This myth buster tale is brought to you from a little gem of a book I've owned since the Eighties. It's called Inside New England by Judson Hale, Editor of Yankee Magazine.
(photo courtesy of Dale Travis)
Joseph Allen of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, was a New Bedford News Reporter and then he wrote for the Vineyard Gazette. He also answered Yankee readers' questions for thirty-five years in his "Sayings of the Oracle" column. This is what Judson Hale of Yankee Magazine had to say about Joseph Allen and the Covered Bridge question:
‘Because he had grown old enough to speak or write exactly what was on his mind, and because I had pledged to him that while I might not use all his answers I would never edit a published answer, there were many things Joe wrote in his final years that I could not use. I was afraid of massive subscription cancellations.'
‘Here is his last reply to the covered bridge question, written about a month before he suffered the stroke that eventually proved fatal at age eighty-nine. It's heretofore unpublished (I just didn't have the guts) and it's quoted verbatim-forgive me, Joe:
Jesus for Guard Almighty, we thought all hands knew by this time. Bridges were covered, damn fool, for the same reason women used to wear petticoats-to protect their underpinnings. Ever hear that wood rots when it gets wet? Your asinine suggestion that they were covered to keep the snow off the road is dead wrong. In fact, I recollect throwing snow inside the bridges after a snowstorm so our sleighs wouldn't grind on the wood. As to the height of covered bridges, any simpleton would know it took some height to get a full haywagon through!'
Ah, you've got to love a good Yankee storytelling! Thanks for listening J
Check out this site for info on Covered Bridges in the Northeast.
Frances Sanderson, Franklin, NH REALTOR®, Certified EcoBroker®
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