Lynnfield-Related Items On eBay, 1/22

Cooking With The PTO: This almost feels like the beginning of some old “Lunch Lady” type of comedy skit. Somebody on eBay recently tried to sell a “Favorite Recipes” cookbook from Lynnfield Middle School.  Unfortunately, they were unable to unload it despite an asking price of just 99 cents (insert cafeteria joke here).  The book looks like it’s probably part of some fairly long ago fundraiser by the middle school’s PTO. This reminds me a bit of the Lynnfield restaurant menus from the 30s or 50s that you occasionally find on eBay. After all, something like this is a little snapshot from a specific time that will only become more interesting as it gets older.

Not To Be Confused With The 'Sons Of Anarchy' I’m not sure how long it’s been since Lynnfield had a Grange organization, but here’s a gold medal from the Lynnfield Grange #321 for the “Patrons of Husbandry.” Of course, in this day and age you’re more likely to run into a patron of ex-husbandry, but that’s another story for another time (snare drum roll).

A Day At The Lake: About three weeks ago, I ran a photo of a black and white image of Suntaug Lake in Lynnfield circa 1909, complete with what appeared to be a boat rental business on the shore. This is another postcard that shows this area, apparently in 1908 – however, this one is in that old style of color from a certain era, and it also shows the boat docks. On a side note, this old vintage boat dock can't help but remind me of the scene from the 1932 comedy classic "Horse Feathers" where Groucho Marx has his canoe outing with a young blonde woman devolve into zaniness.

Speaking of 1908, it falls into that unspectacular (with the exception of the facial hair of course) but highly transitional time in history almost exactly in between the Spanish-American War and World War I. Intrigued, I found a link that offers some very interesting random information about what was happening around the world in 1908. For example, the U.S. flag had 46 stars, the Myopia Hunt Club hosted the U.S. open, and William Howard Taft got elected president. Also, the first Model T Ford was introduced, and the Yankees lost 100 games.

"You Have Always Been The Caretaker Here, Sir:" I'm not sure if I've ever run this specific photo of the old Suntaug Lake Inn. The thing is, a lot of these items are posted again and again over time by sellers. That said, I swear that if you look in the close-up of this picture you can make out the forms of two people standing and looking out of the windows. You can also make out some very early vintage cars in the lot. The upcoming Lynnfield Patch feature story "Seance On The Shores Of Suntaug," can't possibly be  far away now.

Old Fire Department Hat: This item is from nearby North Reading, but it’s still worth a mention in this column just for being a cool antique of local origin – It’s a town fire department hat from 1913, with an asking price of $285.