Manchester Historical Society
Manchester quiz. Can you answer these questions?

In what publication did this listing appear? What would you say about the location of most of the shops?

Extra credit: What decade?

Scroll down for answers.
History close to home:
Jewish History through the Decades
Thursday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m., all welcome to a free online program about Manchester's Jewish history. Register here through the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford; scroll down to the registration box.

Read more on our Events page.
With social distancing and masks
Opening soon!
Old Manchester Museum will open the first Saturday of the month, from 10:00 to 2:00, hosted by Bob Kanehl and Art Pongratz. Located at 126 Cedar Street, the former schoolhouse has permanent and temporary exhibits including copies of old maps, examples of Cheney silk, Pitkin glass, Case bottled water. May 1 will be our first opening for 2021.
Cheney Homestead will open the second Sunday of the month from 1:00 to 3:00, hosted by Peter Millett and the Homestead committee. On May 9, we'll feature "Women of the Cheney Homestead." The 1785 Homestead is located at 106 Hartford Road.
Woodbridge Farmstead will open the second and fourth Sunday of spring and summer months from noon to 2:00 p.m., hosted by Peggy Newton and the Woodbridge committee. On May 9, we'll feature flowers for mothers and some special entertainment. The farmstead is located at 495 East Middle Turnpike.
The History Center is still under construction, but the museum store and offices are open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 to 2:00. The center is located in the former Cheney machine shop, 175 Pine Street.
JIGSAW PUZZLE

Click the image on right to try the puzzle.
Hazel Lutz created this map of Manchester's waterways in 1955. It's on our website in a story about the Highland Park section of Manchester.

More about Hazel Lutz on our website.
85 years ago in the Manchester Herald
Some news items from April 1936, in the middle of the Great Depression. The article about the billboard for the "Charm" slogan is intriguing! Wish it had a picture, because the billboard is long gone. Read more about the origin of our town's motto, "A City of Village Charm." To the right -- big news a counterfeit $5.00 bill is passed. Below that, a story about a fire, but it also points out that Olcott Street has been renamed Center Street. Helpful to know that street names change. Lots of other fascinating articles in The Manchester Herald edition of April 23, 1936.

Browse all The Heralds here. To see all the recipes in the Herald cookbooks, click the image below.
Find us on Facebook!
For frequent photos and tidbits, check out our Facebook page.
Art classes
Ongoing and new offerings -- Info: art classes at the History Center. Questions may be directed to Trudy Mitchell. ONGOING: Classical Drawing -- "Learn the art and science of accurate drawing based on traditional 19th-century methods." Six-week sessions on Saturdays from 9:30-12:30.
Pictured on right, our art studio, lower level of History Center, a 42,000-square-foot building that used to be the Cheney Machine Shop, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The Center was built beginning in 1895, although this part of the building dates to the early 20th century.
Counting down to Manchester's 200th anniversary year, which begins January 1, 2023: 625 days.
The Manchester Historical Society is planning exciting activities for the Town's year-long bicentennial celebration. Check out the activities of the 1923 celebration, documented in this booklet on our website.
April TV show airs at noon and 8:00 p.m. Saturdays throughout this month --"American Legion Post 102 Restored,” an 81-minute television program about the process of restoring the historic American Legion building that was nearly destroyed by a fire. The TV program, recorded May 21, 2019, tours the building, and talks with Legion members who worked on the rebuilding. The show airs at 12:00 noon and 8:00 p.m. on Cox cable channel 15 on Saturdays, and runs on all the Saturdays of the month. The show changes each month. Above right: the restored roof sign of the American Legion. You can watch this month's show on the Public Access website: The show airs at 12:00 noon and 8:00 p.m. on Cox cable channel 15 on Saturdays, and runs on all the Saturdays of the month. The show changes each month. This Channel 15 broadcasts in Manchester, Glastonbury, South Windsor, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, and Newington. The television show is produced by Susan Barlow, directed by Kathryn Wilson, researched by Jill Gelinas, all volunteers of the Manchester Historical Society. You can watch this month's show on the Public Access website: this month's television show. To see other Society TV shows, type "historical" into the search box.
Unfortunately, during the pandemic, the cable TV studio and equipment are unavailable, so we will not be able to make new TV shows for a while.
Answers to the questions at the top of this e-newsletter
This listing of barbers was in the 1966 Manchester town directory, published by the Price and Lee Company. Many of the barbers were in the Downtown area.

These books list residents and businesses by name and (in the pink pages) by address. Very handy for researchers, genealogists, history buffs, and for those interested in knowing who lived on what street in a particular year. Our website has about one directory per decade. Volunteer Bob Gauthier is scanning another one right now. The earliest directories were small, but this 1966 directory has 1072 pages.

To browse the 1966 directory, click either of the images to the left. The lower image on the left is the cover of the directory.

They were relatively expensive, especially compared to phone directories, which were free.

The Historical Society does sell directories in its museum store, 175 Pine Street, open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 to 2:00.
High school yearbooks
Enjoy the large collection of Somanhis (South Manchester High School) yearbooks on our website. In addition to photos of the graduating seniors, these books have ads for local businesses, photos of school activities, and sometimes poetry and prose by the students. Thanking our volunteers, especially Bob Gauthier, Noreen Cullen, Jim Hall, Joshua Pruden, Dick Jenkins, Susan Barlow.
Fundraising in process
The Sculpture Project is raising funds to create a life-size statue of Miss Elisabeth Bennet at this school where she was principal. Read more about Miss Bennet and her accomplishments, and consider a donation to the Sculpture Project. Tote bags are in the process of being printed, which will sell for $20 each. More news next week.
Pandemic writers wanted!
Please jot down your thoughts about
-- and experiences during -- the pandemic!
Please share your Manchester COVID reflection! Details about contributing... Think about how life has changed, how we've been negatively affected, what benefits we've noticed. School e-newsletter editor, Jim Farrell, is calling upon us to write a 200-800 word essay, and if it's published in the newsletter, it will also be printed in a hard-bound book to be donated to the Manchester Historical Society and displayed at our museum. More info: Manchester essays wanted. Send contributions to Jim Farrell, communications director of the school district at [email protected]."
Membership for yourself or --
Consider a gift membership for a friend or loved one. Why join a local historical society, even if you don't live in that town? Some reasons: • support education about the history of the town • support preservation of artifacts and vintage photos • join in advocating for preservation of historic buildings and parks that make Manchester charming.
Print this online donation form and mail to 175 Pine Street. Or drop by the History Center, Tuesdays through Fridays from 10:00 to 2:00. Direct questions to 860-647-9983.
Additional ways to donate: Employer matching gifts! Direct United Way donations to the Society. Sign in to Amazon via Amazon Smile and have a percentage of your purchases go to the Society. .