Hancock Shaker Village

In this same batch of slides with the photos of the house are a big set of pictures from a visit to Hancock Shaker Village. The slides are dated July 1975 on them, which is when they were processed.

Above is the main barn on the grounds of the village.

This one is housing. Very dormitory-like.


Big ole' stove and rocking chairs. Notice the dressers. The shakers were very famous for their furniture building skills. If I remember correctly a lot of the buildings on the grounds were workshops.

From Shakershoppe.com:

"The Shakers were the largest and most successful Utopian venture in existence in their time, with an estimated four thousand to six thousand members in eighteen principal communities from Maine to Kentucky by 1840. The Shakers peacefully pursued the vision of their English founder Mother Ann Lee (1736-1784), who came to America with eight followers in 1774. They turned away from the rest of society, which they simply called the World. They lived in large families that were both celibate and communal, devoted their lives to work, and celebrated their love of God in the rousing dance worship that gave them their name. Simplicity was their hallmark, they cared little for worldly goods.

"As they created a new, more perfect society, the Shakers also produced a visual environment of such quiet power that it continues to impress the observer centuries later. Shaker work, devoid of any unnecessary ornamentation or frivolous detail, endures."

Smorgasbord

Here are a few random slides from July 1975. Above, a nice shot of a rose bush.

Below, the exterior of the house and yard. Some of those trees have been chopped down and replaced with others by now. The big tree peeking up above the roofline is the apple tree that used to live in the backyard. I'm not sure that you could take this same photo now without the new garage in the turnaround obstructing at least part of the house. Also, the driveway was not yet paved at this point.

Below is Frosty, an ice cream stand my mother worked at for a while in South Hadley. I have one very clear distinct memory of visiting her there. I can remember going around back and inside and getting a free ice cream cone.


It's either a hair salon, massage place or kung-fu studio now. I can't keep track and never think to look when I drive by.

Pretty much all of my strong memories from any time before the age of 25 involved free ice cream in some way. That might be why I eat so much ice cream now, as a way of tying memories to the ice cream experiences so there will be something I can remember 30 years from now.

We'll always have the ice cream.