|
|
|
|
 Show # Return to index of stories... |
First aired on 2/12/2006 |
| Preshow Return to index of stories... |
Innovators and instigators. Ralph Baer, Dean Kamen, the McDonald's Brothers, Arthur Walden and Sarah Josepha Hale. All are New Hampshire Originals. Their stories now on this special edition of NH Outlook. |
| Hello/Intro Originals Return to index of stories... |
Hello I'm Beth Carroll. Welcome to this New Hampshire Outlook Special edition. We're here at the New Hampshire Historical Society's Museum of New Hampshire History in Concord where in the next hour I'll be introducing you to some "New Hampshire Originals." New Hampshire is often referred to as the Granite State and of course is well-known as host of the First-in-the-Nation Presidential Primary. But there are also a number of "visionaries" who have roots here in New Hampshire -- whose accomplishments have had a lasting impact on the state, the nation, even the world. |
| Tupperware Return to index of stories... |
For instance-- the man who invented Tupperware was born in Berlin. Earl Silas Tupper was a New Hampshire tree surgeon and plastics innovator who eventually patented the Tupperware seal in the 19-40s. |
| Intro Baer/Video Return to index of stories... |
He's not the only inventor with ties to New Hampshire. Another invention that has had a tremendous impact on the culture of this country is the home video game. Ever wonder how games like Pacman, Sim City and Pong got their start? A New Hampshire man -- the so-called "Father of home video games" - gets the credit. , , |
| Ralph Baer/Video Return to index of stories... |
Ralph Baer script Shots of people playing video games N1 - It's one of the largest entertainment businesses in the world. Shots/sounds of video games dissolve to Ralph N2 - And it started here - within the creative mind of NH's Ralph Baer. Ralph 1-115 "I think it all starts in the genes…because like other people with creative ideas, it just comes." N3 - Ralph Baer is an engineer, visionary and the father of home video games. His invention, nearly 40 years old, started it all. Shot/sound of WW2 video game dissolve to archival footage of WW2 N4 - Ralph is a German-born Jew. He experienced first hand the wrath of the Nazi Party. At age 14, he, like all Jewish students was forced to leave school. Ralph 1-508 "When I got thrown out of school I almost became a plumber but no one would hire me." N5- By 1938 it was clear to Ralph's family that in order to survive they had to escape from their homeland. They arrived in New York City. That's where the tenacious 17 year old studied to become a radio and television technician. From 1940 through 1943 Ralph ran three service stores in NY. Ralph 1-838 "And I did all the service work - no car which meant that I walked up 3 floors to someone's apt and carried out the set. No cars. And that's how I got started." N6- And he kept going. In 1949, Ralph earned a degree in Television Engineering - the first of its kind anywhere. Two years later, while working with a monitor and testing equipment Ralph realized more could be done with a television than just watching it. Ralph 1-1127 "That was when the genesis occurred but it lay dormant until 1966 while I was in NY. And I wrote a four page paper the next day." N7 - These four papers were written by Ralph in September 1966 while waiting at a bus terminal in NY City. He was an engineer for Sanders Industries in Nashua. These sketches show Ralph's vision of the world's first home video game. Music/shots of brown Box game being played Ralph 1-1210 "With in a month, we had a crude vacuum tube moving dots around the screen." Bob 149 "It's the first time you get to look at it and see how it's going to work out. You have ideas but you never know how it's going to work out." N8- Bob Pelovitz works with Ralph inventing electronic toys and games. Bob 200 "He's very imaginative. His mind is constantly trying to determine what can you do what can you do with a situation - you look at a TV and see a TV, Ralph sees it and says what can I do with it how can I make this better how can I make this different." Ralph 1-1332 "I envisioned a cute little box that sits beside your TV box that lets you do neat things. The last thing on my mind was that it would grow into a big deal let alone an industry." N9- Ralph's game was known simply as the Brown Box. Ralph 2600/1238 "The brown box was switch programmable. The feature game was ping-pong -the fact that ping-pong became the most important game we didn't know that. We knew it was a good game. Off and on we worked through 1969 for 2.5 years and went through 8 generations of better hardware. The question now was - now that we have it what do we do with it?" Bob 450 "Its easy to be a technologist - you have a vision, you build it, you test it. The hardest part is then what to do with it. Approaching other companies and get them interested is an art form, for him back then I believe he was doing that on his own." N10- Then in 1968 - Ralph 1-1943 "It dawned on me that all the components in the brown box were the same components in TVs - so who was more likely