Cape Cod History

January 30 - 1969: Nantucket clamps down on hippies; 2007: Recession begins here; 2007: Police divers recover body from Lady of Grace

1969: Shoeless on the island no longer

On this day in 1969, as reported by  United Press International -

NANTUCKET, Mass. - Hippies can walk Nantucket beaches barefooted this summer but they may have to wear sandals or shoes to eat.

The Board of Selectmen disclosed Wednesday it has recommended to the forthcoming annual town meeting three bylaws designed to discourage hippies from mixing and mingling on this sedate resort island off Cape Cod.

One recommendation would prohibit bare feet in a restaurant, drug store, public dining room or bar. The penalty would be a $25 fine.

The selectmen would also ban: Sleeping at night in a boat or on a float in Nantucket and Madaket harbors without a permit, and sleeping on beaches or on other certain public and private property between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. without permission of the owner.

2007: Was this the beginning of the "Great Recession" on Cape Cod?
Puritan Clothing closes Orleans store with no warning

Now there are four. Abe Penn began Puritan Clothing Company in Plymouth in 1919 and by 1925 had expanded to Chatham.  Stores in Hyannis, Orleans, Mashpee and Falmouth followed, but last Saturday the third generation started shrinking the clothing company's operations by closing the Orleans location in the Orleans Shopping Mall on Route 6 abruptly and with no notice.

An employee blamed the lack of "walking traffic" in Orleans, but after four decades in town it's more likely there were other factors.

Founder Abe Penn once said, "I'd rather make a friend than a sale." He lost a few of both last Saturday in Orleans.

2007: Police divers recover body from Lady of Grace

On this day in 2007 the  State Police divers recovered one body from a sunken fishing vessel in frigid waters off Nantucket on Monday, after the Coast Guard suspended the search for four crewmen who had been missing for more than two days. Divers found the body at about 2:30 p.m. in the wheelhouse of the Lady of Grace after diving for nearly nine hours, state police said in a statement Monday night.

The body, which has not been identified, was taken to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Boston... Coast Guard investigators said the Lady of Grace maintained a current safety registration and was certified at a Fishing Vessel Safety program in New Bedford last year. Inspectors from a Coast Guard cutter boarded the boat on Jan. 8 and found no violations, Petty Officer Luke Penneo said.