Friday, May 21, 2010

Bygone Portsmouth Tour


Led my first walking tour of "Oggy's Bygone Portsmouth" tonight. The big hit was the Laverdier's Drugs store story where myself and Bradley got caught shoplifting gum. It is now Jumping Jay's fish restaurant. And the Alf figurine encased in epoxy at the old mystery spot location brought gasps of amazement.
The fact my brother's first job was at Strawberry Court, a restaurant that no longer exists, did not excite anyone even when I said we were all proud of him and came down to see him in his apron. More interesting was my job at Richardson's Market where I smuggled beer out the cellar door to pay my debt to the paving company for dumping two wheel barrows full of hot tar on a customer's lawn.
I improvised a little when it came to the Richardson's house which was moved after purchased for $1. Anyone know more about that story? Where did the house come from?
The Alf story got me remembering that my own mother was responsible for having flag holes put in the sidewalk for colorful flags on Market Square Day back in 1976. And those holes are still around town and I believe Alf now resides in the hole that was originally for a flag. I could be wrong but that's what bygone history implies; it's the story you would never read in books.

My dogs are barking after a brutal day at the hockey distributor. Fortunately, I daydream 90% of the time which means a company in Michigan that ordered several dozen ice skates will receive a box of old taco bell receipts.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe the Richardson's house came from where the Portsmouth Savings Bank parking lot is located. At least, I think it's still called the Portsmouth Savings Bank, but I could be wrong.

What two wheel barrows are we talking about?

Anonymous said...

Who the hell was on this?

Oggy Bleacher said...

Excellent piece of info. PSB. That's good enough for the tour.

The wheel barrows were full of tar for the driveway of some house in Dover. I tipped it over on their lawn and that's a one case of beer penalty on any hot top crew. I did it twice so I owed two cases.

The tour is full of all lovers of history.

Sophia said...

Alf is ensconced in front of what was Bobs Portrait and golf shop. Remember that? Or am I confusing things? It seems like there were black and white head shots and golf clubs in the window. For years and years and you always wondered how it stayed open. Turns out that was just a little storefront with a whole apartment attached to it.
I was living there when they decided to fix the curb. They poured all new cement for wheel chair access and I scooped a little out, laid ALF in, and put an ashtray over him upside down.
A cop came by at the tail end and he looked at it and didn't say anything, just kinda smiled.
"I wonder who did that?" I said to him. Just to protect myself.

Oggy Bleacher said...

And you used clear epoxy or a glass composite mixture? I remember the portrait shop. Now it is a place called Puttin' on the Glitz that sells hats and bags.

So the time line is this:
The Richardson's house was moved
Oggy goes to work with Brad at the Market
Oggy dumps tar on a lawn and steals beer (because he's too young to buy it) and then goes to Alaska.

Flash forward to the mystery spot
new concrete wheelchair ramp
a bunch of tv character figurines sitting unsold on the shelves
an idea!
scoop the concrete out
put alf in
fill with epoxy when the cement sets.
I miss anything?

chickenshit said...

nice picture fucker, is there anything you can't do?...............................................................................oh I know

Oggy Bleacher said...

I was chasing rainbows on the way back from the shed in Elliot. I saw it over the back bay and drove to Pierce Island thinking I could get a picture with the New Castle Bridge in the background but by the time I got there it was gone or else the angle had changed so I couldn't see it. But when I turned around and looked at the town over the Back Bay the sun was setting through the clouds and the town was a silhouette. I took a few different ones with different exposure times and light meter settings.
I guess the message is that when you are chasing rainbows you might not get to the rainbow but sometimes the shadows can be rewarding too.

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Man in the Van by Oggy Bleacher is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.