to make this stuff than a TV manufacturer?" N11- Ralph and his boss at Sanders invited executives from television manufacturing companies to meet with them in Nashua. Ralph 1-2033 "They all came and we negotiated with RCA for awhile and the terms got to be too long and they walked a way and we walked away. Fortunately, one of the RCA members left and became a VP at Magnavox and he had been impressed with what he saw so he told the people at head office take another look at videogames. " Bob 715 "They actually turned Ralph down the first time at Magnavox and my understanding is that there was a shake down in management a year later and there was one gentleman left in senior management and he said hey I remember there was this bald guy from Manchester with an interesting concept, perhaps we should bring him back in." N12- By the early 70's, Ralph's Brown Box evolved into the Magnavox Odyssey. Still, it was Ralph who pushed the project forward. Ralph 1-2412 "Even my boss who was the VP at the time and later president of the company used to ask, 'Ralph are you still screwing around with that stuff?' - his exact words. I will admit that several years later when the money started flowing in the nay- sayers reminded me of how supportive they were during all those years." N13- Money trickled in but didn't flow until after 1972. That's when Magnavox held a private demonstration to help boost the sales of Odyssey. A man named Nolan Bushnell attended. Shortly after, according to Ralph, Bushnell hired an engineer to design an arcade game based on what he saw there. Shot of Odyssey ping-pong Bob 854 "The machine that he came up with was the pong game and it was slightly different in that it was a stand up coin game - so that was new but the concept of Pong was not." Ralph 1-3455 "So the genesis of the Pong game started by viewing the ping-pong game on the Odyssey in 1972 - so that's how that started." N14 - And along with it came money. Close to a hundred million dollars for Sanders and Magnavox in licensing income on Ralph's patented technology. The companies he worked for were happy and Ralph moved on to other things. Sound of Simon game Ralph 1-2531 "The Simon game - who did that? - I did it. All by myself - one person." Bob 937 "I like the interaction, I really liked the idea that it would continue to speed up and that you had to both listen and follow visually - when it got fast it was very hard to keep up with though." More Simon game shots/sound N15 - It's been almost 70 years since Ralph was forced out of school in Nazi Germany. His accomplishments since then are remarkable. Now in his 80s, Ralph has no plans to retire. Just ask him. Ralph 2-4644 "Why? You take a painter do you ask him to stop painting pictures at 65? It would be silly." Bob 1005/1039 "Certainly being an inventor of videogames is a large and visible thing that will remain out there long after he is gone from this earth, however… for the amount that he's done to bring things out into the field you'd think you'd meet a person that's heady and Ralph is the opposite of that and he rubs off on everyone he meets and I think he'll leave that behind as well." End with Ralph playing the Brown Box game |
| Tag Baer/Video Return to index of stories... |
President Bush named Ralph Baer one of 2 winners of the National Medal of Technology for 2004. The award recognizes lasting contributions to America's competitiveness, standard of living and contributions of life through technological innovation. |
| Intro Dean Kamen Return to index of stories... |
New Hampshire's own Dean Kamen has a passion for invention and some day he could rank up there with those who've revolutionized the way we live. Outlook's Ally McNair spent time with Kamen at Deka-- his company in Manchester-- and talked to him about his work and what drives him to develop new technologies like the Segway Human Transporter. |
| Dean Kamen Return to index of stories... |
Dean Kamen Script 05:12:41 DEAN: This is what the world looks like from a Segway. 05:12:46 AND IF DEAN KAMEN HAS HIS WAY, NEARLY EVERYONE WILL SOMEDAY EXPERIENCE THIS POINT OF VIEW. DEAN: It is something really cool. It is tremendously fun. It's easy to do. So much so, that I thought, we don't have to waste one minute or one nickel convincing people this is fun. 05:13:11 KAMEN HAS A LOT OF FUN DOING WHAT HE DOES. THE MANCHESTER INVENTOR WHO IS WILDLY PASSIONATE ABOUT SCIENCE AND DISCOVERY, DEVELOPED THIS, THE SEGWAY HUMAN TRANSPORTER. IT WAS UNVEILED TO THE PUBLIC IN LATE 2001. I HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET KAMEN IN 2002 AT DEKA, HIS COMPANY HEADQUARTERED IN MANCHESTER. DEAN: I remember once when I was fairly young, somebody saying to me, why are you working so hard, this could be the last day of your life. And I thought about it and I said, if this was the last day of my life, what would I be doing?…And I thought about it and said, you know, if this was the last day of my life, this is what I'd be doing. 