Obscurorant 2.0

Just to cleanse your palate of that last morbid post, here’s a link to a blog with cool pictures of Boston-That-Was: Shopping Days In Retro Boston.

Courtesy of MIT, a Flickr collection of photos of Boston-That-Was. I like this one, with all the neon signs.

The old saw holds that we all grow up to be our parents. This is undoubtedly true, but I think we all inherit bits of other family members as well. After retirement my grandfather enjoyed delving into local history, to the extent of writing a column for the local paper on the subject. So it’s [...]

This is likely to be of interest only to locals, but there’s a rumor that the Wolly theatre will be re-opened. Which would, or at least could, be very cool.
And on the same site, I found a like to this brief documentary about the Wollaston and the Coolidge Corner theatres.

A post card view of Hough’s Neck circa… well, I don’t know when.  A long time ago, that’s obvious.
I’m not sure where ‘The Square’ is located either, though I have some ideas.

I’m going to be right up front about this thing here. I never had any Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins. I was a Pewter Pot guy; Nana went there and thus did I. Both Jordan Marsh and the Pewter Pot have vanished, all part of the increasing homogenization of Boston and New England.  The blueberry muffins [...]

Some links concerning Massachusetts-That-Was:
The Ghost Cloverleaf of Canton
A picture of one of the original Howard Johnson’s in Wollaston.
And while we’re in the wayback machine – vintage posters for sale online.

I’ve been meaning to post these Flickr links for a while…
The Boston Public Library’s collection on Flickr. Includes this awesome set of posters for long-vanished Boston breweries and this set of war posters. Great stuff to dig through.
The Library of Congress on Flickr. Reaalll easy to get lost in there.
Here we have a set of [...]

While we’re dabbling in old photographs, take a look at this series – titled ‘Medieval Boston’ posted on a message board. It’s an absolutely fascinating look at downtown Boston before the urban renewal projects of the 50s and 60s, before the Central Artery and the destruction of the West End.

Underrated song by an underrated band.
Greetings – Robilar from Mars.
Creature Double Feature!
Here we have a reminder of a) a time when TV actually turned itself off and b) just how Catholic New England is.
Some non-Boston extras:
Danger Island.
Adam-12.

Folks who have an interest in warbirds, like myself, or those who are real pilots, like a couple of my cousins, might find this site of interest: Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields. The site is organized by state, and each state is subdvided into several regions.
The first entry for the Massachusetts: Southeastern Boston area is [...]

This past weekend I had occasion to venture down to the Fore River Shipyard, in order to catch the shuttle to George’s Island in Boston Harbor. I’ve written before of the Shipyard’s role in American naval history and while waiting on the dock I tried to imagine what the place was like during its [...]

From Shorpy, that most excellent (old) photo blog, a picture of Hank Gowdy, late of the Boston Braves.
Other Old-Timers: Oscar ‘Happy’ Felsch and The Babe mugging with John McGraw.

Some time ago I published a brief post musing on the ‘Syrian’ neighborhood in Quincy. Today I came across this photo, with the following caption:
In center of the picture is Phoebe Thomas, an 8-year-old Syrian girl, running home from the factory all alone, her hand and arm bathed with blood, crying at the top [...]

Around here Patriot’s Day is as much known for the Boston Marathon and an early start (10:00 AM this year I believe) for the Sox as it is for the battles of Lexington and Concord.
Frankly, I’ve been as guilty of the above as anyone else, but this year I plan to change that by attending [...]