SIGNED EQUESTRIAN By LaRue Spiker EXTRAVAGANZA T HERE was an era when summering in Bar Har- ed shoreside mobility for everyone, and became a bor was in itself a status symbol, and the town status symbol which sometimes superseded the size bowed to no other community, even Newport, in its of cottages in measuring a family's social rank. fame as a summer resort. One local merchant still "The most colorful Bar Harbor family," wrote recalls glancing out his window at four men chatting Cleveland Amory in The Last Resorts, was the on a street corner nearby. They were J. P. Morgan, tribe of New York's William Jay Schieffelin. The en- Andrew Carnegie, Jacob Schiff, and John S. Kennedy. tire family, including their Vanderbilt mother, would John S. Kennedy (New York banker and railroad ride out each morning, eleven strong, on eleven black magnate) built a $200,000 "cottage" on the Shore mounts, each of the nine Masters and Misses Schieffe- Path. Joseph Pulitzer (New York World and St. lins going down, like steps, on smaller and smaller Louis Post-Dispatch) spent over $100,000 on Chat- ponies with the last one a tiny black Shetland." wold and expanded to the tune of $40,000 the next The arrival of the horses via the Mount Desert year. The Willows cost James A. Garland (New ferry from the railroad terminal across Frenchman York) $150,000. There were other cottages equally Bay marked the opening of the summer season. elaborate and many only slightly less SO. Driven up the hill from the landing and down Main Like wheels within wheels, there were symbols of Street by their attendants, the horses, decked out in status within the larger golden framework. An estate the gay colors of their respective stables, made a without stables was as inconceivable as a present more dramatic and colorful curtain-raiser than the ad- country home without an automobile. Horses provid- vent of their owners some days later. 40 DownLast magazine August 1967 Everybody who was anybody had horses - good contributes a scene which once seen will always re- horses. main a memory." One family, whose wealth was modest by compar- The efforts of those concerned did seem to pay ison only, required two box cars to transport its rid- off. The railroad and steamship lines gave excursion ing and carriage horses (with grooms, of course) rates, and an attendance of 20,000 was anticipated from Virginia. A family's rigs varied in number and the second year of the Show. By 1903 the Bar Har- type but the barest minimum included a victoria bor Record was able to report: "Early in the morn- for formal use, a cutunder for everyday use, and ing the streets were agog with carriages and foot pony carts for the children. Twelve families had passengers, and each incoming boat added to its tallyho coaches. High built and heavy, they required number." a team of four horses. Two liveried footmen perched In its early conception the event was to combine on the elevated rear seat, blasting mightily on their the features of a country fair with the exhibit of fine long brass horns to clear the way for the carriage. horses and rigs. Few felt any false modesty concerning their stab- les. Mrs. J. T. Bowen of Chicago has left a written O RIGINAL planning was done within the Bar account of the facilities necessary to keep her house- Harbor Board of Trade with Col. Edward Morrell hold mobile: of Philadelphia leading the enthusiasm. He made "We used to call our stable, which was quite a Robin Hood Park (later named Morrell Park and distance from the house, our Greek Temple, because now a part of the Jackson Laboratory) available. it looked exactly like a Greek temple from the out- Other men prominently associated with it during side. It was painted white like the house, and had the early days were Dr. Robert Amory, Herbert accommodations for about twenty vehicles and stalls Jacques, C. M. Biddle (Philadelphia), George B. for twenty-two horses. There was also a large harness Dorr ( of Acadia National Park fame), J. L. Ketter- room, and upstairs a big hay loft and two rooms with linus (Philadelphia), Philip Livingston (one of the bath for a coachman tallyho owners), L. B. Deasy (a Bar Harbor attorney "The grooms' liveries were very colorful. The men who became a Maine Supreme Court Justice), wore black boots with tan colored tops, white broad- William Fennelly (local storekeeper who kept a cloth breeches, dark blue cloth coats with silver stuffed horse in his display window), William M. buttons, white socks, heavy white gloves, and high Roberts (local hotelman), and others. silk hats. They had morning suits of black and white A corporation, the Bar Harbor Horse Show and cloth, cut-away coats and striped vests, wore black Fair Association, was formed and offered shares at leather puttees and tall black straw hats. When it $10 each. An estimated $3650 budget for prepara- was very cold, they wore dark blue astrakhan trim- tion of the grounds was submitted - inside rail, $200; med overcoats with much heavy braid across the track, $1000; grandstand, $500; advertising, $200; front." purses, $1400; clerical help and police, $350. The head coachman, who had five assistants, told Prominent judges were obtained, usually the same her that the overcoats cost $300 each. men who judged at the Madison Square Garden "Bar Harbor ought to make more effort not only shows. Although judging was based primarily on the to bring people here but to entertain them after quality and handling of the horses, they were fre- their arrival," editorialized the Mount Desert Her- quently decked out with gold and silver ornaments, ald in 1901. "Some special distinctive attempt at and the handlers wore the livery of their respective entertainment should be made, and it was from this stables. thought that the Bar Harbor horse show and fair was The program included riding and driving hors- gradually evolved, an enterprise that at once took es for ladies and gentlemen and ponies for children. a firm hold on the public favor and moved steadily One early competition included best saddle horse, on to gigantic success." best pair of driving horses and best single, best four- What was more obvious than a spectacle