Nantucket Reds

Photos by Salt Water New England

Reds

Reds, such as Nantucket Reds, are an iconic style and color of trousers (and now, shorts).  

The original Reds came from Brittany, France in the 1800s.  The sails of fishing boats were treated with reddish tannins from tree barks for mildew protection.  Remaining material was cut and sewn into work trousers for the fisherman, which became know as Breton Reds.  

Long before Murray's Nantucket Reds were invented, the red pants of choice of yachtsmen and crew, were of course the 'real' Breton Reds. Long ago I picked up a pair of these classic yachting pants while sailing the Channel Races. The pants, after a while, turned a fabulous washed out red that could only be achieved by being on the ocean (not counting the Nantucket fast ferry). They were soft, the right degree of "baggy" and worn by just about every blue water sailor. (Comment, skiwithapro)

Massive Fire Hits Downtown Nantucket: "A Bad Fire in a Wooden Town"

 

A massive fire hit downtown Nantucket Saturday morning, as the historic Veranda House Inn on Step Lane went up in flames. The inn has been completely destroyed, and two neighboring homes have also been heavily damaged by fire. 

- Massive Fire Hits Downtown Nantucket <https://www.nantucketcurrent.com/massive-fire-hits-downtown-nantucket>

(I talked to my brother this morning who is on Nantucket, who relayed sadly how bad the fire was.)

Best Way to Experience Nantucket for a First-Timer?

 

Question for the community:

From the time of our engagement to summer 2020,our family has spent a week on Block Island. However, my wife and daughter have convinced me to spent a week on Nantucket. What be the best way to experience Nantucket for a first-timer? 

Thank you.

 

Boston Globe: Trying to escape the coronavirus, the well-heeled flee to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard

A reader sent in this story:

Trying to escape the coronavirus, the well-heeled flee to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Islanders fear supplies will be depleted and that the influx will bring infection 

- The Boston Globe <https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/18/nation/escaping-coronavirus-well-heeled-flee-nantucket-marthas-vineyard/>

Preppy Notecards and Mugs! From Maine's The Muddy Dog

Photos by Salt Water New England

Maine's The Muddy Dog has a wide array of jaunty, bright, and fun offerings, from notecards to mugs to napkins to wrapping paper.  While they cover the range of seasons and holidays, I have selected a handful of items particularly well suited to those with summer interests.

Women's Summer Essentials Ceramic Mug

Notecards: Islesboro Tote; Nantucket Lighthouses; Fairway Golf; Tennis, Anyone?

Mugs <https://www.themuddydog.com/collections/mugs>

Notecards <https://www.themuddydog.com/collections/stationery>

Nantucket Forever Toile Ceramic Mug

Men's Summer Essentials Ceramic Mug

Nautical Chart Ceramic Mug - Choose Your Location!

Tennis, Anyone? Ceramic Mug

 

Ferd Week: Can you still be preppy if you......"

Ferd Week continues with a comment left by Ferd, April, 2011, on the post, "Can you still be preppy if you......"

Jet ski and snow board instead of sail and ski?

No. Jet Skis make too much noise to be preppy. Snow boarding is vulgar. By the way, if you sail anywhere other than off the coast of Rhode Island, Maine or Massachusetts (or from Newport to Bermuda) you are not preppy. If you ski anywhere other than Maine and New Hampshire, you are not preppy. (West Side of New York City regarding Vermont, take note.)

Vacation at theme parks?

Is Acadia National Park count as a theme park? Of course not. True prep doesn't even know where Florida is.

Vacation on cruise ships?

Why would you go to someone else's boat to vacation when you can go to your own boat? Ridiculous inquiry.

Put chemicals/fertilizers/dyed mulch on your lawn?

Honestly, very few true preps have lawns, per se. If there is something worth mowing, that is done by the husband with a 37 year old push mower. Believe me, he is not thinking about fertilizer.

Get your suits at Jos. A Banks?

True Prep doesn't 'get' suits anywhere. I have not heard of Jos. A Banks, but I suspect it is a chain store. Boys from St. Paul's do not shop. Suits are either handed down or purchased by their mother and then kept for 39 years.

Eat family dinners at local chain restaurant?

Prep parents and prep children, when they are at the family home at the same time (which is rarely) never eat together. Period. Except sometimes at Christmas.

Drive a car that gets less than 15 miles per gallon?

