Back in Time for Dinner with Amelia Earhart

A few weeks ago there was something on NH Chronicle about female pilots in New Hampshire. I immediately thought of Amelia Earhart, probably the most famous female pilot of all time, and wondered if she was ever in the Monadnock Region. She was.

Here’s what we know…

In the summer of 1931 Earhart and her husband, publisher George Putnam, were guests at Loon Point on Dublin Lake. Loon Point was the summer home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Lindon Smith of Boston and the destination of many famous guests. Mrs. Smith and George Putnam were cousins.

By that summer Amelia was already making a name for herself. She was a pioneer in defying gender roles and reject

ing social norms. In 1928 she was the first woman to cross the Atlantic in an aircraft as part of a 3-person crew. In 1929 she helped form the Ninety-Nines, an international group working for the advancement of female aviators. Her visit to Dublin that summer was big news.

During a later visit by Earhart, the Smiths organized a “Fairy Play” to be performed on the shores of Dark Pond near their home. Children from both Dublin and Peterborough summer colonies took part in the play.

Before she left the Smith compound, Amelia was asked to add her signature to the Smith’s wooden bench. This bench, which is covered with signatures of famous people who visited Loon Point, is preserved at the Dublin Historical Society.

After her Dublin visit, Earhart went on to add more to her list of accomplishments including being the second pilot (following Charles Lindbergh) and first female to accomplish a solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic. And finally, at age 39, Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan attempted to circumnavigate the globe in their plane. Sadly they never reached their destination. They were last heard from on July 2, 1937. Their wreckage has never been found.

Here’s what I imagine…

I would like to have been at Loon Point on the day of Earhart’s first visit to Loon Point. She and her husband never had any children but I’m sure she would have taken the time to talk to any children in attendance. In particular, there’s a good chance she would have told them to work hard and follow their dreams, and that nothing was impossible, for boys and for girls.

The Smiths of Loon Point were certainly used to entertaining so I’m quite sure their staff would have been passing around tasty treats and refreshing drinks for those in attendance that day.

Here’s what we ate...

Prohibition was still in effect in the summer of 1931 so I assume the drinks served that day were non-alcoholic. Perhaps the drink called the Prohibition Daisy was served and one of the appetizers might have been Ham Canapes inspired by James Beard’s cookbook.

Ham Canapes

Prohibition Daisy

Next week we are Back in Time for Dinner with Thornton Wilder and Fletcher Dole!

Lorraine Walker is the Monadnock Center’s resident culinarian. When she isn’t serving up tasty treats from the Phoenix Mill House hearth, she can be found poring over historic cookbooks and local history documents in the archives.