05:13:57 WHAT HE IS DOES IS MAKE THINGS. USEFUL THINGS. HE'S A SELF-TAUGHT PHYSICIST WHOSE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT TOOK OFF WHILE HE WAS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL IN NEW JERSEY, WORKING OUT OF HIS PARENT'S HOME. DEAN: And whatever amount of money I'd make, I'd just buy more stuff and then I could build more stuff, then I'd sell more stuff, then I could buy more stuff, and finally I outgrew their basement. I had to lift their house up which I literally did and they added more to the basement… 05:14:33 KAMEN'S DAD IS AN ILLUSTRATOR AND COMIC BOOK ARTIST. HE PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN GUIDING DEAN'S CAREER. DEAN: He was self employed. He did something that he was uniquely good at. He loved what he did and still does and he still does it everyday. He loves art and the best advice he gave me as a kid was, find something you really like to do, because you'll spend most of your life working and you want to be happy with it. 05:15:03 KAMEN HOLDS MORE THAN 150 PATENTS. AMONG HIS INVENTIONS ARE SEVERAL MEDICAL DEVICES, INCLUDING THE HEART STENT USED ON VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY'S HEART, A PORTABLE DIALISIS MACHINE, AND THIS, THE INDEPENDENCE MOBILITY SYSTEM OR IBOT WHEELCHAIR. ALLY: It seems like a lot of your inventions have been inventions that help people, so is there something inside of Dead Kamen that says, what I've got to work on has to make life better? DEAN: You've summed up our corporate philosophy. There's lots of things you can work on. Now I'm a workaholic… And I decided a long time ago that if you're going to work your life away and get frustrated over what you do, you might as well work on important stuff so once in a while when something really works, it's a big deal and it helps a lot of people. 05:15:54 BUT NONE OF HIS INVENTIONS HAS CAPTURED THE IMAGINATIONS OF PEOPLE MORE THAN THE MYSTERIOUS SEGWAY. DEAN: Segway: A smooth transition from one place or idea to another. 05:16:10 WHILE PATENT PROTECTIONS WERE BEING WORKED OUT, SEGWAY, ALSO KNOWN AS GINGER AND IT, WAS KEPT UNDER TIGHT WRAPS. SPECULATION AND EXPECTATIONS GREW. DEAN: Throughout the whole year, as expectations were getting more whimsical and bizarre, I kept worrying every night. No matter what I show people, they're gonna say, what that's all, it doesn't beam me to Mars? I was worried because whenever you develop a new technology, people always think of it in terms of old things. You know, the car for many years was called the horseless carriage. People understood the carriage and a horse. Well this was a horseless carriage. So I was afraid that no matter what, it would be easy to say, it's just like any other scooter. It already seemed to me, it would not be immediately obvious to people that this thing has a real place. 05:16:59 CURRENTLY, THAT PLACE IS THE WORKPLACE. THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE IS USING SEGWAYS. OTHER LARGE COMPANIES THAT HOPE TO MOVE EMPLOYEES AROUND QUICKLY ARE ALSO LOOKING AT THE SEGWAY. TODAY, THE 1ST SELF-BALANCING TRANSPORTATION DEVICE CONTINUES TO BE INTERGRATED INTO CITY DEPARTMENTS FROM ATLANTA TO SEATTLE. ALLY: What about people that say, oh my god, everyone's muscles are gonna atrophe? DEAN: That's a very easy question to answer. Every piece of technology that's ever been developed and succeeded has a single function-to reduce human effort at something. I can't think of anything else we use technology to do. I mean, do you beat your clothes against a rock or do you have a washing machine? 05:17:43 EVENTUALLY, KAMEN HOPES THE SEGWAY WILL BE THOUGHT OF AS A POLLUTION-FREE ALTERNATIVE TO THE AUTOMOBILE. DEAN: So it seemed to me, once we made this thing and it really is a pedestrian and it can interface with people and it can bump in to people. Oh, excuse me, and it can leave you as close to people as you would be on your sneakers. Well, we made a device that in every way can be an empowered pedestrian. It seemed to me we need to point that out. GARY BRIDGE WORKED FOR SEGWAY INC. IN 2002, WHEN THE SEGWAY HT WAS FIRST BEING INTRODUCED TO THE PUBLIC. I SPOKE WITH HIM TO GET THE INSIDE SCOOP ON KAMEN'S MANAGING STYLE. 05:18:10 ALLY: What's Dean like to work for? GARY: He's an unusual person and therefore, working for him is an unusual experience and it isn't in any of the textbooks I've read or taught and it's a great, great thrill all the time. Something's going on. ALLY: Is there any way you can put it into words, other than unusual? GARY: Wow, wow, wow, there's a lot of wow factor around here. ALLY: You've said you're a workaholic. Do you expect that from everybody that works for you too? DEAN: In a way I expect it. I've never told people, ever, you must stay now and you must work this way. But I do go look for people that, A. have such a passion for what they do they're gonna want to stay and B. have an ethic about them that if something went wrong and it's not working and the only way to get it done is they've got to work all night, they will have an inner, self-motivation to be a workaholic. 