Marcella said .... I remember Frank picking up my mother and swinging her around in the kitchen!! She would giggle and saying “put me down, put me down, boy”. Frankie could do no wrong in her eyes.
The following story/ history is from Elinore Donovan who is sister to Dorothy Donovan who married Frank Flemming. She recounts her time spent on nantucket in the 1950's
NANTUCKET
I first went to Nantucket in the summer of 1955 just before my senior year in high school. Dot had gone down to Nantucket to work at the Cottage Hospital. Patricia also worked down there for a while; there was housing for the nurses who came from the mainland. I think it was on West Chester Street too. I went with my parents, my sister Kathy and my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Frank. We stayed on India Street with a Mrs. Francis. I picked up some weird infection and had a high temperature so they put me in the hospital for a few days. I had great nursing care, Dot and her friends. Frank and Dot had met and Caroline liked Dot so she would let Frank borrow her car if he had a date with Dot. He had already smashed up a couple of cars so Caroline wasn’t taking any chances. I did not meet Frank that summer, but in the fall he came up to Dedham and we met him. Uncle Bob said, “Who is that fisherman sitting on the living room couch?” By then Dot and Frank were serious so Frank used his sweet Irish charm on Bob to win him over. Frank’s goal was to go to Wentworth but he didn’t have the math credits. He worked days for a bus company in Chestnut Hill working on diesel bus engines. He took courses at night at Newman Prep school. He lived with Aunt Margaret and Uncle Frank. The nights he didn’t have school he came to our house. We used to sit at the kitchen table doing our homework together. I helped him with his algebra. We got to know each other pretty well and had a few laughs together.
Once Dot and Frank got engaged, it was all about the wedding. Charlie and Ella Mae got married three weeks later so it was all my mother could do to keep things straight. The wedding was at St. Mary’s in Dedham and the reception was at the Lafayette house in Foxborough. That is where I had my wedding reception too. The Flemmings came up from Nantucket and stayed at one of the hotels. I don’t remember which one, but after the reception my mother had a party back at Upland Road. It went on for a long time. After their honeymoon, Dot and Frank went to Nantucket. They rented a house from Connie Driscoll on Liberty or North Liberty Street. After I graduated from High School in June of 1956, I went to Nantucket. A friend of Frank’s who was going to the island picked me up. I don’t remember his name but he had a beautiful convertible. I lived with Dot and Frank mostly because he was fishing on the Mary Tapper and it was out for ten and in for two. Dot was working at the hospital. They had a car but she could also walk to the hospital. Frank got me a job at the Downy Flake Doughnut Shop on South Water Street owned by Emma and Gordon MacDonald. I would go off to work in my little black skirt, white blouse and white apron. Gordon’s doughnut machine was in the front window of the restaurant so people walking by could see him making the doughnuts. The doughnuts were extruded from the machine and landed in the hot fat where they floated around. They were flipped around and some of them were covered in sugar. They were delicious when warm. On Sunday mornings, there would be a line out the door of people lined up to buy doughnuts. Sunday was always very busy. I worked with Marcella, Patsy, Judy Brownell ( Judy and I discovered that we were both going to Framingham State Teacher’s College in the fall) Connie Driscoll, Gloria, one of the MacDonald’s and the daughter of the owner of the diner next door whose name I cannot remember. There were others too but I was the only one who was not from Nantucket. We were near the fire station so every day we would have to be blown away by the fire whistle about 1:00p.m. The Opera House restaurant was across the street and sometimes they would have celebrities for dinner. We would know because all of the curtains would be drawn. One time it was rumored that Elizabeth Taylor was there.
I met Stephen through Marcella and also some of his friends. We hung around on Main Street. There was a restaurant there and you could go in and get coffee or a coke. We also hung out at The Hub on the corner. Not many kids had cars then and of course there were couples who would disappear in the course of the evening but we mostly behaved ourselves. Occasionally there was a beach party, usually out of town. I got to know Patsy from working with her. She was a lot of fun. She definitely kicked over the traces after living for a while in the convent. She took up smoking and smoked a lot. I don’t remember when she met Gunner. He worked at the airport for Northeast airlines and they became a steady couple.
