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Three Minute Facts About Gardner
Three Minute Facts About Gardner
Fitchburg State University student, Curtis Gerard-Baril created this 3 minute video for the Gardner Museum in Gardner MA as part of his Public Relations class.
Gardner Day At Fenway
Gardner Day At Fenway
**The video was made from the original 16 mm film shot by a Gardner man, Charles Dewey, (This film has no sound) **
In 1935, Gardner erected a 16-ft-tall Colonial Hitchcock chair, made by the Heywood-Wakefield Company. It was the city’s 2nd “Big Chair.” (Visit the museum’s permanent exhibit of Gardner's “Big Chairs”!) In 1946, it was transported to Fenway Park for the famed “GARDNER DAY AT FENWAY.”
On 8/25/1946, more than 2,000 Gardnerites gathered to cheer on the Red Sox as they played the Cleveland Indians in a Sunday doubleheader. Area manufacturers donated rockers, Morris chairs, tricycles, doll carriages and baby carriages to the players and their families at between-games ceremonies. The event was even highlighted in the pages of Life magazine.
On the Sunday morning of the doubleheader, 32 buses lined up at Pine and Central streets in Gardner, several with banners proclaiming local factory names. The total cost for the day (bus and game ticket) was $3.30.
You might have seen the famous photo of Ted Williams sitting on the “Big Chair” (a print is available in our gift shop!). After the event, it was transported back to Gardner's Union Square where it stood until 1959. On Gardner Day at Fenway, Ted Williams was presented with the smaller Hitchcock chair visible in front of the "Big Chair." Williams is holding a huge bat and an even bigger bat, "The Ted Williams Special," is leaning on his right. They were both made by Andersson Woodturning Co. of Gardner. The "Ted Williams Special” is now displayed in The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. The huge baseball Ted Williams is sitting next to was made by Edwin Wiinikaninen from Heywood-Wakefield. The ball was signed by many of the fans from Gardner who attended the game. The Red Sox went on that year to capture their first pennant since 1918..
Lehtonen Silversmith Shop
Lehtonen Silversmith Shop
Lehtonen Silversmith Shop is a permanent exhibit in the basement of the Gardner Museum, featuring the tools of silversmith Ernest Lehtonen. The silver shop was re-created by Dr Paul Harasimowicz and Dorothy Tracy, and museum volunteers. Peter Erickson will demonstrate shaping a piece of silver into a spoon.
Video features Dorothy C. Tracy, Chair of the Silver Committee; Dr Paul Harasimowicz, President of the Gardner Museum; Mary Ann Hunt, Coordinator for the Gardner Museum; Peter Erickson, Silversmith of the Erickson Silver Shop in Gardner
An Uncommon View was a show produced by FATV 36 in 2003 for the Gardner Museum in sponsorship with the Mass Cultural Council and the Gardner Cultural Council.
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