05:19:07 KAMEN SAYS ONE OF HIS HOBBIES IS COLLECTING THE BEST ENGINEERS HE CAN FIND. BUT IS A COLLEGE DEGREE NECESSARY WHEN IT COMES TO INVENTING? DEAN, HIMSELF, DIDN'T GRADUATE FROM WORCHESTER POLYTECHNIQUE INSTITUTE. DEAN: There was a lot of other stuff you had to do besides learn in order to graduate. And I wanted to learn stuff and if the price I had to pay for learning a little more than other people, if the price I had to pay for having more direct time with all this faculty, was that I wasn't off taking these tests, taking these other courses that I didn't think I needed right then, I was happy to pay that price. 05:19:40 IT'S THAT TYPE OF DEDICATION THAT DROVE HIM TO START FIRST, AN INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE COMPETITION. DEAN: We set out to create an organization that would make science and technology and engineering seem every bit as fun, accessible, and rewarding to kids, all kids as football or entertainment. EVERY YEAR TEAMS FROM ALL OVER NEW HAMPSHIRE CONVERGE ON MANCHESTER TO TAKE PART IN THE FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION. THE TEAMS COMPETE FOR A CHANCE TO GO TO THE NATIONALS. 05:20:01 BY DOING AND CREATING, STUDENTS EXPERIENCE THE LONGTERM JOYS OF LEARNING. DEAN: I think learning is the most personal experience you can have. Whether it's learning how to stand up and walk or dribble a basketball or think analytically. What parents and teachers can do is supply the judgment-they should be able to point kids in the direction and tell them what is important to learn. They can tell them where to put their energy. They can help them with some of the frustration and assure them that it's natural. And the first time a kid really understands something abstract or reduces that abstract idea through tools like engineering into something real and says, I made that, it's an incredible experience. It's like being in love. Nobody knows what it is, but it's sure good when it happens. But most kids aren't told that that's in store for them if they work hard at things like thinking. 05:20:56 AND THAT, SAYS KAMEN, IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERY A CHILD CAN MAKE, ONE THAT CAN BE CARRIED ON INTO ADULTHOOD AND INTO THE WORKPLACE. DEAN: I think around here, chaos is what drives the organization. And sometimes, we kiss a lot of frogs and get a lot of warts and every once in a while, we kiss a frog and a prince pops out or a princess. FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK, I'M ALLISON MCNAIR. =================================== |
| Tag Dean Kamen Return to index of stories... |
Dean Kamen is field testing |
| Intro McDonalds Return to index of stories... |
When it came to the technology of fast food -- believe it or not, two New Hampshire brothers led the way. How -- do you say? Take a look. , , |
| McDonalds Brothers Return to index of stories... |
McDonald's script Photo of McDonald brothers N1 - From humble ambitions sometimes come great legacies. This is the story of Maurice and Richard McDonald - brothers who set out in search of jobs and found an empire. Clayton 57 "One of the reasons I had a bond with Richard is we are both grads of West High School and that's about all we share. He graduated at a very different time, 1927 and in Manchester there weren't a lot of economic opportunities. The mills were on the down side so he and his brother Maurice had to decide what to do with their lives and they decided that fame and fortune waited on the west coast. They wanted to go into the movie business." N2 - So they did - working behind the scenes. But realizing they'd never become movie producers, the boys from Manchester opened a movie theater. Xroads 398 Richard 215 "And we knew absolutely nothing about running a movie theater. We didn't even know how to run the tix machine, you know where you punch the tickets. We knew nothing." Clayton 200 "They were restless and they looked for a line of work they could take them into late life, so they did as minor segue into the restaurant business." N3 - In 1948 the McDonald brothers opened this restaurant in San Bernadino, California. Xroads Richard 243 "We had the car hops, in those days the car hops were very popular. Every kid in town wanted to date the car hops." Clayton 336/358 "It was a great system at its time but over time the brothers realized America was living life a faster pace and they wanted to speed things up. They took the waitress and waiter out of the equation - they had the customer come to the window to get their food. Its so simple it's staggering but no one thought of it until Dick and Maurice McDonald." N4 - It was the genesis of fast food restaurants in America. Xroads Richard 308 "Well, this was the first of the franchise units. We had the old style building, but when we franchised we wanted a new building." N5- This is what the brothers came up with. Richard even took responsibility for designing the company logo. Mayor Baines 1630 "So on a piece of paper he sketched these arches and he went to three architects and all three thought he was crazy and it would never work and he said no I want those golden arches." Clayton 1210 "Anywhere in the world, the most recognized corporate symbol was drawn by the pen of Dick McDonald of Manchester NH." N6 - Much of