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Show The Old Od I Town Tow Crier Crier- Cry CrierSummons C r ryr . er ry - S Srnmo Summons rnmo s Us UsTo To Help Spread Christmas Chrstmas Cheer Cheers CheerPicfuresque Pictoresque Picfuresque ST STof Character of Old c Colonial loria'Days'wlo loriaDayswlo ' Days Who ) once went s Shout < ' , from Home to to1 Home " -1 1 - to Out the , S Year's Years ' News , Warn of Da"ge Dage Danger " a and dp-tectthe dp tectthe Protect - the Householder , Appea Appears . on TM This , Christmas Seal to Enlist Us . in the Fight Against the Deadly "White White " Plague.1I Plague1I Plague . " i By ELMO ELl\10 ELl 10 \ SCOTTVATSON SCOTT WATSON \VATSON VATSON WATSONHE \ ' "T T " HE old town crier IS ISabroad isabroad isI THE onceJL more morc abroad . m in the land once oncemorc oncemore During Durmg the next ne-.t ne.t ne .t t nett : - . three threeweeks threeweeks threeweeks weeks he will make his Ius appealance ap- ap appeaumce ap appeal - peaumce pealance peal : ance m in every state m in inthe mthe mthe the Union Umon and from now nO\7 nO 7 \ Ull- Ull un- un UlltIl until un until - til Christmas he will be seen seenIn seenin seenin In every city , town and ham ham- hamlet hamlet hamlet - let of our country . Time was when the old oldtown oldtown oldtown town cuer Cller crier was one of the themost themost themost most familiar figures of theAmerican the theAmerIcan theAmerican AmerIcan scene as he went wentfrom wentfrom wentfrom from house to house wIth wIthrmgmg withringing withringing rmgmg ringing bell and lusty VOIce VOIceto voiceto voiceto to shout out the news of the theday theday theday day , warn of dangers and andthus andthus andthus thus protect the household household- householders - ers in m his village . But this year he WIllcome will come comelIght comeiight comelight lIght iight iightinto into mto your home , , bring brmg- brmg bring- bringing brmgmg bringing - ing mg with him the news that thatChristmas thatChristmas thatChristmas Christmas is almost here hereand hereand hereand and calling upon you to help helpspread helpspread helpspread spread holiday cheer through through- throughout throughout throughout - out the land . . Allof All of which is by by way of call call- callIng calling calling - ing your attention attenhon to the fact that thatthIS thatthis thatthis thIS year's years ' Christmas seal depIcts depictsa a jolly and colorful town crIer criergarbed , garbed garbedIn garbedm m In his caped taped cloak of ofblue ofblue ofblue blue , , three cornered hat . , woolly woollymuffler woollymuffler woollymuffler muffler and warm mittens , , ring rmg- rmg ring- rmgIng ringing ringing - ing a belland bell and carrying carrymg an old- old oldfashIoned oldfashioned old-fashioned old fashioned - fashIoned lantern to light himon hIm hImon himon on his way And because it was wasa wasa wasa a part oithe of the town crier's criers ' duty to to"warn to"warn to"warn towarn "warn warn " of of'dangers ofdangers ' ' dangers and protect thehouseholders the thehouseholders thehouseholders householders , " that two barredcross barred barredcross barredcross cross on the seal is to remind remmd youof you youof youof of one of the greatest dangers dangerswluch dangerswhich dangerswhich wluch which threatens this nation nahon of ofours ofours ofours ours So this town crier , in addi addI- addItIon addition addition - tion to calling callmg upon you to help helpspread helpspread helpspread spread Christmas cheer , is alsosummoning also alsosummonmg alsosummoning summonmg summoning you to aid md in the war waron waron waron on the deadly "white white "wlute wlute " plague " The appearance of the town towncrIer towncrier towncrier crIer on this year's years ' ChrIstmas ChrIstmasSeal ChristmasSeal ChristmasSeal Seal adds another picturesque reminder re- re remInder re reminder - minder of the olden days to the thesymbohsm thesymbolism thesymbolism symbohsm symbolism of Christmas The _ m _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ mhhu . