Boston Post Cane

In 1909, the Boston Post newspaper, which closed in 1956, created the tradition of the Boston Post Cane. As a promotional event, the paper distributed 700 gold-tipped canes to towns that had a population of over 500 in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The cane was to be awarded to honor each town’s oldest resident. Originally, the Boston Post Cane was to be awarded to the oldest male resident of a town. In 1930, that expanded when the cane was awarded to the first oldest female resident of a town. Although there were over 700 canes originally distributed, over the years many have become lost and misplaced. Currently, there are an estimated to be 435 of those canes known to be in existence. The cane is made out of ebony wood from Africa and has a solid gold tip.