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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 Silverplate Forum
 NYC subway chatelaine notepad
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| Author | Topic: NYC subway chatelaine notepad |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 09-05-2008 03:30 PM
  
I was doing some straightening & came across this unmarked silverplate chatelaine notebook I bought a few years ago, which I thought I'd share. I really should have posted it four years ago, when the subway system celebrated its centenary. IP: Logged |
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Dale Posts: 2132 |
posted 09-05-2008 03:39 PM
Thanks for posting Polly. Great piece. Sadly very little is known about the makers of silverplated ephemera. This most likely was a souvenier sold in New York tourist shops. From the design and style, it could have originated before WW1. IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 09-05-2008 03:54 PM
Thank you, Dale. My guess was that it was meant as a souvenir commemorating the opening of the first subway in 1904. But of course you're right--it could have been any time around then. The notepad is full of titles of plays & names of theaters. I suppose if I found a theater historian who could identify the earliest one, that would give me a date the notepad couldn't have been later than. Assuming the plays were running when the owner jotted down their titles and locations, of course. IP: Logged |
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doc Posts: 728 |
posted 09-05-2008 04:03 PM
This may help on dating somewhat: As to the lady listed in the notebook: From the History of Goffstown: 1733-1920 by George Plummer Hadley
From what I could find, Henry Merrill and his wife, Ester, were married in 1875. Perhaps our more expert geneaologists can find more; Ester's maiden name was Seeton, and it was her family's geneaology tree where I found their wedding date, but it did not have her death date. [This message has been edited by doc (edited 09-05-2008).] IP: Logged |
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doc Posts: 728 |
posted 09-05-2008 04:41 PM
Can you tell it's late Friday afternoon and I don't feel like working any more? One more piece re Ms. Annie Merrill: the 1900 Annual Report of the Town of Goffstown, Report of the Board of Education indicated that Annie Merrill was one of 6 students (all girls) to graduate from the high school. Apparently, each girl prepared an essay to read, which were all "thoughtfully prepared" and "well delivered". IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 09-05-2008 04:49 PM
Doc, you put me to shame! Okay, here are some of the plays/theaters: The Patriot Oh, maybe these are movies, not plays? Show Acres IP: Logged |
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doc Posts: 728 |
posted 09-05-2008 05:36 PM
Bingo! These are theatres in Boston (knowledge gained from one year of misspent youth in college in the greater Boston area). A quick search found this link in the MIT archives to a newspaper from November, 1909: IP: Logged |
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jersey Posts: 1203 |
posted 09-05-2008 05:40 PM
Hi Polly! Your piece is super! I think they are plays, obviously many made into movies later on. Annie, who after being jilted & comitted suicide could be the ghost that haunts the Merrill House in Stratham, (or so they say). I will ask friends in NH for any info. They are very NH & theater savy. May not get an answer till next week. That reminds me of a Hope Chest I have from the New England area with a name plaque saying Annie Potter which I placed near my piano when I got it until I found a spot for it. My entire family including our dog, hackels up, would be awakend several nights by soulful, but very sweet piano playing. Checked back with the owners of the Chest to find out that "My Annie," was a maid in their grandparents house who loved to play the piano. When I then moved the chest into another room the music stopped. Jersey [This message has been edited by jersey (edited 09-05-2008).] IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 09-05-2008 08:04 PM
Wow, so much more info than I ever dreamed of! Many thanks, all! Jersey, I love your ghost story. I also love distant piano music, so I wouldn't be able to resist keeping Annie's chest next to the piano. So, does anybody think my chatelaine notebook belonged to Annie Merrill? My feeling is that it probably belonged to a friend or acquaintance of hers who jotted down her address, but I suppose it could have been meant as a return address in case the notebook got lost. Perhaps it was bought as a souvenir of a visit to NYC. IP: Logged |
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jersey Posts: 1203 |
posted 09-05-2008 08:39 PM
Polly! My ESP, Sixth Sense, the "Good Witch" in me says it's Annie's! That scares my kids as well. One has inherited the gene but refuses to acknowledge the ability. BTW It's a Baby Grand Piano & there ain't much room to add a Hope Chest next to it. Jersey IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 09-05-2008 08:56 PM
What a useful talent! Re: baby grand & hope chest, could you use the chest as a piano bench??? I guess not. But I bet Annie's ghost did. IP: Logged |