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ / rA + 6 6A Ahy hy $ a i dz dzd dzy d y hYdly f r rfi fi fi0n /A A / Ld Saab SvSaab Saabas as 1 ri a L 0n rid r " ' " y r rSv Sv Svf f d rr Y YN N nti a 0 0Z \Z Z \ Zk k Qrpr Qrpra Qrprd a d ' " 2a ar arp arsw p sw a r// r rr / / . / r rr 9 M J Ab Aba ' a 9 ry C1 3 3z 3a ' ! P PAb z a , 4 a / 0 co o j\ j jtit \ r , ' c r / / ate ! W / % Ma Maw MaI tit titMa w I 4- 4 4sw : ' - + s/w s w / + / / _ . . , / ' - V Vf Ve7J f e7J/ e7J e7JvI / ? ) v/I v I / ; y , / c- c ce - : e , / p , + ; ; / / \ * : F2i , ataJecl : , ta ea a pageant re- re recalling rc . - Whcn When Nantucket , 1\Iass 1 Iass Mass \ . , a few fete years ago theAtlantic the theAtlantIc of the whalmg whaling mdustry industry on center the calhng calling Its past glones glories as characters of the olden days re created for forthe forthe of the AtlantIc coast , one cner crier played by A . r t . l\Iusgrave l Iusgrave Musgrave \ , who whoIS the occaSIOn was the town , IS shown 10 in the picture above . earliest settlers m art AmerIcabrought Americabrought America - - - ji- ji jiv - . homelands homelandsthIS homelandsthis v * wio1inriQ wio1inriQuruuyiu ? brought uruuyiu from n-uiii n uiii - theIr " - - , , , . _ ? this custom of having havmg a bell ring rmg- rmg ring- rmger ringer ringer - er , , tov/n tov n town / cner crIer or night mght watchman _ . When the Dutch settlers cameto came cameto cameto Amsterdam about themiddle the themiddle themiddle to New middle of the Seventeenth century century con- con cen- cen conall - brought wIth them the thecustom thecustom , they tury custom of nngmg ringing the curfew curfewfrom curfewfrom from the church belfry at eIght eIghto'clock eighto'clock for forall forall ' the sIgnal o'clock oclock . ThIs was all hausfraus hausfrhus to cover their fireswith fires fireswIth fireswith wIth ashes . . Then all the familyretIred familyretired family retIred . ' and warm m In their hugefeather huge hugefeather hugefeather Cozy Corey y'and yand feather beds theyo theyhade they hade hadeevery had every everynight feel- feel feelnow feelmg - of nightof safety , for o each nIght nIghtthrough mg town townnow townnow the lanes of the through New ' York cW CIty ) boldly boldlymarched boldlymarched ymarched ( now the sturdy "klopper- "klopper klopper "kiopper- "kiopper kiopper "kloppermann "kioppermann " ' " "PP PP " - marched 85 \ i ; watch . Hewas He Hewas ' " rattle % or - mann . , ; L Lof named naTed because of the thelarge thelarge 1 was thus carrlcd carried carrlcdand carriedand Iftt'l Ifttl ' r.attle rattle . he large i 3 3ff klopper VmWS'n VmWSn wlui or ' i at cach each S Sii door l lIftt'l B BThe . and whirled wlu loudly doge . ff\ ff ffB The \ B shrill crackmg cracking crackIng.c crackIngc crackmgpora . arpo rpora rporare pora re- re r rVmWS'n - - _ _ _ u . _ . - . .u u . . " . V'HUIl VHUIl ' 1iiics 1iiicsc 1iiicso 1iiicsM 1iiicsA A c 9 M o _ _ mhhu . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ echoing echomg in the stillness of thenight the themght thenight mght night thereto made known he was there to protect them In his other hand otherhand he carried a n strong staff , , a lIghted alighted Ian lanthorn thorn and a brass- brass - bound brass-bound brass bound brassbound hourglass by which hetold he hetold hetold told the time hme He called out the thehours thehours thehours hours throughout the night and at atbreak atbreak atbreak break breakof "Afair Afair of day he wouldcry would cry , , "A A " faIr morning mormng and all's alls ' well "Vocal Vocal " Vocal Advertisers . In the Boston town records for for1638 1638 is a notice of the custom ofcrying of ofcrymg ofcrying crymg crying lost animals ammals "a a " stray sow sowthat sowthat sowthat that had been taken tahen in m the corne come corneand , and often Cryed " but wIthout wIthoutsuccess withoutsuccess withoutsuccess success in finding findmg its owner . In InNew InNews InNew New News England the town crier