All I Ever Wanted

On Wednesday, the Boston Athenaeum will unveil its terrific collection of advertising prints, photographs, maps, sheet music covers, and large-scale chromolithographs related to vacationing in Northern New England between 1825 and 1900. The exhibit, which is free and open to the public through August 22, is titled "Always Delightfully Cool.” It reminds us that in the years between, say, the Louisiana Purchase and the construction of Disneyland, the nation's most popular vacation sites were the mountains, lakes , and beaches of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

The lithographs of enormous Victorian hotels in Moosehead Lake, Maine, for example, or Plymouth, N.H., are a blast from the past. But I'm particularly charmed by the frolicking beachgoers on the 1881 timetables for the Boston & Hingham Steamboat Co. and Nantasket Beach Railroad Co. True, those of us who grew up in the past half-century, during which the amusement park at Hull's Nantasket Beach was torn down, Hingham residents opposed the restoration of the Greenbush commuter line, and the waters of Boston Harbor were polluted, may feel like we missed out on all the fun. But these days, the Harbor is clean, Hull's bath house and carousel have been spruced up, and the 48-years-dormant Greenbush line is back in action. Let the frolicking begin.

Here are a few samples from the Athenaeum's collection. Click on each image to see a larger version.

The exhibit runs through August 22, which I happen to know is Carl Yastrzemski's 69th birthday. But I don't think that's relevant. The Athenaeum is located at 10 1/2 Beacon Street on Beacon Hill near the State House. Admission is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. (closed summer Saturdays starting May 24). For more information, call (617) 227-0270 or visit www.bostonathenaeum.org.