Almost a century ago, Mainers statewide built igloos, hit high-flying ski jumps, welcomed Alaskan sled dogs of renown and got dressed up for winter.
This time of year turned into a time of showmanship, snow spectacles, ice castles; and these outdoor parties drew thousands.
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Today the same is done in nearly every large town in Maine, with an emphasis on making winter a time of activity, recreation and fun.
But back before the Great Depression, a winter carnival in Maine was a veritable Mardi Gras. And the question is: Can it be again?
This year, Portland’s winter carnival, the WinteRush festival in Deering Oaks on Feb. 12, will be cut back, said Portland recreation director Sally DeLuca.
Almost a month away, there is no schedule of events and DeLuca said budget cuts mean it will be smaller than the week-long WinteRush that exploded across the city two years ago.
“We don’t have a lot of money. We need to be very frugal,” DeLuca said. “The good part of a recreation staff is we can do a lot on a shoestring budget.”
However, the Downtown Showdown in Monument Square on Feb. 11 will not be scaled down, said Jay Scambio, the terrain park manager for Boyne Resorts, which owns Sunday River and Sugarloaf.
And this contest among skiers and snowboarders on a man-made mountain of snow is the showpiece of Portland’s winter celebration.
The Downtown Showdown captures some of the wonder and curiosity of the 1920s. But whether it can draw as many as 5,000 people, as it did 90 years ago, is unknown.
“We do not have a natural hill, so what we can do is restricted by the area,” said Scambio, the Showdown’s director. “But this year there might be bleachers. That would be a nice addition. The fact it’s on a Friday rather than a Saturday this year, we’re hoping will attract a little more of a business crowd, people coming out of work.”
In the 1920s there was no question crowds would catch the spectacle of ski jumpers sailing off the Western Promenade. Thousands came to view it.
The first Portland Winter Carnival of that era, in 1922, set the tone for a circus with one show-stopper after another.
There were Arctic explorer Donald Baxter MacMillan’s Baffin Land dog team; the “fastest ice horses in New England,” and ski jumpers sailing off a wooden ramp toward St. John Street.
Hockey tournaments, ski and dog-sled racing and the newly dubbed winter king and queen touring the city helped fill the Portland peninsula with a weekend of activity.
“There was a period there in the 1920s. And 1924 was the golden year for carnivals, when every city tried to outdo the other cities, particularly Portland, Augusta and Bangor,” said ski historian Glenn Parkinson. “In Augusta (publisher) William Howard Gannett crowned himself emperor of winter. They broadcast music with speakers there.”
However, one similarity with Portland’s winter carnivals of today was the intent. Parkinson said there is evidence in old articles that the carnivals then were staged to inspire Mainers to embrace cold days and stay active.
“In the 1920s people stayed inside way too much,” Parkinson said. “For health reasons, they wanted to get people outside. Really we’re seeing the same problems today.”
While Portland’s winter celebration might be smaller than it has been, DeLuca said the dream is to build it back up and keep trying to draw Mainers back onto the snow and ice to party.
“What we’ve been talking about all along… is there would be (events) going on all the time for folks,” DeLuca said.
Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:
dfleming@pressherald.com
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