Born in 1898, Mrs. Eagar talks about her grandfather Thomas, a sea captain who left the Cape in 1849 to find gold in California.  He was unsuccessful in making a fortune and came back after 8 years.  He started a livery service on the Cape.  Her father also worked in the livery service.  He would transport summer visitors from the train station and to the stores and events on the Cape.  She remembers his first auto that he used in the livery service.  She also recalls the Grange and her father being a founding member.  Her father had the distinction of being the oldest Deputy Sherriff in the United States.  He retired at 94.  Mrs. Eagar remembers minstrel shows in the winter, debates at the Lyceum, being a member of the Christian Endeavor Society and as a youth signing the Temperance Pledge.  She remembers fondly Mr. and Mrs. Richardson who ran the Sign of the Motor Car, a tea room in Dennis.  The couple taught local children how to dance and sponsored plays for local children and adults.  She describes the start of the Dennis Playhouse with Raymond Moore buying some pasture land near the center of Dennis and recalls the history of the buildings prior to becoming a playhouse.  Her father would drive the actors to and from the train.  She describes social dances at the Nobscussett Hotel and tells of meeting her future husband there in 1914.  Mrs. Eagar describes what dating was like as a young woman.  She also remembers that her mother never went to the store.  The stores would visit the house in the morning, take your order and deliver in the afternoon.  She describes the staggering of butchering a pig and sharing with a neighbor.  She also describes holidays on Cape Cod, visiting relatives and exchanging gifts.   

Notes: The Tales of Cape Cod Oral History Collection is housed at the William Brewster Nickerson Archives in the Wilkens Library at Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable, Massachusetts. For more information about the collection, please contact the Nickerson Archives, http://www.nickersonarchives.org/.