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45 Years Ago…

March 30, 2026

I was weeks away from graduating from Bridgewater State College. It had been a tumultuous senior year and it wasn’t over yet. Ronald Reagan was elected the previous November. John Lennon was murdered in December. The American hostages held in Iran were released in January moments after Reagan was sworn in.

I was taking a photography class and had been strolling around Dedham looking for interesting subjects. The billboard pictured above stood facing Route One near the edge of the parking lot of the current Staples. It had been put up at the beginning of the hostage crisis, with the tally updated regularly until it reached 444 days. On January 21, a representative from Ackerly Communications, who had sponsored the message, added the words “At Last,” changed the count to zero and painted over the tears that had been streaming from Lady Liberty’s eyes.

A little over two months later, on March 30, the president was shot by John Hinckley, Jr. in Washington D.C. And before I would walk across the stage in May to receive my degree, the country would be shocked by yet another act of violence when Pope John Paul II was shot as he rode through St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

Recent events in the news brought me back to that unforgettable senior year. The exclamation point and question mark added to the billboard after the hostages were released reflected the mood of many of us then, as they do today.

Categories: ...all the old familiar places, Dedham Then and Now

Comments: 7 Comments

On this date in Dedham history…

March 7, 2026

Little did I know when I signed the visitor guestbook of the Dedham Historical Society over 50 years ago, that I would come back to work there after my retirement from teaching.

It’s been the opportunity of a lifetime researching and sharing some of Shiretown’s greatest tales with interested folks of all ages in my role as Museum Educator. Thanks for supporting Dedham history and this blog, and be on the lookout for new stories both here and on the Museum’s social media.

This is the back of the spiral bound sign-in notebook for student visitors. The graffiti certainly reflects the times. I know I did not commit this minor act of political protest- I was a rule follower and not particularly political. And I would have capitalized the president’s name- it’s a proper noun.

Categories: ...all the old familiar places, Dedham Then and Now, JP's Dedham
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Peggy Lawton was born in Dedham!

February 17, 2026

Well, that’s not exactly true. You see, Peggy Lawton is not a real person. But those delicious, fudgy brownies that are ubiquitous in supermarkets and convenience stores across New England were first introduced right here in Dedham Square.

In September 1945, husband and wife Peggy and Lawton Wolf opened a restaurant called The Sampler on Washington Street near the corner of School Street. Within a short time, demand for Peggy’s homemade fudge brownies became so great that the couple decided to leave the restaurant business and open their own baked goods company. They combined their first names to create Peggy Lawton Kitchens, and added several varieties of cookies to the lineup alongside the popular brownies. The company operated in East Dedham and Hyde Park before locating to Walpole in 1961, where the beloved treats are still produced under the supervision of Peggy and Lawton’s son William Wolf.

If this story leaves you with a craving for more sweet history, be sure to check out the Dedham Museum’s first offering in our Spring Speaker series. This Wednesday, February 18, author Susan Bregman will share tales of iconic local goodies featured in her book “New England Sweets: Doughnuts, Bonbons and Whoopie Pies.”

Free to members; $10 for non-members (pay at the door).

The Speaker Series is held at the Museum, 612 High Street, Dedham, MA, and begins at 7:00 p.m.

Sampler ad from Dedham Transcript/September 21, 1945

https://www.dedhammuseum.org/speaker-webinar/spring-speaker-series-february-2026/

Categories: ...all the old familiar places, Dedham Then and Now
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Happy Halloween! Enjoy these vintage Rust Craft cards.

October 31, 2025

These cards were made by Rust Craft in the late 1950s. The colorful graphics and clever novelty additions (the cat in the above card made a meowing sound when you pressed it, the britches in the card below were on a spring) were characteristic of the company’s output during their early years in Dedham.

The Dedham Museum and Archive will be celebrating the card company’s creativity with its new exhibit : Rust Craft: A Quarter-century of Artistry in Dedham, coming in November. On display will be dozens of cards from Rust Craft’s Dedham years (1955-1980) as well as photographs, artifacts and original artwork from one of the company’s artists. A reception, which is free to the public, will open the exhibit on November 12 from 6:30-8:30. Light refreshments will be served after welcoming remarks by Museum staff and Christine West, daughter of Vincent Battaglia, long-time Rust Craft artist, whose original artwork is featured in the exhibit. If you worked for this company, or just enjoyed sending or receiving one of their clever and colorful greeting cards, you don’t want to miss this exhibit.

