some

folkways

of

the

dune

people

by

alden kirby

one

the setting

Cherry Grove has, for its size, probably the most sinfully attractive reputation in the world. Fifty miles from New York, three miles out in the Atlantic, on a partially wooded, roadless sand bar. Cherry Grove began as a kind of hideaway for a small group of creative people who could manage to disentangle themselves from the cultural rigors of the big city-from the fabric house to the fine arts. The geographical inconvenience, the fifty miles of uninterrupted beach and surf, the secluded sand dunes on the shore and the impenetrable underbrush of scrub oak and pine on the bay side, made the island a retreat and the antithesis of city life, as well as an escape from the censures of smalltown opinion.

Living conditions used to (and often still do) consist of merely a shack with third-hand furniture, an ice box, and hand-pump for sometimes brackish water. This courageous kind of simplicity used to suggest old clothes, cheap paint, if any. and drift wood for house repairs. Now the shack is usually rented in the summer season for $850. to $2000. Innumerable bedrooms have been added on, and the original "living room" functions almost solely as a cocktail bar from 11:30 a.m. to the next sunrise. The decor is often a hodge-podge, or elaborate, or deceptively simple. Architectural styles range from the Cocteau-kind of manse to the enlarged walk-in closet. The interiors may have a grand piano with a studded motorcycle jacket thrown on it, trompe l'oeil murals, or be a New England sort of shore-house or an artist's studio.

the costumes

But the most interesting variety of tastes is noticeable more quickly to

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