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| Northeast Harbor, Maine |
One of my all time favorite editors of Town & Country was Frank Zachary. He put together an incredible publication for close to twenty years. The pictures, stories, and themes so often hit the mark.
As I was sorting some back Town & Country issues that I had saved (typically those with people or places I knew well), I found myself flipping through two magazines, one from 1982 and one from 1985, that were part of his run. They contained many familiar images that I still enjoy today. Here are a few that I scanned in.
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| Northeast Harbor, Maine |
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| Pot and Kettle Club, Bar Harbor, Maine |
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| Fenwick, Old Lyme and Hadlyme, Connecticut |
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| Hadlyme, Connecticut |
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| Essex, Fenwick, Old Lyme, Connecticut |
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| Madison, Connecticut |
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| Marion, Massachusetts and Sippican Harbor |
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| Marion, Massachusetts |
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| This was always one of my favorite clothing combinations, and still is, shown here at the Beverly Yacht Club. |
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| A Piece on Loafers by the Legendary G. Bruce Boyer |
31 comments:
I agree with you! I loved Mr. Zachary's work. I grew up in Oklahoma in Oklahoma's version of a preppy family - involving cattle, public school, and old defunct oil wells - but also with a mother who read "Elegance" by Dariaux and a father who made sure that his suits were hand tailored. :) My ancestors were English/Virginians, here since 1620 who went west with Daniel Boone after the Revolution. My husband's Dutch ancestors colonized New Amsterdam (New York).
T&C was my textbook for what East Coast preppy life was all about. I guess you could say that I was aspirational - but now I DO live on the East Coast (in a big city during the week with most weekends on a small mountain farm), my children are being privately educated, and my oldest is at an Ivy. I think that the old T&C lessons were good ones!
I first bought myself a subscription to T&C when I was eleven years old. I mostly had a continuous subscription up until about three years ago. (That would be about 35 years.) Finally, I just couldn't take the mag with PF at the helm. Resubscribed two months ago and have high hopes for the new editor. Crossing my fingers!
Muffy,
Yes, T & C was a staple of my life growing up. Mom, like you, still has some issues which were special to her.
I like the new editor and the direction T & C is taking now.
I enjoy your blog very much,
Carol
Oh my. What a lovely time and place! Beautiful homes and haunts, the women in A-lines and oxfords, and that timeless Norwegian-and-polo combination! Thank you for sharing...this has made my day! :)
Muffy, I love all of your posts, but I especially love this one. Thanks for the walk down T&C memory lane.
Great post! How wonderful that you have kept some issues dating to the 1980s when T&C was the mag to read, if you were a Preppy living outside of Phila. Agree with Hugh that T&C is not the same publication. Enjoyed reading it under PF's editorial direction but then it developed into a focus on people with too much and not enough taste and discretion.
Good for you for saving all those old issues! I can't read the fine print (even when expanded) on this computer but will impose on you sometime in September. What a treasure trove! That's the pater photographer in you.
Wow! I remember that issue of T&C! 80s prep was really, as they say "The Good Old Days!"
Muffy, my grandmother Vi's sister Martha lived in a wonderful 200 year old home in Marion, MA! My parents had there garden wedding at the Marion home back in 1942, I believe there is some old 8mm color film of the ceremony. Great memories all!
Dear Ms. Aldrich, I worked for Frank Zachary for 15 years as a fashion writer and stylist, and he was something of a father figure and mentor to me. It's so nice to know that he is remembered fondly. Frank was The Real Thing.
Sincerely, G. Bruce Boyer
I enjoyed you post today so much! T & C has always been one of my favorites, and I loved looking at all the families. The lovely Alison A. Kent on the cover looks an awful lot like you......
Madeline
Aka Muffy
Marvelous. Thank you for posting those lovely pictures.
Wonderful images.
Oh my goodness - wonderful article Muffy. And Maven - I can agree with you whole heartedly on every single thing you said. I grew up just across the line in Missouri. I remember all the cattlemen wearing starched Ralph Lauren button-down oxford, and equally starched wranglers with expensive cowboy boots. I now live on the East Coast because my husband ended up taking over the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in DC. Manners and etiquette and appropriate dress were a must in our household. Both my mother and mother-in-law were etiquette experts and very lady-like.
While I now live in Virginia, also I am the 13th generation to do so. I love it here and can never see myself leaving. Ever!
And, I like you Maven, have very high hopes for the new editor of T&C. During the PF years it had turned in to nothing less than a fashion mag.