Yes. Most preps drive only two or three types of cars, the older versions of which do average less than 15 mpg. Examples are my aunt's 1978 Volvo, my brother's 1959 Jaguar and my mother's 1990 Land Rover County. 

 

(For women) Wear more than two kinds of make-up?

Yes. Lip Gloss and soap. Scented soap is make up, isn't it?

Shop at Walmart, Kohl's, Target, Ikea and other box stores?

Yes, actually, this is very prep. Nobody is tight with money like true prep. How do you think they have money for 10 generations? Spending it on Gucci's?

Have kitchens with lots of granite and stainless steel?

Granite belongs in New Hampshire. Enough about this.

Have Louis Vuitton luggage and/or handbags?

Unless these are sold at Eye of the Needle, no.

Get plastic surgery?

Prep women actually want to age. The absolute goal of every prep woman is to be 70 with swept back gray hair and grandchildren at Middlesex. Prep men are born looking 40. Why would we want to change this?

Come from some place other than New England?

Accurately, the question should be: come from a place other than Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and a few zip codes in Rhode Island? Connecticut is full of bleached blond investment banker's wive who drive Geladenwagons and play tennis. Please.

Get all of your antiques from shops and flea markets rather than from family members?

Yes, this is actually very preppy.

Drive a non-European car?

Yes, as long as they are one of the following: 1978 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon; 1983 Ford Bronco II with 29 Nantucket Beach Permit Stickers or 1968 Jeepster with 49 Nantucket Beach Permit Stickers.

Ferd Week: Do's and don't's for all you wannabe Prepsters who have to attend your child's first fall athletic event

Ferd Week begins with a comment left by Ferd, September, 2010

Here is a quick list of do's and don't's for all you wannabe Prepsters who have to attend your child's first fall athletic event: 

 

WHAT TO DRIVE TO THE GAME:

Do: Any Jaguar built before 1965; any Jeep made before 1990; Land Rover Defender with wet bathing suits in the back and your younger son's hockey gloves; 1992 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon; Geladenwagen; anything without a visible registration sticker; anything with an Obama sticker Aston Martin; Porsche Turbo.

Don't: Hummer (if you own one, just stop reading - you are beyond my ability to help you); anything made by Ford (expect possibly a 1989 Bronco II with several beach permit stickers from Nantucket); anything Japanese or Korean; anything with a Bush or McCain sticker; and finally, the ultimate sin, a Corvette.

 

WHAT DOG TO BRING IN THE BACK SEAT OF THE RIGHT CAR OR TRUCK:

Do: Golden Retriever (but only it its name is Pooh, Bear, or Poohbear); any Lab; Cairn or Jack Russell; Irish or English Setter; any breed with fewer than 5 registered dogs in the United States (as in "we saw her in Tibet and just had to bring her home").

Don't: German Shepard; Beagle; Poodle; Yorkshire Terrier; anything with white fur; anything wearing a coat (unless the coat is a needlepoint with the Wesleyan Seal stitched into a dark blue or red background).

 

CLOTHING (HIM):

Do: Lacoste under Brooks (if you don't know what this means, just stop reading and have your son transfer to Hofstra); 50-year old sweater found in parent's ski house in New Hampshire when you visited on break from college in 1976; Bermuda length shorts as soon as possible in the season; your younger child's Andover Hockey Jacket; anything belonging to your son that fits; Barbour; J. Press sport coat belonging to your father when he went to Harvard; Camel hair topcoat from Paul Stuart.

Don't: Any sweatshirt, especially if it bears a designer logo, or the name of any educational institution located in Long Island; LL Bean Hunting Boots (they are so 1995); jeans; anything black; anything white; sneakers; gloves; scarf.

 

CLOTHING (HER):

Do: Belgium loafers, especially if it is snowing or very muddy; headband; Patagonia vest; gold knot earrings; Nantucket needlepoint belt; anything from Eye of the Needle; your younger child's Andover Hockey Jacket; your grandmother's wool knit hat; your son's Parka.

Don't: A "winter coat" (ever heard of layering, or Patagonia?); boots; jeans; a hat; a skirt; stockings; earrings longer than 1/8th of an inch; make up that is noticeable; anything larger than size 2 (in fact, if you aren't blond and a size 2, just stop reading and have your son transfer to Stony Brook, there is no way you will fit in at a NESCAC Lax game); heels; anything purchased at a Mall. 

