September 29, 2024

Open Thurs.- Fri. 1-5 PM,

Sat. 10 AM-5 PM,

& Sun. 1-5 PM.

This Saturday, October 5, the museum will open late -- at 2 PM -- due to a private party.

Photo, top: Richard Stremme's Community Case Opening & Talk are this Friday at 6 PM.

Photo, above: Today is the last day to see our first two Custom House Community Cases: Regan Morse's Cats, Cats, Cats, and Christina Corcoran's Treasures from a Blinman Street Attic.

Cheers to our sponsors

Anthony and Elizabeth Enders Fund - Charter Oak Credit Union - Chelsea Groton Foundation - Community Foundation of Eastern CT - Eleven+ - Frank Loomis Palmer Fund, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee - Kozmik Music Services - Ludwick Family Foundation - Maco Family Fund - Louise Novitch - Robinson+Cole - Veolia/NL Water Authority -

Yankee Remodeler. Thank you!

tonight Sunday, September 29, 6-9 PM

Open Mic at the Museum

Open Mic at the Museum meets on the last Sunday of the month at the beautiful Custom House Maritime Museum.

Co-hosted by Kenny 'Doc' Frazier and Christina Corcoran, our monthly open mic welcomes music, poetry, prose, stand-up or just say what is on your mind. Just show up at 5:45 and get on the list! Open to all ages and abilities for fun and camaraderie. It's a friendly crowd.

Sponsored by Kozmik Music Services. Admission by donation.

Tonight's program will be livestreamed on the Open Mic at the Museum facebook page and available there to watch.

The Open Mic page also posts many of the individual performances from past sessions.

Photos: from recent Open Mics.

Opening this Friday, 6 PM

Richard Stremme: The Scrimshaw/Tattoo Connection

Photo, above: A small lapdesk containing the essential tools of a hand poke tattooer: various needle sets, sharps, waxed hemp cord, ink, tradecards, patterns/designs.

Photo, above: Nineteenth-century advertising Whale product Trade Cards.

Photo, above: Baleen corset busk, circa early 1800s. Seldom scrimmed due to its fibrous surface. (Also raw and shaped examples of baleen.) Fourteen species of “baleen whales” are known, including: the bowhead, right, blue, gray and humpback whales.

this Friday October 4, 6 PM - Opening reception & talk, concert follows at 33 Golden

CH Community Cases

Richard Stremme: The Scrimshaw/Tattoo Connection

In the old days every man of the sea was tattooed, even the captain. That’s the way they entertained themselves on board ship. The boys used to prick marks in their skin and fill them with ink. Some of them had regular tattooing sets.

~Anonymous old sailor quoted in the

NY Times, Sept 28, 1924

Consummate collector and tattoo artist Richard Stremme will share objects related to one of his many interests: the connection between/and origins of American scrimshaw and hand poke tattoo.

Join us this Friday at 6 PM to view the exhibition and hear Rich's show-and-tell with objects from the exhibition. He also will discuss early connections between scrimshaw and handpoke tattoo, and give some practical tips/experiences regarding collecting/investigating the above. Free, open to the public.

Rich writes: Whalemen were some of the earliest American purveyors and wearers of the "hand poke" tattoo. Gleaned from tattoo experiences with native peoples, sailors adapted the practice to foc'sle life and brought the earliest form of tattooing into American subculture. Objects, photographs and ephemera displayed will focus on the "sharp" arts of the sailor's life, surveying the imagery, tools, and connection between traditional scrimshaw and relief carved whimsies, and the birth of the American tattoo.

One of the first things I "wanted" as a lil kid was a 'tatoo book' from the penny gumball machine, but I only ever got the gumballs! When I tried to swap Cracker Jack prizes with one of my cousins to get my first one, that's when I became a collector, I think. Add whales, waves and high seas adventures, and I was hooked.

Rich Stremme is a teacher at Brooklyn College now living in Pennsylvania. He writes: I grew up in pre-IBM Southbury, CT, and spent lots of time in New London playing shows (at El N Gee, among others) and exploring around.

On October 4, following his talk at the Custom House, Rich's band The Deacons will perform at 9 PM, at 33 Golden, 33 Golden Street, New London, $10 cover.

What would you put in a museum?

We're interested in seeing what you collect!

We are keen to support local people to share their research on regional topics, archives, collections, and artifacts. The CH Community Cases will be open to the public whenever the Custom House is open. New displays will be installed every 2-3 months, as available.

We invite you to email your idea for a display to: nlmaritimedirector@gmail.com.

Visit Inside Harbor Light!

Saturdays, Sundays, & by appointment year-round

a popular destination for more than a century.

Visit Inside NL Harbor Pequot Light

The weather is perfect for visiting Long Island Sound's oldest and tallest lighthouse. Photos: Christina Corcoran.

