Progress Update: Drum Storage

The Noble & Cooley toy drum collection has been stored in the attic of Building 14 for many years. So many years that the drums were put there long before there was any thought given to their future historical value. Unfortunately many of the drums have been exposed to extremes of temperature, humidity, various pests, and light that has caused some drums to fade.

Part of the Research Library project is to move all the drums over to the archives area in Building 15 where they can be stored under better conditions and more easily maintained. The good news: progress continues. We are still seeking donations of suitable heavy duty steel shelving. More good news: Work is under way to free up space on the entire 3rd floor of Building 15 for the archives.

Here are some pictures of Phase 1 of the transfer, which shows some of the drums now in Building 15. Phase 2 will be the cleaning, cataloging and more careful storage of the drums.

Massachusetts Roving Archivist Rachel Onuf Visits NCCHP

On July 7, 2016 NCCHP was pleased to welcome Rachel Onuf, the Massachusetts State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) Roving Archivist, back to NCCHP to review the Research Library's progress and provide expert counsel on how best to continue cleaning, organizing and presenting Noble & Cooley's extensive manufacturing history archives and artifact inventory. Rachel has provided many crucial insights into archiving techniques and resources and this visit was no exception. Her expertise in this area has been extremely valuable and we thank Rachel once again for her very able assistance.

After a thorough discussion of the physical archives the discussion branched into digitization opportunities. It has been our strong belief that the NCCHP mission to "keep the drumbeat of history" alive is best served by making our amazing treasure trove of historical documents available to the greatest possible audience. With the vast majority of the audience outside convenient driving range of Granville that means bringing the collection to the audience via some sort of internet platform.

Rachel suggested we look into the Digital Commonwealth as a potential means of digitizing a meaningful proportion of the archives and as a way to deliver the content via Digital Commonwealth's web resources.

An initial review of Digital Commonwealth has been very favorable and if all goes well we hope to have some content available by the end of 2016.

Here's some additional information about Digital Commonwealth but first a word of caution. If you have any interest in history and go exploring the web site, you will easily lose track of a few hours if you're not careful. It's that fascinating. So here it is: Digital Commonwealth web site; example of how a library uses Digital Commonwealth

Stay tuned for progress reports on the NCCHP Digital Commonwealth digitization project!

JULY 4, 1854: "THE BEST CELEBRATION EVER IN GRANVILLE"

On the occasion of this holiday weekend celebrating the 240th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, we step back in time to 1854 when the Noble & Cooley company was in its first year of existence. Franklin Pierce, Abraham Lincoln's predecessor, was President and the start of the Civil War was nearly seven years in the future.

 

Thanks to the recent digitization of James Cooley's and N&C co-founder James P. Cooley's daily journals as part of the Noble & Cooley Center for Historic Preservation's Research Library project we are able to share the events of Independence Day 162 years ago when there were still living residents of Granville who had been born under British colonial rule.

As always you can click on the image above for a larger version. Here is the gist of the entry:

"July 4, Tuesday: Very warm, thermometer 96. Raised Liberty pole in morning. Humid. Church address by Doct. Cooley. Declaration [of Independence] read by R.H. Brown in Evening. Picnick out, 10 evening on the Green by Torch Light. Music by Choir & Rose & Hubbard. Said to be the best Celebration ever in G[ranville]."

We hope your 4th of July includes a reading of the Declaration of Independence and is the Best Celebration Ever, wherever you are!

Progress Update, June 17, 2016

More shelf space has been added (eight additional 3' by 7' bookcases and two 18" by 12' shelves) for small drum and book storage. Additional drums have been relocated from the attic of building 14 to the archive space in building 15, with many, many more to move. Some of the old kegs and crates of drum parts are also being moved to the archive space for preservation and display purposes. Next steps include opening up additional space on the 3rd floor of building 15, at which point the entire floor will be occupied by NCCHP's Archives and Research Library.

Building 15 at 42 Water Street, Granville, MA., home of the NCCHP Research Library

Some of the additional bookcases brought in today.

A crate of toy ukulele necks, kegs of old drum parts, and a Dictaphone.
You never know what you'll find in the Research Library.

