Author Archive

“Capital Gains” by John Edward

John Edward, a resident of Chelmsford who earned his master’s degree at UMass Lowell and who teaches economics at Bentley University and UMass Lowell, contributes the following column. The day after President Obama’s State of the Union address, the front page of the Boston Globe had an interesting pair of…

Read More »

“Coke constantly on hand”

This 1870’s ad for the Lowell Gas Light Company is a pretty good example of how the meaning of words may change over time. In this case, the product advertized was a by-product of the coal gasification process that yielded the illuminating gas that was used to light the city’s…

Read More »

The Blizzard of ’78

I don’t want to jinx us, but I realized yesterday that the only time I’ve started my snow blower this winter was in early October when I was making sure that it would start OK. Perhaps I was contemplating snow yesterday because it was the anniversary of the great blizzard…

Read More »