WATCH: Portland Snow Removal Film From About 80 Years Ago
It's always fascinating to see how things were done in the past, as Nana would say "yee-ahs and yee-ahs ago".
I often heard about Maine winters during this bygone era from my father. He grew up in Oakfield. For those unfamiliar with that neck of the woods, it's a little town near the "big city" of Houlton way up north in Aroostook County.
Dad would tell me stories of walking to school (uphill both ways-of course) with the snow banks piled high above his head.
Come to think of it, I remember the wintertime growing up in Augusta and wicked tall blankets of white stuff surrounding me on my route to Hussey Elementary as well.
Maybe what you, my father and I all had in common with those Maine memories is that we were especially dwarfed by the huge amounts of snow, because we were after all, little kids. It may have had more to do with our perspective, looking up.
This theory has led me to believe that us kids from Maine always say stuff like, "You think that's a lot of snow? That ain't nothin'. You shoulda seen it when I was a kid."
Although, I gotta say. After watching this video of snow removal from around 80 years ago, it sure does appear that it did indeed snow way more in the olden days around here.
Let's take a look at the heavy machinery that was used for snow removal operations in Portland right around 1940. Wait till you see the very cool snow blower type auger that sends snow up a conveyor belt and into the dump truck. I hope this gives you as much joy as it gives me.
This video treasure is from our friends at The Maine Historical Society.