by Barbara Rimkunas
This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, December 31, 2021.
If anything can be said of 1921 in Exeter, it is that it was a year of calm. There was no war, no pandemic, no divisive political movements. The year began with news that Robert Todd Lincoln, son of the revered former president, had gifted $10,000.00 to the Phillips Exeter Academy endowment (in 2021, that would be worth $155,300.00). It was an immense gift that reminded people of Lincoln’s affection for the school and town he’d known back in 1860 when he lived here.
The death rate in Exeter fell to 76 citizens, which was reassuring after the influenza years of 1918 and 1919 had swelled the numbers over 100. Lieutenant William Colcord died in May. An Exeter native, he was one of the few Civil War veterans still listed as members of the Moses N. Collins Post, Grand Army of the Republic. The Exeter News-Letter lamented that the post, which once boasted 190 members, was down to only eleven. By the end of the year, after the death of George Gadd, there would be only eight members.
The Ioka Theater installed new Mazda projection lamps. “This will be noticed in the absence of flicker, the steady even illumination, the enhanced beauty and softness of the picture and its more natural appearance, and in addition the restful effect on the eyes.” The theater continued to show silent films but occasionally hosted a vaudeville production. Minstrel shows were popular entertainment. There were two large travelling minstrel shows in Exeter in 1921; Laymen’s League Minstrel Show performed at the Town Hall in April and Hi Henry’s All-Star Minstrels appeared at the Ioka in June. Both the Robinson Female Seminary and the First Unitarian Society held entertainments billed as minstrel shows and the Exeter High School boys put on a minstrel show, billed as a “musical comedy” called “The King of Cannibal Island.” All of these featured racial stereotyping and blackface performers.
In March, the newly elected president, Warren Harding, was inaugurated in Washington, D.C. Harding came to office after the first election that extended the vote to women. His inaugural address stressed a return to normalcy – no foreign entanglements (Congress had refused to become part of Wilson’s League of Nations) and a return to the free-market world of capitalism. There was little comment in local news about these aims.
New Hampshire once again looked at its own state constitution. Of the many proposals for amendment, there were four that were sent to the voters in March: 1.) a state income tax; 2.) graduated inheritance taxes; 3.) a reduction in the number of state representatives; and 4.) change of language to remove the word ‘men’ from the constitution to ensure that women were also eligible for state office. The Exeter News-Letter opposed all the amendments, “The only safe course for voters is to vote NO on all four of the proposed amendments at the election of Tuesday, March 8th,” the editor encouraged in February. None of these passed at the Exeter town meeting and none went into effect statewide.
Tuberculosis was a continual problem in 1921. Exeter held monthly TB clinics at the Gilman Garrison House the 1st Friday of every month. Hundreds of patients were screened at these clinics.
The winter had been light on snow and the townsfolk were warned, in March, that brushfires were a possibility. Spring was early, the peepers “were in this year piping in goodly numbers on the evening of March 17th, which appears to establish a new early record for rana concerts” noted the News-Letter.
In early June, word reached Exeter of the Tulsa riot. “Tulsa, Oklahoma, comes unpleasantly into the limelight by race riots, marked by scores of deaths and great destruction of property. It would seem that these distressing events could be repressed at the outset.” No further updates were given in the local news.
Two new buildings were added to Water Street during the year. The McReel Building opened in July as the salesroom and garage for A.E.McReel. Thoroughly modern with electric lighting and large bright windows, the building, which curved slightly to hug the sweep of lower Water Street, featured gas pumps on the street front. In August, the Exeter Banking Company published the architectural drawings for their new building. The site was cleared in September. “Mr. Robert Scott has this week completed the razing of the ancient house on Water Street that is to be replaced by the new building for the Exeter Banking Company. From appearances the old house had been standing for probably 200 years, but as far as known possessed little of historical significance. It was long the home of the Lamson family, one of whom, George was a printer and publisher of the Exeter Watchman in 1819. About this time William Robinson became an indentured apprentice in George Lamson’s printing office and an inmate of the Lamson home. Mr. Robinson later forsook the printer’s trade and went to Georgia where he became a merchant and amassed the fortune that he bequeathed to Exeter to found the Robinson Female Seminary.” The new bank building was ready for business at the close of the year.
Labor laws required students to apply for employment certificates. These were issued during the summer months by Reverend Edward Green.
Daylight Saving Time, enacted during World War I, had ceased to exist in New Hampshire after the end of the war. Both Massachusetts and New York continued to observe the annual time shift, causing the railroad schedules to be confusing. In September, “the vexatious season of daylight saving in Massachusetts and New York and in partial observance elsewhere closes at 2 a.m. next Sunday. At 12:01 a.m. Sunday the Boston and Maine will change its schedule, trains to start an hour later than at present.”
At the close of the year, 1921 was a relatively calm and quiet period for a town that seemed at peace with itself. The newness of automobiles, electricity, and women voters were no longer feared. Racial strife seemed far away. Phillips Exeter Academy donated a Christmas tree that was decorated with electric lights. “When illuminated at night, the community tree in the Square compels admiration.”
Barbara Rimkunas is curator of the Exeter Historical Society. Support the Exeter Historical Society by becoming a member! Join online at: www.exeterhistory.org
Image: The McReel Building was erected in 1921. A.E. McReel used the building as a showroom for his Ford auto dealership. It featured a garage in the rear and gas pumps on Water Street.