Hungerford Christmas Cards from Assateague

Way back in the sixties and seventies there were several homes and lodges still active on Assateague. One tract of fifty two acres belonged to Mabel and Churchill Hungerford. They used Assateague as a part time home, Churchill owned a large company that was on the forefront of water treatment technology located in New Jersey/Philadelphia and commuted weekly to Assateague. The couple loved to hunt geese and they had some fine property to do it from. At Christmas Mrs Hungerford always decorated a cedar tree at the end of their long driveway and commissioned an artist to do a painting for their Christmas cards. One of the select people who was lucky enough to receive these cards was Fred Hodges, who became friends with the Hungerfords while he was employed at the Clayton Bunting Lodge as a cook and caretaker. Fred was a most likeable fellow and the story goes that he was able to fix most anything.......making him a most valuable guy to know on an isolated barrier island with no road to the mainland! I met Mr and Mrs hodges years ago but sadly they have both passed. Their Daughter Paula some of you locals probably remember from high school....anyway when her mom passed she gave me the cards as she knew I had a deep affection for Assateague's lost history. I like all of them but santa in the blind baiting geese and in a boat with corn and oats for the critters are my favorites. Mrs Hungerford was a avid collector of odd animal shaped drift wood and several cards depict her favorite pieces. Some of the cards were dated...... the dates are in the caption if available, earliest was 1966, latest 1975. Note the card with the moon displays a flag on it....the year was 1969......we had walked on the moon that summer, how neat is that! I have included a photo of the Hungerfords and some shells she had painted a gifts.