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Giving a deli the evil eye
By adamg on Wed, 10/22/2014 - 11:30am
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this photo. See it larger.
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Comments
Narrowing it down
Assuming these addresses still exist in some form - there are only 3 addresses with a 4-digit number in Boston in this range (2055-2065)
2057 Centre - doesn't appear to be it because next door is 2061 and then there is a corner - so 2065 couldn't be an adjoining lot.
That leaves - 2057 Columbus or 2061 Dorchester - both of which seem to be consolidated into much larger parcels now.
Given that the Dot Ave address is surrounded by detached properties and 2057 Columbus appears to have adjoined storefronts nearby - I'm going with 2057 Columbus.
Date - cobblestones, trolley tracks and limited electric wires - I'll go with 1903.
Additional Date info
Flyer that says something about "Spanish War Veterans".
The Spanish-American War was 1898.
I'd actually bet on Centre for one reason - the store specializing in German Provisions.
That is right near St Theresa
That is right near St Theresa's , down the street from the Kraut House , ( Deutsches Altenheim) . So , Swirls , you may be right.
Way too Urban for West Roxbury
I think that the cobblestones argue against that. At the turn of the century, that part of West Roxbury was about as bucolic as it gets. And I think that the Altenheim was built in the 1930's.
Demographically West Roxbury was old Yankee, with Irish railroad workers clustering around Spring and Baker, where the original Catholic church was. The German population was on the Washington and Grove Street side of town, near the Dedham Line. That neighborhood was actually called Germantown.
Exactly , I was thinking the
Exactly , I was thinking the numbers as well , but there is also Tremont street. that number would be right at Brigham Circle. That number Washington street would be near Eustis street , the Bury , Comm ave by BC , and Beacon at Cleveland Circle. 2065 Hyde Park ave would be at the old S & S warehouse. That's all I can think of. I think Swirls wins!
Easy, Peasy
This would be on Washington Street in good olde Madison Park.
I was hoping to get a date, but for what I found, August Kaufmann was working a little bit further up Washington Street. That said, I put it circa 1905.
That would make sense
a) Based on google maps - looks like this row of stores was removed to create Melnea Cass Blvd (which wouldn't surprise me because the history behind that might be why the archives may have chosen this block to feature)
b) Madison Park is of course right behind the Madison Market
c) 100+ years ago, there was a very large German Jewish population in Roxbury.
So I'd say you're guess first and my guess second option.
I'll stick with my date just to be different!
A little more info on my guess
Kaufmann was at the corner of Washington and Sterling. Of course, Sterling no longer exists.
I'm feeling less sure of the date, but roughly that.
that corridor
was originally cleared for the I-695 Inner Belt. Melnea Cass Blvd was constructed later.
my guess is Blue Hill Ave.
my guess is Blue Hill Ave.
MADISON PARK
MADISON PARK WOULD MEAN DUDLEY ST?
blue hill ave
n/t
2057 Washington Street L. Harris!
Boston Almanac and Business Directory 1877 lists a hatter named Louis Harris at 2057 Washington Street!
But was he mad
Now that is the question.
No the Mad Hatter was down
No the Mad Hatter was down off A street....
Washington Street north of Dudley, 1899 or 1900
Many of these images posted by the Archives come from collections of photos taken to show "before" conditions just prior to construction of major transit facilities, such as subways or elevated lines. So I'm guessing that this shows Washington Street just before construction began on the Main Line Elevated to Dudley. That line opened in 1901 so the photo is probably 1899 or 1900.
The poster in the far left doorway, about Spanish War Veterans, is consistent with that dating.
The 1899 Bromley atlas of Roxbury shows that Sterling Street would be just to the left of the deli (2065 Washington) and Madison Street would be a few doors to the right of Harris the Hatter (2057 Washington). The curb line of Melnea Cass Boulevard would now be just at the right edge of the photo, but of course the entire area has been cleared.
Comparison with later atlases shows that these wooden buildings were replaced with a one-story block of stores sometime between 1915 and 1931.
Yes, this would be diagonally across the street from the Eustis Street Burying Ground.
Love these posts.
And the comments are always wonderful--thanks all.
Downtown prices...
the Evil Eye...that's great!
Don't know where
but I do know it must have been before we had flies and maggots. Look at the different meat hanging outside!
food
And of course don't forget that Family size butter purchase (Does that really say 30 lbs???)
The Evil Eye was a musical comedy
THE EVIL EYE or The Further Funny Freaks of Nid and The Continued Comical Contortions of Nod, A Fantastical Spectacular Trick Comedy In Three Acts was published in 1898 & toured the country starting in 1902. A poster from the tour is up at the Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/var1993000055/PP/
and the text can be found at archive.org
http://archive.org/stream/evileye00yale/evileye00yale_djvu.txt
Given all that, I would suspect the photo was taken in 1902 or 1903
I thought olde-timey long names were just a joke
But this "The Continued Comical Contortions of Nod, A Fantastical Spectacular Trick Comedy In Three Acts" proves me wrong. Must have been a real wacky show. From the script:
The Answer!
Thanks for playing, folks! Those of you who guessed Washington Street are correct. This shows the west side of Washington Street at the north corner of Sterling Street. The day is November 21, 1899