I think most of the Flemming’s smoked. Caroline would sit on a bench at the top of Main Street where she would eat her lunch and smoke. When Russell was on the island in the spring of 1962, he got to know Caroline and they would sit on the bench together and smoke and talk. When I was waitressing, I would go to see Caroline at the bank each week to deposit my tips, and I had better show up. Not that I made much money by today’s standards. Caroline would drive home after work and usually she would have a little nap. She liked to go out to Madeket or Dionis later in the afternoon when it was quieter and relax.
Once and a while, Dot, Frank and I would have dinner at the Flemming’s house, but we didn’t have fish. I think Frank and Cap’n Tobe had seen enough fish while out on the boat. Nell also had a television although the reception was terrible. Most of the stations were from New York. It was really the only time I watched TV while on the island. When we went to dinner depended upon Dot’s and my work schedules. I either worked 8 to 2 or 2 to 8. The morning shift was better. It was busier and you made more tip money, plus we would sell out all of the doughnuts. Nell sat in her rocking chair in the kitchen near her short wave radio and Cap’n Tobe would call Nell to tell her when the Mary Tapper was coming in to port. When Dot and I were back at the cottage Nell would let Dot know that the Mary Tapper was coming in. We would take the car and race up to the Cliffs. We could see the boat come through the Jetties. You knew it was the Mary Tapper because there would only be one running light in the front. Because of diabetes, Cap’n Tobe had retinopathy and the lights blinded him. He would get angry if other boats turned on their lights because they thought they were helping him, but it only made it worse. After we saw the boat coming into port we would race down to the dock just as they were tying up the boat. The crew usually caught lobsters in the nets so they brought them home for a good dinner. Frank, being Frank, liked to play jokes and one night I got into bed and let out a scream because Frank had put a live lobster in my bed. Dot gave him the old “please Frank” look, although Frank thought it was pretty funny. One time Frank came home with a huge lobster. He had to borrow a big pot from Nell to fit it in. We had quite the feast. I don’t remember when I met Eddie and Toby and Liz. Once Toby moved to Newport, he didn’t come to the island that much.
July 1956 was the sinking of the Andrea Doria off of the coast of Nantucket. Even though it happened at night that was the first thing I heard about when I got to work in the morning. You could hear helicopters and airplanes as well as a frenzy of police and firemen. Some people were brought to the local hospital and it was days before we knew the whole story. The Inquirer and Mirror had many articles about it.
Once the summer was over, I went to the bank to withdraw the money I had saved. I think Caroline was proud of me. I went off to college and Dot and Frank moved to Boston. I think they lived on Marlboro Street. Patsy lived with them. Dot worked at Children’s Hospital, Frank was going to Wentworth and Patsy got a job. It was just one happy family, most of the time. I think it was hard for a newly married couple to have company all the time. Stephen joined the air force at some time that year with some of his friends. Marie and Marcella were still in school and of course Caroline was still at the bank.
Francis was born in 1957. Dot invited me to come down to Nantucket with them and I worked at the Downey Flake again. Dot wanted to be able to work at the hospital and Frank was driving a milk truck for Whiting Milk. We lived in a different house but we were still within walking distance of the hospital and I could walk to work or use my bike. Frank would leave really early in the morning for his milk run. Somehow we had a schedule so that someone was with Francis all the time. Occasionally if Frank was around when I had to go to work, he would give me a ride on the truck. I would stand on the running board and hold on to the roof as he drove down the street. Dot would have a fit. If they wanted to have a date night, I would babysit and yes Frank Jr. I changed your diapers. Sometimes walking on Main Street or Pleasant Street, I would run into Cap’n Tobe. He was quite independent and would walk downtown via Pleasant and Main Street to sit outside the Pacific Club at the bottom of Main Street with the other old timers. When I saw him I always had to tell him who I was because his eyesight was getting worse all the time. I think he could walk downtown because he had this little map in his head. I still hung out with my Nantucket friends not that we did much more than other young adults. An occasional movie or sometimes we would try to sneak up to the Upper Deck which was on Main Street but we were never served alcohol and usually did not stay long. Occasionally there was a beach party, usually at Surf Side when there were still houses there, and someone would bring beer. I never really drank much because I didn’t like the taste and it made me sick.
