Because Spiritus still embodies a lot of the rambunctious, long-haired, countercultural energy that helped transform Provincetown once upon a time — I mean, the founder’s name was “Jingles,” after all — it’s hard to believe that this pizza joint is actually an established institution more than a half-century old. It is the early-morning rendezvous in a town where the bars close at 1 a.m., and if you haven’t ever been to Spiritus at that hour, you’ve never really been to Spiritus. Though no Stonewall Inn, Spiritus has earned its place in town lore as the place where those early-morning crowds — predominantly gay men — twice stood up to what they regarded as overly aggressive policing, in August 1986 and September 1990. Both events are referred to as the “Spiritus riots,” although they weren’t really anything of the kind. Its front yard, paved in brick and set slightly above the sidewalk grade, is one of the great spots to see and be seen. Spiritus abounds in permanent artwork on the walls, ceilings, and tabletops. It also serves as a gallery for artists who can be sure their work will be seen by a large audience. Its “Cash Only” policy is still in effect, and it is still owned and run by the family of John Love “Jingles” Yingling, who bought this property in 1978. Oh, yes. You can also get a slice of terrific pizza here. Ice cream, too.
Careful scrutiny discloses something else amazing about 190 Commercial Street. At its heart, it’s a full Cape house, though Yingling substantially transformed the facade after he purchased the building from the town optometrist, Dr. Max A. Berman (1918-2008), whose practice was once conducted here.
And the interesting facets don’t stop there. Ownership of the house — formerly denominated 189 Commercial Street — was once split down the middle. As of 1892, the eastern half of the building — where the Spiritus kitchen and counter are now — belonged to Minnie Ella (Collins) Brown (1871-1934) and her sister, Bessie Louise (Collins) Clapp (1869-1945). The western half — the Spiritus dining room — belonged to their aunt, Minnie Nickerson (Collins) Parsons (1839-1919). The common area at the center of the house technically belonged to the sisters, but their aunt was granted the permanent right “to use the front-door, front-hall and front-stairs of said house” in the deed from her brother, Richard F. Collins (1837-1894), a fisherman.¹ Brown, Clapp, and Parsons were all descended from Abiel Collins Thomas (1816-1871) and Reuben Freeman Collins (1810-1883), who Clive Driver believed was the builder of the house in the late 1830s.² Minnie Parsons was their daughter. Her husband was a house painter. Minnie Brown and Bessie Clap were the granddaughters of Abiel and Reuben, through the fisherman John E. Collins (1847-1894).
This chart may make it a bit clearer:
Bessie Clapp and Minnie Brown owned the eastern part of the house. Minnie Parsons owned the western part, but not the central stairway and hallway. However, her deed allowed her to use those spaces.
Bessie graduated from Provincetown High School and went to work at the Provincetown Shirt Factory. She moved to Boston in 1898 after marrying Capt. William Rosewell Clapp (1839-1927). Thirty years older than Bessie, Captain Clapp had served during the Civil War with the 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, which saw brutal duty and suffered heavy losses at Gettysburg, Antietam, Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and other important battles. Captain Clapp himself was held at the infamous Libby Prison in Richmond at one point. In civilian life, he was employed by the Boston Elevated Railway Company (the private predecessor to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority). After he retired, he and Bessie returned to the Collins homestead in Provincetown. She was active in the Universalist Church. Her death in 1945 brought an end to the long Collins era.
In 1946, Alwilda (Mullins) Jefferson (1870-1949) bought the Parsons half of the house from the Town of Provincetown, the Brown-Clapp half from the estate of Bessie’s sister, and reunified the property as a single parcel. Jefferson was a native of Nova Scotia who had worked for a time in Brockton as a practical nurse. She was in her late 70s when she purchased the house, which was alternately denominated 192 Commercial Street in those days.