what you see in McDonald restaurants today are the innovations of Richard and Maurice. Clayton 518/553 "They took the assembly line function and applied it to the food operation - large grills they could have 16 burgers cooking at once - they had a lazy Susan to dress the buns 12 at a time. It was about speed and efficiency and their goal was to serve a customer within 15 seconds." Xroads Richard 256 "And how it took off from there." N7 - Robert Baines is Manchester's former mayor. He's also a long time friend of Richard McDonald and former principal of West High School in Manchester. Baines 327 "I used to have fun going to principals conferences and often there was a McDonalds booth and I'd go up and say who founded McDonalds? They'd say Ray Kroc and I'd say who founded it? They say of yes the McDonalds brothers and I'd say yes they are graduates of my school." Clayton 752 "Ray Kroc sold milk shake machines called multi-mixers - they do 5 shakes at a time and in 1954 this place called McDonalds had 10 - he did the math and wondered who needs to make 50 shakes at a time? He had to see this place." N8 - He did and was impressed with what he saw. Clayton 826 "So he approached the McDonald brothers and asked to be their franchising agent and they hired him." N9- The chain grew to 26 restaurants. Kroc wanted that number to increase -- the McDonald brothers were content. So in the mid-1960s he offered to buy them out. Clayton 922 "And this is where they showed their true NH colors - they met and Maurice said 1 million dollars. Ray thought great but Richard said wait I want a million as well. He said ok --$2 million, lets do it. They said wait - remember they're from NH - we don't want to pay taxes on the money so it's about 2.7 million total." N10- Ray Kroc took over McDonald's expanding it to other regions throughout America. Maurice passed away shortly after selling the business. Richard returned home to Manchester. Baines 1130 "And when he came back home he bought some of his friends gold Cadillacs that he had graduated from high school with and then he started the scholarships at west high school in the 1960s." Clayton 1521 "That was his way of saying I'm back and embraced his friends - a very generous man with both time and money." Ron 1730 "He was such a gentleman." N11 - Ron Evans owns three McDonald restaurants in Manchester. He had the privilege of meeting Richard on several occasions. Ron 1740 "He could walk into any of my restaurants and demand respect; he never did, most of the time we never even knew he was there. He said to me once, 'I'm just a customer.' But the creativity was something remarkable. I had the chance to sit in his house from time to time with him and he'd always bring out something from the early years." N12 - The first NH McDonalds opened here on South Willow Street in Manchester. Ron 2320 "It opened in April of 1964. It was a huge success." N13 - A new building replaced the original one. Ron Evans preserved the atmosphere in honor of Manchester's famous brothers. Ron 2340ish "I wanted to preserve that tradition for the city of Manchester and for the state of NH. I also wanted to recognize what the McDonald brothers had done for my system, McDonald's restaurants. I know full well that without them I would be doing something different today." N14 - Richard died on July 14, 1998. He was 89 years old. He left behind friends, family and an empire inspired by a simple ambition. Ron 2110 "I think almost everything else in the way of successful chain type restaurants has evolved from something the McDonald brothers started. Fast, friendly, affordable, trying to identify with a particular palette of Americana and emphasizing that. I mean it was hamburgers, fries and shakes in the early years." Clayton 1552/1630 "They changed the dining experience as we know it. You deserve a break today and that's what they offered American families - a break from the routine where dining at McDonalds was a treat and they knew kids. They knew kids came with one thing, a set of parents and if you could get the kids to come they came with parents. It was a way to make the dining experience real - different but real again." Baines 1745/1833 "They came out of poverty, left Manchester at a time when it was not a hopeful place to be and they went in search of the American dream. And that's what I used to tell students, use their example and do great things in your life - be a teacher, lawyer - whatever you do it with that same type of spirit and be very proud of yourselves. So I think that's their legacy." |
| Tag McDonalds Return to index of stories... |
In the late 19-40s, when it all started, the McDonald brothers sold their hamburgers for 15-cents and fries for a dime. The most expensive item on the menu was the shake - it sold for twenty cents. |
| Intro Concord Return to index of stories... |
