PLYMOUTH, VT -- Over 100 antique cars will fill the streets of
Plymouth Notch, Tuesday, July 15, for a look at the famous homestead
of President Calvin Coolidge. These restored vehicles are some of
the very same models President Coolidge tooled around town in
the early 1900s.
  This is the first time the Walter P. Chrysler Club has ever visited
Vermont; and marks their 28th annual gathering. Car owners from all
over the country will participate, with some members coming from as
far away as California and Australia. The group is touring the
state during its week-long visit. They will hold a car show, which
is open to the public and free of charge, on Saturday, July 19 at the
Cortina Inn in Mendon.
  Plymouth Notch is the rural Vermont village that was the birthplace
and boyhood home of the 30th President. The village remains
virtually unchanged since the turn of the century when Calvin
Coolidge was sworn in as President in the family homestead by his
father. It will provide a unique backdrop for the vintage cars.
  Additionally, visitors ot the Coolidge site are being treated to
the first-time ever exhibit of an extraordinary collection of First
Lady Grace Coolidge's gowns, jewelry and personal accessories from
the fantastic "roaring Twenties". The exhibit is titled "Twenties
High Style: the Grace Coolidge Gowns," and reflects the height of
1920s style -- heavily beaded, sumptuous fabrics and "ragged"
hemlines appear on even the most formal dresses for state occasions.
Along with several gowns, the display features evening bags,
embroidered silk shawls, ostrich feather and hand-painted fans,
rhinestone-studded hair combs, long jade and colored-glass necklaces,
and other elaborate accouterments typical of the stylish era.
Otherwise frugal, "Silent Cal's" one indulgence was Grace's clothing.
Her social secretary, Mary Randolph, observed, "I have never known
any man more interested in his wife's clothing. And the handsomer
and more elaborate, the better."
  Ten buidlings are open to the public for tours, including the
Homestead, Birthplace, general store, village church, Summer White
House Office, and operating cheese factory. The President Calvin
Coolidge State Historic Site is administered by the Vermont Division
for Historic Preservation. The site is open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30
p.m., late May to mid-October. It is located 6 miles south of U.S. 4
on VT 100A. For more information call 802-672-3773.

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Elsa Gilbertson
National Register Specialist
Vermont Division for Historic Preservation
135 State Street, Drawer 33
Montpelier, VT 05633-1201
(802) 828-3046