Andover Stories
Gail Ralston
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"To an Andover child, a coconut on Decoration Day is as obvious an association as fireworks and the Fourth of July." So asserted Bessie Goldsmith, one-time Townsman column-writer and resident (deserving, later on, of her own story). Miss Goldsmith attempted to explore the unique history of this Andover tradition and found many differing opinions and accounts. Today's story will continue that investigation.
We know that before "super" markets and automobiles brought people to one central location, early downtown Andover boasted a variety of markets, produce shops and candy stores. Of these many stores, most long-time residents associate coconuts with the Dantos family (at the "Andover Spa") or perhaps "Simeone's" or "Basso's." Miss Goldsmith would tell you definitively, however, that the first coconuts were sold at "Bacigalupo's" Market on Main Street.
Wherever the children bought their coconuts, the coconut connection to Andover's observance of Memorial Day might simply be coincidence, lying in the fact that spring was the only season when coconuts were available in stores. And, historically, Miss Goldsmith recalled that coconuts were also seen by children as an "indulgent treat."
"If one had but five cents to spend on the holiday, it always went for a coconut; a second nickel might be spent for peanuts or candy, but a coconut was unquestionably the first purchase. A coconut smashed against a stone wall or even on a (grave)stone in the churchyard and gnawed from the shell while listening to the band has a flavor of peculiar excellence as anyone who has tried it will testify."
Put those two facts together and one might see how a holiday (Memorial Day) coupled with a special treat (a coconut) would be met with great enthusiasm.
In the interest of full disclosure, apparently not everyone shared this enthusiasm. Charlotte Helen Abbot, well-known genealogist, wrote a letter to the Townsman in 1920 bemoaning the extra work that the South Church sexton had to do, picking up the coconut shell remains and scrubbing off the "dirty, sticky fluid from the expensive monuments."
Miss Abbot went on to state, "I strongly object to having my [grave]stones used as nutcrackers!" While she admits that she did get "Decoration Day" coconuts from Bacigalupo's, she urged that part of the practice be changed so that "our lads be constrained to pound their [coco]nuts on the stones of the folks who approve of the practice and who see no reason for serious and devout observance of conduct in a burial place."
By 1951, George and Peter Dantos' Andover Spa became THE place to get your coconuts. (Also, by that time, most of the downtown markets had closed.) It is reported that George Dantos' son, Phidias, who later ran the Spa until 1969, sold 1,600 coconuts before noon in that year alone. A few years back, with annual sales down to around 72, owner Bill Stevens decided to forego coconuts. "Big mistake," said Spa employee Lori Kelley, "people went ballistic! For some, buying their coconut is like a superstition."
An Internet check uncovers no other town in the nation which can claim this custom. Let's see this year how many keep - or begin - this practice by attending the Memorial Day Parade, showing support for the Andover men and women who have fought for our freedom, and, of course, buying a coconut - a symbol of the value that Andover puts on just one of its many traditions. (Just don't crack your coconuts in your neighborhood graveyard!)
