The wooden floorboards cracked charmingly as Town Historian Emerita Bette Hunt navigated through the narrow halls and low ceilings of her historic Orne Street home, just a stone’s throw away from Gerry Island, Redd’s Pond, Old Burial Hill and the Old North Church.
She settled into her favorite armchair, surrounded by paintings and her famous Marblehead-themed Christmas card illustrations, and began sharing what it was like growing up in the 1940s and ’50s in Marblehead. From hiding from German submarines in the 1940s to keeping her food cold in iceboxes and sledding down snow-covered hills, there were many stories to tell.
Hunt, 92, was born and raised in the shipyard area of Marblehead and was the youngest of four siblings. Bette’s parents were raised in Newfoundland before settling in Marblehead. Hunt recounted how the town has grown from a small fishing town recovering from the poverty brought by the Great Depression into an affluent and bustling suburb full of Boston commuters.
“When I was growing up, it was the end of the Great Depression, and there were a lot of indicators all around town,” said Hunt. “It has changed immensely from being very poor, to being like ‘If you’ve got a couple mil, I may be able to sell you my garage.’ My father would be whirling in his grave.”
Another change that Hunt remembers vividly is the switch from the traditional icebox to the refrigerator.
“Instead of a refrigerator, you had an ice box,” Hunt recalled. “It was this wooden thing that had a huge hunk of ice in it, and that’s what kept the things cold.”
Her family eventually made the switch to the modern refrigerator.
“Somewhere in the late ’30s or ’40s, my older brother felt sorry for my mother,” said Hunt. “He scraped together some bucks and bought a refrigerator,” said Hunt.
She also vividly remembers what it was like living through the events of World War II. Although the fighting was across the Atlantic, the effects and unease of the war reached the shores of Marblehead. Widespread rationing and the constant threat of German U-boats are not easily forgotten.
“One thing we had growing up was blackouts,” said Hunt. “We had to be very careful about light because there were indications of submarines off the shore. I can remember that people would even paint the top half of their headlights black.” Hunt’s father served as the town’s air raid warden, and they always kept blackout curtains and emergency supplies at the ready.
But she also remembers the good times, when there was always something fun to do.
“We would go sledding a lot,” said Hunt. “We used to get a lot of snow, and Seaside Park had some good hills for sledding. I used to play ball with my older brother.”
Hunt also recalls Marblehead’s tight-knit culture when everyone seemed to know each other. “Growing up you couldn’t get away with a thing, because women didn’t work outside the home,” Hunt said. “So they were always around, and if you were acting up somewhere she’d know, and she would let your mother know, and you were in deep doo-doo.”
During this time, Marbleheaders were cautious of outsiders. She remembers how these feelings peaked when the idea of building a railway in Marblehead was proposed. The railroad and station were eventually approved and built, but not before lots of debate.
“It took a while for the railroad to come to Marblehead, and there was a lot of talk in our meetings about how they were gonna go downtown and see someone they don’t know,” said Hunt. “People were very cautious of strangers, and we were a very insulated community.”
Hunt attended art school and later served as Marblehead’s town historian for 13 years, leading popular walking tours.
“I loved showing and telling people things about Marblehead that they didn’t already know,” said Hunt.
Hunt is also known for her illustrations of snow-covered Marblehead landmarks on Christmas cards.
“People really loved them,” said Hunt. “Trouble was, I created a monster. They’d always ask me what I was going to do next year.”
Hunt encourages Marbleheaders to be understanding of their differences.
“What’s bothering me a lot is the way people treat each other,” said Hunt. “I want you to be friendly with people and realize that everybody has their own peculiarities and that’s what makes us all wonderful.”