was waspaId waspaid waspaid paId to make mahe announcements and andonly andonly andonly only those licensed l1censed by the select select- selectmen selectmen selectmen - men could cry without paymg paying payingfines paymgfines fines Twopence was paid the"eryer the the"cryer the"cryer thecryer "cryer cryer "eryer eryer " " for each announcement announcementmade announcementmade announcementmade made in m the meeting meetmg house andsixpence and andsixpence andsixpence sixpence for those "up up " and down downthp downthe downthp thp the street " "Child Child " lost 1 ! Four years old oldShe oldShe oldShe She wore a blue and white calIco calIcodress calicodress calicodress dress , " and other announcementswere announcements announcementswere were made by these town criersin Criers Criersm criersin m in New England They did not notcombme notcombine notcombine combme combine their duties with those of ofthe ofthe ofthe the night mght watchmen In 1635 Bos Bos- Boston Boston Boston - ton appointed appomted a night mght watch "from from " sunset , an hour after the thebeatmg thebeating thebeating beatmg beating of the drumbe " When Whenany Whenany Whenany any lights l1ghts were observed after afterten afterten afterten ten o'clock oclock ' ' , the constables , , or ormght ornight ornight mght night watchmen , , were wcre "to to " mqUlre inquire inquirediscreetly mqUlredIscreetly inquirediscreetly dIscreetly H l if ! there was any e- e ex- ex ecusc excuse ex excuse , - cuse cusc warranting the noise " They Theymust Theymust Theymust must especially check dancmg dancing dancingdrinking , drmhmg drinking , or singing smgmg , , and admon admon- admonIsh admonish admonish - ish the revellers for dlsturbmg disturbing dlsturbmgthe disturbingthe disturbingthe the public peace . During Durmg thisperiod this thisperIod thisperiod perIod there were also two two'bell twobell two'bellmen 'bell bell 'bell- 'bellmen ' _ - men who went about to call outthe out outI outthe outthe the hours of the night mght and other othermterestmg otherinteresting otherinteresting I mterestmg interesting information mformatlon . poetic Criers.The CriersThe CrIers . The bellman came to New Eng Eng- England England England - land from England ande and \ we \\e e tte \ have havementIon havemention havemention mentIon of him m In the "Diary Diary " of ofSamuel ofSamuel ofSamuel Samuel Johnson " by Boswell BosweIJ He HewrItes Hewrites Hewrites wrItes . , "I I " staid up till the bellman bell- bell bellman - man bell-Scame bell Scame came by with his Ius bell , , justunder just justunder justunder under my window wmdow , as I was writ WrIt- WrItIng writing writing - ing this very line , , and cried , 'Past Past ' one of the clock cloch and a cold coldfrosty , , frosty , , windy wmdy morning mornmg ' " Some criers waxed poetic and andshouted andshouted andshouted shouted their messages m In verse verseOne verseOne verseOne One of these , , as given in "Old Old "OldStreet "OldStreet "OldStreet OldStreet " Street Cues CrIes of London , " by Oscar Os- Os Oscar Os Oscar - car E Norman , was : "List List " good people all ' Past teno'cloch teno'clock ten teno'clock o'clock oclock o'cloch ocloch ' ' the houre house I can call canN callNow callNow Now N ow say your prayers and takeyour takeyour take takeyour your rest restWIth restWith restWith WIth conscience clear and sinsconfessed smsconfessed sins sms sinsconfessed confessed confessedI I bid you all good mght night night'Good nightGood ' Good night " ' " The town crier cner is still an m- m in- in mstItutIon institution in institution - stitution in m England , as witness a arecent arecent arecent recent story in m a New York newspaper news newspaper newspaper paper telhng tellmg telling how the town cner crier crierran cnerran crierran ran through the streets of the an- an ancIent ancient an ancient - cient village of Haddenham ring rmg- rmg ring- ringing rmgmg ringing - ing mg his bell and summoning summonmg "all all "allable "allable "allable