Climb 116 steps up into the lighthouse lantern. We offer tours every Saturday & Sunday at noon. The views are spectacular! Tours for up-to five people take approximately 40 minutes. To book a tour at other times, send us an email.

Thanks to our friends at Veolia-NL Water Authority and at the Chelsea Groton Foundation, New London residents may visit inside New London Harbor Lighthouse with a $5 ticket through December, 2024! Don't miss this opportunity. Sign up today! It makes for a super birthday party!

Donations like yours help keep the lights on!

The 2024 Charter Oak Federal Credit Union matching gift program has begun.

If you are a Charter Oak member, your gift (to $500) will be doubled if you donate now! Download the pdf and please make NLMS your favored charity.

Tuesday, October 15, 1:30 PM

JIBBOOM Club #1

On October 15th we're trying something different, when master storyteller Claudia

Kenyon invites six fellow Jibboomers to tell their own stories about the waterfront. It's a maritime, spoken word Open Mic.

Tales: Down By The River

Margret Palmer, “Full Circle” Some stories about growing up on the mouth of the Branford River.
Mike Johnson, “My Experience on the Mayflower” The Mayflower is a replica of the original ship that landed in Plymouth, MA. The 200th year anniversary never took place because of the Covid 19 epidemic.
Claudia Kenyon, “Fish Fries” Keeping my eyes wide open to the spiritual realm. A connection to my deceased father who was a fisherman and how his spirit still makes an appearance in nature.
Skip Guzy, “Mystic Seaport” The topic will be about the Charles W. Morgan, the wooden whaling ship docked at the Mystic Seaport.
Kate Wells, “Essex Fire, 1968”
Joseph Maco, “Francis Scott Key Bridge Update” There is more to the story that will help us understand what happened after the MV Dali was removed from the bridge in Maryland.

Jibboom is not a club, but a friendly gathering with a speaker, treats, and good fellowship.

The event is FREE and open to all - please come on October 15, 1:30 PM, and bring a friend.

Watch the recording -- it was a terrific program.

The Lafayette National Symposium - Lafayette & the Enduring Struggle for Human Rights and Democratic Governments This event rook place on September 7, 2024

What can you do with an NLMS membership?

Become an NLMS member & receive a 10% discount in the Gift Shop

& member prices to special events, like the ones, above.

A New Roof for New London's 1833 Custom House Museum!

We need a new roof and appreciate your support. Our plan is to work to match your donations with grants, such as the CT Historic Preservation Fund.

Join the New Roof campaign!

This week at the Custom House

On Friday seniors from Waterford High visited at the Custom House.

Fran Sylvestri's Maritime Literature class had just watched Men of Honor, a film is inspired by the true story of Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear, the first African American master diver in the United States Navy (Wikipedia). And, if you remember the plot, the denouement is when -- to prove his worth -- Cuba Goodings, Jr. portraying Carl Brasher, (and minus one foot), has to take 16 steps in full dive gear, including 20-pounds-each dive shoes.

Of course, they had to try it.

Thanks to docents Christina Corcoran (herself a WH graduate) and Dick Fraser for giving the tours. (See more photos, below).

Photo, below: a praying mantis at Harbor Lighthouse. Christina Corcoran.

We love bugs, but not mosquitoes!

After reading a review in the WSJ last summer, we tried to order the all-natural insect repellant from The Entomologist. It's been Sold Out for months! But we finally got some in to the Shop last week. Be warned: it's pricey. It smells herb-y and much better than DEET!

--Susan

SPECIAL OFFER: All gift shop purchases greater than $100 receive David Zapatka's 2025 GREAT AMERICAN LIGHTHOUSES calendar for free as supply lasts!

Let's SHOP

Race Rock Light is Ms April!

A butterfly pop-up card in the Shop.

Butterfly cups, plates, napkins, cloths.

New London Old Town Mill Harvest Festival

The New London Old Town Mill Harvest Festival will take place Saturday, October 5 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 8 Mill Street. The event will have horse drawn wagon rides, children’s activities, musical entertainment, food and more.

Spooky Zoom Talk: "Haunted Lighthouses of New England"

with Historian Jeremy D'Entremont Sign up HERE.

Virtual - Even More Haunted Lighthouses of New England

with Author Jeremy D'Entremont @BecketAthenaeum

Lighthouses and ghost stories often seem to go hand in hand. In the past, Jeremy has discussed the lovelorn spirit known as Ernie at Connecticut’s New London Ledge Light, the piano playing ghost of Maine’s Seguin Light, the mysterious Woman in White in the Isles of Shoals, as well as the spirit of a drowned lighthouse keeper at Penfield Reef in Connecticut. Who knows what fascinating and haunting tales Jeremy will come up with this time!