Tag Archives: provincetown cape cod

Champion Provincetown Clam Digger

"Carl" Champion Provincetown Clamdigger

“Carl” Champion Provincetown Clamdigger

Quahogs and steamers were once in plentiful supply in Provincetown harbor.  The above antique postcard is a  19th century color lithographic print published in Germany by F. H. Dearborn, Provincetown Massachussets. The card shows a champion clam digger, “Carl”, wheeling his haul down Commercial Street standing in front of what is now Marine Specialties.
Clams were often used for fish bait. Nowadays  Cape Cod clams are enjoyed fried, stuffed, steamed, and in chowders. Because the clam population has become depleted due to overfishing, clam digging is closely monitored and restricted according to season.  But during the Great Depression, shellfish was an important source of protein for Cape Codders.
Everyone loves a creamy hot bowl of Clam Chowder on a cold damp day. A number of Provincetown restaurants serve delicious homemade chowder and one restaurant “Sally’s Chowder Bowl,”–a fictional location,  is a favorite dining spot of several of the characters in Remaining in Provincetown, the mystery novel by S.N. Cook.  Who likes to eat there and why? Read the book everyone’s talking about available online and at local bookstores. Like us on Facebook and keep the conversation going.

Provincetown Cape Cod Seining Fish

Seining FIsh Provincetown Massachusetts

Seining FIsh Provincetown Massachusetts

This antique Provincetown postcard is entitled “Seining Fish” and was published by the Provincetown Advocate in the late 19th century. The American Indians used weirs, stationary nets to capture fish and fishing weirs were still a common sight in parts of Cape Cod  Bay in the 20th century. But another fishing technique, popular in the 19th century as depicted in this antique Provincetown postcard, was seine fishing. Seine fishing uses nets that are hung vertically in the water, set in place to catch a school of fish and then removed. The bottom edge of the net is held down by weights while the top of the net edge is held aloft by floats.  Purse seine fishing uses rings on the edges of the nets to gather the net together like a purse. That’s where it gets its name—purse seine.

Names can be very descriptive. What is the significance of the name of the novel, Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook? Who is remaining? Is it the murder victim or is it the characters who have chosen the town as their home and have chosen to stay? Want to learn more? Read the murder mystery available at your local bookstore or online as a trade paperback or ebook. Like us on Facebook

At bookstores that include the Provincetown Bookshop.

At bookstores that include the Provincetown Bookshop.

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!

and keep the conversation going.

U.S. Lifesaving Service at Race Point, Provincetown

Firing the Lifeline

Firing the Life-line

The United States Lifesaving Service was founded in 1871 after an alarming number of fatalities occurred along the Atlantic coast during the winters of 1870 and 1871.

The stations were manned by expert surf men and boat handlers who patrolled the coast at night and during foggy and stormy days.  The buildings where equipment was stored were painted red so they could be seen from the sea and a sixty foot flagstaff signaled  passing ships by International code.

Nine lifesaving stations were built on Cape Cod in 1872. Captain Samuel O. Fisher was one of the Race Point station’s keepers and he had a horse that would help the crew by dragging the heavy boats and equipment across the sand.  Postcards that show the work of the early Cape Cod Lifesaving Service are highly desirable. It was a these types of antique postcards that Sonny Carreiro was looking at before he drives back to Provincetown and is inexplicably murdered. Want to know more about the mystery? Read the new novel, Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook available at bookstores, including signed copies at the Provincetown Bookshop and online in trade paperback and 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!

Finback Whale on Provincetown Beach

FinbackThe above postcard sent from Provincetown, Massachusetts to Woodbridge, Connecticut in August 1968, when it cost five cents to mail a postcard, doesn’t say when the  Finback whale was stranded. Looking at the buildings, the location is the East End of town, not too far from Dyer and Washington Streets. It’s when you see all the people gathered around that you start to comprehend the immense size of the whale.  It’s very sad.  One of the largest baleen whales,
adult Finback whales can reach an average size of 60 feet and weigh close to 50 tons. Scientists estimate the Finback whale and other large baleen whales have life spans of about 60 to 70 years.  Walking along the beach, one never knows what you will find. A clue to a mystery, perhaps or some insight into why whales beach themselves. If the newspaper in Remaining in Provincetown,  The Provincetown Observer were real, it would have been a front page story. The publisher and editor Roze Silva, however, finds other things that will make headlines.  What’s everyone talking about? Check it out by reading the book, available at local bookshops and online in trade paperback and as an ebook. Like us on Facebook and join the conversation.

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

Cape Cod Sand Dunes Vintage Postcard

Sand DunesThe dune grass, sand dunes, pink and blue sky, and deep blue ocean pictured in this postcard from the mid 20th century are still very much a part of Cape Cod today. The above postcard was published by H. A. Dickerman and Son in Taunton, Massachusetts.  This postcard is going to be given away to one of the Facebook Fans of the mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook. The winner will be selected from amongst the “new likes” on the facebook page. IF you already “like” the page, invite a friend to “like” our page to be entered in the contest. Want to purchase a copy of the book? For sale at local bookstores and online at Amazon.com. Signed copies at the Provincetown Bookshop. Keep visiting our website and facebook page for more contests and conversations.

