Haverhill Heritage Series

Haverhill’s Very Own Disease: ‘Haverhill Fever’

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A typical river rat. By David Goudsward
Special to Wavelengths

Dr. Carl Mindlin, a Russian Jewish immigrant, had been growing his medical practice in Currier Square (Washington Street at High) for five years. His fluency in Yiddish and the location, a block west of the predominantly Russian-Jewish congregation of Temple Ahavas Achim, provided a steady stream of patients. So successful was his practice that he had moved his wife and 5-year-old daughter from above the office to a new home on Commonwealth Avenue. When Mindlin arrived at the office Jan.

Haverhill Heritage Series

Was America’s First Circus Elephant in Haverhill?

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Old Bess’ monument and the Elephant Hotel still stand. The first two floors serve as the Somers Town Hall and third floor is home to the Somers Historical Society and the Museum of the Early American Circus. (Daniel Case photograph.)

By David Goudsward
Special to Wavelengths

Did the first circus elephant in America make its way to Haverhill? In Alfred, Maine, along route 4 in southern Maine, there is a memorial erected in 1963 by the Sanford-Alfred Historical Society and Circus Fans America. The reason for the great public interest in the killing of this elephant is because it was purported at the time “the” elephant was the first elephant in America.

Haverhill Heritage Series

Haverhill’s Former Chicken Farmer Drove Robert Frost to Poetry

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By David Goudsward
Special to Wavelengths

When veterinarian Charlemagne C. Bricault died Jan. 10, 1949 at age 82, the obituary in the Haverhill Evening Gazette noted Dr. Bricault’s successful animal practice and his quarter century of work with the city’s health department—first as the inspector of dairies, then as health inspector and finally as a member of the board itself. While Bricault’s prominence as a breeder of Boston terriers was undoubtedly of interest to readers in 1949, the obit did not mention that the good doctor was also a nationally recognized poultryman in his younger days. In fact, Bricault and his chickens almost single-handedly forced Robert Frost onto the path of becoming an internationally recognized poet. By the time Bricault moved to Haverhill in 1910, he and Robert Frost had already crossed paths, and each had taken a road less traveled.

Haverhill Heritage Series

Part 3: WHAV’s Historic and Rocky Road to FM

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With the Federal Communications Commission’s tentative selection of WHAV to receive a new FM license, the Haverhill Heritage Series reviews the difficult path FM has had to circumnavigate in Haverhill.  Third in a Series
By Tim Coco
President & General Manager

The first incarnation of WHAV-FM was dead, along with its most zealous advocate, John T. “Jack” Russ. WHAV-FM lasted just under four years—1948 to 1952, but the fight for FM would also bring other casualties. Major Edwin Howard Armstrong, the inventor of FM, became despondent over his legal battles to force RCA to pay FM royalties. “On the night of January 31, 1954, Armstrong put on his overcoat, scarf, gloves, and hat, opened his window, and jumped out, falling ten stories to his death,” wrote Yannis Tsividis in Columbia University’s “Columbia Magazine.” Along with Armstrong went the Continental (FM) Network—of which WHAV was an affiliate.

Haverhill Heritage Series

Part 2: WHAV’s Historic and Rocky Road to FM

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With the Federal Communications Commission’s tentative selection of WHAV to receive a new FM license at 98.1 MHz, the Haverhill Heritage Series reviews the difficult path FM has had to circumnavigate in Haverhill.  WHAV Prepares Residents for FM
Second in a Series

 By Tim Coco
President & General Manager

The Haverhill public knew very little about frequency modulation (FM) in 1947. Its high fidelity sound and static free presentation were advantages Haverhill Gazette Publisher John T. “Jack” Russ sought to exhort. Only a handful of FM radio stations were licensed before the outbreak of World War II and production of consumer receiving sets was banned by wartime controls. Corporate fighting and suppression by regulators further delayed FM’s development.

Archive

King Davis Reflects on His Locally Famous Radio Jingle

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Kingsbury “King” Davis had a surprise for WHAV listeners when he appeared on the Open Mike Show last season. One of the most memorable and popular of WHAV’s commercials of years gone by was a singing jingle for the King Davis Agency. Davis has generously provided original recordings of those commercials and they were heard again for the first time in 30 years over WHAV. “For 30-odd years, I drove a station wagon with my name on the side of it…I would drive that car around the community and, where there might be a cluster of children, they would start singing the jingle when they saw the car. Of course, it woke up most of the community at 7 o’clock every morning with the news.

Haverhill Heritage Series

WHAV’s Historic and Rocky Road to FM

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With the Federal Communications Commission’s tentative selection of WHAV to receive a new FM license at 98.1 MHz (see below), the Haverhill Heritage Series reviews the difficult path FM has had to circumnavigate in Haverhill. First in a Series

By Tim Coco
President & General Manager

WHAV AM 1490 had been on the air a little more than a year in 1948. Although it was an achievement for Haverhill Gazette Publisher John T. “Jack” Russ, it was only a consolation prize. Russ never intended to build a “standard” broadcast AM radio station. He was enamored by the hope and promise of inventor Major Edwin Howard Armstrong’s high-fidelity, static free frequency modulation (FM).

Haverhill Heritage Series

Stained Glass Artist Ruocco Gets Even

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By Tim Coco
President & General Manager

Francesco “Frank” Ruocco lost his famed stained glass studio to the construction of Ginty Boulevard during the 1960s Pentucket Urban Renewal Project. While the Haverhill Heritage Series often focuses on businesses and homes lost to the city’s ill-fated urban renewal projects of the 1960s and 1970s, Ruocco’s battles with his former mentor, and later competitor, is far more interesting. Francesco Ruocco Studio operated for 30 years at 123 Kent Street, about where a newer Green Street extension rubs up against Ginty Boulevard today, and 23 Water St., now the site of an apartment complex. In the studio, Ruocco designed ornate stained glass windows, which still adorn churches across the nation. Works were glazed by his son Richard Ruocco and largely painted by his son-in-law William Bryant.