2 I LIVING HERE A 29 



Q 



ivEN THAT PEOPLE do come to the MBL to stay for a part or all of a summer, 

 what is life in Woods Hole like for them? We could say different things for 

 different people, of course. Some people have had lovely formal homes, 

 complete with servants, while others have been happier living in rustic 

 camp fashion. Some seek privacy away from the lab, others seek continual 

 involvement. Some live outdoors as much as possible, others inside. The 

 wealth of detailed descriptions of Woods Hole life — housing, eating, work- 

 ing, dealing with weather problems, and such — illustrates the richness of 

 summer living in this active small community. 



Housing 



Now new arrivals no longer have to take their chances scrambling about 

 town for housing when they arrive; there is no hope of such belated success. 

 Instead, they must plan ahead and make their reservations early, often by 

 February if they plan to stay all summer or to bring the family. And they need 

 plenty of money if they intend to rent a cottage in town rather than to secure 

 housing through the MBL itself. Rents for summer cottages have sky- 

 rocketed on the Cape in the past decades, especially as new building codes 

 for Woods Hole have prevented much of the sort of wanton and irresponsible 

 growth that has occurred elsewhere along the seashore. 



If you were not too fussy, ten or twenty dollars covered a full week's 

 costs nearly up to World War II. In the early 1940s, that time of the three- 

 cent stamp, summer houses sold for about $3,000 to $5,000, while a student 

 could get a week's board at the MBL mess hall for seven dollars and a cot in 

 the simple but adequate Drew House for two dollars per week. No longer do 

 these prices apply! Nor do many people feel comfortable with the sort of 

 musical beds approach that Philip Armstrong, anatomist/embiyologist 

 and later MBL director, recalled of his early years. When he was locked out 

 of his room in town, he headed for the men's dormitory and plopped down 

 on any empty bed to sleep. When the occupant showed up, he simply 



