100 years ago this month on January 15th the great flood in Boston took place. It was not due to a dam break, levees destroyed, or any type of storm. It happened at approximately 12:30 pm as people were heading out of the office for lunch when a 50 foot high, 90 foot in diameter, tank ruptured and spewed 2.3 million gallons of molasses in the north end of Boston. It flowed at an estimated 35 miles per hour crushing homes, office buildings, autos, and even trolley cars, as it meandered through the streets of Boston claiming the lives of 21 people.

Molasses arrived frequently from Puerto Rico, Cuba and the West Indies. Just days before the tank was only half full when they received a notification that a new shipment of molasses was arriving shortly and to fill the tank.

Newspapers reported after the incident that small leaks were seen for some time prior to the collapse and management had painted the tank brown so that the molasses was indistinguishable from the rust. I believe this made some residents nervous as the tank was located right in the middle of a residential and business area. However, no one ever expected it to burst.

Molasses is about 15 times more dense than water and this was no help for those trapped in it. The pressure knocked people off their feet and once down it was difficult to stand and you certainly couldn’t swim in it. Many survivors told of wading hip high in their efforts to get to a safe spot.

One sad story recorded a dad who sent his 10 year old son to fetch some wood for the stove from the back yard. Dad, peering out of his second story window, checked to see if he was doing his assigned chore. He was. When the dad heard a strange sound he went to the window again to check and saw his son whisked away by molasses rushing through his property. The boy’s body was not found for five days.

The company was charged and found responsible for the incident. They payed victim’ s survivors $7,000.00 each, spending millions for the clean up. Tales are told today that the molasses smell lingered for years.

I’ll never eat a molasses cookie again without remembering this tragedy.

Recent blogs have been about “nutmeggers” who made fantastic contributions to our state whose benefits we still reap. However, our state also has the reputation for being the “blue laws state.” We have some of the craziest blue laws ever known. It came up in conversation with some weekend company we hosted and soon we were all laughing aloud and and asking if what was revealed was true.

For instance: we have one that states in order for a pickle to be a pickle and marketable, it must bounce when dropped form a height of one foot. If it splats its not a pickle. I tried hard to check it out but did not find it was actually approved by legislators. However two men were fined when a complaint was brought that a buyer bought pickles claiming they were bad. This is when the “drop” test was used. The complainant won.

In my research here are a few by state and cities that also enacted such laws. For instance it is Iilegal to dispose of used razor blades.. I’m not sure what you are supposed to do with them. Or, Town Records cannot be stored where liquor is sold. First time I’ve ever heard of a town hall in a package store.

Lets look at a few by city: New Britain: It is illegal for fire trucks to exceed 25 MPH even if on the way to a fire. Hartford: Illegal to cross a street while walking on your hands. You cannot kiss your wife on Sunday. Devon: it is unlawful to walk backwards after sunset.

This one I recall well. In the 70’s woman were not allowed, state wide, to sit and be served at a bar. Being a Knight of the Asphalt, salesman, I was in New Haven and I received a call that a client had just had a sizable contract approved and would I stop by and pick it up. Nearly closing time for them I said I had just got checked into my hotel room and if he would like to drop by I’d buy him a drink and celebrate. He agreed. Guess what? We had a female bartender. OK to serve from that side but no imbibing on the other. When it was repealed that same woman and I celebrated. Same bar, other side.

This one give me a chuckle, in Waterbury it is illegal for a beautician to hum, whistle, or sing while waiting on a customer.

And last but not least, let’s not leave out our Vermont friends where a wife must get her husband’s permission to wear false teeth.

Somehow I don’t think any of these would fly today.

Christmas and birthday gifts to me from family and friends are usually clothing and books as my birthday follows the holidays taking place mid January.

My home office has three bookcases: two are tall, over five feet and the other is a three-shelf, four footer, covered with photos and what-nots. The cases are not what one would call attractive as there are books that lie flat on top of those stacked vertically. Recently I have been donating to a Danielson used book store. While doing so a book showed up that I could not recall receiving. The tittle is YANKEE DREAMERS AND DOERS authored by Ellsworth Grant. It has been called the story of Connecticut manufacturing. Below is what I found in the chapter called The Yankee Genius by Daniel March.

The land of stern habits is stretched “thro” the middle
Well known for its sons, scarcely out of their teens
Who will make you to order, all sorts of machines
From a cotton gin down to a cornstalk fiddle

I am about half way through the book and I am fascinated with the stories of the men and their dreams, hard work, successes and failures. How they contributed to what we have today including the birth of mass production is amazing.

Loaded with early photos of start up companies, some which are still operating, and photos of the men who founded them. Of course we have the likes of Col, Samuel Colt. And his weaponry; David Bushnell, the submarine and Frederick Stanley, hardware and tools. You can see the Stanley logo, yellow background and black lettering during TV sporting events. Others portrayed include Charles Goodyear.

Much is written about the textile industry as Connecticut seemed to dominate this industry.

It was common that if a company existed on a large piece of land the various areas would be named after the owner. For instance: in Putnam a textile mill started by James Rhodes became Rhodesville. The Greeneville section in Norwich was named after after William Greene, manufacturer of cotton goods.

I plan on using some of this information in future blogs so stay tuned. This marvelous book is published by The Connecticut Historical Society and Fenwick Productions supported by the Hepburn Family and Katharine’s sister Marion Hepburn Grant.

This blog continues capturing famous Connecticut residents from the “Yankee Dreamers and Doers” book. Residents who had great ideas for manufacturing and inventions that helped our industrial revolution be extremely successful. I hope you enjoy hearing about them as much as I have.

Let’s chat about Frederick T. Stanley whose family was from Farmington. He started his manufacturing career in an old building making iron bolts by hand. Over a period of time he diversified. This eventually led to creating measuring devices including the tape measure and automatic door openers to name a couple. He was very good at hiring folk who would help his future plans including William H. Hart. One improvement Hart made was converting to rolled steel rather than the hand labor intensive method used previously, thereby increasing production and maintaining quality while lowering unit costs which aided competition. It was not uncommon for people to invent and manufacture machinery that made mass production possible while still maintaining quality. There was as an old saying that went like this. “Inventors shook the bush, the capitalist caught the fruit.”

That Stanley Company still exists today with plants in New Britain, CT., my home town where I had relatives who worked for Stanley and one time we lived across the street from one of the large plants. At the time the company was big on hardware and with an invention mentioned above, became a big supplier of butt hinges. My Swedish grandfather. Johann Ronstrom, was involved in the manufacture of the first window lock. Older folk will remember them as being a simple two part unit. One attached to the bottom window the other to the top portion. It wasn’t long before window manufacturers included them with the windows. Now we can’t imagine not having them.

Today the company has become a leader in tool manufacturing and measuring devices. Many of us have seen their logo on advertising banners at professional sports arenas. The Stanley family have been big contributors to the city of New Britain.. where they are known for their generous support of parks and art galleries.

Stay tuned for other Dreamers and Doers who helped our state to be known for its great manufacturing genius.