"I was going through some drawers, when I came across a black box of pictures and negatives," says William Haselgard. "I went through them and found these."
Haselgard took the negatives to a local photo shop to see if prints could be made from them. These are two of the pictures made from the negatives. Another showed the frozen harbor from the Fort to Ten Pound Island.
Haselgard said the photos, taken in February 1934 when Gloucester Harbor froze over, were shot by his father, Albert, an employee of LePage's. "My mother was carrying me," said Haselgard, born two months later in April.
The top photo shows a man trying to chip ice away from a schooner frozen in the stream of the harbor. Norman's Woe Rock on Dolliver's Neck in Magnolia can be seen in the background to the right.
"You can see how far out it is, the boat is blocking the view of Ten Pound Island," he said.
Haselgard who was born two months later in April, said he was told workers went out with wagons and horses to unload fish from the boats that became icebound.
In the second photo, two unknown men flank "Junk" Johnson, left, and Haselgard's oldest brother, George. The men, who walked out on the ice, are standing somewhere between the Fort and Ten Pound Island. Haselgard said the two men on the outside look familar, but he doesn't know their names.
1934 was the year Johnson, who earned his nickname by a lifetime of recycling, was signed by the Red Sox to a minor league contract or sent to California for a tryout. He would marry his sweetheart the same year, and give up professional baseball to raise a family on Cherry Street. Johnson died in 2001; his wife died last year.
Haselgard said his brother George and Junk were very good friends. "Junk worked at Gorton's, my brother at LePage's. Back then, if you didn't work at Gorton's or LePage's, you didn't work in Gloucester," he said. "It wasn't very much money, but you got paid weekly."
"I'm the youngest of 11, I buried all the rest of them," Haselgard said of his siblings. "Then, we lived down by the bottom of the bridge, on what was known as Belford Street, now Perkins Street. It was another colony of Scandinavians down there."
Andrea Holbrook may be contacted at 978-283-7000 x3456, or aholbrook@gloucestertimes.com.
ABOUT THIS FEATURE
Looking Back is a regular feature to give readers a glimpse of Cape Ann's past through photographs. We are always looking for photos to print. Prints or negatives are required. Newspaper clippings and Xeroxes of photos will not reproduce clearly enough for the newspaper. Photos should be at least 25 years old and should be submitted with any information you know about the photo, as well as your name, address and phone number.
Send photos to the Times, care of Night Editor Jeff Pope, 978-283-7000, ext. 3454.
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