|
|
|
|
Advocate Archives
This week’s trip back into the Advocate Archives takes us to 1938 when the first mail plane arrived in town; to 1958 when the brand new A&P offered the latest in shopping convenience; and to 1974 when a series of misunderstood communications led to Boston TV stations telling folks to stay away Memorial Day Weekend because there was no gas.
May 19, 1938
First Mail Plane Arrives Here Today in National Event
Persons wishing to have letters or other mail stamped with the Provincetown cachet to go by air mail on the first mail plane to stop at the Cape-tip must have such mail in the Provincetown Post Office not later than 11:30 a.m. today.
Today, as part of the program of National Air Mail Week, the first mail plane in the history of Provincetown will stop here to leave and pick up air mail at the outermost landing field on the eastern coast of the United States. The plane, owned by Mayflower Airlines, Inc., will be flown by Lieutenant Parker Gray, chief pilot and president of that company, and will be met when it arrives at 2:10 p.m. (DST) by Postmaster William H. Cabral, William F. Gilman, secretary of the Town Criers, William F. Silva, president of the Board of Trade with a group from that organization, and Jesse D. Rogers, chairman of the Provincetown Board of Selectmen.
When the mails closed last night more than a thousand pieces had been marked with the special cachet designed by Richard Miller to distinguish Provincetown covers.
May 22, 1958
New A&P Super Market to FeatureLatest Self Service Conveniences
All of the latest self-service shopping conveniences will be featured by the new A&P Super Market at 32 Conwell Street, near Route 6, which will have its grand opening next Wednesday morning at 9 o’clock.
The attractive Colonial style exterior and ultra-modern, air-conditioned interior of the new A&P have been skillfully blended to provide a distinctive one-story structure with all of today’s desired merchandising facilities.
A large parking lot, a store-to-car bundle delivery service, wide aisles, electrically operated doors and extra speed-type checkouts will eliminate shopping delays even at peak periods. The new A&P will replace the company’s two Commercial Street stores. Besides self-service departments for all kinds of food-stuffs, the super market will regularly stock a wide assortment of non-food items. These include magazines, music recordings, miscellaneous soft goods, house plants, cut flowers, housewares and toiletries.
Long rows of refrigerated cases will display all sorts of perishables. Meat, poultry and fish will be at the rear of the store, while frozen produce will be conveniently displayed elsewhere.
Fluorescent lighting, pastel shaded walls and a colorful mural depicting a New England waterfront scene of Colonial times lend unusual attractiveness to the interior.
The store-to-car bundle delivery service is one of the latest shopping accommodations. Customers drive to the pickup station and bundles are placed directly in their cars by attendants.
May 23, 1974
Upstaters Spark Cape Gas Scare Broadcasts
Local business owners were shocked last week to hear television and radio newscasts warning motorists to stay away from the Outer Cape during Memorial Day weekend.
“The Cape and Berkshires are out of gas,” the news announcement said, “and motorists who drive to these areas may be stuck with no way of obtaining gas to get home.”
In at least one case, a WBZ-TV Friday news program reported Provincetown in particular had been hit by a severe gas shortage.
At the time this news was being broadcast, most Outer Cape stations reported ample supplies of gas. Some storage tanks were so full station owners wondered whether they would be able to accept new gas deliveries — scheduled for the following week.
What caused the news media to announce a shortage?
The source was Norma Findlay at the Boston office of the Automobile Legal Association (ALA). As part of the large-scale survey of the entire New England area, she phoned 15 Cape gas stations “at random.” These stations were located from Bourne to Provincetown, and according to Ms. Findlay, 11 of them reported that they didn’t know if they would be open on Memorial Day weekend.
In the Outer Cape towns of Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown, Ms. Findlay called “two or three” stations and spoke to attendants who also could not promise weekend service.
As a result of this information, ALA contacted the Associated Press late Thursday afternoon and issued a statement that it “appeared emergency gas supplies would be necessary” to provide the Cape with enough gas to handle Memorial Day traffic.
Most of the radio and TV stations interpreted this as meaning an extreme gas shortage existed at all stations on Cape Cod.
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 22nd, 2008