Frank was going to start his second year at Wentworth in the fall so Dot went up to Boston to find an apartment. Frank and I worked out a schedule to mind the baby and I stayed in at night to keep Frank company. We didn’t have a TV so he taught me how to play cribbage. I got pretty good at it too although it has been such a long time since I played I don’t remember how to play. I remember going into Boston and babysitting occasionally. I would stay overnight and then they would drive me home and visit with Nana and Papa Donovan.
I remember one year they lived in the Veterans Project in East Dedham. It was originally as the name says apartments for people discharged from the military. It was here that they met Elsa and Eddie Reddish. He was just selling books out of his car. Who knew he would someday be a millionaire. I was away at college during this time but I would often come home for weekends and would do my babysitting duties.
The summer of 1958 I waitressed at Howard Johnson’s at the Bourne Bridge. I rented a small cottage with three other girls from college. Not as much fun as Nantucket. So, the next summer, 1959 I went back to Nantucket and the Downy Flake. My college friend, Kay Parsons, and I rented a room at Nora MacDonald’s on Pleasant Street diagonally across from the Flemming’s. We each paid $10.00 a week for our room and there was another roomer in the bedroom next to us. She had a boyfriend that was a state trooper. We were on the third floor. My friend quickly found a boyfriend from the naval base out at Tom Nevers Head, so I hung out with my Nantucket friends. Judy Brownell and Eugene Collatz was a serious item at this time but I still saw a lot of them. I would go across the street to 32 Pleasant Street and sometimes eat dinner there. Aunt Kathy told me she stayed there for about a month that same summer when she was in the fifth grade and hung out with Marie and her friends. Frank made her swallow a raw clam and she said it was the worst thing that she ever tasted. When he was digging for quahogs, he would dig one out of the water, shuck it, rinse it in the seawater and swallow it. Gross.
One time toward Labor Day weekend Patsy and I decided to go down to the Jetties. Both of us were as white as ghosts. I stayed out of the sun because all I did was burn and freckle. We were at the beach and some well-tanned people asked us if we had just come down for the weekend. We said “No, we have been here all summer.” They gave us a funny look and moved on. We stopped and got something to drink and enjoyed the scene. My 21st birthday was August 29, 1959. There was a big beach party that night and everyone was congratulating me on my birthday. Have a little drink with me Ellie. By the time I got back to my room I was buzzed, just about made it up the stairs. I blamed Gene Collatz for spiking my drinks. Some party. Now that I was 21, I could go anywhere to drink but I was not much of a drinker. The Nantucketers liked to go to the Knotty Pines outside of town away from the tourists. John Kimmett was the bartender and he loved to sing at the end of the night. He was famous for singing “Danny Boy”. He later was the bartender at Captain Tobey’s where I worked in the summer of 1962. That’s when I met Russell. Patsy was a waitress there and I lived with her and Gunner for about a week and then I moved in with Beverly Topham. Toppy was still working at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth so he was only home on weekends. Beverly liked having someone else in the house and they were just around the corner from the Flemmings. I had a car so I didn’t have a problem getting around, although Russell soon confiscated it. I didn’t have Dot looking after me but I had Caroline and Patsy checking on me.
Russell had gone down to Nantucket in the spring with a group of contractors to work on the old Ocean House which was converted into the Jared Coffin House. I don’t remember what boarding house they stayed in but they ate their dinners at the Downy Flake. Captain Tobey’s was open so that is where they hung around after dinner. So Russell knew Caroline and Patsy before I knew him and they gave me permission to go out with him when he asked me for a date. Patsy got me a job at Captain Tobey’s as a cashier because John Kimmett didn’t want to be bothered with the dinner checks. I used to go to work at about 6:30 pm and work to about 9:00 pm. One night John said some guy wanted to buy me a drink and what would I like. I said I only drink champagne so that is what he gave me. Russell used to come in to Captain Tobey’s every night and buy me champagne. When we finally went out for a date, he asked me what I wanted and I said a beer. He laughed and after that I only got beer. After that romance was in the air. Meeting your love on Nantucket means a long and happy marriage. Uncle Bob had to meet an Italian plasterer. At least Frank was Irish. Everything worked out in the end and I have many happy memories about Nantucket.