We continue our look at "NH Originals" from the Museum of New Hampshire History in Concord where there's a special exhibit of the Concord stagecoach. The "Concord Coach" was America's first comfortable and rugged mode of public transportation. Lewis Downing of Concord partnered with J. Stephens Abbot to form the Abbot-Downing Company that became the chief manufacturer of these coaches. The Concord coaches were first manufactured after 18-26. The Concord Coach was notable for its suspension system, which provided as soft and comfortable a ride as possible given the rough, unpaved roads of the time. Pulled by up to eight horses, the Concord coach remained in use along rural transportation routes even after 1900. It didn't disappear until it was replaced by motorbuses. |
| Intro Chinook Dogs Return to index of stories... |
About the time the Concord coaches began to slowly disappear, NH became home to a new dog breed. On January 17, 1917 - Arthur Walden's famed lead sled dog, Chinook, was born on Walden's farm in Wona-lancet. The story of the Chinook dog breed begins in New Hampshire but Walden's adventures took him and his canine to Antarctica where the tale takes a twist that separated Walden and Chinook forever. , , |
| Chinook Dogs Return to index of stories... |
Chinook script Shots of Walden N1- Arthur Walden was a rebel, adventurer and pioneer. If born in a more modern time he probably would have shot for the moon. But in the early 1900's Walden had other destinations in mind. Fade to black N2- Arthur Threadwell Walden drove dogsleds. It was his livelihood, which started in Alaska - 1896. Photos/music N3- Marriage brought Walden to NH in 1902. Kate Sleeper owned Wonalancet Farms in Wonalancet, NH. Together they ran the business as husband and wife. Photos/music N4- NH winters, ideal for sledding, were too much for Walden to resist. So in 1910 he put together New England's first recreational dog sled team. Nancy 3950 "And started off with 4 half breed St.Bernards - they weren't very fast." N5- Walden had an idea on how to change that - develop a new breed of sled dog. Nancy 4000 "He had been given a dog and that dog happened to have a meeting with a female dog that was a descendent from Perry's North Pole expedition and the off-spring from that meeting resulted in a litter of 7 golden puppies one that Walden named Chinook." N6- Chinook and his siblings were the dogs Walden hoped for. They were obedient, strong and fast. Nancy 4043 "And became very popular with people who ran winter carnivals and there were 60 winter carnivals in NH at that time so Walden went all over and trained Chinook to do tricks. Well all the dogs looked so much alike that when they would come people would say here comes Walden and his Chinook dogs." N7- Wonalancet Farms added kennels. The popularity of Walden's dogs attracted the attention of one of his neighbors. Nancy 4520 "Short Seeley got interested in the dogs when Walden put on a show at a carnival at Worchester Mass - he gave her a ride and during the ride a cat ran across the course - Walden had to tip the sled and the passengers. Short very soon forgave him and soon became a breeder and racer of Chinook dogs too." N8- In March 1926, Walden showed off the abilities of the new Chinook breed in a way never before attempted. Nancy 4800 "He undertook to conquer Mt Washington and Walden loved being a showman and being on stage - he loved that. And climbing Mt Washington sounded like a really good idea - he had the press along with him and they started out and hit winds of around 80 mph and they made it to the half way house and couldn't go on. The press was thinking were not going to make it this year. But people who opened their newspapers 2 days later saw the headline - the next day he got started and got up to the point where the snow was crusted and had to put on creepers. N9- While Walden and his dogs were climbing to the sky in NH. World-renowned explorer, Admiral Richard Byrd was in Boston planning a historical trip of his own. Newspaper headlines - South Pole expedition Nancy 5048 "Walden went down and said you are going to need dogs teams and Byrd said yes I guess I will." N10 - Admiral Byrd and Arthur Walton had a deal. The 56 year old dog handler from NH would be responsible for moving 650 tons of materials across the frozen Pole. Nancy 5140 "I don't know if Byrd paid anything for the services that Walden offered. It was something Byrd could not refuse. It was an opportunity too wonderful." N11- In Wonalancet, Walden assembled a team of 94 dogs - mostly Alaskan Malomut huskies. Nancy 5301 "And for the most part it was those dogs that made up the 94 but there were 16 Chinook dogs because there weren't that many Chinooks. So there were 2 full teams and some spare parts of Chinooks that went along. Archival footage of ships carrying supplies N12 - It was 1928 - Walden, Byrd and a boat load of dogs departed for Antarctica. Meanwhile, at home in NH, Short Seeley, who now owned half of Walden's kennels, tended to Mrs. Walden who was showing signs of dementia. After weeks at sea, her husband's ship made it to within eight miles of where Byrd planned to build the exploration base, Little America. It was time for Walden's dogs to start their journey. The veteran - Chinook, led the team. Nancy 237/324 "They had to truck in every bit of fuel, food, every building material - everything. Conditions were terrible and dog power was the only way they had to move anything." N13- Antarctica was much different from what Walden expected. Desolate, barren and lacking signs of life, the adventurer found the going rough. Nancy 257 "And there were times when sleds went into crevasses and the dogs had to pull them out. There were accidents and it was absolutely vital that there were men and dogs who could do the job." N14- Besides battling the natural elements, Walden was having problems with Byrd. Nancy 5656 "Byrd would want to give an order and his suggestions came across as orders to Walden who had been a rebel all his life and that caused some friction particularly when he was given orders about dogs that were his own and Walden resented that and Byrd resented Walden resenting it. They did not get along." N15- Despite the conflict, the team pushed on -- but the worst was yet to come. Nancy 345 "On the eve of Chinooks 12th birthday according to Walden, Chinook came to him and put his paw on his shoulder and pawed him and this is what Walden swears Chinook's father did on the eve of his 12th birthday before he died." Shot/sound/music of Antarctic N16- That night, Chinook disappeared. Nancy 422 "He didn't come back. They went and searched. Eventually they found a crevasse with a ledge half way down and no one knew how far down it went that had dog prints on the ledge below and there were scratches on the wall as if the dog tried to jump back up. The assumption is that Chinook fell, tried to get back up and fell the rest of the way and was killed instantly." Stills of Chinook / newspaper headlines and music N17 - January 1929 - Arthur Walden's beloved dog was gone. "Until we left the ice, Walden never stopped grieving for and talking about his lost companion." Wrote one of Walden's assistants. Fade to black Nancy 510 "When he came back, the state of NH wanted to honor him they said well have a big celebration and were going to name 113A Walden highway and Walden said no name it the Chinook trail." Shots/music of memorial along 113A N18 - During Walden's year and half absence, his wife required extensive medical care. Short Seeley paid the bills. The debt to the Seeleys was substantial and there was only one way for Walden to pay it off. Nancy 19 "The ownership of the kennels passed from Walden to the Seeleys and there after it was the Seeleys who leased dogs to the expeditions." N19 - Seeley's kennels never came close to the success of Walden's. Over the years, the number of Chinooks plunged. Nancy 345 "There were only a handful of dogs in various places in the US and I mean a handful - were talking maybe 30 or 50 and it looked like the Chinooks were going to pass out of the American scene altogether." N19 - An article on Chinooks written by Nancy Cowen for Yankee magazine helped rekindle interest in the breed. Today the population has rebounded to more than 300. Shots of John with his dogs John Donais 512/802 'I like their temperament. These are the most non-aggressive dogs that I've ever seen that will pull a sled all day long - pull their heart out and then curl up on the couch with you and watch TV. When you have a dog that is native to this country, native to this state especially you just don't want that to go away its part of state history." N20- Walden's life ended in the spring of 1947. He died of injuries while saving his wife Kate from a house fire. The dogs he brought to the world are his legacy - their accomplishments are his honor. Nancy 1505/1608 "To NH it's just like the granite, its part of the wonderful lore and legacy that went on here. I would love for school children to know that in NH their state was key to - every one of those expeditions spring boarding from this state. They were in their day just like us launching men toward the moon. So I think you can say that Chinooks are very important to NH and the US in the role that they played in enabling that moon shot to Antarctica." |
| Tag Chinook Dogs Return to index of stories... |
Owners of Chinook dogs make annual pilgrimages to a different state every year. 2005 was the first time the "Chinook specialty dog show" brought the dogs "home" to New Hampshire. |
| Intro Sara Hale Return to index of stories... |
Newport's own Sarah Josepha Hale was a pioneer of her time. Each year when you give thanks on Thanksgiving Day. you should thank Sarah Josepha Hale for the holiday -- she led the charge advocating for the holiday. , , |
| Sara Josepha Hale Return to index of stories... |
