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     MARKET DAY DIVERSIONS 
     
    

    
     On market days, it was the custom for the men, after they had disposed 
     
     of their merchandise, to head for the North American Hotel, the Savoy, the 
     
     Revere, or one of the smaller hostelries where the farmers weré:accustdémed 
     
     to "put up." Those whose choice was, for example, the North American, after 
     
     feeding and grooming their horses, took :their places around the table in 
     
     the big public dining~room where dinner was served family style. There were 
     
     platters of roast beef, corned beef, roast pork; codfish, haddock, or 
     
     halibut on Friday; dishes heaped with steaming potatoes, turnip, cabbage; 
     
     plates of freshly baked bread; condiments of all kinds; fragrant, strong tea 
     
     with heavy cream. Dessert usually ‘included plum pudding and two or three 
     
     kinds of home-baked pies. Each diner was at liberty to help himself to 
     
     seconds and thirds, if his capacity permitted. A similar variety of food 
     
     was served at the Savoy, the Revere, and the other establishments that | 
     
     catered to the market day trade. My family always put up at the North 
     
     American where, if I recall correctly, the charge was fifty cents for 
     
     adults and a quarter for youngsters. 
     
    

    
     Dinner finished, most of the guests adjourned to the smoker -- a big 
     
     room with woodcuts of sailing craft and racing Scenes decorating its walls. 
     
     It was furnished with leather-covered easy chairs and sofes, with spittoons 
     
     placed at strategic locations. In cold weather it was heated by a "base- 
     
     burner" stove. Those who enjoyed a sociable after-dinner drink had earlier 
     
     visited the vendor for a pint of their favorite refreshment; toasts were 
     
     exchanged, and soon a lively general discussion of crops, prices, current 
     
     events, and community news was in progress. Politics -- at all times a 
     
     touchy subject -- was never brought up unless all those present were known 
     
     to belong to the same party. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Unfortunately, "Nae.man can tether Time nor Tide." All too soon, the