual documents the owners found during renovations, not unusual in a town filled with history. Each room at the guest house  has a different name to characterize its slightly different amenities.    Decorating rooms to have a unique personality is something that one of the characters, Bruno Marchessi,  in the mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown is very proud of accomplishing in his own guest house “The Willows”. Set in Provincetown in early spring, before the start of the busy tourist season, this is a book that will get you in the mood for your visit. Curious to learn more? Visit our page on Facebook and become a fan. We’ll keep you posted with colorful snippets of Provincetown history. Buy a copy of the book, Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook, available online and at bookstores. Purchase your copy now and become transported to another time and place.

Boston boat to Provincetown a vacation experience

Steamer dockingThe above postcard was mailed in 1912, over 100 years ago, and shows the steamship the Dorothy May Bradford, pulling up to the dock in Provincetown harbor on the tip of Cape Cod. At the begiinning of the 20th century, taking what was referred to as the “Boston Boat” was the most efficient way to get from Boston to Provincetown and from Provincetown to Boston during the summer months. Back in those days the journey took a good half of the day, but today the Provincetown Fast Ferry makes the trip back and forth two and three times a day in 90 minutes.  While the Dorothy Bradford was named after one of the first Pilgrim travelers who traveled across the ocean on the Mayflower and then drowned in Provincetown Harbor after she slipped and fell off the boat, the newest Provincetown Fast Ferry Salacia, is named after the Neptune’s wife and goddess of the sea. Salacia’s name, derived from the  Latin word for salt, was thought to personify the calm and expansiveness of the sea. A beautiful sea nymph who bore three sons with Neptune, including Triton, she is usually personified in sculptures as having a crown of seaweed and driving alongside Neptune in a shell chariot drawn by dolphins.  Certainly the sleek and fast Salacia looks quite different in contour and shape from the more stalwart Dorothy Bradford. But different time periods in history call for different experiences. If you like postcards, you may want to enter the Boston Harbor Cruise “Design Your Own Postcard Contest” 
If reading a book during your vacation is more your idea of fun while relaxing on the beach, pick up a copy of Remaining in Provincetown, the new murder mystery everyone’s talking about. Now available at bookstores and online in trade paperback and ebook. Buy your copy today at Amazon .com or purchase a signed copy at the Provincetown bookshop while supplies last.  Like us on Facebook and keep the conversation going.

Remaining in Provincetown By S.N.Cook. Truro Works. 306 pages $12.95 Trade Paperback

Remaining in Provincetown
By S.N.Cook.
Truro Works. 306 pages
$12.95 Trade Paperback

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Provincetown artists and vacation time

ArtistsWhile many folks spend their vacations on Cape Cod, sunbathing on the beach, hiking across the sand dunes, surfing the ocean’s waves, and enjoying the fine restaurants,shops, and inns that are so abundant in Provincetown; aspiring artists come to take classes. This early 20th century postcard shows a large class of artists painting from life on a Provincetown beach at low tide, when there was enough sand to accommodate all those students! Artists and art galleries are a big part of Provincetown on a year-round basis. Collecting art was one of Sonny Carreiro’s many pleasures, as a successful entrepreneur o the Lower Cape. Maybe it was a weakness.  Could something related to a particular Provincetown artist help solve the mystery in the new novel Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook? Copies of this popular new mystery are now available in bookstores and online. Visiting Provincetown this summer? A limited number of signed copies are at the Provincetown Bookshop on Commercial Street. Also available at Amazon in trade paperback and kindle. Like us on Facebook. Keep the conversation going.

Remaining in Provincetown By S.N.Cook. Truro Works. 306 pages $12.95 Trade Paperback

Remaining in Provincetown
By S.N.Cook.
Truro Works. 306 pages
$12.95 Trade Paperback

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!

Like our facebook fan page and you may be selected to receive a FREE advance cppy!