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 book takes place in the 1990s/

The book takes place in the 1990s/

Cape Cod’s Best Beaches in Provincetown

Antique Postcard showing Provincetown Beach

Antique Postcard showing Provincetown Beach

If you love the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore, wide vistas of sand dunes, and crisp clear water visit the beaches at the very end of Cape Cod, Race Point and Herring Cove-– both part of the National Seashore. Walk out across the sand dunes or along the shore away from the parking lots and you’ll find lots of open space to enjoy nature.  Take a walk along Commercial Street in the town and see glimpses of the Cape Cod Bay as you travel. Down at the West End of town is the breakwater that you can walk across to visit another secluded beach, Long Point.  If you are a fan of the Outer Cape, purchase a copy of Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook. Become familiar or reacquaint yourself with the town as it was in the 1990s. Copies are available at the Provincetown Book Shop or online at Amazon.com in trade paperback or kindle.  Visit our fan page on Facebook and keep the conversation going.State Road

1940s Cape Cod Postcard

1940's Vintage Postcard

1940’s Vintage Postcard

The Provincetown Monument, sand dunes, and Boston to Provincetown Ferry were all there on this postcard postmarked 1940, but so are the railroad tracks and a train. Yes, you could take a train to Cape Cod back in those days. Now you can drive, fly, or arrive by boat.  The Outer Cape is just as beautiful, but change does take place. Nostalgic to return? September is considered by our Facebook Fans to be the best month to visit. Want to read a book that will place you in 1990s Provincetown? Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook is a murder mystery on sale in bookstores, including the Provincetown Book Shop, and online at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble as a trade paperback and an ebook. Like us on Facebook. Join the conversation.

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 Artists on the beach at low tide

antique postcard published by H.A. Dickerman & Son, Taunton Massachussetts

antique postcard published by H.A. Dickerman & Son, Taunton Massachussetts

You can see a sandbar and someone walking on the flats, but the artists on the Provincetown beach in this late 19th century antique postcard are focused on painting a portrait of a seated woman wearing a yellow straw hat. There were several art schools in Provincetown at the time this postcard was published. Artists, who often supplemented their income by teaching were attracted to the northern light reflected off the water, sand dunes, and beaches in the picturesque town located on the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Today the town is still filled with art galleries plus the Provincetown Art Association and Museum.  Plenty of writers have also made Provincetown their home. One of them just wrote a book, a mystery novel set in the 1990’s titled Remaining in Provincetown, which has been getting some very good reader reviews. Have you read it yet? You can buy it at Amazon.com online or if you are making a visit to Provincetown, there are signed copies at the Provincetown Book Shop.  The novel by S.N. Cook is available also as an ebook on kindle. Like us on Facebook. We’d love to hear from you.

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

Boston Boat to Provincetown 1911

Boston Boat arriving in Provincetown, Cape Cod

Boston Boat arriving in Provincetown, Cape Cod

This antique postcard was mailed from Provincetown, Massachusetts to Binghamton, New York in 1911.  Provincetown harbor is filled with handsome sailing vessels. Awaiting the arrival of the steamer ferry from Boston are a host of tourists and residents, dressed for a summer’s day with broad brimmed hats and parasols.  Visitors still travel back and forth from Boston to Provincetown on the Fast Ferry.  Some of the characters in the new murder mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown once lived in Boston but decided to relocate to Provincetown. Why? Does it have anything to do with the mystery of who killed Sonny Carreiro? You’ll have to read the book to find out. Now available in bookstores and online. Purchase your copy in paperback or as an ebook. Like us on Facebook and keep the conversation going.

Provincetown Cape Cod Town Crier spreads news & gossip

Town Crier 40sThis Provincetown Town Crier is dressed in traditional pilgrim attire, and I’m not certain if he is based on one of the professional Town Criers that walked the streets of Provincetown during the 20th century when this postcard was published. By the car in the background, and style of the printing, this particular Cape Cod postcard was published by the Mayflower Sales Company in approximately 1950.  Titled, “Ye Old Town Crier, Provincetown, Cape Cod, Mass” the description on the back of the card says, “In keeping with the old colonial tradition, the custom of having a town crier walk up and down the streets cryng the news and events has been carried down through the years in quaint old Provincetown.”  Spreading the news in a personal way was certainly inspirational to a number of the characters in the new murder mystery novel, Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook. Find out what everyone’s talking about. You can purchase a signed edition at the Provincetown Book Shop on Commercial Street or buy a copy online in trade paperback or kindle. Read all the reviews at Amazon.com. 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