By Michelle Saturley
Staff Writer

How does a society embrace new ways of doing things while preserving cultural history? Is it possible to change to cutting edge technology that makes daily life less complicated while still celebrating and recognizing what came before?

These are the questions faced by the New Hampshire Historical Society with their current preservation project. On Jan. 1, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation officially stopped accepting tokens at all state tollbooths, leaving only two alternatives – cash or the EZ Pass.

Wes Balla, director of collections and exhibitions for the New Hampshire Historical Society, demonstrates how automated token counting machines worked. The machines have been removed from turnpike tollbooths across the state, and Balla has been working to acquire a few of them for an upcoming exhibit.

The move signified the end of an era, and the historical society has spent the last year working with the D.O.T. to make sure this era is accurately preserved for future generations of Granite Staters.

“The token is an item that is ingrained in our culture as a symbol of travel, whether it’s a toll token or a subway token,” said Wes Balla, director of collections and exhibitions for the NHHS. “The fact that it’s being phased out is significant for a number of reasons.”

Balla began speaking with members of the D.O.T. last spring, when he first received word that the token was being sent out to pasture.

“It began simply as a way of ensuring that the historical society had a method in place ahead of time to ensure that all the equipment, documentation, and even the tokens themselves, weren’t completely discarded,” Balla said. “We approached them to inquire about collecting information and artifacts early in the process.”

Though the D.O.T.’s primary concern at this period is the transition from tokens to EZ Pass, Balla said they have been helping the society in its mission to preserve the old technology, especially since much of the original equipment from the toll system’s early days in 1955 has been forever lost.

“It’s not really their job to preserve any of this equipment,” he said. “But they have been very good about allowing us access to things like old tokens, photographs and even the equipment itself.”

The society’s Museum of New Hampshire History, located in Eagle Square in Concord, is currently housing a number of items in anticipation of opening a retrospective exhibition about the state’s history of the token. The concept is still in the research and discovery phase, but Balla said the items acquired by the museum over the last year are a good start.

Balla has acquired a few variations of the small, shiny tokens bearing the likeness of the Old Man of the Mountain, which he hopes will serve as the anchor for a future exhibit. Among the examples are the silver “A” and “B” tokens, first introduced in 1955 and worth 10 and 15 cents, respectively. The tokens have their assigned letters stamped through the center of the coin. They were replaced by the current version of the token, worth 25 cents, in 1985.

Balla also obtained a few toll baskets and coin counters, installed back in 1985 when the toll was increased from 15 to 25 cents. Drivers will easily recognize the white baskets, which caught tossed tokens for years. But the attached token counter, which has been hidden inside the tollbooth, will be something new to the motorist’s eye.

“This is the piece of equipment that most of us never get to see,” Balla said. “It counts each individual token in these grooves.”

Like the rotary telephone and the record album, the token and its affiliated equipment are now relics. But Balla said his plans for the exhibit don’t end there.

“What I’m looking for now are a series of oral histories, both from toll takers who have worked in the state and motorists who can relate stories of driving here in New Hampshire from the time that tokens were first used,” Balla said. “The toll booth worker adds that human element to the changes.”

While the state is shifting to electronic tolls, it seems as if the human element, the toll taker, will diminish, but actually they will always be needed.

“The toll booth employee will never completely disappear,” said John Hanson, assistant administrator with the state’s Bureau of Turnpikes. “The worker at the booth is often the first New Hampshire person a motorist comes into contact with as they come into the state.”

Hanson said that the ratio of cash versus EZ Pass use at this point is divided evenly.

“I’d say it’s about 50-50 between people who use cash and people who use EZ Pass,” he said. “I think there will be a point in the future when more people will use the EZ Pass, but there will always be a population of people who use cash.”

New Hampshire was not only the last state in New England to make the transition away from tokens, but also the last state in the country. Hanson said one of the reasons for the delay was a sense of nostalgia about the token and its place in the state’s history and identity.

“The fact that the Old Man of the Mountain’s image is on the token played more of a part in this than many people imagined when the decision first came down,” Hanson said. “The Old Man is gone now, and I think that same sense of loss was being transferred to the token, which is a tangible image of that icon.”

In spite of the nostalgia attached to the coin, Hanson said most people are coping with the change well, and even embrace it.

“Ultimately, eliminating the token and using the EZ Pass is all about reducing congestion at the toll booth, which can only be a good thing,” he said. “We are very excited about the future, but we also recognize and respect the past.”

The retirement of the token goes beyond the adaptation of new highway technology. Balla said it’s also a refl ection of a society that depends less and less on face-to-face interaction and tangible money to do business.

“When you put this in the context of bank ATMs, debit cards and that kind of technology, it speaks to something that is happening all around the world,” Balla said. “So there are many layers to this exhibit. There’s the implication of what this means here in the state of New Hampshire, but also how it fits in with the shift that is going on globally.”

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