Welcome back to Behind the Stacks. A new month means new Take and Make kits from our Ora Mason library. This month, adults can take home a Floral Infusion Bath Soak–this DIY soak is crafted to gently infuse warm water with soothing botanicals, inviting relaxation and quiet reflection for a soft, floral self-care moment. Children can stop by to pick up their very own Seed Starter Kit. Everything you need is included except water and sunshine to help your seeds sprout. All Take and Make kits are on a first come, first serve basis–while supplies last.
On March 10, kids in grades 6 through 12 are invited to stop by the Main Library for this month’s Teen Hang-Out: DIY Junk Journals where they can create their own personalized junk journal out of a plain notebook. Relax and get creative while you enjoy snacks & meet new people. We will provide all the supplies you need, but if you have pictures or specific items you would like to include in your junk journal, feel free to bring them.
As a reminder, the library hosts a free Adult Yoga session every other Saturday. Our next session will be Saturday, March 14 at 10:30 a.m. We are also extremely excited to launch our new monthly language Conversational Groups. These informal conversation sessions are the perfect opportunity to practice your language skills in a welcoming environment with others learning the same language as you. Spanish learners can stop by the Main Library on March 19 at 6 p.m.; and English learners can drop in on March 26 at 6 p.m.
As a new addition to our column, we would like to introduce Archival Oddities. Our Reference Associate, Shane, has been spending lots of time down in our archives, sifting through tons of old West Haven newspapers, files, and documents. Occasionally, something of note will catch his eye, so let’s find out what unique and interesting things he’s come across this time: Take it away, Shane.
“It feels like a regular occurrence here in the century-old reference room that I get asked by a patron, ‘What’s the weirdest thing you have on record?’ As I continue to organize and itemize our dense collection of West Haven history, I do think there are more than a few tidbits that could satisfy that question, one of which is the Laughing Lady.
“The Laughing Lady was a staple of the Savin Rock Amusement Park that once crowned the shoreline. She was an eight-foot papier-mache mannequin that rocked back and forth in the window of the Death Valley Fun House attraction while a laugh track played ad nauseum. To adults she was perplexing, to children she was a source of nightmares, but to local collector Harold Hartmann, she was his mission.
“Mr. Hartmann’s love of the horrifying harlequin goes all the way back to when she was purchased for the Fun House by its owner, Sam Applebaum. Until its closure in 1967, the Fun House purchased oddities and collectables from around the country; this particular piece was from New York City. Harold Hartmann oversaw her repairs, claiming
“‘About four or five times a year I would have to do something. A lot of times the wooden cam that made her rock back and forth would wear down and I’d have to make new cams out of rock maple’ Hartmann told visitors. By the time he appeared in my files, Mr. Hartmann was 75 years old, retired, but nowhere near slowed down.
“In his years-long pursuit of the Laughing Lady and her molded paper gap-toothed grin, Mr. Hartmann travelled to Florida, Ohio, New York, and all throughout New England meeting with carnival collectors and antiques dealers, hoping to catch his questing beast. He was interviewed by local news outlets describing her in vivid detail along with his plans to put her in a museum. Some would look and see fanaticism; but I envy his passion. Did he ever succeed? In truth, I do not know.
“The story of Harold Hartman is one that has stuck with me in the years since I catalogued the copies of old newspapers that introduced us, but I may never learn what happened between that puzzling Pagliaccio and Mr. Harold Hartman. Sometimes I imagine he found her and their reunion was saccharine, and other times I imagine her gone like the carnival she came from. It makes me think about my own life and the goals I set no matter how ludicrous they are, would I ever be satisfied if I never saw them through? There’s a quote from an old episode of Doctor Who that rings in my mind at times like this, ‘The thrill is in the hunt, but never in the catch.’”