Living in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, in the 1940s defined the problem and solution. Problem: Old Greenwich in the 1940s was stone-cold anti-Catholic. I went to parochial school and didn’t have an after-school friend until we moved to Greenwich when I was 13. Solution: The 1940s was what I call the Golden Age of the Imagination, an incredible confluence of three golden ages: the Golden Age of Comics, Hollywood Movies, and Radio—the incomparable Theater of the Mind.
My mother, lioness that she was, set about forming the Idea Kid. She braved Russian roulette with her bad heart to make the mile-and-a-half round trip to Perrot Library every week with me and met me in Stamford after school most Fridays to take in a double-feature movie. I got a couple of comic books at Cuffe’s every Sunday. I all but inhabited my bedside radio, catching kids’ adventure shows weeknights, the Sunday night comedy lineup, and the million-voiced soap operas whenever I was home sick.
Moves to Greenwich, UConn, and publishing in New York and Cambridge only compounded the confetti of ideas, what-if scenarios, graphic concepts, stories, hijinks, products, etc., praying for ‘discovery’ in an Idea Kid-beckoning environment.
And it happened. My discovery and move to funky, feisty, freedom-loving, fun-loving, ideas-loving Marblehead in May 1965 freed up my creative juices. In Boston advertising, I began winning top creative awards. In 1973, and three other years, I created and taught my Idea Workshop course for Marblehead Community Education.
In 1974, I decided to quit the corporate box in Boston and set up my creative services shop here, enabling me to call Marblehead my 24/7 ‘home’ ever since—50 years on Nov. 4. The following are some of my Marblehead ‘discoveries’:
1975: Marblehead Christmas Walk “foot” logo, designer Bob Benson. 1975: My Van Dell Jeweler ad campaign was awarded one of two gold medals at the Boston Art Directors Show. Samples: “GIVE YOUR BUNNY A CARAT” and “HAVE YOUR GRANDFATHER FIXED—Expert clock and watch repair.” Designer Paul Ciavarra. (“BUNNY,” enlarged, was featured in the Boston Globe’s full-page reprise of winning entries.)
1976: Baker Advertising First Annual Report spoof of the genre in the prestigious One Show in New York. 1978: Landing wine glass/sail logo, designer Susan Chandler. 1978: At a party celebrating my fourth year in business, rogue buddy Killer Kane gifted me with the “2nd Canoe – 1969 Great Race” trophy. “Killer, thanks, but I don’t want ‘second’ in anything!” “Bobby,” one of the rules of the Great Race is if you finished first, you had to’ve cheated. So second IS first!” It’s one of my prized possessions.
1980: My ‘map’ idea finessed the travel advertising account for all six New England states away from Hill Holliday. The eight-page advertorial I created, which ran in the New York Times Magazine, described my experiences in each of the states. Massachusetts opened with, “Marblehead, a craggy seacoast village beyond fascination and beauty, is where I make my home, where I shall forever be at home.”
1980: The Chamber asked me to name the raffle for kids to ride on the boat with Santa during the Christmas Walk. I called it the Santa Cruise. In 1992, I wrote “The Story of the Santa Cruise”—a Marblehead lobsterman saves Christmas. George Ulrich’s magnificently illustrated poster. In 1990, the story appeared in my “Susan Minot” novella, “But He Had This Really Good Ear”: J.D. Salinger modeled Holden Caulfield in “Catcher in the Rye” after a preppie kid in Marblehead.
Nov. 18, 1986: Jackson Tremblay, a ‘true Marbleheader’ (born at Mary Alley Hospital), and I at Barnacle Bar. I’m jabbering about my love of Marblehead. Jack heads to the men’s room. Minutes later, I feel a soft object (toilet paper roll) on my head being tapped (with a utility brush) as Jack says, “I hereby dub you an official Marbleheader—only a real Marbleheader can do that.”
1988: My Marblehead Bank seagull logo, often mistaken for the town logo. 1988: Best of Show, Writers World, Arts Festival, for my story “4th of July, 1976.” 1991: My “Reflections in O’Mara’s Mirror,” a novel/take on a Maddie’s-like bar mirror that has seen it all.
1997: My 16-page proposal for a coffee-table book about the epic USS Constitution visit (created dummy, made posters of cover). A quote from Dennis Nelson conveys the power of the moment: “Before I came here from Nebraska, I’d never been around water you couldn’t see across. That ship, all shiny black, and the cannons and the thousands of horns and everyone cheering till they had tears. I’m not a religious person, but that’s as close as it gets.”
1999: My idea for the Marblehead Naval Memorial consists of a replica of the USS Constitution helm (ship’s wheel) mounted on a ground-level pedestal embedded with plaques honoring Marblehead as “Birthplace of the American Navy—Sept. 5, 1771”; “Protector of the USS Constitution—April 3, 1814”; “Visit & Sail of the USS Constitution—July 20-21, 1997.” I had official U.S. copyright and site approval from Parks and Recreation by the lighthouse at Chandler Hovey Park! Seeking further endorsement, I showed it to Daniel Finamore, curator of marine art at the Peabody Essex Museum. Dan loved it, but his appreciation contained an advisory: “It’ll be a real draw.” Which, to me, said … crowds … on Marblehead Neck … gridlock. I immediately withdrew my site request with Parks and Recreation. Four-letter word here—not “darn.”
2016: Branding Marblehead Female Humane Society 200th anniversary. My slogan, “A beacon of hope & help since 1816,” inspired my logo configuration, which can read as a Victorian woman and/or lighthouse. Pete Schalck’s polished design. 2019: My anecdotal memoir “When Life Was Wow!” resounds with Marbleheadiana. 2024: A work in progress, “Marblehead … where Freedom Rings.”
Bob Baker is a grizzled Idea Kid into shared laughter.
