Today we see a lot of travel brochures in restaurants and other public places and in some cases small booklets promoting wonderful places and things to do. This isn’t anything new, as in 1899, some local businesses in Monson published a booklet called “Monson, The Switzerland of Maine”. Evidently it was time to shout to the whole world what a paradise Monson Maine was. This booklet used to be kind of rare until a reproduction published in 1995 made it a lot more common.
It is interesting reading. There are advertisements from an outfitter in Boston, the Maine Central Railroad, Bangor & Piscataquis and Monson Railroads, Lake Hebron Hotel, J.F. Sprague, Monson’s resident lawyer, the Monson Maine Slate company which is behind all this advertising and finally Hind’s Black Fly Cream!
The first article on page nine explains how wonderful Monson is. The mountains and hills are beautiful, Lake Hebron is full of fish, the climate “has no superior” in Maine, (they didn’t say which season!) and there are panoramas everywhere.
The second article on page 27 gives a rather interesting account of the Monson Maine Slate Company. There are quite a few facts and figures concerning their product line.
And so, after reading this 32-page booklet anyone would want to go to Monson! It really is quite a scenic area. And of course the only way to get there, according to the booklet, is on “the petite Narrow Gauge Monson Railroad”! I think I’ll head up this weekend. Too bad I can’t hop on the Monson to get there!