Now back to you Muffy - thank you for posting these photos. My favorite? Mrs. Hamilton looking so elegant in an outfit that would be equally as appropriate today with a most lady-like stance. My second favorite? The young lady with the short haircut and the LL Bean sweater.
Kathie
Great Post!! hmm, I guess one cannot bring back the past...., I think the 80's and before were pretty special in southern CT coastal towns it seemed to me no one really payed much attention to us in the corner of the state, summers where much more quite and I remember sailing to harbors and not really worring about moorings etc. I was just in Mystic , Watch Hill and Newport , Mom used to shop at the Bermuda shop and we used to roam all over town , today the streets are packed everywhere! . Growing up in Old Lyme was special, we had our own Pvt Bch. and the sound was my chilhood playground , the fantatic homes and history of the community... Today I tell people here in fl where I am from , those who know gush with compliments ,lucky for me I can visit and spend time with family and I find I go back more and more often , and even keep my sailboat there now. As far as the clothes I never thought at the time the quality companies and retailers would be gone 20 years later or shells of there former glory! Good thing the quality clothes I have from years gone by are still in my closet, patch pants, shetlands, oxford shoes from Walkover , and madras and tartans I have never seen the likes of since! I have begun to cherish these things like my memories of growing up in Old Lyme!
A really lovely article. It brings back very happy memories. Thank you for sharing. I do hope T&C return to their roots.
--TJ
What a wonderful post. How I would love to sit down with you and listen to your stories about what made each image, story special! Love the article on the loafers, too! Have a great day, Muffy. xoxo
The new editor of Town & Country is still taking a little getting used to for me. However, I did love that piece about the inn in Sag Harbor in the issue I picked up while summering in Maine.
I really enjoyed this one Muffy! T&C is so different now and thank you for helping us remember the glory days.
Muffy,
What does the cover of the 1982 catalog look like? Thanks.
I must examine these in detail... If there is one thing I eagerly await, it is breaking out that vintage Norwegian birdseye sweater I have at the top of my closet...
Love the private signals at the BYC! I recognize one of the families.
Muffy, stay safe.
Yes, Muffy, stay safe. Let us know that you weathered the storm after Irene passes by, if you are able. Good Luck!
Love the top photo. I am told that it's imperative that I explore New England, thanks for sharing!
@maven - This is marvelous. Thank you.
@Carol - I know the new editor is a fan of Mr. Zachary, so it will be interesting to follow.
@John - Of course, I immediately thought of you!
@Summer - Nice to hear from you, Summer! Thank you.
@Anonymous - Now, of course, I wish that I had kept them all.
@HHH - Looking forward to hearing how many people you recognize!
@j.mosby - They were the days indeed! Would that be the Hoyt side? Sounds perfect.
@Mr. Boyer - That is the highest endorsement of Mr. Zachary. I love hearing that someone who was so competent was also so nice. Outsiders often attribute a change of direction to a deliberate strategy that is instead the result of the loss of a great talent. It is an honor to have you comment.
@Muffy - A friend of Ms. Kent actually emailed me after I put up the picture! Always my favorite cover.
@Matt - Thank you.
@Sartre - Thank you!
@Kathie - These are such nice details - thank you, Kathie.
@sailormadras - Yes, this is your turf. All that you say is so true.
@TJ - My pleasure.
@Preppy 101 - Mostly it was that I knew a lot of these people, and/or was very familiar with the locations. The loafers were just a great bonus!
@Grace - I enjoyed that story as well.
@Nicholas - It is a profile shot of the lovely face of a woman named Kendall Wideman.
@Kionon - I does make one a little impatient! I remember seeing yours in your closet entry.
@Patsy - Of course you do! I would expect nothing less.
@Anonymous - Thank you!
@Summer - Thank you. Our situations seem reversed.
@This Southern Prep - Yes - imperative!
Muffy, reversed indeed! But it's not over until it's over--that is, December 1st.
i love the family portrait with the dog and cat sitting so handsome.
Frank Zachary was hands down the best boss I ever had. He demanded excellence in such a kindly way. He absolutely expected it and was such a great man that you never wanted to disappoint him. I worked at Town & country as an editor of its antiques, art, architecture and At Home sections, and I will never forget Frank. He and Wendy Lyon Moonan taught me everything I know about the art of graphic journalism, photo editing, and design. I simply adore the man.
Frank was the last of the "gentleman editors". A great editor and a great person. Thank you for honoring him here!
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