Sarah J Hale Script Snow scenes /music N1 - In the closing months of 1822, a fierce winter storm crept through the hills north of Newport, NH. On foot was David Hale. Exposed to the elements, he hiked for miles - heading for home. It's a trek that would later take David's life. He died of pneumonia in the winter of 1822. Fade to black Painting of Sarah N2- This is David's wife, his widow - Sarah Josepha Hale. Stuart 436/530 "She had eight or nine years of marital bliss, she got along well with her husband and they had four children and one on the way. She went from happiness with a husband and 5 kids to a life of financial insecurity." Judith - describes how devastated Sarah was N3- Sarah's life was about to change and the transformation would be dramatic. Judith - describe Sarah prior to David's death Stuart 2330 "Her concept of a woman's role was more than cooking a good meal and keeping house. Her concept was more a matter of the spirit and soul. Her concept was that women had more superior qualities than men in many areas." N4- Sarah dismissed talk of equality amongst men and women. Equality she felt was a step down for many women. Stuart 311 "And the wonderful line she used was to seek equality would be to judge the excellence of porcelain by its resemblance to iron." N5 - But financial insecurity plagued Sarah. So to earn money, she published a book of her poems. Judith - how she went on to write book of poems soon after David's death Stuart 555 "And it was the little book of poems that got her notierty. Even though she didn't receive much formal education she received excellent tutoring from her brother, mother and husband." Judith - about the success of her book of poems Stuart 624 "Which was a wonderful statement about NE domestic life and by bringing in southern characters it was a jux-ta-postion the way of the NE and the southern way of life. It talked about slavery and how slavery was a corrupting influence in life. This is early for that type of talk even the radical abolitionist didn't come to NH until about 1835, here it was 1827." N5b - Northwood was successful and it caught the attention of a Boston man who was launching a magazine for women. He hired Sarah as the editor. Judith - she was invited to Boston to edit magazine Stuart 711 "And she does the one thing that she says you shouldn't do - she leaves the domestic life and leaves 4 of the 5 children to be raised by family." Judith - how difficult that was for her Shots of magazines N6- Godey's Lady's Book brought Sarah national attention. Under her editorship, subscriptions soared from 25,000 to 150,000. Judith - success of magazine Stuart 1852 "She was not the first women editor but the first of a major magazine and she established modern editorial standards. She wanted original works for her magazine and I can see her taking the works of Poe, Emerson and Longfellow who wrote for her magazine and saying - we need to edit this." Judith - how she furthered women's causes in the magazine N6b- Sarah used her editorial privileges to further advance causes such as education and healthcare for women. Stuart 820 "And yes she takes on the cause of Thanksgiving." VO reading Thanksgiving editorial from the magazine Judith - why Thanksgiving was important to Sarah N7 - Thanksgiving was a forty year effort for Sarah. Stuart 1030 "As she advocated for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday she realized she should go to the president himself, so she went to Lincoln. Image of letter to Lincoln Stuart 1040 "So in the middle of the civil war he made the last Thursday in November the official Thanksgiving proclamation. Judith - what was it about Sarah that enabled her to do this N8- Sarah continued to edit and write until her ninetieth year. Shot of book / reading of Mary Had A Little Lamb N9- Over the years, Mary's professional and personal ideals continued to evolve. Stuart 1747 "She continued to look at the world around her and saw a lot of families that weren't middle class and were working in mill towns and cities and women were out there working - they had to. She began to accommodate that and realized that women ought to do more than be the mistress of the household." Sarah image and music N10- At age 91, Mary joined her beloved David. Part of her legacy is celebrated once a year in America. The rest of Sarah's legacy is embedded in our everyday lives. Stuart 2350 "Sarah wouldn't have cared who won an election -- she would have cared about the moral health of the country in the long run. I think she was a moral compass for us in the 19th century. Even if all women didn't care for the direction that compass pointed." Judith - talk about Sarah's legacy |
| Tag Sara Hale Return to index of stories... |
In 18-77, Thomas Edison made the first recording of sound reading Sarah Josepha Hale's "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on the first tinfoil cylinder phonograph. |
| Goodnight Return to index of stories... |
That concludes this New Hampshire Outlook special on "New Hampshire Originals" we hope you enjoyed the program. From the Museum of New Hampshire History in Concord, I'm Beth Carroll. For all of us at New Hampshire Public Television, thanks for watching. |
| Credits Return to index of stories... |
Thanks to: Museum of NH History NH Historical Society Chinook photos & video courtesy: Nancy Cowan Host Beth Carroll Producer Kim Piela Producer/Videographer/Editor Steve Giordani Segment Producers Allison McNair Phil Vaughn Researchers Susan Hajdu-Vaughn Liz Plourde Graphics Schuyler Scribner Charlene Wood Audio Stephanie Cottrell Production Manager Marc Diessner Executive Producer Dawn DeAngelis Assistant General Manager Kelly Clark General Manager Peter Frid |