_The “Smoky Gold” Craft Thrived
When America Was Young_
The “smoky gold” story of Cape Cod gives a rare picture of the
pioneering spirit and richness of America’s founding days.
Smoky gold was the local name for lampblack, an indispensable base for
paints and printer’s ink in the olden days. The little town of Dennis,
once a great clipper ship port, was known in those days as one of the
world’s greatest sources of lampblack and her precious shipments were
in demand in England and on the Continent.
A modern summer visitor, the Rev. Ernest G. N. Holmes of Bethlehem,
Pa., brought the story of the great Cape Cod industry to light. While
clearing a Dennis farm he had bought for a summer home, the clergyman
discovered a stone arch two or three feet above the ground; adjoining
it was a stone floor and around its edges the soil was as black as
night--a very unusual color for Cape Cod earth.