Lora Merchant came into the gallery to visit today. Lora grew up on Rocky Neck, moved away when she was 20, now lives in Georgia, and would do anything to live back in Gloucester again. She mentioned something about giving up two fingers to anyone from Gloucester who would trade places with her in Georgia – a little extreme, but I can understand. We talked about all sorts of things Gloucester, and then she mentioned the Catnip Man, who she remembered following down the street when she was a young girl. He was a kind of scruffy character who grew catnip, which he walked the streets of Gloucester selling, followed by a clowder of cats. Does anyone else remember the Catnip Man, called Catnip Bill? He was the subject of the children’s book “Catnip Man” written in 1951 by Rockport author, Ruth Holberg.
According to Stephen P. Hall of Beverly, the Capnip Man’s real name was William Albert Joseph Patrick Swayne Luscomb. Bill lived the last years of his life in a rooming house at 32 Broadway Street in Beverly, and was a familiar sight on Cabot Street in the late 1950s until his death in 1962.
E.J. Lefavour
Good Morning Gloucester 
Yes I remember Catnip Bill. He was a household name in the 40’s
Bob Quinn
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I am not sure about the “Catnip Man” but had all sorts of interesting vendors on Rocky Neck during the 40’s & 50’s the Iceman,, tree man, ladder man, knife man, Broom man..just a Super place to grow up !
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I wrote a story about him when i worked for the GD Times many years ago. I can dig it up if someone wants to read it. catnip bill lived in a barrel in west Gloucester for some time.
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I think that would be amazing Grace. Could you send it to me and I’ll post it. Thanks, EJ khanstudio@comcast.net
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I would enjoy reading that. I remember him when I was a child living in Essex
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I remember Catnip Bill ! I used to see him on the street when I visited my Grandmother, who lived on Union Hill. I also remember the “ice man ” delivering ice for her icebox there. She would put a cardboard sign in the window, indicating that she needed ice.
How about Floyd the Clammer- remember him?
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I was too young to remember him but my dear grandmother bought me the book, then got the author, the illustrator and the Catnip Man himself to all autograph it. I still have it and treasure it.
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I remember Catnip Bill. He used to stand in front of the Salem Five Cents Savings Bank on Essex Street, He always said “Don’t forget kitty!”
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I love this. “The catnip man. “Don’t forget Kitty.” Great stuff. Thanks, EJ!
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I thought he was pretty cool. Just another thing that makes Gloucester so fascinating. What other town can say they had a catnip man.
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Now, there’s one local character I have no recollection of at all. And I can’t imagine not remembering “a clowder of cats.” You just don’t see a good clowder anymore ::sigh:: And I should point out that I’m old enough to remember the ice man when he still had a horse drawn wagon!
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I remember catnip Bill.I used to buy his small bags of catnip from him.Can’t recall how much it was,couldn’t have been too much.My cats loved the stuff.I remember the ice man too,used to buy a block of ice from him.There also was a scissors/knife sharpener man .They all appeared regularly on Hartz Street.
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Hi Sylvia – how are you? Nice memories from your youth in Gloucester. How’s the knee doing?
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Hi,E.J.Am doing okay,knee is still stiff,but I will live with it,no choice.I have many stories of Gloucester.I could write a book,if I were talented enough.Lots of good memories as well as not so good.It is as they say,Life.Love reading about the fiesta,enjoy GMG so much.We were married in Gloucester at St.Peters Church on Sayward St.,55 years ago yesterday.I cried when I read my beloved church was turned into Condos.Enjoy your Mug-Up news.My best to you as always,Sylvia.
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Wow! Great responses! I wasn’t entirely joking about happily sacrificing digits if it meant I could move back home for good! It was wonderful reminiscing and talking with you about my childhood in my beloved Gloucester. I had a great visit and even made it to Fiesta. There’s no place like home! Lora Merchant Kling
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Hi Lora, It was really great meeting you, and I hope you are able to move back to Gloucester, without losing any digits. Thanks for the interesting post idea – I found the catnip man fascinating, and so did others. There’s a 2 family coming on the market on East Main St. for around $300K. If you want details, email me khanstudio@comcast.net
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I remember “Catnip Bill” . As a child, I was a little afraid of him because of the way he looked. We lived in Gloucester until 1955. I also remember the “scissors grinder”, the milkman and the ice man. A lot of great memories as a child in Gloucester. Can’t wait to visit again. I miss it so much!!
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Thank God for Joey C. and GMG where you get to visit, reminisce and experience Gloucester every day from wherever you are.
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Amen! I met you all a couple of years ago at the last mug up of the year in Rocky Neck. We were staying at the Bass Rocks Ocean Inn. I used to live on Traverse St. in East Gloucester and my grandmother lived on Short St. in Gloucester. There’s something about Gloucester that just gets in your blood and beckons you to return. We just got back from a trip to Alaska and Seattle so I guess we can’t get back there until next year (very unfortunately). Anyway, as you said, thank God for Joey C and GMG and you and everyone who contributes. I love Joey’s driving videos, esp. the snowy ones. I also love the greasy pole and St.Peter’s Fiesta coverage and basically everything else. I also love Sista Felicia’s recipes (I also met her and her daughter at the mug up). She had made an unbelievably delicious apple cake and you had made your famous deviled eggs. WONDERFUL MEMORIES!
Hugs,
Barbara Bragg McAllister
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Comments such as yours, Barbara, remind us of how lucky we are to live on this unique island. When I was rowing the gig out of Maritime Gloucester, almost every time we took a break and were drifting in the harbor, someone would say: “I can’t believe we live here!” I’m glad we can share some of that with you on GMG.