A Reader Question for the Community: Nantucket lightship basket?

 A Reader Question for the Community:

Have you ever owned a Nantucket lightship basket? If you have - or still do - what is the story behind yours? 

For me, the lightship baskets are quintessentially New England and I had one in my 20s, which, alas, I sold for a song before leaving for New York in my early 30s (considering today's prices for vintage baskets, the purchaser was sooo lucky and I can only hope she's enjoying it or has passed it down to a worthy person who appreciates New England culture!).  

I would love to read stories of other readers' baskets. Thank you. 

Is Nantucket worth visiting in November?

A reader question:

Hey SWNE friends -

The girls and I are thinking about an off season (November) jaunt to Nantucket in search of quiet relaxation and seafood.  Any thoughts - pros or cons - about visiting at that time of year?   

Thanks!

 

Reader Question for the Community: Where to stay on Nantucket?

A reader question for the community:

My family and I have always wanted to vacation in Nantucket but know nothing about suitable places to stay for a summer get-away.  Anybody have experiences and recommendations they can pass on to aid in our planning?  We're thinking of a week some time this summer.

Favorite Clothing Shops and Great Places to Eat Afterwards

J. Press, 380 Madison Avenue, New York City - All Photos by Salt Water New England.

An email from Chuck Ramsay:

I enjoyed your post on your favorite restaurants.  It made me ruminate on my favorite clothing shops and how they are in close proximity to some of my favorite eating establishments.  I thought I would run them by you.

1) J. Press (Cambridge, MA) is nothing short of Mecca.  I can stay for hours soaking up the history.  Then go one street over to John Harvard’s Brewhouse for great beer selection and good food.

Cambridge's J. Press

2) I grew up close by Eljos (Charlottesville, VA), and spent much time as a kid gawking at the window displays.  It has moved from the UVA Corner, but not too far.  Go to The Corner, then to The Virginian (it’s been there so long I’m sure Jefferson raised a grog or two there).

3) Alvin-Dennis (Lexington, VA) is next door to the beautiful Washington & Lee campus, another childhood haunt.  Then go two blocks to The Palms, a Lexington institution.

4) At  J. Press (New York City), I bought my first blue ocbd w/flap pocket.  Then take a cab to P.J. Clarke’s Bar on 55th with great food and even greater ambiance. [Link to entry]

5) Murray’s (Nantucket) is a pilgrimage of sorts for me.  Then walk over to Brotherhood of Thieves on Broad St., one of my all time favorites, with great sandwiches.

The Author's Photo

6) I love The Admiral’s Buttons (Camden, ME).  Then go around the corner to The Waterfront Restaurant on the deck for lobster, or up the street to Cappys for amazing chowder and a cold Geary’s.

Cappy's Chowder House

7) The Holmes Store (Northeast Harbor, ME) is a nice shop in one of my favorite coastal Maine villages.  Then walk down Main St. to Colonel’s Restaurant for fresh Maine seafood.

8) George Dean’s (Athens, GA) is the quintessential college shop, one block from U of GA campus.  Then walk across the street to The Grill, an Athens institution.

9) Landry’s (Oxford, MS) is cool shop near Ole Miss.  Then go one door down to Square Books and browse, and finally a couple of more down to City Grocery, a legendary Oxford watering hole with outstanding food

10) Grady Ervin & Co (Charleston, SC) is in one of my favorite cities.  Then walk over to Hank’s Seafood or take a short ride to Sullivan’s Island and eat at Poe’s Tavern, with great burgers followed by a walk on the beach.

11) Laurance Clothing (Annapolis, MD) and McGarvey's Saloon & Oyster Bar.  Awesome. I can't wait to go back and spend more time walking around Annapolis and the harbor and sample a few more pubs.

12)  F.L.Woods (Marblehead, MA) is a great shop and The Barnacle has the best chowder I have had outside of Maine. Beautiful town and harbor.

The Barnacle in Marblehead, MA

Oh well, at the moment, I can only dream of being in one of these venerable establishments browsing and then over for a great meal.

Cheers, Chuck Ramsay, Murfreesboro, TN

---

Old School Prep left this comment, and I thought I would add some of my own pictures and copy it here.

I was very impressed by Chuck Ramsay's interesting list of top notch Prep/Trad clothing stores and nearby noteworthy eateries. I would like to offer two more of each to make the list an even dozen.