Lurana Young (Sparks) (Smith) Higgins (1885-1966)³ was a niece of Alwilda. One of Lurana’s sons from her first marriage was Churchill T. Smith (1912-2000), who served as a sergeant in the Army during World War II. Also a sergeant, in the Women’s Army Corps, was Ethel M. Bickers (1921-1991) of Provincetown. A year after the war ended, the two sergeants were married in the Provincetown Methodist Church, she in a “gown created from German parachute silk,” the Advocate reported. They moved here, into the home of his Great Aunt Alwilda. Ethel worked at the Corner Gift Shop and Churchill worked for Atlantic Coast Fisheries. One R. Steen — presumably a tenant — sold bay scallops from here in 1948, by the quart or gallon, either fresh or “expressed in iced tins to you or your friends, any place in the country.”
Alwilda transferred the property to Lurana in January 1949. Two months later, Lurana sold it to Dr. Berman and his wife, Anita Ruth Berman (1924-2020).
You don’t have to be too old an old-timer to remember Dr. Berman, since he maintained his optometry practice until 2007. That was 60 years after he — literally — hung out his shingle in Provincetown. If you attended P.H.S., you may also remember Mrs. Berman, the guidance counselor for 23 years, until 1986.
Anita was a native New Yorker. She was graduated from Brooklyn College in 1943, and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University two years later. Max was a Bostonian. He began his medical studies at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy (now MCPHS University) in Boston, then switched to the Massachusetts School of Optometry (now the New England College of Optometry), also in Boston. Neither had ever been to Provincetown until they learned in 1947 that the local optometry practice, owned by Dr. John Hinckley, was for sale.⁴ With the encouragement of one of the general practitioners in town, Dr. Thomas Perry, they decided to take a gamble on the Cape end.
Within two years, the Bermans had purchased 190 Commercial for home and office. He also opened a nighttime practice in Orleans, which he maintained until 2003. Their children, Michael Berman and Sheryl (Berman) Lovit, grew up in this house and attended Provincetown High School.
Since Provincetown was a center of visual art in America when Dr. Berman’s practice was young, it’s fair to ask: whose artistic vision did he improve? “I had many, many artists as patients that became very well known,” Dr. Berman recounted to Mary Ann Bragg of the Banner in a 2004 interview.⁴
Charles Heinz? A patient.
Hans Hofmann? A patient.
Bruce McKain? He and his wife, Amy, were patients and friends. The McKains and Bermans would rendezvous on Saturday nights for ice cream sodas at the Howard Johnson’s. A painting by McKain was the first artwork Berman owned.
Robert Motherwell? “A very nice person to deal with professionally.”
John Whorf? House calls. “He would tell me he did most of his painting as he looked out the window at the water. … Otherwise it was in his imagination.
Sol Wilson? A patient.
“I enjoy the one-to-one contact with people and the fact that I’m able to help, from a visual point of view,” Dr. Berman told Bragg. “That’s the reason I don’t retire: the relationships I have with people, with my patients.”
They moved their home and office westward in 1978, when they bought 82 Commercial Street and sold this property to Yingling, who has owned it ever since, and transformed it into a Provincetown landmark.
In memoriam
• Anita Ruth Berman (1924-2020)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 227376066, West Roxbury
• Dr. Max A. Berman (1918-2008)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 154828836, West Roxbury.
• Bessie Louise (Collins) Clapp (1869-1945)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 138036194.
• John E. Collins (1847-1894)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 144306138.
• Richard F. Collins (1837-1894)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 144306147.
• Capt. William Rosewell Clapp (1839-1927)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 138034548.
• Alwilda (Mullins) Jefferson (1870-1949)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 139028094, Brockton.
¹ Collins to Parsons, 19 November 1892, Barnstable County Registry of Deeds, Book 204, Page 322.
² “The Spiritus Pizza Building,” by Clive Driver, in Looking Back, Page 89.
³ Researchers may encounter another Lurana Higgins in the records. This would be Lurana Asbury (Higgins) Cook (1926-2011), Lurana’s daughter by her second marriage. The two are often distinguished by middle initial: Lurana Y. Higgins was the mother, Lurana A. Higgins was the daughter.
⁴ “He’s Seen It All,” by Mary Ann Bragg, the Provincetown Banner, 9 September 2004.