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June Martin Forum Master Posts: 1326 |
posted 09-05-2008 09:57 PM
Wonderful piece and wonderful background material! IP: Logged |
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blakstone Posts: 493 |
posted 09-06-2008 12:23 AM
Boston was the archetypical out-of-town tryout place for Broadway-bound shows. I can confirm that Love Cure, Midnight Sun, Blue Mouse, Bachelor Honeymoon, Such a Little Queen, White Sister, Three Twins and The Man Who Owned Broadway (a George M. Cohan vehicle) all debuted on Broadway in 1909. Ben Hur, a play by William Young based on the 1880 Lew Wallace novel, debuted in 1899 and was a huge hit; it was revived five times: in 1900, 1903, 1911 and 1916. Also, the 1910 federal census for Goffstown, Hillsborough Co. NH shows Annie L. Merrill, age 28, single, daughter of & Henry and Ester, born ca. 1882 in Canada and emigrated to the US in 1890. Just had to add something to this great thread! IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 09-06-2008 01:08 AM
It's all so suggestive! Did the lady who owned the notepad attend all those plays? Or was that just a list of possibilities she was choosing among? Perhaps she and her friend Annie in New Hampshire rode the train in to Boston to take in some theater--we know she liked trains. Perhaps she bought the notepad on a trip to Broadway. In any case, it seems pretty clear that the notepad was in her possession in 1909. She couldn't have had it before 1904, because that's when the subway opened. I don't think she used it much after that, though, because that's all the writing in it--those plays and Annie's address. Annie's address is on the front page,* which has come detached, and the plays are on a bunch of pages in the back. About half the pages are blank. The pad itself is replaceable. She could have filled up previous pads and swapped in new ones. The silverplate case is tarnished, but also worn--the silver is worn down to brass in places. I wonder how many years of use the wear represents. Not more than five, if she stopped using it after 1909. I wish I could go back in time and ask her. And maybe see some of those plays, too. *By "front page," I mean the first remaining page. There are a number of pages torn out. [This message has been edited by Polly (edited 09-06-2008).] IP: Logged |
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doc Posts: 728 |
posted 09-06-2008 08:42 AM
Hate to take the ghost story angle away, but the Annie Merrill who haunts the Merrill House is not the same Annie Merrill that ran the Mt. Pleasant House in Goffstown. The Annie Merrill of haunting fame died in 1882. But I do love trying to following the clues that were so kindly left to you, Polly. [This message has been edited by doc (edited 09-06-2008).] IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 09-06-2008 10:50 AM
Ah well. On the whole I'd rather think of my Annie as a happy theater-goer than a sad ghost. IP: Logged |
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bascall Posts: 1629 |
posted 09-08-2008 11:28 AM
Doc has done a great job of providing information about the former owner of this notebook, but if you'd like to learn more about Annie L Merrill who was born in 1881, the house is still there, and two of Annie's nieces are still living in Goffstown. Annie herself was a poet. Whether she published any of her work is an open question. The nieces are Ester and Annie. One was librarian, and the other taught French. I am told they would be willing to accept a phone call about their aunt. If you'd like their telephone number, I'll pass it to you through Scott. IP: Logged |
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doc Posts: 728 |
posted 09-08-2008 11:32 AM
I tend to think that Ms. Merrill is not the owner of the chatelaine. I like to think that the owner was needing some fresh air after spending so much time in the theaters of Boston, and contemplated a respite in the mountains of New Hampshire. IP: Logged |
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bascall Posts: 1629 |
posted 09-08-2008 12:30 PM
That thought did go through my mind, so I should have said possible former owner. Thanks though! It struck me that Annie might have identified her possession with her name and address while she was traveling? [This message has been edited by bascall (edited 09-08-2008).] IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1970 |
posted 09-08-2008 02:47 PM
I tend to think the owner of my notepad was not Annie Merrill, but a friend or acquaintance of hers. I think if she'd intended the address as an identifier or return address, she would have indicated that somehow ("This notebook belongs to...") or at least written it on the first or last page. Instead, it's written on a loose page and a number of pages are torn out of the beginning. Edited to add that the light has suddenly dawned on me: Mount Pleasant House was not a private residence, but an inn or a resort! So yes, Doc, the chatelaine owner was probably contemplating a country retreat. [This message has been edited by Polly (edited 09-08-2008).] IP: Logged |
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bascall Posts: 1629 |
posted 09-08-2008 04:03 PM
In 1910 Henry W Merrill gave his occupation as boarding house keeper. IP: Logged |
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