13) J. Press (New Haven, CT) is the genesis of it all. It is conveniently located near the beautiful Yale campus and a short walk to Louis Lunch for a wonderful luncheon fare.

J. Press, York Street, New Haven. RIP

14) J. Press (Washington, DC), although it lacks the traditional ambiance of the Cambridge and New Haven stores, it is an oasis of Preppy clothing in our nation's capital and a short jaunt from the Old Ebbitt Grill for a hearty lunch of oysters and fine Kentucky Bourbon or other great food choices.

Washington, D.C.

---

To these, add:

15) Royal Male (Newport, RI) has one of the best and most unique collections of wonderful clothes, mostly from the UK and Europe,  hand curated by the one-and-only Etienne.  Then, get some chowder at The Black Pearl.

Royal Male

16) Andover Shop (Cambridge, MA) and Charlies Kitchen.

Andover Shop

Ferd Week: What men should wear on Graduation Weekend

Ferd Week continues with a comment left by Ferd, April, 2011:  

If these SA folks want to really fit in and make the proper prep statement, here are the rules for men:

Around campus before the dinner. Him: very faded polo shirt, no insignia or brand design; shorts from Murray's with a few fish oil stains; three hundred year old Alden loafers with a very high polish; no socks.

Dinner: very faded polo shirt, no insignia or brand design; your father's Mark Fore and Strike pants from 1965 and a blue blazer; three hundred year old Alden loafers with a very high polish; no socks.

At the race: very faded polo shirt, no insignia or brand design; shorts from Murray's with a few fish oil stains; three hundred year old Alden loafers with a very high polish; no socks.

The appearance set by the foregoing attire can be enhanced by arriving very late to all functions in a 1993 County Rover with your son's hockey equipment in the back and 21 stickers from the Nantucket beach. Also, for God's sake don't appear to be actually interested in anything, don't touch your son at graduation and don't drink until 5:01 and thereafter drink seriously. 

This, Not That - SWNE Community Edition

On a recent post, reader Kaaterskill left this comment:

Someday we need to compile a "this, not that" list for SWNE. I'll nominate olive drab, not camo to the list.

So we started a list:

This…	…not That
Navy	Black
Olive Drab	Camo
Side of a group shot	Center of a group shot
Maine	Nantucket
We	Me
UK Made Barbour	Outsourced Barbour
Take your work seriously	Take yourself (or your social media) seriously
Fleece from sheep	“Fleece” not from sheep

New England Preppy Towns

Photos by Salt Water New England

From a reader:

Hi Muffy,

Can you please re-post your list of classic New England towns from a few years ago, as well as the selection criteria used?

Thank you!

New England Preppy Towns

In the past, this community has generated this list.  How would you change it?

Connecticut Darien Guilford Guilford -Sachem's Head Easton Essex Fairfield - Greenfield Hill Fairfield - Mill River Farmington Fenwick Green's Farms Kent Lakeville  Lyme Madison Mystic - Mason's Island New Canaan Nonquitt  Old Greenwich Old Lyme Redding Rowayton Roxbury Salisbury Sharon Southport Stonington Borough Suffield Village Washington West Cornwall Weston Wilton Woodbury Maine Camden Cape Elizabeth Castine Christmas Cove Kennebunk  Kennebunkport Kittery Northeast Harbor Prouts Neck Rockport  Seal Cove Yarmouth York Harbor	Massachusetts Andover Beverly Farms Chatham Chestnut Hill Cohasset Concord   Cuttyhunk Island Deerfield Dover Duxbury  Dunstable Edgartown  Groton  Hamilton Hingham Manchester/ Manchester-By-The-Sea. Marblehead Marion Nantucket Newburyport Orleans Rockport  Salem/ McIntire District South Dartmouth/ Padanaram South Hadley  Wellesley Wellfleet Wenham  Westport/ Old Hill  Weston Wianno/Osterville Woods Hole New Hampshire Center Harbor Exeter Francestown Gilmanton Hancock  Hanover Hopkinton New London Portsmouth  Rye  Wolfeboro	Rhode Island Barrington Bristol Jamestown  Little Compton Narragansett Watch Hill Wickford  Vermont (Some may say none, but others would include...) Brattleboro Burlington Charlotte Grafton Manchester  Middlebury Newfane Norwich Putney Shelburne Stowe Waitsfield Woodstock

Criteria

What are the attributes that make for a preppy town?

