Business & Tech

eBay Report: Grooviest. High School Yearbook Cover. Ever.

Part humor, part local history, the eBay Report takes a light-hearted look at objects up for auction connected to the town's past.

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 interesting actually.

Lynnfield Pickle Crock: So have you ever wanted to give somebody a gift that sounds a little dirty but really isn’t? Just kidding. I didn't really just write that. There's still parts of town where I could get myself slapped with a mouth like that. But either way, this pickle crock was made back in 1992 and features a “Lynnfield est. 1634” inscription. Interestingly, a further look at this listing finds that the Lynnfield pickle crock was made by Rowe Pottery Works – out in Cambridge, Wisconsin of all places.

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Timeless Tiki: For just $29.99, you can own a vintage tiki mug from the Bali Hai that was apparently used sometime before 1994. Somebody should pick this up and put it into safekeeping just in case 50 years from now they end up creating a Museum of Lynnfield History. On a side note, before long it'll be on the better side of 50 years since I've been in the Bali Hai. I keep meaning to go in sometime.

The Old Road: This is a shot of the former Newburyport Turnpike back in the early 1900s, showing a rather tree lined and idyllic roadway that seems suitable for either horses or cars. Specifically, this postcard has a stamp and is dated 1911. For the record, Henry Ford started producing the Model T Ford in 1908. I can’t say for sure, but this image may also show the elm trees that reportedly lined Route 1 down the East Coast decades ago before they were wiped out by disease.

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Grooviest Yearbook Cover Ever: In 1976, The Lynnfield High School graduating class created what may have gone down in history as the Grooviest Yearbook Cover Ever Made.  Say what you want, but It's pretty creative and very much a product of its time (sort of, but more on that later). On a side note, it also for some reason reminds me of the messages they inscribed on those gold records for the Voyager deep space missions back in the 1970s.

I almost want to stop typing and dig out some of my CDs by Cream, Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. But back on topic - I’m not sure who’s going to fork over $100 for this yearbook. The design also feels very ‘60s for a 1976 yearbook for what it’s worth, more from the Iron Butterfly than the Led Zeppelin era if you will.

When this yearbook was just a twinkle in some student editor's eye, the nation was celebrating its Bicentennial in grand fashion, while going to see some great movies such as Taxi Driver and Rocky, and also pondering (in many cases I’m sure agonizing) whether Gerald Ford or Jimmy Carter was the right choice to lead the nation into a new decade.


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