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| | | | Marden-Abbott House and Store | | | | | The home and store of Walter and Bertha Abbott stands on Jefferson Street. They opened their store in 1919; after Walter's death in 1938 Bertha operated it until 1950. They were typical of Portsmouth's turn-of-the-century downtown population; he was a laborer for the railroad and she worked in a commercial laundry. They rented various apartments from their marriage in 1896 until they bought this house in 1919. By this time their three daughters were married, and only a mentally handicapped son lived at home.
Mom and pop stores like theirs were threatened with extinction by the development of supermarkets, but received a new lease on life in World War II when there was a local population explosion and war-time rationing imposed sharp limits on travel.
Consumers and shopkeepers alike coped with the complications and limitations of food rationing. It was implemented by the federal government to guarantee supplies for the military, the allies, and equitable distribution among civilians. Civilians received a monthly supply of ration coupons from the federal government. Shoppers handed in the coupons along with cash when purchasing rationed items such as meat, some dairy products and certain canned goods. When its coupons were used up a household had no further access to rationed items until the next month. Storekeepers like Mrs. Abbott passed these coupons on to their suppliers in order to re-stock. The system very successfully minimized hoarding and a black market in consumer goods. Federal ceiling prices prevented gouging.
The war changed Portsmouth as a whole too. Spectacular growth of Portsmouth's Navy Ship Yard brought a local population explosion and crowded housing. The Yard required protection by several new fortresses, watchtowers, a submarine net, and harbor mines. Off-duty soldiers and sailors were entertained at USO and church dances. Black out shades and air raid practice were routine. Gardening and home canning were revived.
The Abbott's house and store appears to have been built in the 1720s by mast maker John Marden. Around 1840 its central chimney was removed to make a small room behind the stairs, while new chimneys against the back walls served new fireplaces. Around 1900 these were removed and a single small chimney for cook stove and furnace was built at the back of the kitchen. The Abbotts altered the building for store keeping purposes. They made the right hand room into a store by adding plate glass windows and a door to the street, blocking the door which originally connected this room to the front vestibule, removing a wall to create an alcove where the center chimney had once been, and removing the back wall to expand the store into a new wing. They lined this reconfigured room with shelving, display cases, and oak refrigerators. They added a bay window to the bedroom above to adapt it as a sitting room. Like so many buildings in downtown Portsmouth the architecture of the Marden-Abbott Store is a layering of generations of change.
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