Ba-da-bing, ba-da BOOM!

Two new shelves added above file cabinets, pine boards 18" wide by 12' long.

Building 14, June 17, 2016

 

NCCHP Research Library Welcomes First Researcher

Recently Bob Watrous, a leading expert in bell toys (known in collector circles as the Belltoyboy), became the first researcher to visit the new NCCHP Research Library. Bob wrote an excellent overview of his visit, along with many pictures of rarely seen corners of the Noble & Cooley facility in Granville. His report is posted on Facebook and you can view it by CLICKING HERE.

Although the Research Library remains a work in progress with a great deal of work remaining to collect and organize the extensive Noble & Cooley archives, we were pleased to welcome Bob and open the archives for his research (the NCCHP Research Library is open by appointment only).

Bob is an avid toy collector. His particular expertise is in bell toys, as evidenced by his excellent web site at http://belltoys.ning.com/ and Facebook page,

 https://www.facebook.com/Bell-Toys-110071116019783/?fref=ts

 

 How was the visit? More fun than a barrel of bells!

 

 

Noble & Cooley "Peace Drum"

Today's post is a test of music festival knowledge:

Name this famous music festival based on the following clues:

It was a multi-day festival held in the northeast U.S.; many famous performers of the era appeared at the festival; the event theme was all about peace, harmony and music; the theme was an intentional statement about the terrible cost of war; the event was completely sold out; it was the world's largest music festival up to that time; "The Star Spangled Banner" was performed in a unique manner; the event included a Noble & Cooley drum with "Let Us Have Peace" painted on both sides; and, if you don't have a guess yet, here's the giveaway clue: the event occurred in '69.

If you are saying, "Woodstock! But that was way too easy so it must be a trick question" you're both wrong and right. Woodstock, wrong. Trick question? Right! 100 years before Woodstock there was the National Peace Jubilee. And it was even more spectacular in many ways.

Noble & Cooley created a massive 8' diameter drum for the National Peace Jubilee held at the new Boston Coliseum in June, 1869. The massive coliseum had been constructed specifically for the event. The purpose of the Peace Jubilee was described in the event's program as "the restoration of peace and union throughout the land" in the wake of the devastating Civil War. The program goes on to say, "It will be the greatest feast of sublime and inspiring harmony that has ever been heard in any part of the world."

As for the unique performance of "The Star Spangled Banner," in 1869 it was performed at the National Peace Jubilee by a massive chorus of over 10,000 singers. 100 years later it was performed at Woodstock by one man- Jimi Hendrix. Both performances unique in their own way, but they could not have been more different from each other.

The following Library of Congress stereopticon image shows the Noble & Cooley Peace Drum in the Coliseum hall. Each side of the drum reads, "Let Us Have Peace."

From Library of Congress digital collection

How was the great drum received in Boston? The following is from "History of the National Peace Jubilee and Great Music Festival" by event organizer P.S. Gilmore:

"A bass-drum 'as was a bass-drum,' manufactured by Messrs. Noble and Cooley, Granville Corners, Massachusetts, was one of the curiosities which big as well as little folks gazed upon with astonishment. The heads of this huge instrument were made from the hides of 'prize' cattle, and measured eight feet in diameter, while the shell was twenty-five feet in circumference. It was painted, ornamented, and put together in the most artistic style, and bore the appropriate motto, 'Let Us Have Peace.'

From the moment this great-grandfather of a bass-drum was taken from the manufactory and placed on a platform-car for Boston, its advent was noisy and demonstrative. All along the line crowds gathered to see the 'elephant.' Its arrival in the city and exhibit at the store of Bent and Bush was the 'talk of the town' for many days, and there was scarcely a newspaper-man in the country who did not have a whang at it."

As amazing as the Noble & Cooley Peace Drum is,
 take a look at the person in the upper right corner of the photo.
(from the Boston Public Library DPLA collection)

For more information on the 1869 National Peace Jubilee go to:

http://www.celebrateboston.com/events/national-peace-jubilee.htm

https://archive.org/details/historynational00gilmgoog

Time For A Drum Break

For those who need a break from history- a demonstration of the Noble & Cooley Classic Birch Snare.