From time to time, this website takes a look at the items up for sale on eBay.com that are connected to the past and character of Lynnfield. This week, somebody is selling a bunch of press photos that were taken in the 1920s. So this particular column will focus on some of those. Kimball’s Starlight Ballroom: Here’s a very cool old press photo of a long-ago Lynnfield landmark. Back in the day, people would go dance the night away at Kimball’s Starlight Ballroom, an open-air pavilion that attracted some very popular big band and other acts in its day. I had always heard that the place was huge…

Here are some of the latest items to come up for sale on eBay that have a connection to Lynnfield's past: 1919 Diary: This is one of those unique items of local historical significance that I always wish would end up in the hands of historical societies instead of casual collectors. It’s the 1919 diary of Victor Bartlett Newhall, who served in the Navy during World War I and who died in 1977. It sounds like a pretty colorful life he led in the Navy based on the excerpt provided from the diary. For local historical purposes, I’ll quote the paragraph provided here by the seller: “Up early 7:00…

It was the Summer of 1969 – and Joe Dombrowski was on the town common calling out square dancing routines. This press photo shows a long-ago image where a bunch of locals in full western attire descended on the common and do-si-doh’d their ways into the archive books.  Some seven years before “Star Wars” would change American culture forever, Mr. Dombrowski also appears to have been something of a pioneer with the “Han Solo” look. The Lynnfield Hotel: Long ago, the Lynnfield Hotel stood near Salem Street and Route 1. This item is quite interesting from a local history perspective – it’s a …

"Won't You Take Me To..."  In 1977, the disco era had come full swing to Lynnfield. Even the guy on the LHS year book cover was sporting a blue jump-suit thing. I think I’ve seen some of my favorite musicians wearing similar get-ups in videos from that era. The jumpsuit even sports a big Pioneer Pride-style “L” on the front. I wonder what that would get online. The whole image feels like Elvis in Vegas, Jesus Christ Superstar, Dan Tanna, Frampton Comes Alive, and the Carter Administration all rolled into one product of a very specific and unique era. It’s so perfectly illustrated for the …

From time to time, this website takes a look at the various items on eBay that are connected to Lynnfield and its past. Here are some of the latest examples: A Snapshot Into The Past: Thanks to this little magnifying glass feature on eBay, you can zoom in on this picture and see some fairly good detail of one long-ago day in Lynnfield early in the 20th Century. This shot shows a house on Suntaug Lake, presumably during the peak summer months. A few canoes or other small watercraft are out on the waterfront and several people can be barely made out in front of the building. It’s pretty …

Here is a look at some of the latest items with a connection to Lynnfield that can be found on eBay: Pocahontas: Ok, from a local historical standpoint, this is simply awesome. Pardon my overwhelming history geekery. If I had a spare $100 I would seriously just pick this up and donate it to the town historical society. It’s a crate from 1922 used by the Pocahontas Spring Water company, with a female Indian logo that looks like somebody put a headdress on a beautiful but non-Indian silent movie actress. The box also says “Property of J.F. Smith, Lynnfield Centre, Mass.” This is also cool to me…

Here is a look at some of the Lynnfield-related items recently spotted for sale on eBay: Decades Of Traffic: In these parts, people will often default back to the Blizzard of ’78 when thinking of snowstorms that halted traffic. However, this past press photo from 1969 depicts a blizzard that year that managed to bring a much smaller Route 128 to a standstill. That  long boat-ish car in the middle even reminds me a bit of my own first car, which was a 1977 AMC Matador. The traffic only appears to be headed in one direction for some reason. Either way, it looks like hellish traffic but it still…

Road To Somewhere: Somebody has this old postcard back up for sale on eBay. Personally, I still suspect it's not really an image from Lynnfield, but more of a generic image that was also being sold down the highway claiming to be "an old road in Hyannis" or "an old road in Altoona." But with that said – Does anybody have any thoughts on whether this might perhaps be a really, really old shot of Walnut Street with the present day Colonial/Market Street property to the left? That's the one spot in Lynnfield that comes to mind with this image, notwithstanding all the years of change.Hell's Dolls…

Most weekends, Lynnfield Patch runs a look at the latest items connected to the town that can be found on eBay. Here are the latest examples: Mysterious Country Road With Super Foliage: This reminds me of a very, very hard version of my weekly “Where Is This?” feature, which also runs on Sundays on Lynnfield Patch. The back of the postcard says “Greetings from Lynnfield Centre.”  The thing is – where the heck is this scene, even when you factor in for decades of change and development? Granted, much of Lynnfield used to look like this, and many longtime residents regret the day it stopped …

Most weeks, Lynnfield Patch takes a light-hearted look at the various items with a connection to the town that can be found on eBay. Here are some of the latest examples: Pillings Pond, Fin du Siecle: One idyllic summer day a century or so ago, somebody snapped this photo of Pillings Pond as well as a house that may or may not still be there. You can zoom in and see some details of the house and the pond, which looks more like the scene from a vacation home in northern Maine than it does a pond that is now minutes away from Routes 1 and 128. This image captures something about the simplicity …

