Book Description and Contents
Book Description and Contents
Click here to see a youtube video of this book
The first part of the book was designed as part of a display for Pittsfield’s 250th Anniversary in 2011. This Transportation section is based on the elements of Air, Water, Fire and Earth. Air covers the role of gas balloons in Pittsfield and early aviation. Fire provides an overview of fire apparatus, stations and related events while water highlights the recreation boats on the lakes. Earth is divided into trains trolleys, buses and autos covering the history and photos of all four including the three auto manufacturers in Pittsfield.
The major part of the book is the story section about places and people from the 1950s through 1970s with many rare pictures. Some historic events are included that we might have heard about as kids during those times. Here are some of the subjects:
The Deed to Pittsfield
Downtown Pittsfield
Busy Bee Restaurant
Red’s Dairy Bar
First Parking Meters
The Sheila Boat
Penguin Drive-In 
Sea Bee Sinking Ship Sculpture
North Street Electronic Bulletin Board
Pittsfield’s Downtown Lion Hunt
The First Escalator
Friendly”s Awful Awful Shake
Mickle’s Grove
Round Gasholder Building
Clarabell Comes to Pittsfield
The Bookmobile
O B Joyful
Safety Patrols
Pitt the Dragon Float
Freihofer Breadtime Stories
Pittsfield’s Wooden Street Signs
Pontoosuc lake Memories
Lafayette Boat
Berkshire Park
Pittsfield High Quonset Huts
Happyland
Sparky the Fire dog
Peter’s Choo Choo
The Lighthouse Gas Station
The Elephant and the Dowser
Radio Days
Famous Magician from Pittsfield
The Showboat and Doc Circe
Balloons and the Aero Park
Park Sq. Popcorn Wagon
The book begins with an overview of transportation, including ballooning, airplanes, cars, trucks, boats, trolleys and trains. It then moves into vignettes with photos about landmarks and events. Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) may have tears viewing the pictures and recalling the carefree days of their childhood. Stories cover such items as Happyland, Red’s Dairy Bar, Pitt the Dragon, Mickle’s Grove, the Park Square Popcorn Wagon, the Busy Bee, the Penguin, the Sheila, the Lafayette, Balloon Races, O B Joyful, the Showboat and much more.
The Author: Jim Shulman
Pittsfield native, Jim Shulman, loved growing up in the Berkshires in the 1950s and 1960s and has been an amateur local historian and ephemera collector since then. In this soft cover volume of nearly 300 pages with 300 photos and clippings, he shares with the reader nostalgic views of people, places and events from his youth. As he researched the topics, he met many interesting folks who provided information
unique to their
families and the Berkshires.
This book is one of Jim’s contributions to the Berkshire Carousel project that he and his wife, Jackie, founded. The goal of the project is to train volunteers on how to carve and paint carousel figures and to build a carousel in the Berkshires. It is a grassroots effort that has given participants a sense of pride in their community and an opportunity to create memories for future generations, much like the ones in this book.
All income from the book will go to the Berkshire Carousel, a 501-c-3 non-profit charitable organization.