I first went to Nantucket in the summer of 1955 just before my senior year in high school. Dot had gone down to Nantucket to work at the Cottage Hospital. Patricia also worked down there for a while; there was housing for the nurses who came from the mainland. I think it was on West Chester Street too. I went with my parents, my sister Kathy and my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Frank. We stayed on India Street with a Mrs. Francis. I picked up some weird infection and had a high temperature so they put me in the hospital for a few days. I had great nursing care, Dot and her friends. Frank and Dot had met and Caroline liked Dot so she would let Frank borrow her car if he had a date with Dot. He had already smashed up a couple of cars so Caroline wasn’t taking any chances. I did not meet Frank that summer, but in the fall he came up to Dedham and we met him. Uncle Bob said, “Who is that fisherman sitting on the living room couch?” By then Dot and Frank were serious so Frank used his sweet Irish charm on Bob to win him over. Frank’s goal was to go to Wentworth but he didn’t have the math credits. He worked days for a bus company in Chestnut Hill working on diesel bus engines. He took courses at night at Newman Prep school. He lived with Aunt Margaret and Uncle Frank. The nights he didn’t have school he came to our house. We used to sit at the kitchen table doing our homework together. I helped him with his algebra. We got to know each other pretty well and had a few laughs together.
Once Dot and Frank got engaged, it was all about the wedding. Charlie and Ella Mae got married three weeks later so it was all my mother could do to keep things straight. The wedding was at St. Mary’s in Dedham and the reception was at the Lafayette house in Foxborough. That is where I had my wedding reception too. The Flemmings came up from Nantucket and stayed at one of the hotels. I don’t remember which one, but after the reception my mother had a party back at Upland Road. It went on for a long time. After their honeymoon, Dot and Frank went to Nantucket. They rented a house from Connie Driscoll on Liberty or North Liberty Street. After I graduated from High School in June of 1956, I went to Nantucket. A friend of Frank’s who was going to the island picked me up. I don’t remember his name but he had a beautiful convertible. I lived with Dot and Frank mostly because he was fishing on the Mary Tapper and it was out for ten and in for two. Dot was working at the hospital. They had a car but she could also walk to the hospital. Frank got me a job at the Downy Flake Doughnut Shop on South Water Street owned by Emma and Gordon MacDonald. I would go off to work in my little black skirt, white blouse and white apron. Gordon’s doughnut machine was in the front window of the restaurant so people walking by could see him making the doughnuts. The doughnuts were extruded from the machine and landed in the hot fat where they floated around. They were flipped around and some of them were covered in sugar. They were delicious when warm. On Sunday mornings, there would be a line out the door of people lined up to buy doughnuts. Sunday was always very busy. I worked with Marcella, Patsy, Judy Brownell ( Judy and I discovered that we were both going to Framingham State Teacher’s College in the fall) Connie Driscoll, Gloria, one of the MacDonald’s and the daughter of the owner of the diner next door whose name I cannot remember. There were others too but I was the only one who was not from Nantucket. We were near the fire station so every day we would have to be blown away by the fire whistle about 1:00p.m. The Opera House restaurant was across the street and sometimes they would have celebrities for dinner. We would know because all of the curtains would be drawn. One time it was rumored that Elizabeth Taylor was there.
I met Stephen through Marcella and also some of his friends. We hung around on Main Street. There was a restaurant there and you could go in and get coffee or a coke. We also hung out at The Hub on the corner. Not many kids had cars then and of course there were couples who would disappear in the course of the evening but we mostly behaved ourselves. Occasionally there was a beach party, usually out of town. I got to know Patsy from working with her. She was a lot of fun. She definitely kicked over the traces after living for a while in the convent. She took up smoking and smoked a lot. I don’t remember when she met Gunner. He worked at the airport for Northeast airlines and they became a steady couple.
