Aeroplane Fever (episode 144)

08/04/19 • 56 min

HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History

Sky Jockeys, Knights of the Air, and Man-Birds were just a few of the terms that newspapers around the country used to describe the early aviators who converged on Boston in September 1910. The first Harvard-Boston Aero Meet was the largest and most exciting air show that the world had ever seen, and it left Boston gripped by a bad case of aeroplane fever. Famous pilots from the US and around the world, including even Wilbur Wright, would compete for cash prizes in a number of categories, including a high-stakes race to Boston Light in the outer harbor. Tens of thousands of spectators gawked at the spectacle, reporters provided breathless coverage, and the military watched carefully to see if these newfangled flying machines could ever be useful in warfare. The event was so successful that the organizers extended it by three days beyond what was originally scheduled, then followup meets were scheduled for the next two years.

Please support us on Patreon and check out the full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/144/

Aeroplane Fever

Honey Fitz flies with Claude Grahame-White Honey Fitz Honey Fitz, Grahame White, and President Taft Cromwell Dixon’s dirigible View of Squantum Second Boston Light course Third Boston Light course Final Boston Light course Grahame-White’s monoplane Grahame-White clinches the Boston Light prize bomb dropping target Boston Light cigar ad Transit options to the airfield Poster poster The triplane that crashed Wilbur Wright sold postcards that he carried on flights

Harvard is the first college with an aeroplane
1907 map including Squantum Point, before the airfield
About the Atlantic land company
Map of Atlantic Land Company development
Summary of the 1910 meet
Military interest in the 1910 meet

Please support us on Patreon and check out the full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/144/

Aeroplane Fever

Harvard is the first college with an aeroplane
1907 map including Squantum Point, before the airfield
About the Atlantic land company
Map of Atlantic Land Company development
Summary of the 1910 meet
Military interest in the 1910 meet

Previous Episode

The Secret Tunnels of Boston’s North End (episode 143)

If you’ve ever taken a walking tour of Boston’s North End, or if you’ve talked to the old timers in the neighborhood, you’ve probably heard stories about the network of so-called secret pirate tunnels or smugglers’ tunnels that connects the wharves to the basements of houses, Old North Church, and even crypts in Copp’s Hill burying ground. Sometimes the tunnels are attributed to a Captain Gruchy, who’s often called a pirate or a smuggler, and who is portrayed as a shadowy figure. It doesn’t take much research to debunk this version of the story, and yet there is historical evidence for tunnels under the streets of the North End. This week, we’ll take a look at that evidence and try to separate fact from fiction.

Please support us on Patreon and check out the full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/143/

The Secret Tunnels of Boston’s North End

A Topographical and Historical Description of Boston, Charles Shaw
Old Landmarks and Historic Personages of Boston, Samuel Adams Drake
Around the Hub: a Boys’ Book about Boston, Samuel Adams Drake
Rambles in Old Boston, Edward Griffin Porter
On the 1722 Bonner map of Boston, the location of the tunnel can be found near the right margin. Locate “Cap Greenough’s Ship Y,” and follow the route of the tunnel from there, past the corner of Lynn and Henchman, and angling over to the tip of Salem.
A description of the tunnels in an 1896 issue of the Boston Globe.
The tunnels are uncovered and then filled via a 1906 issue of the LA Herald.
William Cheever’s diary, and some background on the Cheever family.
Description of Gruchy’s tunnels in a 1906 Boston Globe article.
“American Privateering and Imperial Warfare 1739-1748,” Carl E Swanson
A four part story on the Old North blog about Captain Thomas Gruchy’s life in Boston and contributions to Old North Church.
A pair of independent researchers believe they’ve traced the origin of the tunnel to Captain Daniel Henchman. Check their Facebook and an interview.
A fanciful story about the tunnels from HP Lovecraft.
Rumors and speculation about the tunnels from Spare Change News (2015), North End Boston, and the Boston Globe (1922).

A view of the tunnel entrance fro Porter’s 1887 book Illustration of the tunnel in the Sept 6, 1896 Globe Illustration of the tunnel in the Sept 6, 1896 Globe A view of the tunnel entrance from the Sept 23, 1906 Globe, adapted from the illustration in Porter 1930 photo of the arch under Salem Street by Leon Abdalian, via Digital Commonwealth

Boston Book Club

Back when we were tour guides, we picked up a slim volume of Nort...

Next Episode

Boston’s Dark Days and Eclipses (episode 145)

The brilliant sunsets and dramatic weather reports inspired by smoke drifting into our area from Canadian wildfires last month got me thinking about two past HUB History shows. There have been at least three smoke events in Boston history that caused darkness in the middle of the day and made people wonder if the end of the world was coming. Our first clip will be about the dark days in 1780, 1881, and in 1950. Of course, people who witnessed dark days compared them to solar eclipses. Our second classic segment is from the summer of 2017, exploring the solar eclipses that early Boston witnessed, from soon after European colonization to the turn of the 19th century.

Please support us on Patreon and check out the full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/145/

When Darkness Veiled the Sky

A 1912 Forest Service report explaining what causes Boston’s dark days.
Professor Samuel Williams’ contemporaneous scientific account of the 1780 dark day.
Abigail Adams describes the 1780 dark day.
Cotton Tufts describes the 1780 dark day.
George Washington’s account of the 1780 dark day in faraway New Jersey.
Abraham Davenport prefers to be found at his desk if the 1780 dark day is actually the end of the world.
Modern analysis reveals the source of the smoke in 1780.
Sidney Perley’s history of storms and weather in New England, including descriptions of dark days.
A letter from Emily Dickinson on the 1881 yellow day.
Ryan W Owen’s article about Boston’s yellow day.
The first photograph of a comet, made in 1881 just weeks before the yellow day.
An artist’s rendering of comet C/1888 K1.
Wild conspiracy theories about a dark day in 1950.

Total Eclipse

Viewing details for the 2017 eclipse in Boston
In an article on Quaker martyr Mary Dyer, Christy K Robertson tipped me off to the 1659 eclipse.
Thomas Jefferson misses the 1778 Eclipse.
More on the 1779 Massachusetts expedition against the British on Penobscot Bay in Episode 25.
The 1780 expedition to view an eclipse at Penobscot Bay.
Putting that expedition in the context of the Revolution.
A letter ordering the state to outfit a ship for the 1760 expedition.
The New York Times reports on why the 1806 eclipse was particularly good for viewers in Boston.
Cows on Boston Common were disturbed by the 1806 total eclipse.
The path of the 1806 eclipse.

Boston Book Club

Our pick for the Boston Book Club this week is a satirical map of Boston, which was created by Daniel Wallingford and published in the 1930s. It’s titled “A Bostonian’s I...