during in-hand team, best tandem team, ponies, draft hors- which all these fine horses and rigs could be dis- es, buckboard team, double or single used that season played for the pleasure of one and all? Out of this for public conveyance, best delivery team among the logic the Bar Harbor Horse Show was born. There merchants, and the best horse which had been used had been some equine events prior to the advent of for buckboards. the show, but they never achieved the brilliance of All was conducted with proper decorum. One lady, this display (which became the climax of the sum- sitting as a child in a reserved seat in the grand- mer season) during the first decade of the twentieth stand, remembers being sharply reproved by her eld- century. ers for applauding loudly when one of her friends "Imagine such a brilliant setting, and given the rode a pony onto the track. Competition waxed keen presence of society in stunning garb," wrote one en- at times, however, and sometimes created problems. thusiastic reporter of the show, "the magnificent ar- One year both the Ford and the Rockefeller child- rivals and the nobby traps, and the whole certainly ren entered their ponies. Some of the townspeople 41 The Bar Harbor Horse Show at its wealth and fashion peak. "Boxes" along the rail at Robin Hood Park (left and above) were reserved far in advance, and fine horses and well-turned out carriages (right) competed for prizes. The grand- stand (upper right) was athrong with ladies in large white hats. ROBIN HOOD PARK 1 BAR HARBOR responsible for the Show were reluctant to favor A Philadelphian named Storm, who operated a one family more than the other. As a result of their public livery stable at Bar Harbor during the summer, anxiety, two classes were created for ponies; the owned a fine horse which had never been raced. little Fords were maneuvered into one class, the A good many local people thought it superior to many little Rockefellers into the other. Awarding blue of the seasoned steeds which had been entered and ribbons was then no problem. urged Storm to enter his horse. The latter, however, Twice Edward McLean (Hope diamond, Wash- was without a jockey, which posed a problem for a ington Post, Cincinnati Enquirer), who took horses man of modest means. seriously, swept all before him. During one show, while dreaming frustrated dreams One season, after he had been having poor luck about his fine horse, he spied Ed Sawyer, an erst- with his entries, he imported eight beautiful horses while jockey turned driver of a public conveyance, from England and had Eleanora Sears and Dorothy leaning against the railing of the track. Here was a Forbes, two of New England's most famous horse- chance, Storm thought, to run his horse. Sawyer de- women, come in to ride them. He did all right that murred at first but was finally persuaded. The horse year but on a somewhat less spectacular scale than was brought up and the retired jockey, wearing the the season he brought in 100 horses and "really made dark sober clothing of his current trade, mounted the show that year," according to one Bar Harbor and took his place on the track. By the end of the resident. race Sawyer had left the other jockeys brushing his Both trotting and running races were scheduled dust from their gaily colored silks and had won a with purses ranging from $100 to $200. The purses hastily wagered $1000 bet for the horse's owner. represented about the same value to the money Space in the grandstand with a capacity of 800 to changing hands during the races as the blue ribbons 900, and especially its 100 reserved seats, were COV- did to the prestige of having a best in the show. eted by all and generally pre-empted by "society." Now and then there was a surprise. "In the stands were gowns of every description, 42 0 adding to the gayety of the picture," a reporter island - the first of a number of these outrageous wrote. "The whole gives one of the grandest spec- toys which soon began frightening innocent, expen- tacles that can be witnessed in the United States." sive horses and offending their sensitive owners. Ever sensitive to the news value of big names, the Influence properly placed in Augusta resulted in local press managed to add spangles to reports in- legislation barring the horrors from Mount Desert frequently available to country weeklies, taking de- Island roads. A colorful conflict arose in which the light in listing not only the participants in the show islanders, who could see some advantages in auto- but those attending. mobile travel, took one of their few overt and organ- The coaching and tallyho parties were especially ized stands in opposition to the summer colony. The fertile sources for this kind of reporting. "Boxes" - ban was maintained for a number of years, but even spaces along the track railing where guests could the combined prestige of the summer colonies in Bar park their teams and rigs for a ring-side seat - were Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor, and South- particularly intriguing to roving reporters. Names ap- west Harbor could do no more than fight a rear guard pearing in the accounts of these parties included Mr. action against the surge of history. and Mrs. J. T. Bowen, Capt. Thomas Bush, Mr. and Fine horseflesh must soon step aside for Dusen- Mrs. J. Montgomery Smith, Mrs. C. K. Wright, the bergs and Cadillacs. Riding habits would be sacri- Misses Pulitzer, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Coles, Mrs. E. ficed for goggles and ankle length dusters. The B. Kellogg, Mr. and Mrs. J. Pierpont Edwards, Mrs. Horse Show began to lose its charge. Alfred E. Dupont, Herbert Montgomery Sears, Ed- The last one was held August 20-21-22, 1912. win C. Gould, S. Megaree Wright. There was no mention of it in the local press. At- The show prospered for a number of years as an tempts were made to revive the show during ensu- important symbol of a way of life; but, from the very ing years, but subsequent shows never achieved an day of its inception, the handwriting was on the wall. equal success. Status was finding expression in other In 1896 Paul Hunt had built an automobile on the symbols. 43