When Summer Boarders Come

Yaas, it makes me feel oneasy and it aggravates me some

When I see the steamer landin’ an’ the summer boarders come.

They hev hosses, colts an’ dunkeys, they hev autos, carts an’ wheels,

An’ they’s women, maids an’ children, till a feller almost feels

It’s a reg’lar city circus thet’s a-comin’ to the town,

An’ they mean to take persession an’ to turn it upside down;

An’ I’m loaded with misgivin’s, an’ I start a-feelin’ glum,

When the outin’ season opens an’ the summer boarders come.

They’s a mighty big commotion down around the steamer wharf

When the people from the city with their annermuls come off;

An’ the town turns out to see ‘em, an’ I, waal, I go down too,

‘Cuz I ain’t so very busy, an’ they’s nuthin’ else to do;

But I keep a fairish distance, an’ I don’t perten’ to see

Hardly any uv their doin’s, kuz I never kin agree

It’s a good thing fur the village, or the town or state, I vum!

So I allus keep my distance when the summer boarders come.

Yass, I git a leetle money ‘cuz I sell ‘em garden truck,

An’ some aigs an’ milk an’ butter, an’ I’m havin’ fairish luck

With my bank account, an’ so forth, got my mor’gige squared at last,

An’ prosperity seems comin’ our derrection purty fast.

No, they never done no damage to my farm, ez I kin see,

An’ they allus speak perlitely both to Hannah an’ to me;

But I hev the same ol’ feelin’ thet the place is out o’ plum,

When the outin’ season opens an’ the summer boarders come.

June 24, 1904

In its heyday, during the 1940s and 1950s, Moodus (and the rest of East Haddam) was called the "Catskills of Connecticut."  During the summer season, people visiting the dozens of Moodus-area resorts quadrupled East Haddam's population to about 20,000 people. The resorts, boarding houses and camps of Moodus primarily attracted people from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and other parts of Connecticut. 

Many of the resorts evolved from farms in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when farm families took in first visiting relatives and friends, and then strangers. All were attracted to the beautiful countryside of the Moodus area.

http://www.simonpure.com/resorts.htm