Visitors to Cape Cod can make the short detour to the Cape's elbow where Nantucket sound and the Atlantic Ocean come together, where 6,000 residents live in the fishing village of Chatham, Massachusetts. Just to the South, is the Island of Nantucket where traditional "Quarterboards" were first displayed. Made to hang on the ships quarter, or, perhaps the ship's deck house, they were used for identification, and are now proud reminders of the era of sailing ships. The art of graceful curves and deeply incised letter styles have been handed down to today's crafts people who labor to hand make authentic replicas of the original boards whose sea captain owners, now retired from the sea, would place on their new land bound homes, in a conspicuous place for all passersby to admire.

The shells and pineapples used for embellishment of the signs, also have a history of their own. While the scallop shell celebrates our connection to the sea, tradition has it that the pineapple's symbol of welcome started in the Island's whaling days when ships returned from the South Seas. The Captain and mates, anxious to see their friends, would place a pineapple on the picket fence to indicate that they were back and all were welcome.