Obscurorant 2.0 » Vanished Boston

In The Streets Of Boston

The Silver Fox — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:35:28 +0000

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.

By The Cathedral

The Silver Fox — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:47:49 +0000

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

Out of the Past

The Silver Fox — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:03:35 +0000

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 no accident that I find this 1901 map of Quincy fascinating. Obviously you can look and see how the city has grown, but I find myself drawn to landmarks that have (as far as I know) vanished. Is there any remaining trace of the National Sailors Home? What about the Greenleaf Hotel or the ‘Music Hall’ indicated on the lower end of Hancock Street? It makes me want to dig further.

Naturally the internet abounds with all sorts of resources for such digging. archBoston.org has all sorts of picture-y goodness. There are a number of threads chock full of pictures of Boston-That-Was. Flickr of course, can ensnare you for hours of searching. You can also find maps from the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center on flickr.

Moving Pictures

The Silver Fox — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:06:48 +0000

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.

Walls In Time

The Silver Fox — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:04:45 +0000

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.

Sad Old World

The Silver Fox — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:40:17 +0000

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 still sound yummy though.

Down All The Days

The Silver Fox — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:02:45 +0000

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.

Is That All You’ve Got For Me?

The Silver Fox — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:33:07 +0000

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 Scholastic book covers from the 60s and 70s, some of which I can remember. No Dynamite magazine covers though.

UPDATE: I neglected to point out (for those interested) a number of Quincy postcards from this BPL set:

Aerial view of Quincy. The old Fore River bridge. The Square. Thomas Crane Library.

Forgotten Years

The Silver Fox — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:36:04 +0000

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.

Since You’re Gone

The Silver Fox — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:58:27 +0000

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.