. September 15, 2008 Hopedale History No. 116 Drugs and Ice Hopedale in September                 Day in the Park   Hopedale History Email Stories Menu from May 15, 2007 to the present. I thought about mentioning in No.115 that we’d have the Little Red Shop open during Day in the Park, but we weren’t certain that would be possible, so I didn’t. As it turned out, we weren’t able to have visitors come into the shop, because the handicapped entrance hasn’t been completed, the fire alarm system hasn’t been tested and several other items remain to be done before that’s allowed. However, we set up our sales booth just inside the front door and many people came by and were able to look in from there. A beautiful bench, a gift to the Red Shop by the Hopedale High Class of 1958, and constructed by class member Tony Iacovelli, was nearby and admired by many. The day for us at the shop began at eight, when Hopedale firemen Mike and Joe arrived with the ladder truck and put up the weather vane. The vane was refurbished by Jim Shimkus, and he spent several hours during the day working on grounding and adjusting it. Our horse and wagon event was a success, with many people taking the fifteen minute ride down to Peace Street and back on Dutcher. Later in the day, Bob Goss, who had a booth at the park where he was selling large prints of old Hopedale postcards, donated a United Steel Workers sign which was once at the office of the union that represented workers at Drapers. To see photos of the sign, the weather vane, and other scenes from the day, go to the Day in the Park and the Hopedale in September links above.                                                           Drugs and Ice No, this isn’t about heroin and diamonds. It actually is about drugs and ice. The articles below come from an 1890s publication titled Leading Business Men of Hopedale. Thinking of getting rid of your refrigerator and replacing it with an icebox? If you live in or near Hopedale, you can cut ice from Hopedale Pond for an excellent source, frozen from pure water according to the first story.                                                      Hopedale Ice Company Hopedale Ice Company, Hopedale, Mass. – The old idea that all ice must necessarily be pure, or in other words that the process of freezing absolutely eliminated all impurities from even the most objectionable water, has been placed among the many other fallacies which have worked such general injury in the past, and every intelligent person now realizes that the ice supply no less than the water supply is worthy of the most painstaking scrutiny on the part of those who value their health and appreciate the danger of taking into the system the insidious disease germs which ice made from contaminated water necessarily contains. It is unquestionably far more healthful to do without ice at all than to use that obtained from an improper source, but happily the residents of this section are not obliged to choose either alternative, for the Hopedale Ice Company is prepared to furnish planed ice of unequalled purity in such quantities as to enable the needs of all classes of consumers to be successfully catered to. This ice is taken from a pond made by damming the Mill River, which above this point flows through an unsettled district and consequently escapes all chance of contamination. The most improved facilities are utilized in the harvesting of the ice, including an efficient steam plant used in housing it, and sufficient storage capacity is provided to enable a very heavy stock to be laid away, thus assuring the satisfactory filling of all orders. Mr. W.H. Barney is manager of the company, and no trouble is spared to make the service as entirely satisfactory as is the product itself.                                                         L. A. Lamson L. A. Lamson, Pharmacist, Harrison Block, Hopedale, Mass. – The residents of Hopedale and vicinity are to be congratulated on having such an establishment available as that conducted by Mr. L.A. Lamson, in Harrison Block; first because it is one of the most elegantly equipped  pharmacies in the state, and second, because the proprietor is exceptionally well-fitted to undertake the duties of a dispensing chemist, he having taken a four years’ course in the Burlington Medical College, and subsequently been identified with the retail drug business for more than a score of years. Mr. Lamson was born in Stowe, Vt., and enlisted in the army in 1863, at which time he had not yet reached the age of 16. He served until the close of the war, and afterwards took the college course we have referred to; subsequently passing three years in the drug business in Putney, Vt., thirteen years in Hinsdale, N.H., and more than four years in Milford, Mass., finally coming to Hopedale in 1890. The premises utilized were fitted up especially for Mr. Lamson’s occupancy, and are elegantly finished in mahogany, the most improved facilities for the display and storage of the goods being provided, and ample room being available to accommodate a very heavy and varied stock; the store measuring 19 x 55 feet, and being connected with a basement of similar dimensions. The exceptional opportunities offered are taken full advantage of, the assortment of drugs, medicines and chemicals being remarkably complete in every department, and being made up exclusively of fresh goods, selected from the most reliable sources, this putting Mr. Lamson in a position to satisfactorily compound prescriptions of all kinds. Druggists’ sundries, toilet articles and fancy goods are also well represented in the stock, and a fine line of pure confectionary and of choice imported and domestic cigars is carried. Leading Business Men of Hopedale – c. 1890. More on ice houses of Hopedale.     More on the Harrison Block.                                              <><><><><><><><><><> Recent death: Marjorie Ashe Sears, 88, Columbus, North Carolina, July 2, 2008.                                Hopedale History Email Menu                    HOME