The Origin of the Boston Post Cane
In 1909, under the savvy ownership of Edwin A. Grozier, the Boston Post engaged in its most famous publicity stunt. The paper had several hundred ornate, gold-tipped canes made and contacted the selectmen in New England’s largest towns. The Boston Post Canes were given to the selectmen and presented in a ceremony to the town’s oldest living man.[6]. Between 400 to 600 of the fancy walking sticks were sent to towns in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire, each engraved on the head. In 1909 Newmarket had a large enough population to qualify it the prestige of being a large NH town.
The custom was expanded to include a community’s oldest women in 1930. Many towns in New England still carry on the Boston Post cane tradition with the original canes they were awarded in 1909.
No official town record has been found of the many men and women so honored over the many years; however the Town of Newmarket began an honor roll in 1977 of these grand residents. The honor roll is displayed alongside the original cane at the Town Hall. The list of Newmarket recepients published here was compiled by Kathy Castle before she retired as the Town Administrative Secretary and John Carmichael of the New Market Historical Society.
Newmarket continues the tradition with replica canes. The original was lost for a while, but was returned by a family member. Newmarket’s cane is 36 inches long, the shaft of African ebony, the engraved brass head covered in 14 karat gold, inscribed with the words “presented by the Boston Post to the Oldest Citizen of Newmarket, N.H.”
The Boston Post was the most popular daily newspaper in New England for over a hundred years before it folded in 1956. The Post was founded in November 1831 by two prominent Boston businessmen, Charles G. Greene and William Beals.
By the 1930s, The Boston Post had grown to be one of the largest newspapers in the country, with a circulation of well over a million readers. Throughout the 1940s, facing increasing competition from the Hearst-run papers in Boston and New York and from radio and television news, the paper began a decline from which it never recovered.
In 1909, The Boston Post described the cane as:
“The cane is a splendid specimen made by J. F. Fradley & Co. of New York, widely recognized as the leading manufacturers of fine canes. The materials used in the Boston Post cane are the best obtainable. The sticks are of Gaboon ebony from the Congo, Africa. They are shipped to this country in logs, about seven feet long, and then cut into stick lengths. They are allowed to dry for six months, so they will be thoroughly seasoned. After this they are carefully examined; all cracked, warped or otherwise imperfect sticks are discarded. The perfect ones are then turned to the desired sizes on a lathe, and allowed about three months for further drying. They are given a coat of shellac and rubbed down with pumice, coated with the finest quality of French varnish and then polished by hand with very fine pumice and oil. It takes about a year from the time the ebony logs are cut to produce a perfect stick.
“The gold in the heads of the Post canes is of 14 karat fineness. It is rolled into sheets, cut to the desired size and soldered in a conical tube, then placed in a sectional steel chuck or form, which admits of its being drawn into the exact shape of the finished head. The tops are first cut into discs, and then soldered to the cane after it has been shaped. They are then filled with a hard composition and “chased,” or ornamented, by hand, after which this composition filling is removed and they are sent to the polishing room for final finishing.
“The Boston Post cane is not merely an ornamental cane. It is designed for everyday usage and will last for many years.”