Norwell was originally part of the maritime town Scituate, an area that boasted a thriving shipbuilding industry for over 200 years on the North River. In 1848, taxpayers from the south end of Scituate wanted more control over their finances and voted for secession. This area, originally known as South Scituate, was renamed Norwell in 1888 after the town's generous benefactor Henry Norwell. What remains of this quintessential South Shore community are many charming neighborhoods such as Ridge Hill, which has remnants of a commercial era long since passed, and Norwell Village, with a quaint small-village atmosphere that survives today.
Between the two world wars, the retail world experienced tremendous changes. New forms of competition, expanded networks of communication and transportation, and the proliferation of manufactured goods posed challenges to department store and small shopkeeper alike. In western New York, and in Buffalo and Rochester in particular, retailers were a crucial part of urban life, acting as cultural brokers and civic leaders. They were also cultivators of area pride. Even as they adopted the latest merchandising techniques or stocked the newest items, merchants emphasized their local roots and their ability to put a local spin on national trends and innovations. Regional identity became a powerful selling tool not only during the prosperity of the 1920s but also through the economic crisis of the Great Depression. Sales and Celebrations explains how local traditions and institutions affected the evolution of American consumer culture. It expands our understanding of American consumerism, demonstrating that local particularities and loyalties could often coexist with, and occasionally challenge, the spread of mass consumption. In her award-winning study, Professor Sarah Elvins provides new insight into the relationship between America's largest metropolises and its smaller centers. Retailers in Buffalo and Rochester did not simply imitate the practices of their counterparts in Manhattan and Chicago; they highlighted their unique ability to serve the wants and needs of their particular markets. By drawing attention to this persistent power of the local, Sales and Celebrations illuminates a neglected aspect of the story of American culture in the interwar period.
There is no one way to see the North River. Its characteristic meandering cuts a twenty-three-mile path through the South Shore to Massachusetts Bay. Flowing through six towns Pembroke, Hanover, Norwell, Scituate, Marshfield and Hanson the river has played a prominent, if not definitive, role in shaping the identity of the region. John Galluzzo, who leads cultural and natural history tours of the river for Mass Audubon's South Shore Sanctuaries, traces this natural landmark's multifaceted history from multiple vantage points as a shipbuilding center, a highway into the interior and facilitator of trade and a protected wildlife sanctuary today.
