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It's time to bring Norfolk India Pale Ale back

Row of old buildings in old Boston

The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this scene. See it larger.

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The variety of retailers in the city used to be amazing. Seems like every first and second floor lease space had something different and unique.

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progress!

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City Target is maybe an 1/8th the size of what many of the big downtown department stores were in their heyday.

Jordan Marsh alone used to take up five floors the length and width of two football fields along Washington Street with additional annex buildings.

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I miss the days of those department stores that were practically worlds unto themselves. There is nothing like them anymore. No Target, no Walmart even comes close. Not to mention, the department stores had CHARACTER, something a Target or Walmart, by it's very nature, will never have.

The Washington Street Jordan Marsh not only had floors of men's, women's and children's clothing, there was floor of furniture, a floor of pianos and musical instruments, a floor of electronics (stereos and TVs in those days), an annex with a massive record department, book department and an upstairs art department with professional artist's equipment. A full restaurant and a lunch counter. Oh, and did I mention a bakery with blueberry muffins that a person or two might remember fondly? A massive Santa's Village at Christmas. Like I said,, there's nothing comparable now.

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That sounds like a mall to me.

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This has gotta be the first and last time I'll ever hear the majestic Boston Jordan Marsh store described as being like a mall. I guess you just had to be there. How far we have fallen from more elegant times.

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Yes, Jordan Marsh in it's heyday (or even in the 70s/80s) was essentially an enclosed area with a series of locations where different types of items were sold. There was clothing on the lower floors, with home furnishings, electronics, and toys (yes, that is what I remember the most) on the higher floors. Across the street at Woolworth, same thing on a smaller scale, with the sporting goods/guns on the higher level. Heck, the stores even had places to eat, like the modern food court (though much nicer.)

I first thought about this about a decade ago when I was in the Stockmann store in Helsinki. It was very much like Jordan's (I was there to pick up a hockey ticket from whatever their version of Ticketmaster was,) and since I hadn't experienced such a thing in a while, the mall comparison came into my head. Stockmann even had a bookstore and insurance brokers.

Ah, for the days when "department stores" were more than just large clothing stores with some bric-a-brac thrown in.

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Next door is an A A Martin company, which was on A street by the sheds. He was a wool and cotton bale hauler.

Upon further review , the decision on the field is reversed, The answer is in this, I wont spill the beans. But most breweries in Boston were in JP or near Roxbury Crossing.

https://books.google.com/books?id=g6_yAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=Habic...

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Or just a retail store or bar that sold this brand of beer?

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Who knows ? The Shadow knows !

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..through the Google which states A.A.Martin cigars was located at #7 Lewis St. in East Boston

https://books.google.com/books?id=wNFAAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA201&lpg=PA201&dq=A.A...

However this source puts the Norfolk Brewery in Roxbury, but with a "City Depot" at 321 Atlantic Avenue

https://books.google.com/books?id=tyspAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA484-IA7&dq=Norfolk+I...

From the look of the buildings I'd say either East Boston or Atlantic Ave. is plausible but I'm going with Atlantic Ave.

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...which would put it really close to the harbor, so I didn't post that. I like your theory.

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This building is shot along Sumner Street looking somewhat easterly.

A photo taken from the other side of the street was taken and posted here a few months back. The photo was probably taken around 1901 when the land takings were done for the East Boston Tunnel / The Blue Line.

Here is the few today. The Mantou cigar building is still in place albeit modified while I believe the building on the left was built as part of the rehab of the area in the mid80's.

Here is the view today: https://www.google.com/maps/place/7+Lewis+St,+Boston,+MA+02113/@42.3690571,-71.0401422,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sX33RqgpsMfthD9xVrcn8Sw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DX33RqgpsMfthD9xVrcn8Sw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.TACTILE.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D68.425232%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e37089a5d735db:0xf1d29048f70c1685

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aka "Lewis Wharf"

Edit: Lewis Mall, not wharf.

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You need to copy the whole long URL, as the link truncated it. That will take you to East Boston, not to Lewis Wharf.

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Lewis Mall I mean.

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Let me get right on that! I'm not busy or anything like that.

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No copy and paste needed for this one:

https://goo.gl/maps/XsCLf2RVXPB2

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wheres the Blue Sand's?

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Oh lordy, the Blue Sands Cafe: Clocks set 15 fast so that the Breakfast Club could enjoy their morning pick-me-ups starting at 7:45 (instead of the legal first-pour at 8). Pastrami heated up in a #12 can. More grime on the windows than could be imagined. A waitress who looked terrific from the back (nice figure, long straight blond hair) and utterly frightening from the front (though she was a sweet woman).

They don't make 'em, like the BS Cafe these days.

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I think the old photo is shot on lewis st (now lewis mall) rather than on Sumner, but the buildings on Lewis and Sumner look almost identical,having been built probably by the same builder at the same time.

Lewis street nowadays is pretty much empty land, but here's a photo of the southwest corner of Lewis and Sumner. Note "Lewis street" sign visible, so we're looking at
IMAGE(https://www.flickr.com/photos/cityofbostonarchives/16080227309/in/photostream/)

Try this view:
Try this view instead

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Thanks for playing folks! This is Maverick Square in East Boston. We don' t have the exact date of the photo, but put it between 1883-1905.

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