I think most of the Flemming’s smoked. Caroline would sit on a bench at the top of Main Street where she would eat her lunch and smoke. When Russell was on the island in the spring of 1962, he got to know Caroline and they would sit on the bench together and smoke and talk. When I was waitressing, I would go to see Caroline at the bank each week to deposit my tips, and I had better show up. Not that I made much money by today’s standards. Caroline would drive home after work and usually she would have a little nap. She liked to go out to Madeket or Dionis later in the afternoon when it was quieter and relax.
Once and a while, Dot, Frank and I would have dinner at the Flemming’s house, but we didn’t have fish. I think Frank and Cap’n Tobe had seen enough fish while out on the boat. Nell also had a television although the reception was terrible. Most of the stations were from New York. It was really the only time I watched TV while on the island. When we went to dinner depended upon Dot’s and my work schedules. I either worked 8 to 2 or 2 to 8. The morning shift was better. It was busier and you made more tip money, plus we would sell out all of the doughnuts. Nell sat in her rocking chair in the kitchen near her short wave radio and Cap’n Tobe would call Nell to tell her when the Mary Tapper was coming in to port. When Dot and I were back at the cottage Nell would let Dot know that the Mary Tapper was coming in. We would take the car and race up to the Cliffs. We could see the boat come through the Jetties. You knew it was the Mary Tapper because there would only be one running light in the front. Because of diabetes, Cap’n Tobe had retinopathy and the lights blinded him. He would get angry if other boats turned on their lights because they thought they were helping him, but it only made it worse. After we saw the boat coming into port we would race down to the dock just as they were tying up the boat. The crew usually caught lobsters in the nets so they brought them home for a good dinner. Frank, being Frank, liked to play jokes and one night I got into bed and let out a scream because Frank had put a live lobster in my bed. Dot gave him the old “please Frank” look, although Frank thought it was pretty funny. One time Frank came home with a huge lobster. He had to borrow a big pot from Nell to fit it in. We had quite the feast. I don’t remember when I met Eddie and Toby and Liz. Once Toby moved to Newport, he didn’t come to the island that much.
July 1956 was the sinking of the Andrea Doria off of the coast of Nantucket. Even though it happened at night that was the first thing I heard about when I got to work in the morning. You could hear helicopters and airplanes as well as a frenzy of police and firemen. Some people were brought to the local hospital and it was days before we knew the whole story. The Inquirer and Mirror had many articles about it.
Once the summer was over, I went to the bank to withdraw the money I had saved. I think Caroline was proud of me. I went off to college and Dot and Frank moved to Boston. I think they lived on Marlboro Street. Patsy lived with them. Dot worked at Children’s Hospital, Frank was going to Wentworth and Patsy got a job. It was just one happy family, most of the time. I think it was hard for a newly married couple to have company all the time. Stephen joined the air force at some time that year with some of his friends. Marie and Marcella were still in school and of course Caroline was still at the bank.
Francis was born in 1957. Dot invited me to come down to Nantucket with them and I worked at the Downey Flake again. Dot wanted to be able to work at the hospital and Frank was driving a milk truck for Whiting Milk. We lived in a different house but we were still within walking distance of the hospital and I could walk to work or use my bike. Frank would leave really early in the morning for his milk run. Somehow we had a schedule so that someone was with Francis all the time. Occasionally if Frank was around when I had to go to work, he would give me a ride on the truck. I would stand on the running board and hold on to the roof as he drove down the street. Dot would have a fit. If they wanted to have a date night, I would babysit and yes Frank Jr. I changed your diapers. Sometimes walking on Main Street or Pleasant Street, I would run into Cap’n Tobe. He was quite independent and would walk downtown via Pleasant and Main Street to sit outside the Pacific Club at the bottom of Main Street with the other old timers. When I saw him I always had to tell him who I was because his eyesight was getting worse all the time. I think he could walk downtown because he had this little map in his head. I still hung out with my Nantucket friends not that we did much more than other young adults. An occasional movie or sometimes we would try to sneak up to the Upper Deck which was on Main Street but we were never served alcohol and usually did not stay long. Occasionally there was a beach party, usually at Surf Side when there were still houses there, and someone would bring beer. I never really drank much because I didn’t like the taste and it made me sick.
