Either the people on this dock are going home pitifully empty-handed after a fishing trip, or else they have just landed in Montauk on a ferry after visiting New York or New London. We think it’s the latter, and that the era could be the 1920s, when the Montauk Steamboat Company and then its successor,… Read more »
On the corner of Main Street and Carl Fisher Plaza, White’s Pharmacy was a magnet for Montauk kids in the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. For starters, it had a soda fountain and a great view of any action that was going down in town. “What the liquor store is now was Dick White’s drug store,”… Read more »
Montauk’s first Blessing of the Fleet – born as the “Blessing of the Boats” – was in 1956 and the brainchild of Vinnie Grimes, a charter boat captain and Navy veteran who’d seen Portuguese tuna fishermen blessing their boats before they headed out to sea on the West Coast. “It is an old European custom… Read more »
Although cyclists ride year-round, springtime is the season associated with outdoor athletics. This photograph from the collection of Al Holden was donated with the information, “Bike race start at Gosman’s.” Although undated, most likely this photograph was taken in the late 1970s. George Watson, owner of the Dock, began launching annual athletic events from his… Read more »
Vanished, it would seem, are the days when admission to any event cost less than ten dollars, as it did when Frank Borth designed this $1.75 ticket to tour the Montauk Lighthouse. A professional illustrator, he was a true friend to the Montauk Historical Society as well as other community organizations, including the fire department,… Read more »
Santa looks like such a contented fellow. The red and green color scheme, the Dalmatian pup, the fishing lures placed inexplicably on top of a drum. Fred Guardineer, the illustrator, lived in Babylon and wrote a “Fish & Game” column for The Babylon Beacon. So what does he have to do with Montauk? Fishing lines… Read more »
This shot from Jane Liebell’s collection of photographs donated to the Montauk Library in 2005 says everything about seasonal celebrations in November: the Girl Scouts are at the firehouse, and have just cooked a delicious Thanksgiving turkey! (Although “the proof of the pudding is in the eating,” as they say.) We know that a Boy… Read more »
A friend wrote recently to ask if there were ghosts at the Montauk Manor. About 20 years ago, he said, his sister and her husband stayed in a room on one of the upper floors — perhaps one built into the roof level, as she remembered a sloped ceiling – in the massive, four-story landmark…. Read more »
We hope these vintage photos will inspire your Halloween costume ideas. In return, can you help identify the people in disguise? The first one’s on us: Emily Burke Cullum and Buddy Burke, who were sister and brother, are the costumed cuties in the photo above. The year is probably about 1934; we’re not sure… Read more »
September 5 will be Day 1 for Montauk School students – a Thursday, which should give them a soft landing after summer vacation. For the second September in a row, Jack Perna, the school’s longtime superintendent and principal, will still be on vacation, however, having retired in 2023 after more than 50 years. Hired by… Read more »