Looking Back

Barbara F. Dyer has lived all her life, so far, in Camden and is the official town historian.
Additional Column Posts (1 - 20 of 148) Next Page
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Winter
By Barbara F. Dyer - Nov 05If loneliness hits this time of year, we think about what is to come this winter. It seems to be too quiet now, but there is much more quiet to ...
Adjustments
By Barbara F. Dyer - Sep 17If one is fortunate enough to be given a long life, we find that life is filled with adjustments. It is much like a stepladder. For a period of ...
Salzedo Harp Colony in Camden
By Barbara F. Dyer - Aug 20Carlos Salzedo had a summer harp colony at his home on Marine Avenue in Camden for many years. He was born Charles Moise Leon Salzedo April 6, ...
Autograph books
By Barbara F. Dyer - Jul 30An autograph book is something I have not seen or heard about in many years. Perhaps you have never heard of one, so here are some memories of the ...
Early businesses in Camden
By Barbara F. Dyer - Jul 02Shortly after the Civil War, the Maine coast began building wooden vessels with more capacity and durability than the Clipper Ships. Among the ...
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The two P'S
By Barbara F. Dyer - Jun 11Everyone must be very familiar with the television advertisement "THE THREE P's, Price, Price and Price." It has made such an impression on me, ...
An Investment
By Barbara F. Dyer - May 21Because I have not submitted a column lately, I wanted to state that it is only because I am lazy. So please don't feel that you have the chore of ...
Islands in the bay
By Barbara F. Dyer - Apr 23The world-famous poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay, grew up in Camden and wrote the poem Renascence. As she looked from the top of Mt. Battie, she ...
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Pandemic
By Barbara F. Dyer - Mar 19In case you haven't heard, we have an outbreak of the coronavirus and it is a pandemic. If we didn't already know what a pandemic is, we have been ...
Life in the 1930s, Chapter 5
By Barbara F. Dyer - Feb 06This article continues from last week. One afternoon, Ma met Susie at the door when she arrived from school. She said, “I let Snooky out and she ...
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Wild Life
By Barbara F. Dyer - Oct 15There is wild life in Camden. On a branch road off a major street there is a quiet place where five bird feeders are placed out front. The birds ...
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As time goes by
By Barbara F. Dyer - Sep 03Before the days of television (and I know there are some young enough that they believe television has always been around), people spent more time ...
Of days gone by
By Barbara F. Dyer - Aug 13It does not seem that long ago when both students and teachers had to abide by many strict rules. To teach and remain a teacher, one was not ...
World War II
By Barbara F. Dyer - Jul 16According to the dictionary I have, a relic is something that has survived a passage of time; something cherished for its age; anything old and ...
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Epitaphs
By Barbara F. Dyer - Jun 25For almost 30 years, I have written about something I felt was important, but I am sure that some of my readers may have thought otherwise. After ...
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Change
By Barbara Dyer - Jun 04It all started this morning, when I thought of the word "change," and how the world changed all the ways we do things, when something like the new ...
More islands in the bay
By Barbara F. Dyer - Apr 30First of all, I wish to make a comment on my previous article. Actually, it is a correction. I am not stating that I cannot make a mistake, but ...
Making history
By Barbara F. Dyer - Apr 09Growing up in a small mid-coastal town in Maine during the 1920s and 1930s, we lived during the “Great Depression” and Prohibition, and thought ...
A family legend
By Barbara F. Dyer - Mar 05This is a story of a little family legend. I believe it was so long ago and it was passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, and ...
Life in the 1930s, Chapter 4
By Barbara F. Dyer - Jan 30About half-way down the street on which Susie lived, a family rented a cottage for the summer. They had a nice daughter about the same age as her, ...