Frank was going to start his second year at Wentworth in the fall so Dot went up to Boston to find an apartment. Frank and I worked out a schedule to mind the baby and I stayed in at night to keep Frank company. We didn’t have a TV so he taught me how to play cribbage. I got pretty good at it too although it has been such a long time since I played I don’t remember how to play. I remember going into Boston and babysitting occasionally. I would stay overnight and then they would drive me home and visit with Nana and Papa Donovan.
I remember one year they lived in the Veterans Project in East Dedham. It was originally as the name says apartments for people discharged from the military. It was here that they met Elsa and Eddie Reddish. He was just selling books out of his car. Who knew he would someday be a millionaire. I was away at college during this time but I would often come home for weekends and would do my babysitting duties.
The summer of 1958 I waitressed at Howard Johnson’s at the Bourne Bridge. I rented a small cottage with three other girls from college. Not as much fun as Nantucket. So, the next summer, 1959 I went back to Nantucket and the Downy Flake. My college friend, Kay Parsons, and I rented a room at Nora MacDonald’s on Pleasant Street diagonally across from the Flemming’s. We each paid $10.00 a week for our room and there was another roomer in the bedroom next to us. She had a boyfriend that was a state trooper. We were on the third floor. My friend quickly found a boyfriend from the naval base out at Tom Nevers Head, so I hung out with my Nantucket friends. Judy Brownell and Eugene Collatz was a serious item at this time but I still saw a lot of them. I would go across the street to 32 Pleasant Street and sometimes eat dinner there. Aunt Kathy told me she stayed there for about a month that same summer when she was in the fifth grade and hung out with Marie and her friends. Frank made her swallow a raw clam and she said it was the worst thing that she ever tasted. When he was digging for quahogs, he would dig one out of the water, shuck it, rinse it in the seawater and swallow it. Gross.
One time toward Labor Day weekend Patsy and I decided to go down to the Jetties. Both of us were as white as ghosts. I stayed out of the sun because all I did was burn and freckle. We were at the beach and some well-tanned people asked us if we had just come down for the weekend. We said “No, we have been here all summer.” They gave us a funny look and moved on. We stopped and got something to drink and enjoyed the scene. My 21st birthday was August 29, 1959. There was a big beach party that night and everyone was congratulating me on my birthday. Have a little drink with me Ellie. By the time I got back to my room I was buzzed, just about made it up the stairs. I blamed Gene Collatz for spiking my drinks. Some party. Now that I was 21, I could go anywhere to drink but I was not much of a drinker. The Nantucketers liked to go to the Knotty Pines outside of town away from the tourists. John Kimmett was the bartender and he loved to sing at the end of the night. He was famous for singing “Danny Boy”. He later was the bartender at Captain Tobey’s where I worked in the summer of 1962. That’s when I met Russell. Patsy was a waitress there and I lived with her and Gunner for about a week and then I moved in with Beverly Topham. Toppy was still working at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth so he was only home on weekends. Beverly liked having someone else in the house and they were just around the corner from the Flemmings. I had a car so I didn’t have a problem getting around, although Russell soon confiscated it. I didn’t have Dot looking after me but I had Caroline and Patsy checking on me.
Russell had gone down to Nantucket in the spring with a group of contractors to work on the old Ocean House which was converted into the Jared Coffin House. I don’t remember what boarding house they stayed in but they ate their dinners at the Downy Flake. Captain Tobey’s was open so that is where they hung around after dinner. So Russell knew Caroline and Patsy before I knew him and they gave me permission to go out with him when he asked me for a date. Patsy got me a job at Captain Tobey’s as a cashier because John Kimmett didn’t want to be bothered with the dinner checks. I used to go to work at about 6:30 pm and work to about 9:00 pm. One night John said some guy wanted to buy me a drink and what would I like. I said I only drink champagne so that is what he gave me. Russell used to come in to Captain Tobey’s every night and buy me champagne. When we finally went out for a date, he asked me what I wanted and I said a beer. He laughed and after that I only got beer. After that romance was in the air. Meeting your love on Nantucket means a long and happy marriage. Uncle Bob had to meet an Italian plasterer. At least Frank was Irish. Everything worked out in the end and I have many happy memories about Nantucket.
