Shute & Merchant
Gloucester Massachusetts celebrated the 250th Anniversary of its Incorporation as a Town over three days; August 24, 25 & 26 1892. As part of the celebration, a number of booklets and pamphlets were produced to help promote this big event. Near the start of this "Official Programme", is what seems to be a very complete listing of the events that will be taking place at this celebration.
While this small booklet clearly provides the list of activities, it appears that a considerable portion of the booklet was more about promoting the businesses that had subcribed, as most of the pages in this particular one are devoted to ads from the various firms. The largest ad is at the very center, a double page spread for the Shute & Merchant firm. If you read the piece on Shute & Merchant, it sounds quite similar to what is said about the John Pew & Son fish firm in a magazine article published in 1894. A short history of Gloucester was also included, which appears to have been based on the History of Gloucester written by J. R. Pringle, a book that has just been published, and it noted that a copy could be purchased for $3.00 before Oct. 1st -- and that only a limited number had been printed: 3,000 copies.
(click on the image to see list of events)
This article also notes that James L. Shute had invented a number of machines that had benefited the fishing industry.
(click here to see the inventions patented by James L. Shute and others)
(click on the image for a larger view)
One of the original photos used for the 1892 Official Programme was in the possession of the Gorton's archives in Gloucester.
(click on the image for a larger view)
Many souvenir items were offered during the Celebration of the 250th Anniversay of the Incorporation of the Town of Gloucester. One of those items was a small token, the size of an average coin, with commerative images on both sides.
Items such as collectible spoons depicting scenes of Gloucester and Cape Ann were advertised in the Official Programme. These were offered by a number of jewelers, and many are still very collectible items today.
On a larger scale, the city erected the Gloucester 250th Anniversary Memorial Arch made of canvas and wood, and painted to look like carved granite. This was a temporary structure and was removed shortly after the big celebration.