Chestnut Street Days

The Phillips House has a remarkable collection of home movies, and last night they held a public screening of some of the films shot by James Duncan Phillips (1876-1954). Insofar as attractions in Salem go, The Phillips House is a true gem. It is the only house on Chestnut Street that is open to the public. It operated as a private trust for a number of years, and in 2006 it became the 36th property of Historic New England. The house is definitely worth exploring, it is open weekends year-round, and daily in the summer.

It's the films I want to write about, though, because they are a testimony to why Salem is such a great destination. Two of the films were shot in 1926, one along Chestnut Street during a fair held to celebrate Salem's tercentenary, and one shot a block away on Broad Street of a parade held during that same week-long celebration of Salem's founding. Watching the films were remarkable because, other than the fashions, nothing has changed. The neighborhood - which has been called one of America's most beautiful streets - remains carefully and beautifully preserved so visitors today can walk, trolley, or drive down Chestnut Street and see the same surroundings as visitors 82 years ago.

We are lucky to have excellent historians like James Duncan Phillips who preserve and retell the stories of Salem's past so well. The films serve as a reminder of how significant Salem's history is. Many of the icons that were celebrated in 1926 are still celebrated today: The Witch Trials of 1692, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Alexander Graham Bell's first telephone call, Gibraltars (the first candy produced in America), Leslie's Retreat at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Elias Hasket Derby, Nathaniel Bowditch, The Peabody Sisters, and the list goes on.

They were having an awful lot of fun in the 1920's and 1930's as they celebrated Salem's and Massachusetts' history. They had great neighborhood parties with tens of thousands of guests - hundreds of people in costumes, dancing, live music, parades. Not unlike Salem today! In fact, as I was leaving the presentation last night, somebody commented, "When do we start working on the 400th? We only have 18 years to get all of the costumes together!"

For more information on Historic New England, visit www.historicnewengland.org.