April Fool's Contest, 2017 - Souvenirs That Got PTown History Wrong

This souvenir plate likely sold quite well in the early 1900s,
but it got a bit of Provincetown's history wrong.

Many and various sorts of Provincetown souvenirs have been produced over the years, and many of these items depict our colorful history in one way or another, but a number of them have gotten several little bits of our history wrong.
This lovely plate, likely produced around the 1920s, shows several vignettes of well-known Provincetown sights of the day, such as the Pilgrim Monument, the steamship Dorothy Bradford arriving from Boston, and the building thought by many to be the  oldest remaining house in Provincetown. It's found at 72 Commercial Street.
In about 1746 the house was built by ship's carpenter Seth Nickerson, mainly using timbers and planks he had recovered from shipwrecks over the years. The beehive-shaped brick oven at the rear of the main fireplace dates this house before 1750. More "oldest house" claims are argued for other buildings, but this one was promoted as such, and was opened to the public by its resident owners somewhere in the early 1900s.
This souvenir plate was manufactured by W. Adams & Sons, Tunstall, England, and imported for F. H. Dearborn, who owned a shop near the center of town, selling souvenirs, newspapers and periodicals at 277 Commercial Street. The points of interest depicted on the plate seem to be from photos of well-known Provincetown landmarks, including the "Oldest House."

This image is definitely not the home known as the oldest house in Provincetown.

But look closer…
What's wrong with this picture?
A photo erroneously labeled as the oldest house was used in several postcards over a period of years, and also made its way onto this souvenir plate.

"Details" have been painted into the original black-and-white photograph
of this house, long ago mistakenly labeled as PTown's oldest house.

Here are two versions of this photo, each made into a popular postcard, with a number of artistic embellishments, such as the slightly-too-perfect clouds added in the photo to the left. The flower garden was also painted in.

In this incarnation, the artist "improved" the photo by trimming the trees and
shrubs a little, refurbishing the roof, and giving the house a red brick chimney.

This edition featured an embossed version of the photo, again enhanced by an artist, and pressed into the card leaving the image slightly raised. It made a lovely postcard, but the description was still wrong.
Several things in this photo tell us that this is not the West End building known as the oldest remaining house in town. Whoever can name the most clues to this mistaken identity will win a great Provincetown prize. Just point out as many discrepancies as you can find between this house and 72 Commercial Street.
Click on any photo above to enlarge it for more detail, and list every reason you can spot why this can't be the oldest house. E-mail your list to theyearrounder@gmail.com, or text your answers to 424•237•8696 (that's 424•23P•TOWN, if that's easier to remember, to leave your answers by voice mail, but by entering that way you'll lose a minute-and-a-half of your life listening to my message about my fabulous guided tour of Provincetown before you can leave your answers.)
You can also enter by good old US mail. Send entries to TheYearRounder (all one word,) at P O Box 1632, Provincetown, MA 02657.
Entries must be in my hand, or cell phone, or e-mail, by 12' O'clock Noon on April 28th, 2017. In case of a tie for greatest number of reasons why this photo is not Provincetown's "Oldest House," or for any other dispute, a panel of three level-headed citizens, as determined by ME, will resolve the issue by coin toss, random selection, prettiest handwriting, sexiest telephone voice, or any other senseless criteria they may choose, and by entering, we all agree that their ruling is infallible and FINAL.
And, as usual, I reserve the right to award an extra prize or two for no reason whatsoever, to one or more entries chosen at random from all entries received by the deadline. So, you don't even have to be right to win a prize, but you do have to enter.
Good luck, and happy April Fool's Day to one and all. And for a good giggle, click this link to see my all time favorite April Fools prank, perpetrated a few years back by the BBC.

Wintertime Activities Bring Townies and Visitors Out for a Fun Off-season Evening

There are a number of things to do in the evenings this week, and besides the great Friday fish fries, which I'll elaborate upon in an upcoming post, I can easily think of 5 things worth going out for in the next three evenings. Let's start with:
Tonight, Wednesday, March 13...

