A Bit of History....


New Englanders are fond of common wisdoms and pieties. Hardly a day passes without someone noting that "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" or "if you don't like the weather, wait a minute" or the simple multi-leveled evasion

"a-yuh!" At least one outside observer has commented on the New England character's penchant for going on forever about being quiet. Stereotypes persist. "You can't get there from here" gets a good deal of play, too, as the proverbial road direction from a native less than fully committed to being hospitable to the lost and chatty newcomer. Well, the traveler and the old-timer, the newcomer and the seasonal resident alike can get to New London from the Flying Goose Brewpub & Grille and in a quick stopover for a cold gem from the micro-brewery or a more leisurely meal in the dining room get the flavor for just how the region's common wisdoms and pieties are embodied in New London's local talent and hospitality.

Let a short history lesson suffice: Since 1937, at the intersection of Route 11 and Main Street, an intersection old-timer's call Crockett's Corner and newcomers call the four corners, within an arm's reach of Mt. Kearsarge on one of those legendary 30-below days when distances are compressed, or a summer day when lilac scent fills the air, dairy farmers and dedicated restaurateurs have offered irresistible hospitality. In its first life, as the Gray House, summer meant dashing up or down the hill for dairyman Dura Crockett's ice cream, perhaps a stop for a luscious brownie sundae on the way home from a performance at the Barn Players. Long-time seasonal resident, Midge Eliason described the experience as the front porch question ~ "who wants to go to Crockett's for ice cream?" Eliason and others remember carrying the ice cream home in five-gallon brown paper-wrapped tubs and savoring the last melting tastes of fresh cream, flavored and iced and perhaps now and then scooped into the cone, an invention that stole the heart of crowds at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Lois Marshall, New London's Town Clerk still affectionately recalls "the gentleman who built the Gray House," as her first employer, and how at 13 she learned to wash the glassware used by those who stopped and stayed for Crockett's summer gold. Cotton

Cleveland, the present town meeting's moderator and native, remembers that Crockett's ice cream and the ten trampolines in town in the 50s provided town kids with their only entertainment. As if local testimony weren't sufficient, one of New London's most famous summer visitors, Thornton Wilder is reported to have ended many a day's work as a camp counselor and tutor in the 1930s with a walk from Old County Road to Crockett's for an ice cream treat. Admirer's of his iconic version of small-town New England life - the play "Our Town"- will note that he might not have been able to imagine his view of the White Mountains, that "range on range of hills" without standing at the four corners with smooth iced cream in hand. Perhaps he even saw the "moon come over the mountain."

At the Flying Goose Brew Pub & Grill in 2001, travelers and old-timers, newcomers and seasonal residents, students at Colby-Sawyer College, their friends, and parents can still expect to hear regional wisdoms and pieties exchanged in the setting that the restaurant's most recent owner Tom Mills has designed to continue providing the legendary hospitality at the corner just below the town's "windy hill."

As an important nod to the past, Flying Goose's chef has added "Vinita Gay's Cream Puffs" to the current menu. Life-time resident, volunteer, community worker, and bon vivant, a committee meeting at Vinita's house or a quiet visit from her to a friend almost always included the treat of a freshly made cream puff. The Flying Goose is pleased to share the recipe with you, our visitors, thanks to permission from the Town of New London, which included the recipe in its third history, Our Voices, Our Town: A History of New London 1950-2000 by Ann Page Stecker. Come again and learn more about the history of this local restaurant and its neighbors in New London. We'll give you something to talk about.

"If These Walls Could Talk" by Ann Page Stecker, a professor of humanities at Colby-Sawyer College.
Ann is also the author of Our Voices, Our Town, A History of New Hampshire*
(Photos - courtesy of the New London Town Archives.)
*available at Morgan Hill Bookstore here in New London, or at the Town office
Vinita's Cream Puffs

Put 1/2 cup butter or oleo in one cup boiling water. Bring to boil on high heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and add 1 cup of sifted flour at once. Stir vigorously until ball forms in center of pan. Add 4 eggs, one at a time and beat after each addition. Shape onto slightly greased cookie sheet ~ 1 tbsp. or more rounded.

Put cookie sheet in cold oven - set temperature to 375° and bake 1 hour until bubbles disappear.

Filling: 1 lg. vanilla pudding and 2 1/2 cups of milk. Cook in double boiler, cool and add 1 cup beaten cream, mix, put powdered sugar on top or dab chocolate frosting.