Once upon Cape Cod

by Dana Eldridge

Once Upon Cape Cod is a collection of essays of Eldridges boyhood years on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This is the classic theme of local small time life, an ideal many still look for but seldom find. These essays in Eldridge's style gently pulls us back. Cape Cod has not deserted its own proportions, in a run of fish, a clamflat, and the endlessly changing shores.

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

While on vacation recently, I had the pleasure of meeting writer and retired teacher Dana Eldridge at the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham, MA. Eldridge has lived all of his 85 years on Cape Cod and still works for the National Parks Service. He can spin quite a yarn, as one of his colleagues expressed it, and continues to give weekly talks during summer season about growing up on old Cape Cod. Eldridge’s talk inspired me to pick up my copy of Once Upon Cape Cod again. I enjoyed it even more after hearing him tell a couple of the stories in person.

Eldridge grew up in Chatham, which in the early 1930s was physically connected to Monomoy Island, at least at low tide. He is a direct descendant of William Nickerson, the first European to purchase land from the native Monomoyicks in the 1600s. In this book, he recalls his poor but carefree youth during the Great Depression, living mostly off the land on the isolated Cape, a lifestyle quite different than Chatham residents experience these days. He records the changes brought on by WWII, largely due to postwar construction of the Mid Cape Highway. The last stories take place during the 1950s, when Eldridge and his friends return to Cape Cod as robust and fun-loving college students.

Some of the stories are of Cape Cod experiences that we can only dream about these days: building cabins from flotsam and jetsam washed up on Monomoy, racing old cars on the beach, viewing Chatham from offshore and seeing more lighthouse beams than homes. Other stories are of activities familiar to modern Cape Codders: digging clams, shucking oysters, sailing and motorboating, fishing for stripers and bluefish. Still other stories describe things that children everywhere love to do, like swimming, camping, and ice skating. Together these stories make up a heart-warming compendium about friendships, family life, and simple pleasures.

I recommend this book to all who love Cape Cod. Readers who are interested in New England memoirs from simpler times will also enjoy it. If you like the book, I also recommend traveling up to Eastham to hear one of Dana’s free talks at the Cape Cod National Seashore and perusing his columns at Wicked Local Cape Cod (http://capecod.wickedlocal.com/search?q=dana%20eldridge&start=1). He’s living history, folks.

[Gig Wailgum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great memories and stories relating to a less hectic & crowded Cape Cod.