Provincetown Theater brings its popular annual Winter
Reading Series to PTown audiences through March 27th.

Playwright John Greiner-Ferris says that he "... wrote Turtles for so many reasons. Family and identity, two themes that are prominent in Turtles, mean a lot to me. Family isn't the traditional family anymore, mine isn't, and I wrote what family is like for me." Actors on stage tonight at the Provincetown Theater will read Turtles as part of their 2013 Winter Reading Series, which has just three more readings to go before the end of this very popular annual string of play readings, featuring a different author and subject matter each week. A wide variety of plays and works in progress are read for the public in this PTown winter tradition which offers us all a chance to get out of the house, socialize a bit with like-minded folks (or at least other theater enthusiasts) and support playwrights with a broad range of viewpoints and backgrounds. The reading will begin at 7:30 PM. Admission is a suggested donation of $5.

The Squealing Pig has reopened for 2013.

Also tonight, the Squealing Pig has their weekly Trivia Night, with the contest beginning at 8 PM. The Pig closed for several weeks, as it does every winter, allowing a little break for the staff and a chance to spruce up the place a bit as well. A new coat of paint really sets off the large black-and-white photos which were hung in the dining room a while back, giving a classy feel to this cozy little neighborhood pub.
Take advantage of the wintertime opportunity to sample seasonal dishes that you won't find here in the summer, like the Shepherd's Pie, a hearty lamb stew made with root vegetables and topped with their homemade mashed potatoes. Then team up for a fun night of trivia.

Hilde Oleson celebrates her 90th birthday by reading
at Provincetown's monthly Writers Voice Cafe.

Also tonight, the audience at the Writers Voice Cafe will join in the celebration of Hilde Oleson's 90th birthday. She will be tonight's featured reader, so this promises to be a wonderful, entertaining evening, upstairs at Napi's, with Hilde taking the "stage" at 7 PM. There's no admission fee, but a small contribution would be welcome when they "pass the hat" sometime during the evening. As always, the featured performer will be followed by an open mic session for anyone who wants to read anything they'd like. Any type of writing will be embraced by an enthusiastic, supportive audience. See my February 13th post about the Writers Voice Cafe, which, for a number of years now, has been offering a place for local writers, whatever their style or genre might be, to get feedback from the public as well as from other writers. Get out of the house and enjoy a great evening.

Lorraine's offers dinner Friday through Sunday, and their
Tavern Menu along with Trivia Night on Thursdays

Thursday, March 14th...
It's Trivia Night at Lorraine's every Thursday in the off-season, beginning at 7 PM. Drinks are available, of course, along with a tavern menu. The good-natured rivalry between trivia teams has been going on for a number of winters now, bringing folks out to watch or to participate in this ongoing, weekly contest where everyone is welcome, and all have fun. Categories can cover a wide range of topics, and you'll no doubt learn a thing or two during the evening. Put your own knowledge of arcane information to the test by joining a team of competitors. Lorraine's is open Thursday through Saturday at 5:30 PM.

Friday, March 15th...

Painter Alexei Biryukoff shows his controversial
work at PTown's new Patty DeLuca Gallery

Patty DeLuca has moved her art gallery to 432 Commercial Street, in the heart of Provincetown's gallery district in the East End. A new show of works by Alexei Biryukoff, banned in Russia because of his very explicit style often depicting male nudes, begins Friday and runs through April 5th. Born in Kyrgyzstan, he moved to Russia as a young man, launching his first solo art show in his early twenties. Biryukoff says that his approach to his artwork changed dramatically with his experience in the United Kingdom in 2002.
In 2008 ArtsLink, NYC sponsored his Art Residency at Provincetown's Fine Arts Work Center, where he exhibited a dozen paintings he created there. His work is also in the collection of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, as well as important collections in New York and Liverpool, and in private collections in nearly a dozen countries. You can meet the artist Friday night at an opening reception for his work, from 7 till 10 PM at the Patty DeLuca Gallery, which, in its new location, continues to offer some of the most exciting artwork to be found on American shores.