First aeroplane soared over Bangor like ‘graceful white-winged bird’
Harry Atwood, the daredevil aviator, gazed down on Main Street in this postcard commemorating the Bangor Street Fair and Carnival of 1912. Atwood’'s appearance at the event was intended to mark the Queen City’'s recovery from the great fire of the year before.
By Wayne E. Reilly, Special to the BDN
from: bangordailynews.com
June 10, 2012
The Ferrari-Bostock Animal Shows and Circus spread its acts across the downtown — a wild animal show in East Market Square, a musical comedy company in Haymarket Square, a “crystal maze” on State Street where the old Post Office in the Kenduskeag Stream had burned, a vaudeville tent on Central Street featuring a professional wrestler offering $25 to anyone he couldn’t throw in 15 minutes and much more. The purpose, of course, was to encourage people to shop in the newly rebuilt stores.
Plenty of other attractions aimed to attract shoppers. Daily parades featured brass bands, decorated automobiles and fraternal organizations too numerous to mention. Five U.S. Navy torpedo boats with 300 sailors tied up in the harbor. A 10-mile marathon was conducted between Orono and Bangor, while an uphill car race on Cedar Street’s steep incline gave auto enthusiasts the opportunity to test the power of their engines.
The biggest event by far at this “monster carnival,” however, was the appearance of Harry N. Atwood, currently the nation’s most famous aviator, the daredevil who would finally show Bangoreans what the 20th century looked like as he soared over the city.
read more at:http://bangordailynews.com/2012/06/10/living/first-aeroplane-soared-over-bangor-like-graceful-white-winged-bird/
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