Categories: ...all the old familiar places
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Voices from the Graveyard

October 14, 2025

Walking Tours presented by Dedham Museum and Archive October 18 and 25

This jolly-looking fellow is Martin Bates. He was a prominent businessman and land owner who lived in Dedham from 1788-1869. At one time he owned the Norfolk House on Court Street, one of Dedham’s most popular taverns which still stands today.

This is the Bates family tomb in the Village Avenue Graveyard. On Saturday October 18 and October 25, Martin Bates will exit his tomb to great visitors as the Dedham Museum and Archive presents the first ever “Voices from the Graveyard” Walking Tour. Marty and six other “Dead-hamites” will be on hand to share stories of their lives (and deaths) in old Shiretown. This is a special seasonal event you don’t want to miss- but hurry, some time slots are already sold out and tickets are going fast. Visit the Museum website for more information and for tickets. I’ll be looking for you among the gravestones! https://www.dedhammuseum.org/programs-events/seasonal-walking-tours/

The gravestone of Sally Pond and her infant children, carved by noted Boston area carver John Homer.

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Tavern Night at the Dedham Museum!

September 20, 2025

Don’t miss this fun event coming on Friday! This year’s theme is The Striped Pig, a unique event in Dedham history that I wrote about in my Dedham: Historic and Heroic Tales from Shiretown book. Read a short summary below. Hope to see you there!

Sheet music from the 1838 ballad

The Annual Military Muster in September 1838 on Dedham’s Lower Plain (present day Hyde Park) was looking like it would be a gloomy affair. Earlier in the year, temperance advocates had succeeded in getting the Massachusetts legislature to pass the “15-gallon law,” which prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages in quantities less than 15 gallons. And what’s a military muster without access to abundant quantities of rum and whiskey?

Enter an inventive local who saved the day and unwittingly created a nationwide phenomenon that is still talked about to this day. The crafty vendor erected a tent on the field, with a sign inviting one and all to see the “Great Curiosity” of a Striped Pig. After paying their 6 and ¼ cents, patrons were indeed treated to the spectacle of a large and apparently contented pig, adorned with dark stripes looking suspiciously like fresh black paint. As a bonus, each paying customer was given a FREE glass of rum, thus quenching their thirst without breaking the law!                                                                  

Within days the story of Dedham’s Wonder had spread across the country, and the Striped Pig was being celebrated in music halls and taverns far and wide. The phrase entered the nation’s vocabulary meaning both a ruse to skirt an unfair law (“We’ll have to try a Striped Pig device”) and a way to describe a drunken person (“Looks like he’s been riding the Striped Pig”). Striped Pig political parties were formed, some of which helped to bring an end to the 15-gallon law (and the re-election hopes of Governor Edward Everett who had signed it into law).

 The Dedham Museum celebrates the creativity of that enterprising entrepreneur and his determined efforts to raise the “spirits” of Dedham’s citizens on that late summer night almost 200 years ago.

For tickets and more information click here:

https://www.dedhammuseum.org/special-events/tavern-night-5th-anniversary/

Categories: Dedham Then and Now, History/Mystery
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Book Talk This Week

September 7, 2025

I will be sharing stories from my most recent book World War II Massachusetts at the Morse Institute Library in Natick this Thursday, September 11 at 6:30. This will be the 22nd talk I have given since the book’s publication in March 2024. What I most enjoy when giving these presentations is chatting with audience members who remember the events I have written about and share their stories with me. It is always exciting to hear about the blackouts, scrap drives, shortages, and rationing from the people, now in their mid-eighties, who experienced these events as children.

Here is a link to the Morse Institute website which has more information about the talk. Come on by if you’re in the area and want to hear some unbelievable tales of the Bay State home front during the war.

https://morseinstitute.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/author-talk-world-war-ii-massachusetts/

Categories: ...all the old familiar places, History/Mystery
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The Battle of Dedham Common- Conclusion

August 9, 2025

The story thus far…

In early July 1975, DPW Commissioner Paul Sullivan authorized the white fence rails around the Dedham Common to be painted red, white and blue in honor of the country’s upcoming Bicentennial. The response by neighborhood residents was swift and overwhelmingly negative. At a special meeting of the select board attended by over 90 concerned citizens, the board voted 3-2 to keep the color scheme as is, despite the presentation of a petition signed by over 100 residents. After learning of several not-so subtle threats to repaint the fence, town officials posted a 24-hour guard at the Common for a few days.

Over the next few months, while there were several unsuccessful attempts to return the fence to its traditional white color, the newly formed Historic Districts Commission was able to meet and settle the matter once and for all. In September the Commission voted to make a request of the select board to repaint the fence by October 15. Commissioner Sullivan stated he would abide by the Commission’s request, and after a week’s rain delay the fence was repainted by volunteers on October 23.

Epilogue

On June 29, 1976, this headline appeared in the Patriot Ledger: Selectmen Order Common Grass Mowed. The article went on to describe the “harvest” of tall grass that had not been mowed since the fence painting brouhaha almost a year before. DPW Commissioner Sullivan explained that he thought the Common was under historic commission control, and would cut the grass only if ordered to by selectman. “It was nice hay,” he remarked, with the article noting that the commissioner was never one to forget a favor or a slight.

Aside from some Karen Read supporters setting up by the Common at the intersection of Routes 135 and 109, the past 50 years there have been free of excitement and controversy. Today, the rails of the fence are unpainted, and will most likely remain that way throughout the country’s semiquincentennial (250th) celebration next year.

Next: More uncommon tales from the Common

Categories: Dedham Then and Now, History/Mystery

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Seventy years ago: Rust Craft comes to Dedham

July 23, 2025
The Rust Craft Greeting Card Company as seen in a 1950s postcard view (courtesy of Dedham Museum and Archive)

I can’t really improve upon the caption that accompanied this picture in newspapers across the country on July 24, 1955, the day after the greeting card company opened its new headquarters in Dedham:

700-YEAR-OLD “BLESS HOUSE” CEREMONY, symbolic of inviting good luck to the opening of a new building, was reenacted yesterday as the Rust Craft Greeting Card Co. officially opened its nine-acre plant in Dedham, Mass. Perched atop the clock tower of the new building were these authentically garbed musicians, drumming out evil influences and summoning the good with long heraldic trumpets. 10,000 visitors toured the $3,500,000 plant and watched the making of greeting cards.

During the ceremony described above, six drummers beat kettle drums from the cupola of the building, driving evil spirits away, while trumpeters facing the four points of the compass sounded their 4 foot-long horns, calling good and gentle spirits into the building. Just to cover their bases, company officials invited Father William Kenneally from St. Mary’s Catholic Church and Reverend Rudolph Roell from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church to give blessings as well.

Later in the afternoon, town officials presented Rust Craft co-founder Donald Rust with a silk flag bearing the company logo, along with a large, framed replica of the original Indian land deeds to the Rust Craft property. Also on hand was goodwill ambassador “Rustie,” described by the Transcript as “a living greeting card herself, warm and friendly, lovely to look at, and with a cheery greeting for everyone.”

“Rustie” the ‘living trademark’ of the Rust Craft Company stands by the plane she piloted on nationwide promotional tours. Note her dress, which is printed with a variety of greeting card images.
This full page ad from the Transcript shows the excitement surrounding Rust Craft’s relocation from Boston to Dedham.

This is the logo used by Rust Craft for several years after their move to Dedham, perhaps inspired by the unique medieval opening day ceremony of that hot July day 70 years ago.

Rust Craft operated in Dedham until 1980 when it moved its operations to Pennsylvania, before going out of business in 1982. The Dedham Museum and Archive is putting together an exhibit highlighting the people, products, and pictures of the company’s 25 years in town. If you have any stories to share, or photos/artifacts to loan us for this exhibit, we would love to hear from you! Please email us at memories@dedhammuseum.org

Categories: ...all the old familiar places, History/Mystery, Lost Dedham
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Dedham did it first!

July 16, 2025

You may have heard about the furor in Newton over the city’s decision to paint over the street lines that for years had traditionally been green, white and red, the colors of the Italian flag. This story is remarkably similar to the “Battle of Dedham Common” 50 years ago. Certainly, the emotions of those involved are just as strong as they were for Dedham residents of half a century ago. Read the linked story, and see if you don’t agree.

Part 2 coming soon!

https://www.wcvb.com/article/newton-festa-italian-flag-lines-nonantum/65426095

Categories: Dedham Then and Now

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