The 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.
Tag Archives: provincetown massachusetts
1940s Cape Cod 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.
Provincetown Artists on the beach at low tide
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.
Boston Boat to Provincetown 1911
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.
Contest to Win Antique Provincetown Postcard
Provincetown, Cape Cod 100 years ago in this popular town in Massachussets, this photograph was taken when sailors walked the streets and the roads were unpaved. Like the facebook page for the new murder mystery novel Remaining in Provincetown by S.N. Cook and you might be the winner. (Winner chosen at random from the likes on the page. Postcard will be mailed to you by USPS.) Read the book , now available at bookstores (trade paperback) and online and join the conversation when you like us on Facebook.
Provincetown to Boston ferry come back soon!
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
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.
Shipwreck on Provincetown sandbars averted
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.
Boston boat to Provincetown a vacation experience
The 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.
HIghland Light Cape Cod’s famous Lighthouse
Standing on the unusual formation called Clay Pounds, one of the largest on the East Coast, the Highland Lighthouse in Truro, Cape Cod was built in 1797 and was the 7th lighthouse to be constructed in the United States.
Built on the highest cliff on Cape Cod, its location has been subject to severe erosion, as much as three feet per year! In 1996 to save the historic lighthouse, it was moved back 450 feet. When you visit, there is a museum on the property, the Highland House Museum with rotating exhibits and local history displays, maintained by the Truro Historical Society.
The radio tower referred to as Radio Beacon in the postcard description was erected by the Navy as a communication station in World War II. The postcard was printed by E D. West and Company. More postcards of this beautiful lighthouse will be seen in subsequent postings on this Remaining in Provincetown website. Haven’t read the book yet? If you love the Outer Cape, Provincetown, or mysteries that involve old postcards and quirky people , this mystery novel is for you. Check us out on Facebook and Amazon. Join the conversation. Signed copies are currently available at the Provincetown Bookshop on Commercial Street in Provincetown as well as a variety of bookstores and online sites. Happy Summer and enjoy the fireworks.