Here are some of the latest Lynnfield-related items up for auction on eBay: Dancing At Old Town Hall: I'm assuming that back in the day, they used to hold dances at the old Lynnfield Town Hall – at least judging from the "I wish we were in here dancing now, don't you?" message that a woman named Bea sent to her friend or relative Alice in Malden back in what appears to be either 1908 or 1918 (The post mark is too faded to tell the exact year).  At least it's not the sort of dancing that occurs at lots of other legislative settings - the variety that occurs on the back of the taxpayers. I …

Here are some of the latest items connected to Lynnfield that can currently be found for sale on eBay:A Small Coffee, For Here: You know how in the past, people used to drink much smaller cups of coffee? Well this is clearly the case looking at how tiny the coffee tables used to be.  Ok, just kidding. Apparently back at the dawn of the 1950s, there was a company named Lynnfield selling miniature dollhouse furniture. According to the seller, the Lynnfield company eventually was renamed to Blockhouse and then to Sonia Messer. Ballot Box: This is a unique Lynnfield related item even by this …

Here are some of the latest items found on eBay that are connected to Lynnfield in one way or another: Commemorative Stamp: Admiral Byrd was a fairly prolific explorer in the pre-World War II era, completing various expeditions to both the North and South Pole. This postage stamp was issued in 1933, according to a side graphic on the explorer’s Wikipedia page. The main connection to town here is that it was mailed by somebody from Lynnfield, perhaps spending a decade or three in somebody’s shoebox or stamp album along the way. On a side note, this reminds me of a scene in one of the Marx …

Next week, I plan to run an article on Lynnfield Patch that talks about the Pleasure Island era, with one or two town-specific angles focused on with help from a local author and historian. For those not familiar with the place, Pleasure Island existed just off Route 128 in Wakefield from 1959 to 1969. Initially meant to rival Disney, it turned out to be more of a financial liability before long. With that, here are some things (mostly postcards right now) currently selling on eBay from the former Pleasure Island amusement park. “Believe It Or Not, I’m Waiting For A Train” Somehow I don’t see…

Here are some of the latest Lynnfield-related items up for sale on eBay. The Quebec City Connection: This might be one of the most mysterious (supposedly) Lynnfield-related items I’ve seen while writing this column – in good part because there’s no picture to go with it. It looks like back in the early 1990s, a team of Lynnfield Pee Wee hockey players were lucky enough to go up to Quebec City for a tournament. A search on Google finds a couple of similar cards for sale, none of which appear to have photos. Another found search item tells the story of a 2007 LHS choral journey to Quebec City …

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 …

Here is a look at the various items connected to Lynnfield that can currently be found on eBay: Letter From Kenya: Back in 1969, somebody in Kenya mailed a letter to a Mr. “A. France,” care of Lynnfield resident E. de Stueben, on Maplewood Road.  As a youngster, I used to collect stamps, and have a few old envelopes and first day covers. One detail that comes to mind from looking at this envelope is that six years after Kenyan independence in 1963, the country was still apparently using the old “Uganda Kenya Tanzania” stamps left over from the British Colonial era. There is also an actual …

Haywards Beverages: I don't believe that I'm familiar with the former Haywards beverage company, despite what has become a growing interest in Lynnfield history. Being a green bottle in this case, it looks like they at least made ginger ale. I'm assuming it wasn't beer either, whatever it was. The bottles are also somewhat cryptic, since instead of telling you exactly what product they contained, they simply bore the message "Flavor designated by crown." Of course, this was an era when those de-coder buttons were all the rage. Maybe they could also decipher what flavor a given soda was, or at…

Most weekends, Lynnfield Patch takes a light-hearted look at the various items connected to the town that can be found on eBay. Here are some of the latest examples. - Not only are these collectible tiki mugs from the Bali Hai being discounted 15 percent, but they also just have a super-cool retro vibe. These things are making me crave a scorpion bowl and some boneless ribs and I don't even really drink these days. Heck, I think I'd even like a water bottle for my bike that looks just like this, come to think of it - although I'm sure that would lead to a couple of interesting entries in the …

Here are some of the items connected to Lynnfield that can currently be found on eBay: Swingin' Lynnfield: This matchbook cover from the Bali Hai appears to date back to the ‘60s or ‘70s . Whenever it was from, the place was open until 2 a.m. back then and appeared to be using the slogan "Mysterious Paradise of the South Pacific."  The question is, what 8-track do you loudly play after lighting your Winston from one of these things and peeling out of the Bali Hai parking lot at 2 a.m. in 1968? (feel free to comment below) I’m thinking maybe Hendrix or The Guess Who before winding down really…