allable " able bodied men to report on theriver the therIver theriver combatingflood combatmgflood rIver bank to aid ald in m combatmg combating flood waters which threaten to tooverwhelm tooverwhelm tooverwhelm overwhelm 100 square miles of ofthe ofthe ofthe the richest farD farm farmi } land in Great GreatBntam GreatBritain GreatBritain Bntam Britain " The account went onto on onto onto to say how Town Cner Crier George Chapman GeorgeChapman broke all precedent by donnmg donning bydonning bydonnmg ordinary ordmary clothes mstead instead msteadof insteadof insteadof of Ins Ius his regular crier's criers cner's cners ' ' uniform umform to torun torun torun run calling"Volunteers callingVolunteers through the streets caIlmg calling caIlmg"Volunteers calling"Volunteers "Volunteers Volunteers " are urgently needed neededat neededat at the river banks " I ' " In this country the town ofProvincetown of ofProvmcetown ofProvmcetown Provmcetown Provincetown on Cape Cod CodMass , , Mass , still has its town cner crier cnerone , one Amos Kubik He made his hisfirst hisfirst hisfirst first appearance at the time of ofthe ofthe ofthe the tercentenary m In 1933 when m in ma ina ina a new uniform with spangles spangleswide , wIde belt , large buckles , andblack and andblack andblack black hat he walked walhed down thestreet the thestreet thestreet street ringing rmgmg his big brass belland bell belland belland and booming out the news of theday the theday theday day . . Children and grown upstrailed ups upstralled upstrailed tralled trailed him down the street to tohear tohear tohear hear this sort of an announce announce- announcement announcement announcement - - ment . . "Hear Hear " yet ye ' Hear ye yel ! The Thefirst Thefirst Thefirst first whale seen in m Provmcetown Provincetown Provmcetownfor Provincetownfor for 20 years is on exhibition exhlbltlOn to- to today today to today - day behind behmd Matheson's Mathesons ' storeCome store storeCome storeCome Come and see the monster of the thedeep thedeep thedeep deep ' Bring Brmg the children for a alesson alesson alesson lesson in zoology . . Ten cents ad- ad admISSIon admission ad admission - " mission This town cner crIer came to New NewYork NewYork NewYork York in m 1935 and newspaper ac- ac accounts accounts ac accounts - counts stated that "Amos Amos " is the theonly theonly theonly only town cner crier extant e\.tant e.tant e .tant tant ' \ . and he hetakes hetakes hetakes takes his role seriously He wIll wIllcry willcry willcry cry up anything anytlung but wants Itvrlt it writ \vrlt- vrlt writ- written \ written vrltten - ten out in advance . . His present presentmethod presentmethod presentmethod method is to begin begm all announce announce- announcement announcements announcements - ment ments with three loud 'Hark Hark 'Harkye's 'Harkye's 'Harkye's Harkyes ' ye's yes ' , , ' ' each preceded by two twoclangs twoclangs twoclangs clangs on his Ius dinner bell . . . . . . He Hehas Hehas Hehas has learned to refer to himselfas himself as asa asa asa a better medium than newspapers newspa newspa- newspapers newspapers - pers , because of something he hecalls hecalls hecalls calls 'instant instant 'mstant mstant ' ' effect ' Amos is a afar afar afar far cry from the dignified dlgmfied bellman bell bell- bellman bellman - man of former days " Origin Origm of Curfew Law . . The curfew , , or covering covermg bell bellbecause bellbecause bellbecause because it meant all fires should shouldbe shouldbe shouldbe be coveredas covered , \ was \\as as \ of Norman origin orI- orI orIgm ori origin - gin gm and has been rung in m variOUS variOUSstates variousstates variousstates states in ill the Union Umon . . In 1880 Oma Omaha Omaha Omaha ha . , Neb , , passed a curfew law lawfor lawfor lawfor for children under fifteen years yearsof yearsof yearsof of age , and over 3.000 3000 3,000 , . other cities CIt- CIt CItIes cit cities - ies and towns had this law durmg during durmgthe duringthe duringthe the latter part of the |