Notes & Notions from the Salem Witch Museum

We have the privilege of working closely with historian Marilynne Roach on many projects.  She answers nuanced questions about the Salem witch trials, helping our staff interpret the underpinnings of the events, and is a perpetual inspiration in understanding what can be learned from Essex County’s 1692 experience.

If you don’t yet own a copy of The Salem Witch Trials:  A Day-By-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege, now is your chance to get one of 20 remaining signed copies of the book.

In our shop or online, while supplies last!

If you follow our blog you know how much we love local arts and artisans.  We do our part to sustain North Shore crafters by providing marketing and financial support to the creative community and by carrying their work in our museum store.  We proudly sponsor events like the Salem Film Fest, Mass Poetry Festival, and Salem Literary Fest just to name a few.

When visitors from distant places come to Salem, naturally they want to take a bit of their individual experience back home with them.  Local art is not only a means for our neighbors to live creative, compassionate lives, but items traveling back to visitors’ homelands spreads our culture and shares the flavor of our area.  So when an artisan like Marblehead resident Dorothy Arthur of Dot’s Pots infuses a beautiful piece of functional art with architectural essence – such as her lanterns of prominent windows – the connection between place and the visitor is steeped even stronger.

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From MAA newsletter :

The Marblehead Arts Association-  Call for Works

Fine Art of Craft

March 16 – April 21

To see craft is to enter a world of wonderful things which can be challenging, beautiful, sometimes useful, tactile, artistic and extraordinary – and to understand and enjoy the care which has gone into their making.   Contemporary craft is about making hand crafted objects of art and ensures the highest standard of workmanship exhibiting a working knowledge of tools and materials.

The Marblehead Arts Association (MAA) is presenting “Fine Art of Craft”, an exhibit from March 16-April 21.  This juried exhibit invites both MAA and non-MAA artisans in the general categories of ceramics/pottery; fiber/textile; metalwork/silversmith; woodwork/furniture and glass and the creative overlap or blending of these mediums.  Jurying is based on creativity of design, quality of materials and attention to detail in overall workmanship and presentation.

For information and submission:  www.marbleheadarts.org

After two relatively snow-free winters we were due for a doozy.  And Nemo delivered.

State and city governments made the call early on Thursday to keep people off roads Friday and through the weekend while cleanup crews dealt with, not multiple inches but, multiple feet in some areas.  Here at the Salem Witch Museum we opened for part of the day Friday, closing for the safety of our staff and visitors through to Sunday.  Folks must have had cabin fever because we had a number more visitors than usual once we reopened.  The bad news is that Salem’s So Sweet ice sculptures couldn’t be delivered as planned; the good news is that we’re essentially rescheduling the festivities to this upcoming weekend.

Driving through labyrinths of snowbanks makes travel still slow going, and finding parking can take even more time. For the next day or so it’s probably a good idea to give ourselves a head start if we need to be somewhere.  Which is fine, because it’ll give us a chance to enjoy the beauty of the season.

Thanks to Salem Witch Wiles for this photo:

We’re open year-round.  But even we need to close the doors for a few days while we paint and clean carpets.  Here’s a list of our January hours:

Tuesday           1/1/13              Closed – New Year’s Day

Wednesday      1/2/13             Open 10am – 5pm

Thursday          1/3/13             Open 10am – 5pm

Friday              1/4/13               Open 10am – 5pm

Saturday           1/5/13             Open 10am – 5pm

Sunday             1/6/13              Open 10am – 5pm

Monday           1/7/13              Closed for Annual Spruce-up

Tuesday           1/8/13               Closed for Annual Spruce-up

Wednesday      1/9/13              Closed for Annual Spruce-up

Thursday          1/10/13           Closed for Annual Spruce-up

Friday              1/11/13              Closed for Annual Spruce-up

Saturday           1/12/13            Open 10am – 5pm

Sunday              1/13/13            Open 10am – 5pm

Monday           1/14/13            Closed for Annual Spruce-up

Tuesday           1/15/13            Closed for Annual Spruce-up

Wednesday      1/16/13            Closed for Annual Spruce-up

Thursday          1/17/13            Closed for Annual Spruce-up

Friday              1/18/13               Open 10am – 5pm

Saturday           1/19/13            Open 10am – 5pm

Sunday              1/20/13            Open 10am – 5pm

Monday           1/21/13            Open 10am – 5pm

Tuesday           1/22/13            Open 10am – 5pm

Wednesday      1/23/13            Open 10am – 5pm

Thursday          1/24/13            Open 10am – 5pm

Friday              1/25/13            Open 10am – 5pm

Saturday           1/26/13            Open 10am – 5pm

Sunday               1/27/13            Open 10am – 5pm

Open daily 10am – 5pm

During the last months of each year our visitation shifts from October crowds to January trickles.  Our staff gladly take the quieter winters to catch up on pleasure reading, so we decided to host a book club or two this season.

The only rule for the book club was simply that we weren’t going to cover anything we’d “normally” read (i.e.  Salem witch trials related.)

