Message in a Bottle

Strawbery Banke Presents
HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH #227

Former Portsmouth librarian Sherm Pridham says this photo is filled with meaning for his family. It was taken about 1942 in the back yard of his grandmother Etta Jones. (Continued below)

 

 

 

HISTORIC PHOTOS of the Greater Portsmouth Area appear here week 

Today the site is the Lowd House at Strawbery Banke. His mother Blanche (right) and her two sister’s Hazel (left) and Mildred are standing. His Uncle Zeke (left) and his father’s friend Ikie Pierce are seated. But where is the father-to-be, also named Sherm Pridham? He was at war. Drafted into the infantry, Pridham served overseas. Uncle Zeke is holding a bottle of fine whiskey that the group agreed to open only when Pridham returned safely from World War II. Although officially listed as wounded and missing in action, Pridham did return to raise his family in Puddle Dock.

BONUS CLOSE-UPS

 

 

 This image from the book STRAWBERY BANKE:
A Seaport Museum 400 Years in the Making
by J. Dennis Robinson
(c) Strawbery Banke Museum Collection