Test your knowledge of West Hartford history with this ‘Thursday Throwback,’ courtesy of the Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society.

Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society

By Ronni Newton

Welcome to Throwback Thursday/Flashback Friday!

We’ve been offering some seasonally appropriate glimpes into West Hartford’s past, and this one (at right, and in larger size at the end of the article) is a seasonally appropriate for other reasons that you will have to determine. We all need a bit of a break from winter scenery, don’t we.

There is no doubt that Rick Liftig has won the prize for creativity in his comments about last week’s image! If that’s his version of “snark,” it’s welcome every time. Rick wrote: “I can’t resist the snark today. Preview – ‘Downton Abbey, Season 12: Granthams in America,’ ch. 24; 9:00pm. Thomas, the coachman, thinks that Lord and Lady Grantham have a few screws loose as he pushes the newly invented ‘Grantham sled’ across Wood Pond. Lord Grantham has dressed for the momentous occasion in Edwardian tie and tails. He is typically proud of the steering mechanism that he has developed, known today as: a ‘rope and blade.’ But, all is about to change for the Granthams as the thin ice ahead begins to crack. Tighe, the Grantham family dog, is clueless as to what is about to happen.”

While even the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society has no idea who all of the people were on what they call an “ice boat,” we do know that the photo was taken by the Craig family who lived on New Britain Avenue and it appears to have been taken at Wood Pond. Perhaps “Sir Craig” is one of the men in the photo. We will have to ask Rick to add these details to his well-crafted historical fiction.

Connie Reder agreed that Rick had the best answer. The only other guess was from John Maloney, who commented on Facebook: “Wild guess here….possibly an ice sled on Troutbrook?? The sled looks to be one used to haul the blocks of ice cut from the brook.”

Who knows anything about the group of people in this week’s photo? What were they doing? When was it taken? Why is it appropriate for this time of year?

Please add your memories, thoughts, and comments below.

Thank you to the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society for providing us with the images. For more information about the organization, visit www.noahwebsterhouse.org.

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Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society

Ice boating on Wood Pond. Photo taken by the Craig family. Courtesy Noah Webster House & West Hartford HIstorical Society