Category Archives: Friday Flashback

Friday Flashback #459

Posted on July 18, 2025 | 10 comments

Stevan Dohanos drew a remarkable 123 covers for the Saturday Evening Post.

Living in Westport, he drew inspiration from many local scenes.

And he used many Westport residents as models.

Millions of Americans enjoyed this Saturday Evening Post cover on July 20, 1946 — almost 79 years ago, to the day. It was almost certainly inspired by — and drawn in — Westport:

Though a few of the boys wear uniforms, they are not Westport Little Leaguers. The organization did not begin here until 1954.

Do you recognize the house? It looks like it could be on Riverside Avenue, Imperial Avenue, Compo Road South — or many other places in town.

And — a longer stretch — does anyone know any of the kids?

If you’ve got any insights into the back story of this work called “Star Pitcher,” click “Comments” below.

Play ball!

(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)

10 Comments

Posted in Arts, Friday Flashback, Sports

Tagged baseball, Stevan Dohanos

Friday Flashback #458

Posted on July 11, 2025 | 10 comments

From its founding in the mid-1600s through the end of World War II, Westport was very much a farming community.

The post-war baby boom influx of young families — not unlike what’s happened since COVID — brought dramatic changes to town.

Demand for housing was strong. From the 1940s through ’70s, many acres of farmland was sold to developers.

A few farms hung on longer. One was on the west side of North Avenue, not far from Long Lots Road.

For many years it was owned by the Rippe family. Produce grown there was sold at their stand on the Post Road. Now it’s the Harvest Commons condominiums (hence the name).

In its last iteration, it was Buster’s. Westporters swore it was the best corn they ever tasted.

(Photo/Ene T. Bonnyay, courtesy of Eric Bosch)

Today, Buster’s has been replaced by Greystone Farm Lane.

The name means nothing — there was no “Greystone Farm.”

But that’s why the architects stuck faux silos on the sides of the homes.

10 Comments

Posted in Environment, Friday Flashback

Tagged Buster's, Greystone Farm Lane, North Avenue, Rippe's Farm

Friday Flashback #457

Posted on July 4, 2025 | 4 comments

Westport loves Independence Day.

Our fireworks are the biggest, best and most fun party of the year. Nearly the entire town turns out.

We think we’re pretty cool.

But our forefathers (and foremothers) knew how to celebrate too.

Tom Lowrie was not around in 1876 (though, born on July 3, 1928, he missed it by only 52 years).

Yet he found this very intriguing news story from The Westporter. Published 4 days after the big centennial anniversary, it gives a vivid description of a very memorable day.

Why a 38-gun salute, and 38 young ladies dressed in white?

That was the number of states in the Union, 149 years ago today.

4 Comments

Posted in Friday Flashback

Tagged July 4 1876, Tom Lowrie

Friday Flashback #456

Posted on June 27, 2025 | 9 comments

What’s next for Saugatuck?

Will the Hamlet — the retail/residential/event space/marina complex — be built there? Or will a massive 8-30g housing complex rise instead?

No one knows yet. But a great deal of attention has been paid, by town officials and residents, to the corner of Riverside Avenue and Railroad Place.

That’s an important spot — at the train station, near the railroad underpass — with a storied past.

Back in the 1890, it housed Westport’s post office (far right in the photo below), and a few stores.

(Photo courtesy of Christopher Maroc)

The post office today is Steam Coffee Bar. More stores — and restaurants — are nearby.

Unlike today, parking did not seem to be an issue.

9 Comments

Posted in Friday Flashback, Saugatuck

Tagged Railroad Place

Friday Flashback #455

Posted on June 20, 2025 | 5 comments

The crowds at last weekend’s “No Kings” protest on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge got us thinking about that very busy span.

In the 1930s — long before the bridge’s namesake came to town — it was much narrower than today.

Traffic was far less intense. We see just one vehicle, in the photo below:

The view looks east. There is National Hall, in the lower left. The buildings housing Stephen Kempson London, Arezzo and other businesses and apartments are at the lower right.

Nearly a century ago, the Saugatuck River lapped up against the backs of Main Street stores. It would be 2 decades more before Parker Harding Plaza was built, on landfill.

Just over the bridge, on the left, was the original Westport Public Library (before the Starbucks addition). Behind it is the YMCA (now Anthropologie); beyond that is the church that is now the Seabury Center), on the Church Lane/Elm Street corner.

What else do you notice? Click “Comments” below.

5 Comments

Posted in Downtown, Friday Flashback

Tagged Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge

Friday Flashback #454

Posted on June 13, 2025 | 14 comments

School’s out! Summer is here!

Back in the day, most teenagers had summer jobs — including (like me) at Chubby Lane’s, the Compo Beach concession stand that sat where the volleyball courts are now.

It was a great experience (despite the knee-length socks we had to wear). We were at the beach. We made money. We got free food.

And our friends were right there, hanging out for hours nearby.

Chubby’s, back in the day. (Photo copyright Studio Astute/courtesy of Jack Whittle)

Things have changed. The concession stand — formerly Joey’s, recently Hook’d, now Bluestone — is in a bigger, less welcoming space.

The menu is bigger too (and pricier).

And teenagers spend their days at college ID clinics for sports. They go to college application essay writing boot camps. They work at internships in law offices, real estate offices, financial planning offices.

Their time for just hanging out is limited.

Saddest of all, they will never know the joy of biting into a juicy Chubby’s cheeseburger, cooked by a friend.

And slipped to them through the ice cream window, for free.

(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!

Another view of Chubby’s. There was curbside parking — no need for a beach sticker to enjoy a burger. (Photo courtesy of Liz Doyle Boyd)

14 Comments

Posted in Beach, Friday Flashback

Tagged Chubby Lane's

Friday Flashback #453

Posted on June 6, 2025 | 9 comments

The Fairfield County Hunt Club has been in the news lately.

The low-key organization near the Fairfield line is building a new indoor tennis and squash facility.

They’ve got outdoor courts already, plus a pool and more. But equestrian sports have been a mainstay, ever since the club’s founding 101 years ago.

Polo events and horse shows draw non-member crowds. Through the 1970s, riders on horseback could be seen on Long Lots Road.

In the 1950s, Life Magazine showcased the Fairfield County Hunt Club. This scene offered, for readers across the country, a look into what they may have thought was typical for a town like ours: