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Good food back in the day
By adamg on Wed, 08/28/2013 - 11:06am
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can fix this scene in time and place. See it larger.
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The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can fix this scene in time and place. See it larger.
Comments
Backside of Harvard medical
Backside of Harvard medical (on left edge of photo) from Huntington Ave? Buildings in the center and right of the photo could front Longwood
It's at the corner of
Boylston and Brookline in Fenway!! Wish that place was still around, looks great..
Longwood and Brookline Avenues
That's right people, we are staring at the Longwood Galleria.
Weird.
I'll throw 1958 out there for a time.
Bingo
I'll bet that diner was open very late hours, if not 24-hours a day, to feed med students and hospital workers. Somehow, I don't think the world imploded around it, either.
Somehow I'd imagine people
Somehow I'd imagine people didn't whine as much in those days either. Let it go or open up your own 24hr diner to feed med students and hospital workers instead of anonymously bitching on the internet.
Earlier than 1958, I think
I'd say more like 1953-54.
Maybe even earlier
Are those cars from the 50's? I'd say possibly as early as 1948. Any gearheads want to weigh in?
Cool photo and good spot if those mentioning a location are correct on Brookline and Boylston.
I think some of those cars are from ...
...1950-51 or so, though others are a bit older. Not sure of the exact years (so I initially added a couple to play it safe).
I could buy that
Whatever the latest model year car is, the photo is usually a year or two more recent. That convertible in the middle definitely looks like it could be of that vintage - somewhere between the war and Happy Days.
I think a 12 year old Arthur Fonzerelli is entering the diner.
Dark car on far right = late 40s/early 50s Pontiac Chieftain?
Not a historical-gearhead, but those post-WWII Pontaics were a pretty distinct change from the pre-war forms.
Looks like there is a 1951
Looks like there is a 1951 Plymouth and same year Chevy, would have to drink some Old T and Ganset and go into a seance to really discern those cars.......
Another Hint
The partially-constructed high-rise building behind the incinerator stacks. If that is the Farley Building at Children's, this would be 1954 or 1955 (it opened in 1956). If it is the expansion of the Jimmy Fund building to eight floors, it would be 1957.
LMA?
Could it be at Brookline Ave and Fenwood Rd or the Riverway? The stacks in the background could be where the Brigham and Women's power plant is today..
the Federal Diner
According to Alan Mays, the Federal Diner was located at 410 Brookline Avenue in Boston. Judging from the cars, I'd guess early- to mid-'50s?
Looks pretty different today, though...
Holy Mother of God... ...city
Holy Mother of God...
...city streets without potholes!
The Answer
Thanks for playing, everyone! This is the intersection of Brookline and Longwood Ave. We don't have an exact year, but know it was taken sometime in the 1950s.
The Federal Diner was owned
The Federal Diner was owned by my grandfather Samuel S. Kern. A bit of trivia: his wife's brother, Arthur Kaufman, owned another Boston landmark--a restaurant he named after his son: Buzzy.