MANCHESTER, NH – This is a story about the rich and unexpected history that hides in unassuming towns and cities all throughout the country, including Manchester. In this case, how you can find links to some of the biggest cultural and historical phenomena in the smallest of places – like a forgotten hospital storage room.
One could say that hospitals are among the most historically significant buildings in a community. People rich and poor are born there; they die there, each life no matter how significant, becomes a mark on a ledger that, in a perfect world, lasts for the rest of time.
Hospitals too, although appearing shiny and new with the latest equipment, can actually be quite, quite old. Concord Hospital was founded in 1884 and our very own Elliot Hospital established in 1890, and although they change with the times, they carry with them the history of the city they serve through carefully preserved archives.
So it came as little surprise when Dottie Kelley, at the time president of Elliot Associates, came across an old treasure left by one of Manchester’s more successful yet lesser-known artists. “We were cleaning out an old storage room at the Elliot and came across these beautiful canvas posters,” Kelley said.
Inside a bland cardboard tube hid a rich colorful homage, in pristine condition, to one of the early 20th century’s biggest sensations, the big top. Lions roared, clowns frolicked and acrobats soared on trapeze lashed to five feet of canvas. Each one bearing the name of a local corporate sponsor – Pro Con, Siemens Medical Systems, Ernst & Young, and WMUR – and signed “J. Cuddy.”
Kelley and the rest of the hospital associates were eager to find out what they had stumbled upon. “We notified a woman who was president back around 1990 and she immediately knew what the posters were,” Kelley said.
“From 90-93 The Elliot Associates held big antique auctions/fairs/galas down at the big hotel down on Elm Street,” Kelley said.
Now, if you were born in the mid-’90s like myself you might not realize just how huge antiquing was back in the day. Kelley said the Wall Street Journal covered the Elliot show, the New York Times did stories about them and New Hampshire’s own Antique Alley along Route 4 was founded in the ‘90s.
“It was a huge event for around three years, when antiques were the thing,” Kelley said.
I’ll take a moment here to tell you a little bit about the history of The Elliot Associates and why they threw such huge. fundraisers.
The Elliot Associates started in 1890 as a “Ladies Auxiliary Board of the Elliot Hospital,” as a way for women of the time to give back to the community and serve the residents of the hospital.
The Ladies Auxiliary Board would not become the Elliot Associates until 1894; they would spend the next 100 years with hundreds of members chasing philanthropic pursuits such as helping patients pay their bills, spearheading the development of nurses’ homes, maternity wards and other countless hospital developments.
These posters are part of that legacy. According to internal documents from the Elliot Associates, the particular gala they were created for in 1992 raised around $28,000 which went to benefit The Elliot Regional Cancer Center and its newly-renovated Radiation Therapy Department, the foundation for what today is the Solinsky Center for Cancer Care.
The former president revealed that the poster’s signature belonged to Manchester’s Jeff Cuddy.
Well, who is Jeff Cuddy?
Jeff Cuddy was a local creative force and ad man who caught the eye of one of the 20th century’s most recognizable artists, creator of Archie Comics, Bob Montana.
Cuddy started his career as a humble Air Force cadet, who used his artistic talents to illustrate instruction guides for prospective Air Force pilots. After leaving the service he flew even higher, becoming WMUR’s first art director and then going on to own and operate the Interstate Advertising Agency.
Fate struck in 1959, when Cuddy was commissioned to paint a mural for local delicatessen Deli-Rama, using Ariche as its centerpiece. When Cuddy discovered that Montana frequently utilized Meredith, New Hampshire, as an artistic retreat, he invited him to come down and see his homage to Montana’s work.
Montana was so taken with the work that he looked to Cuddy and asked, “Would you like to come work for me?” Their partnership would last until Montana’s death in 1975, which sent Cuddy, who had served as his art assistant, into semi-retirement.
Cuddy’s art career lasted well into his 80s. It was when Cuddy was age 72 when the Elliot Associates, of which his wife was also a member, commissioned the posters, which would go on to represent one of the philanthropic eras for the Associates. Cuddy passed away in 2013.
The future of the posters is still being figured out. At first, the Associates thought of selling them to continue their legacy of being items of philanthropy, but unfortunately, Kelley said they found that there wasn’t too much of a market for them.
“We decided that this is a piece of Manchester history that really needs to be somewhere else other than a safe,” Kelley said.
Sara Kellogg Meade, Elliot Associates historian, agreed, saying “We had found [the posters] amongst the archives and said ‘oh my gosh these need to be somewhere and not wrapped up where no one will see them.’”
Cuddy is survived by his daughter, Jen Steer, who lives in Durham. She assumes a wistful air whenever she invokes her father’s name. She said he was the perfect, patient father.
“If I needed help when I was young he was always there,” she said. “He was a go-to person if I needed help.”
Steer was enthusiastic that Elliot Associates rediscovered her father’s work.
“I am delighted the Elliot Hospital has rescued them and wants them to be noticed; that pleases me so much,” Steer said. “As an adult, I look back at them, I was amazed. I don’t recall seeing them as a young person, my father was private and he kept his business his business and when he came home he was a dad, there was a complete division there. But, I was really, really amazed looking at those posters and I want to thank [the Associates] so much for recognizing they’re special.”
Kelley said that returning the posters to the family was not out of the question, but they have yet to approach Steer with that plan.
“We feel that we are the holders of the posters, not the keepers of them,” Meade said. “And we want word out there about them. If people knew about them, maybe an interest would come forward.”
When asked about the future of the artwork Steer said, “I would love it if someone could accept the posters. I would like to donate them and would love it if they had a permanent home somewhere.”
Peter Noonan, local artist and illustrator, assisted Kelley and the associates in identifying the work and consulting with the board on what to do with the posters. “The posters were fantastic, beautiful,” he said.
Noonan said the posters retain their significance based on the prominence of the artist’s works.
“When you’re a child of a certain age and a certain time everyone loved Archie Comics,” Noonan said.
Noonan suggested a special Archie or Elliot Hospital exhibition to help raise some money. “These posters cross many different areas of interest,” Noonan said.
“There’s a deep rich history of Manchester that goes back decades, centuries even and this is just a small part of it…there’s a lot of goodness at the center of our beautiful city,” Noonan said.