Our first selection for the Salem Witch Museum Breakfast (Book) Club comes from Floor Manager Jay Menice.  A section of Gloucester, Massachusetts has been a fascination for him since Elyssa East published Dogtown: Death and Enchantment in a New England Ghost Town, a non-fiction examination of the mysterious history surrounding this some-say-enchanted place and a brutal crime set there.

Those of us who appreciate local authors have certainly encountered at least one title by Anita Diamant (the Red Tent, Good Harbor, et.al.), so we’re balancing the book club medley by including a work of historical fiction.  The Last Days of Dogtown portrays life in this early American mythical community  of witches, widows, orphans and spinsters.

In mid-January we’ll host a continental breakfast and book club discussion comparing and contrasting these two renditions of Dogtown.  If you’d like to join us, please email Stacy at stacyt@salemwitchmuseum.com for further details.

North Shore Community College, Poetry of Essex County: Dogtown

If you saw the Google Doodle today you know it’s the 200^th anniversary of Brothers Grimm.  In the fabric of our being we carry the lessons from Grimm’s fairy tales told to us since a young age.  In our exhibit Witches: Evolving Perceptions we look at Hansel & Gretel’s hag archetype.  Small wonder we’re afraid of witches, it’s said they eat children!

Click here for a video clip from Hansel & Gretel by Canon Movie Tales

What is your favorite Grimm’s Fairy Tale?

The reason so many people come to Salem in October is the festive atmosphere created by…so many people. It’s part of the excitement, chatting with fellow revelers and soaking up the atmosphere.   A few people who aren’t in the right frame of mind might grumble about the lines, crowds and traffic.  Prepare yourself with information, and embrace it all as part of the fun.

Tips for an enjoyable visit to Salem in October

1.  Check out Destination Salem’s online visitors’ brochure to help plan your trip.  You’ll find a helpful walking map of the downtown and waterfront area listing major attractions, shopping, restaurants and activities.  It also lists parking options and road closures (for parades) where applicable.  You can pick up the print version of the Destination Salem Guide & Map once you’re here at the Salem Witch Museum, at the National Park Visitor Center, or many other places throughout the city.

2.  Arrive as early as possible.  The Salem Witch Museum opens every day at 10:00am.  The earlier you arrive to purchase tickets, the more likely your preferred tour time will be available.

3.  Be flexible.  It is possible – and especially as we near Halloween very likely – for certain presentation times to be sold out.  Be prepared to opt for a different tour time.  Our presentations begin promptly at  :00 and :30 of each hour.  Presentations last approximately one hour.

4.  Anticipate lines or wait-times just about everywhere in downtown Salem the nearer we get to Halloween.  And, if there isn’t a line or wait, just be pleasantly surprised!

5.  Expect there to be some traffic the closer we get to Halloween.  Directions can be downloaded here, and it’s always possible to map out alternate routes into Salem, ie. Route 1A, Route 107 , Route 127.

Salem Witch Museum Hours for October, 2012

Day        Date      Open                Close

Mon      1-Oct     10:00am               5:00pm

Tue        2-Oct     10:00am              5:00pm

Wed      3-Oct     10:00am               5:00pm

Thu        4-Oct     10:00am               8:00pm

Fri           5-Oct     10:00am               10:00pm

Sat          6-Oct     10:00am               10:00pm

Sun        7-Oct     10:00am               8:00pm

Mon      8-Oct     10:00am               7:00pm

Tue        9-Oct     10:00am               5:00pm

Wed      10-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Thu        11-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Fri           12-Oct   10:00am               10:00pm

Sat          13-Oct   10:00am               10:00pm

Sun        14-Oct   10:00am               7:00pm

Mon      15-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Tue        16-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Wed      17-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Thu        18-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Fri           19-Oct   10:00am               10:00pm

Sat          20-Oct   10:00am               10:00pm

Sun        21-Oct   10:00am               7:00pm

Mon      22-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Tue        23-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Wed      24-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Thu        25-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Fri           26-Oct   10:00am               12:00am

Sat          27-Oct   10:00am               12:00am

Sun        28-Oct   10:00am               7:00pm

Mon      29-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Tue        30-Oct   10:00am               5:00pm

Wed      31-Oct   10:00am               12:00am

For many years the Salem Witch Museum has welcomed an annual tour group from Ota, JapanThrough a sister-city relationship beginning in 1991, hundreds of teachers and students as well as business, cultural and government officials have visited Salem from Ota.

The family of our own Will Parr is extending their hospitality on a very personal level by hosting a “Homestay” student in coordination with the Salem-Ota Club.

For more information about our sister city check out the City of Salem website:

http://www.salem.com/Pages/SalemMA_Council/ota

The Salem Witch Museum offers our main presentation translated into Japanese as well as 7 other languages.

Every year in January we close for business for a few days to scrub, paint and refresh.  Here is our schedule, but feel free to call us with questions at (978)744-1692.

1/3/12 Tuesday     CLOSED

1/4/12 Wednesday     CLOSED

1/5/12 Thursday     CLOSED

1/6/12  Friday     CLOSED

1/7/12 Saturday     Open 10am – 5pm

1/8/12 Sunday    Open 10am – 5pm

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