Last day and retirement photos Patrolman Charles J. McIntyre, Comm. Robert J diGrazia

Photos of my grandfather, Charles J. McIntyre's last day on the job as a Patrolman (assigned to Internal Affairs / Staff Inspections from 1969-1976) and badge presentation (with Comm. Robert J diGrazia)  upon retirement. 

  

I wish I knew who some of these other men were, sadly none of the pictures I have are labeled on the back.

L.W. Cook Photographer 145 Tremont Street and 203 Washington Street Boston

This gentleman came froma flea market but at some point in his life he was sitting at either 145 Tremont Street or 203 Washington Street in Boston.
  
    I'm not sure what a "Cabinet Portrait" means but he sure is interesting looking. Like he's thinking about something important while waiting for the shutter to finish it's business.

   Whoever he may have been, he's worth remembering as he probably was somone with important things to think about having most likely been successful to some degree in his chosen field.

    Now days we snap shots and seconds later those shots are on the internet and being viewed on the other side of the world. In this gentleman's day, a print like this would not have been an inexpensive thing to have made.     

    

Glines 6 Winter Street Corner of Washington Boston, MA, George Wood

I picked up this old photo at a flea market, the back is penciled "Geo. Wood" so it's my thoughts that this man most likely was named George Wood but taken out of context of other family photos and/or memories is hard to say exactly what sort of man George Wood actually might have been.

   The label on the front reads: "Glines 6 Winter Street cor. Washington, Boston, MA.

  I work just a block or so from this address now and if I bring my camera to work tomorrow, I will snap a shot of what this location looks like now and add it to this post.

J.E. Purdy and Co. 146 Tremont Street Boston Old Photo

I picked this up at a flea market, old photo of young boy circa late 1920's-ish.

   The back of the photo is marked J.E. Purdy and Co. High Grade Photographers, 146 tremont Street Boston.

A fun little piece of the past.

I can't help but wonder who this young man grew up to be?

Macy's Tree Raising in Boston Mid Nov 2012

I took these early Sunday morning a week or so ago, it's kind of hard to see just how ginormous the Macy's tree is when it's up on the ledge and all decorated but at a street level view it really is quite massive.

   It's interesting to me just how much production goes into what our jaded modern minds think of as a simple and sweet holiday tradition.

    The amount of people involved in aquiring this tree, planning where it's going to go, how the lights will be powered, and how it's all going to happen without someone getting maimed or killed must be quite a number.

    I haven't worked for Macy's in years (and never worked at the Downtown Crossing location, I worked at Filene's across the street) but for all the hub-ub that I don't miss  (early bird sales, crazy hours, crazier customers...) I do think they do dress up the shop nice come holiday time.

    Kudos to them, come black friday this year tho, no early birds for me! I'm still in retail now but I sell online from home and with no crazy early bird/doorbuster sales to set, this year I'm sleeping in... : )

The Youth's Companion Library, Companion Building Boston

  This card came from a collection of my Grandparents that had many pieces of mail addressed to this same woman, I'm not entirely sure who she was or if she was even related in anyway to my family. (My Grandparents loved collecting all kinds of vintage stuff and could ahve easily found these at a church sale, she could be a totally unrelated person but I've held onto the cards and letters none the less just in case I find out she was someone related to our family in some way).

  Anyhoo...

     I found this image of place and time very interesting and having once lived near "The Companion Building" I have always been interested in going back there to take a few photos of what the building looks like now (or even if it's still there). time being as fleeting as it is tho, I haven't seemed to have found enough of it to spare an afternoon jaunt just for curiositis sake.
  
    It's a neat card tho and I figured even if I can't spare the time to go an take more updated photos for the place, it is still an interesting thing to share.

    Wikipedia information on The Youth's Companion Building

This Week Playing in Boston August 8, 1955 Marie Cord Sabby Lewis Barbara Lee

One of my side projects is selling vintage items both online and at flea markets around New England. This brings me in contact with many collectors and sellers of all sorts of vintage stuff and a couple of weeks ago I made a great connection at a local flea market; I purchaced some Playbills from right on the spot from this new friend and I met with him again today and made another great purchace of a lot of vintage Playbills and other ephemera.

   This is one of the items I purchaced today and I absolutely LOVE the articles and advertising contained on it's pages:

 Boston's Favorite Band Leader & Disk Jockey, Station WBMS, I can't wait to look up more about him and that station!

 Barbara Lee, "Interprative Dancer", what on earth does that mean?

 "Marie Cord, Boston's Pin Up Girl" sounded really interesting but I can't find anything about her on line:

 What a fun piece of history! 

I am going to enjoy the hours of looking up the performers and the places advertised within. It's not the super stars that make any city really interesting, it's who hides in the nooks and crannies of history that really define a place and time.