Maine Winters of the past

Cold weather anecdotes to warm your heart

By Richard Shaw

Snow angels, long johns, and “no school” announcements were all part of winter life in Maine for my generation. Raised in the 1950s and ’60s, I remember that season lasting longer than it does in today’s toastier climate. My friends and I even trick-or-treated in the snow along Bangor’s East Side streets, and we ice skated behind our family’s Corinth residence on Thanksgiving. When was the last time that happened? We played outside more than today’s kids, and welcomed the first snowfall with joyful whoops. Allow me a few cold weather anecdotes to warm your hearts. 

SKATING AND SLEDDING

Whenever I spot a Flexible Flyer sled for sale in an antique shop, it makes me feel old (I was born in 1952). But what wonderful memories I have of guiding that steerable wooden classic’s steel runners down Norfolk Street hill in my Bangor neighborhood. Later came the original aluminum flying saucers, and my family loved tobogganing. My friend, Judy Butler, born in 1936, recalled sledding adventures on the West Side, where Walter Street and other hills would be blocked off. Kids perched on cardboard boxes  pretending they were sleds. The old auditorium offered indoor ice skating following its 1955 opening, and Chapin and Fairmount parks were frozen over for skaters.

COLD WEATHER APPAREL

There was a certain skill in dressing for winter, especially before walking to school. Frigid mornings required my brother and me to pull on thermal underwear, dubbed long johns, and buckle up rubber overshoes, before slipping on woolen pants, mittens, coats, and red-and-white Paul Bunyan caps made popular following the statue’s 1959 dedication. Butler recalled wearing basic heavy trousers and sweaters — no ski pants back then — and plain leather moccasins while trudging across the old gas patch to St. Mary’s School. Our parents also bundled up with heavy boots and outer wear, often used for a generation. Dad donned a black oblong Russian hat, popular in the Cold War 1960s.

‘NO SCHOOL’ ANNOUNCEMENTS

Public schools were canceled only in the severest of storms, such as the epic blizzard of Dec. 30, 1962, which dumped up to 40 inches of snow in 24 hours. Stuck home for a week, we kids created snow angels in neighborhood yards. Our stressed parents were probably glad when classes resumed. AM radio stations such as WLBZ and WABI aired long lists of towns where schools were shuttered. I can still hear announcers Eddie Owen and George Hale laboring through “Brooks, Liberty, Dixmont, Newburgh, Hampden…” before finally making it to “BANGOR!” I suppose texting is the medium of choice in today’s world. Some kids actually missed school and gladly returned.

SNOW MEN AND SHOVELING

One day my neighbors and I built a 6-foot-tall snowman in our backyard. When an impish friend jammed a cigarette butt in his mouth and thrust an empty beer bottle in his hand, my mother cried “enough” and made us tear it down. Snow sculptures held a special place in Bangor area history. Belgium-born artist Valentin Henneman crafted snow camels and kangaroos outside his Main Street home prior to his death in 1930. Creative residents also built snow caves and stayed inside them for hours. In our pre-snow blower world, shoveling was how people cleared walkways and driveways. We envied a Congress Street neighbor’s skill in hand plowing his property with a wooden snow scoop. People even strapped noisy chains to their cars’ tires for improved traction.

Winter was the one season that tested every Mainer’s resolve. Maybe it still does, but in vastly different ways.