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Way Back Wednesday

Many people are familiar with our concerts by the lake series in the summer but, long before those, we would occasionally hold concerts like this in our courtyard. This is from July of 1963.

Cerinda Evans was The Mariners’ Museum’s first librarian and also wrote a biography on Collis Potter Huntington, our founder’s father. This photograph of her from February 23, 1968 is of her 92nd birthday party the museum threw for her. On the wall behind her you can see an oil painting of her. And look at that typewriter!!

This third image shows a whaling and fisheries exhibition in 1963. The main focus is the whaleboat built in New Bedford, Massachusetts by the Beetle Boat Building Company in 1933. The piece is currently on display in our International Small Craft Center. On the wall behind the boat is a painting of a Dutch Whaling Scene (1645) by Bonaventura Peeters, which is one of the oldest paintings in the collection and is a beautiful piece of art.

Something I didn’t know about the museum is that entry into the galleries was free until January of 1966. This picture shows our first paying customers. Behind them on the wall is a piece I’m very fond of, the stern carving from the replica sloop-of-war Fame (ca 1872). She was used for training boys in seamanship.

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