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The New York Times suddenly cares what New Englanders think about something

By adamg on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 11:18am

They've posted a poll asking us what's the New Englandiest thing ever.

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Media
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New York Times


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Comments

By SwirlyGrrl on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 11:42am.

We eat more of it than anybody anyplace else on earth!

How could they not have ice cream?

By anon on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 12:27pm.

Maybe because most of the ice cream plants are closed,

By SwirlyGrrl on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 2:02pm.

Everyone in the country has mass produced factory ice cream.

Talking about the proliferation of made-in-place stuff that goes way back ... from the more urban "hippy" era places like Toscaninis to the farmstand places that opened a hundred years ago.

If you ever lived anywhere else, you'd know that pretty much each town having at least one ice cream place is a unique feature of the area.

Hell of a lot more common than fried clams!

By anon on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 2:09pm.

Tosc. founded in 1981. No more . Hendries , Bryers ,Seymours , Brighams , Hood , to name a few manufacturers . Thats a whole lot of ice cream not being made. Still have Richardson's and Peaceful Meadows but they are peanuts in comparison.

By adamg on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 3:29pm.

Granted, you can't buy their stuff in supermarkets, but, hey, they still make ice cream.

By SwirlyGrrl on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 4:09pm.

Before my son headed back to UMass, he insisted on dinner at Mary Chung and a stop at Tosci's.

Seems to be going strong. Microsundaes rock!

Hot tip: want to know where the ice cream is? Ask a cyclist! Amazing stuff available pretty much everywhere. Great Brook Farm, Rancatore's (brother to Tosci's), Dairy Joy, Kimball Farm, Socs, Bedford Farms, New City Micro Creamery, Rota Springs, White Farms, Haley's, Gram's, Beach Plum, Benson's, many many many more!

I would challenge you to go more than 10 or 15 miles on a bike anywhere within 100 miles of Boston and not find ice cream!

This density and distribution of independent, locally-owned and amazing ice cream places is unique to New England.

As for the manufactured ice cream, what difference does it make whether it is local or not?

By anon on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 4:45pm.

What difference? People got to work ,dont they?Lots of jobs lost there.

By SwirlyGrrl on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 9:56pm.

Had the factories modernized instead of closing, those jobs would have been automated. Food handling work is much more automated than it used to be.

The dairy coop that many of my cousins, aunts, and uncles have worked for has maintained steady employment, but only because it diversified its product line and opening new factories and expanding its main facilities. Most of the jobs that my older relatives did no longer exist due to automation.

Small local places employ a lot more people.

By anon on Sun, 02/05/2017 - 2:22pm.

Guess its no big deal if its not your job, just more statistical fodder .

By adamg on Sun, 02/05/2017 - 3:00pm.

But, I'm sorry, where is this huge mass of unemployed ice-cream factory workers unable to find employment elsewhere?

By anon on Tue, 02/07/2017 - 9:02am.

Also Herrell's - though the one in Northampton is still going strong though (that's Western Mass, which might as well be another universe to most Bostonians).

By adamg on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 9:31pm.

Home of the three-gallon tub.

By Neal on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 2:31pm.

They probably have just mentioned Ben & Jerry's or some other of-a-slightly-higher-standard-than-most-supermarket-but-hardly-excellent brand of New England produced ice cream.

By Sources Say on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 11:50am.

"Boston’s best-known TV drama,"... This is where I stopped reading and returned to the conclusion that the NY Times knows nothing about Boston or New England. And apparently nothing about great TV comedy, too.

By Formerly-SoBo-Yuppie on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 12:53pm.

It's either Higher Education, Old North Church/Paul Revere, Boston Marathon or Stephen King...the rest of the options are embarrassing.

By SwirlyGrrl on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 2:06pm.

Yeah, the corporate face of the current generation is a git, but I really couldn't find a better place to send a friend who just moved from Texas to New Hampshire for a good range of suitable winter clothing.

By Felicity on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 1:14pm.

Can't believe there's no mention of the beach or ocean.

By capecoddah on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 1:20pm.

I have always thought the most definitive thing about New England is the amount of beautiful women, as in a glaring lack thereof.

Let's say you are outside a nightclub in Tulsa, OK. Some guys walk out and you overhear them say "Ugh, that was so New England in there". You should take the time to ask them what kind of New England. If they say Wellesley College, then do not bother going in. If they say Burlington, VT, then be prepared to drink a lot to make things tolerable.

By SwirlyGrrl on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 2:08pm.

Perhaps you should explain why you live here and not Tulsa, OK if you hate the place so much?

Or are you just concerned about getting shot in their night clubs?

By anon on Tue, 02/07/2017 - 9:05am.

He didn't actually say he hates living here, you extrapolated that. Besides, he mentioned freaking suburban Wellesley and Burlington, VT, not even close to Boston. Why get so defensive? I thought his jab was rather humorous, regardless of whether I agree with it or not.

By Wiffleball on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 2:15pm.

The only place Tulsa can throw shade and have it land is Lubbock.

By Turtlegeuse on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 1:35pm.

What wer'e best known for is our enjoyment of tossing a big fat arthritis-gnarled nicotine-stained bird at the City.

By Bugs Bunny on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 2:00pm.

"Boston Strong" should be #1

By APB on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 2:19pm.

Autumn is THE New Englandiest thing.

Mind-blowing pizza is another New Englandy thing. And I agree about ice cream.

NY and other places can argue that they have all three of those but, thanks to our higher-education thing — definitely another top New Englandy trait — we know that theirs never measure up, but they can't understand our reasoning.

By anon on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 3:02pm.

wicked

By JSwift on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 3:42pm.

Candlepin bowling

By Suldog on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 6:18pm.

And if you don't know what it is, I got your Larry Bird right here.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

By anon on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 6:18pm.

Coastal N.E., where I mostly grew up; in no particular order:

fried clams

Anything fish in general

Submarine sandwiches

Franks (hot dogs) and beans (in my family we had the canned brown bread to go with it)
Anything Irish, Italian, Polish, or Portuguese (in small town and rural New England add French Canadian)

Coffee...anything coffee

Cranberries ... anything cranberries

Blueberries ... anything blueberries

Hatred for NYC sports teams (except parts of CT)

Hatred for Montreal Canadiens (hockey team ... if you have to ask...etc., etc.)

By anon on Sat, 02/04/2017 - 8:53pm.

Yes.

By The Frying Pan of Reality on Sun, 02/05/2017 - 6:58pm.

Even though it's defective. There's

No lobster
No New England clam chowder
No wild blue berries, picked yourself
No wild strawberries, picked yourself
No Trailing Arbutus (Mayflowers)
No maple sapping or sugar maple trees
No candlepin bowling
Nothing about the Cape or the Atlantic ocean
No steamed mussels
No whoopie pies.

The list continues endlessly. That said, here are my results. I'm at least a three to five generation New Englander. Disclaimer: Team sports bore me to tears. Sue me.

These are your picks:

#1. Stephen King
#2. Fried Clams
#3. Old North Church/Paul Revere
#4. Dunkin’ Donuts
#5. Higher Ed

You have some cultural perspective about a region that can trace its roots to 1620. Surely, the Patriots aren’t one of the top five New England institutions.

What’s more important: A football team or our long-standing traditions? A touchdown or good locally-produced food? Historical roots or a fifth Super Bowl victory? Don’t ask any of these questions if you’re at a Super Bowl party Sunday and the Patriots are leading in the fourth quarter.