My list of criteria, in no particular order, include:

• Architecture and historic preservation; 
• Town green;
• Level of civic participation (for both local businesses as well as charitable organizations); 
• Private clubs; 
• Private schools; 
• Safety; 
• European motor specialists;
• The percentage of land devoted to walking trails and preserved open space compared to playing fields;
• Congregational churches;
• Commuter train service;
• More station wagons than SUVs;
• More organic farms than high end restaurants;
• The percentage of houses that never go up for sale;
• The percentage of people whom you wouldn't know if they were very well off or living in genteel poverty; 
• The percentage of locally owned shops versus chains; (and the absence of Black Dog stores);
• Quality of harbors and/or miles of coastline;
• The number of dogs being walked; 
• Egalitarian spirit;
• Services for seniors;
• Percentage of people wearing some variation of The Uniform;
• Availability of parking spaces downtown;
• A productive hum, neither inert on one hand nor overheated and competitive on the other.

What other attributes would you include?

>

 

When Popularity Takes Away the Fun

"Don't let Yankee grow any more, boys,"  [Robb] said... "the plumbing won't take it!" 

- Robb Sagendorph (Yankee Magazine founder, Harvard '22), quoted by Judson Hale (Yankee Magazine Editor, Dartmouth '55) in The Education of a Yankee. 

A relaxed, favorite restaurant or pub gets a great write-up.  We are happy for the owners, of course.  But it becomes more difficult to get a seat.  New staff are hired, and they don't know your "usuals".  New patrons descend and demand different services.  Prices and quality can be put into play.  

Or a charming vacation spot makes some influential top 10 list, and becomes swarmed by new people with new expectations.  **cough** Nantucket **cough**  the Vineyard **.

And everyone has an L.L. Bean example or story.  Think back to the little thrill you felt when opening the doors that were never locked, whether it be on your way up to summer camp or the cottage, or the numerous (and infamous) midnight Bean runs, never done alone, always in packs (no pun intended). And you never had to worry about what you bought.

In short, the fun is gone.

It becomes time to move on.

Once a club, church, or school, which had until then grown through mutual love and passion of those involved,  becomes associated with success, it attracts sharp-elbowed people en masse that can change the bearing of the organization forever.   

Social competitiveness is many things, but fun is not one of them.    

Whenever possible, we go to local farms and small stores not chains.  We can relax there.  

The answer is not holding back growth, even if we could.  Rather, we have to be ever comfortable to realize that once something has grown too big,  it may be necessary to move on and find or start something new that has the same feel as what we loved.  

Birkenstocks

Photos by Salt Water New Engalnd

In the latest issues of New York Magazine:

"Birkenstock has seen a huge resurgence in the past few years."

Barbour Jackets: Bedale vs. Beaufort vs. Border

For Review, A Comparison of Size 36 Barbour Waxed Jackets in Three Styles - Photos by Salt Water New England

A Reader Question for the Community: Building a Wardrobe after the Core Items?

A Reader Question for the Community:

Dear Muffy, 

I enjoy the insights of you, your community of interested participants, and your advertisers regarding the tasteful, serviceable, clothing that is the Trad idiom.  A thought occurred to me that for most items of male attire there will be general consensus on number one, but there is rarely discussion of number two.  For example the navy Shetland crewneck is the clear number one sweater, but what is number two?  When you have number one, what is your next selection?  Do you go wild, such as buying carnation cashmere after you bought your navy Shetland, or is it the same sweater in dark grey (or the the lambswool v-neck in yellow, or something else)? I wonder what you and your readers think. 

The Navy Blazer

All Photos by Salt Water New England

What locations would be on a Preppy Atlas of New England?

 A reader question.

Dear Muffy,

 It seems like there are iconic or historically meaningful locations that have been pivotal to the evolution of the preppy culture.   You have shown some of them here, Murray’s Toggery in Nantucket, Choate, the Guilford green, the gravestone of  Thomas Dudley, The University Club in New York, the site of the first Harvard-Yale Regatta in 1852, South Beach on Martha's Vineyard, the rowing boathouses along the Charles River.  What are others, like Phillips Exeter, Brooks Brothers' original New York location, Newport's Rosecliff Mansion where scenes from The Great Gatsby (1974)  were shot, and the John F. Kennedy's Hyannis compound? The more wonky the better!