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To Joey, E.J., Fredrik, and all the regular contributors, I send my heartfelt, deepest thanks for giving homesick ex-pats like me an opportunity to once again share in the everyday life of our beloved hometown, no matter where on the globe I and other of Gloucester’s wandering sons and daughters might be. It is something wonderful to look forward to each day! How extraordinary it is to see the sights and sounds of Gloucester in real time again. For me, there really is no place like home. Thanks so much for sharing!
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Thank you Laura, and we GMG contributors will keep the Fish City vibe going out to you! Fredrik
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My father was telling me about this man a few weeks ago. I thought he was joking!! He said he used to see him downtown near the old Sterling Drug Store.
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You’ll have to show him this post, he’ll probably get a kick out of it – and now you know he wasn’t kidding.
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The Catnip Man was also seen on the streets of Rockport back in the ’50s.
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I have been searching for a while now for info on the catnip man. I bought a painting of him at an auction with this story on the back. “Larry Luscome, “The Catnip Man”, for years he stould in front of Salem 5¢ savings bank and sold bags of fresh green catnip.”
Thank you for posting!
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I used to see him in front of the Cape Ann Savings Bank; didn’t know there was ever a Salem 5 in Gloucester.
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I don’t think that there was a Salem 5 in Gloucester. He would be in front of the Salem 5 in Beverly where he apparently lived the last ten years or so of his life on Cabot Street.
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Yes I remember the Catnip man. My mom bought catnip from him. I remember him in front of the 5&10 near the Waiting Station.
Did the high school shop students build him a house?
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I sent and asked local artist Betty Lou Schlemn if she knew who may have done the painting. This is her reply; >>>> I think it might be, almost positive, Winslow Wilson or Isabel La Freniere and it was done at the Rockport Art Assoc. portrait group Saturday afternoon or Wednesday night. I would first think Isabel because of the background. Isabel was president of The Rockport Art Assoc. and it’s first curator. If anyone would know, Betty Lou would! via James Oliver.
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Thanks James! So it sounds like Betty Lou remembers Catnip Bill sitting for a portrait group at RAA – how cool. I could only find one example of a portrait by Isabel online, and it did show a similar style and technique. I couldn’t find any portrait work of Wilson to compare.
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i remember ole bill as a kid,,when i last saw him it was around the cut bridge,,he was not far from where they sold popcorn from a wagon,,in summer, it must have been in the late thirtys or very early forties,,if my mind remember right,,,he seemed to talk to every one he passed,,mom told me he was a nice man,,,lord that was another world and time,,,summers at half moon beach watching the man with one leg swim and dive off the rocks there,,yes Gloucester was a little heaven for a kid,,then ,and then it all passed,,,
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I own the portrait of Catnip Bill that Isabel La Freniere painted at the Rockport Art Association in the 1950’s.
I inherited it from my mother, Galdys Dorting, who was a good friend of Isabel’s. Isabel was our neighbor when we lived in Manchester.
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I and i bet other people would love to see it, Rob. Could you take a photo of it and send it to me at khanstudio@comcast.net ?
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I remember Catnip Bill. I was only a little girl but he would come to our house to sell his catnip. We always bought it for our cats. He would sell it for .25 cents a bunch. Or at least that is what we would give him. I remember he was always dressed in layers. Had a shirt with a sweater over it and then another jacket and his coat. He would dress in layers even in summer. I always was fascinated by him and a little afraid at the same time. I have a pencil sketch of him that I purchased a year ago by local artist James Oliver and also purchased an old book called “The Catnip Man” by Ruth Langland Halberg. I have them framed together and hanging in my office. Wonderful memories.
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What a great memory and addition to this post. Thanks Paige!
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It’s always fun to see yourself quoted on the Internet. For those who are interested in more information about Capnip Bill, I provide the following… This man was William A. P. Luscomb, (1873-1962.) He was born in Peabody, MA, to Wm. H. Luscomb and his wife Eliza Ann (nee Swaney) Luscomb 14 December 1873. He, and his family lived in many of the towns on the North Shore, including Salem, Marblehead, Wenham, Hamilton, Essex, Ipswich, Gloucester and finally Beverly, MA. It appears he was a farmer most of his life working on several farms in the area. He married in 1916 a woman 13 years his junior, named Mary M. Shirley, (1886-1959.) They quickly had 4 children, two boys, Martin, and William, Jr. and two girls, Caroline (Luscomb) Frost, and Ann (Luscomb) Dansereau. Sometime around the 1940s they divorced and/or separated, and his wife moved to Ware, MA to live with her daughter. It appears many of the other children also lived in the western part of the state at least at the time of his wife’s death in 1959. “Bill” Luscomb, known as the “Catnip King of the North Shore,” was actually listed as “Catnip Salesman” in the Beverly City Directories in the 1950s. He was living in Beverly for the last 10 years of his life (ca 1952-1962) in a rented room in the big 14 bedroom “rooming house” located at 32 Broadway Street in Beverly, MA. I found a photo of him in the 16 Jan 1949 issue of the Boston Herald where he is described as a “Famous North Shore Character.” He used to hang out near the Elm Farm/Bell’s Market in the late 1950s and early 1960s. ~ Stephen P. Hall, (Former Exec, Director of the Beverly Historical Society & Museum.)
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Catnip Bill use to stay in the basement apartment of 11 plum st in the summer. That is where he got his catnip.The owner of the house was the local ‘cat lady’.I would see him on the front stoop,he would point out birds in the trees to me.My mother said that he was a hobo ,and he’d hop a train to Frida in thewinter.He was an inspiration to me . Ps I sat behind Lora in the 4th grade. Bob Merchant cujobob
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