My Irish Wife

I found this on The Library of Congress web site and I find it amusing that so many years later "the queen of France" (or at least a recent prime Minister's wife, Carla Bruni) is known to be a beauty of international reknown). Looking up around downtown Boston one can see many markers listing company names imbedded in the stone at about the second story on a lot of buildings. I am endlessly surprised at how many of those companies that built those buildings were music publishers.

   This was a company I hadn't seen on a building or heard of before so I thought it worth sharing. At some point I'll travel down Hanover Street and see if the original building is still there...

It was 20 years ago today...

I was sick and quite suffering this night but determined to go see Joe Satriani at this event, I got dressed up as cute as I could with a red runny nose and wandered over to the Garden with my friend Rebecca.

   It turned out to be one of those nights that I should have known better and just hunkered down with some extra blankets and stayed home.

   The bad vibe that began with my cold continued as some guy got up on stage and proposed to his girlfriend who declined his offer and shortly after the great fan fare with which she was brought up on stage the two of them were quickly hustled off and never heard from again.
  I'd be inclined to think, "Poor Dude!" but c'mon, who does that without being 100% sure the girl is going to say yes. Poor girl being thrust into that uncomfortable position, sheesh...

   We saw Mr. Satriani perform about 4 songs and then it was someone else's turn and with my feeling just awful and the main event over, Rebecca and I started to leave.

  Then I slipped in someone Else's spilled beer and went crashing down into the same wet puddle but not before trying to catch my fall. I missed the railing with my hand and caught my full body weight using just my little pinky finger. I bent it back so far that I could still feel some soreness years later and to this day I still cringe if that finger is bent back even a little.

But at least the worst of the night is over right?

 No such luck...

   We found ourselves slightly turned around on our way back to Jamaica Plain from the Garden and  wound up coming out of a one way street in the middle of the old combat zone. The neighborhood was on it's way to being cleaned up but not quite there yet when at approx midnight as I inched my car forward to see around parked cars, a cab going WAY TOO FAST clipped the front end of my car and dragged up a good block or so before depositing my car in the middle of an intersection.

   My mother's voice cropped up in my head at this time,

 "If you are in an accident, don't move the car until the police get there and take pictures!"

    Good advice I guess but my Mother never imagined that I would be in an accident in the middle of the combat zone at midnight on a friday night. A million (that's an estimate but I think it's about right) cars trying from all 4 angles to get past my car diagonalll in the middle of the intersection, people yelling, a not unmad best friend who had just been given quite a scare, and a cacophony of mayhem surrounded us.          

     I moved the car.

Which probably saved it from A.) being hit again or B.) myself being throttled by a crowd of angry strangers. Mother's advice not with standing still, I did the right thing.

    In the end, the cops did come and help me and the cab driver share insurance info which was nice as I was ranting like a loon and probably looked far less than a fine upstanding citizen with my rage, red eyes, runny nose and askew formerly cute club dress.

Far from looking like a damsel in distress, I am quite sure in hindsight that I looked all for the world like I belonged there smack dab in the middle of the old combat zone...

   All ended well enough I guess as my car had only a chunk of cosmetic damage to the side where as the cab had to be towed away. People over the years have frequently spoken to me about the benefits of heavy ALL AMERICAN cars and how they are so much "safer" than any of the light weight little foreign cars I have had over the years but all I can think about is that night and how we were perfectly safe and just kind of bounced along and then off of the heavy car that clipped us. If we had been in a heavier car the damage would have undoubtedly been far worse. As is was, we were completely unscathed, except for our state of mind of course, and got back home without further fanfare to a well deserved (and probably should have had right from the start) good night sleep.

  Then the next day I had to confess to my Mother what had happened and had to endure the lecture on how I should not have moved the car...

    A couple of months later my friends and I were parked at a fast food joint somewhere in Brighton I think and we spotted a cab with some side damage in the parking lot.

   "Wouldn't it be funny if that was the same cab?" someone said.

Just for giggles we pulled the info from my glove box and sure enough, it was the same cab. No longer as amusing as the coincidence first seemed in theory, we skeedaddled out of there as fast as we could without getting into another accident...

     A lot of  adventure for only a couple of songs which I probably didn't enjoy as much as I could have had I been well but even if it was only briefly, I got to see Joe Satriani play.

   All's well that ends well....

  

Hotel Humboldt Hotel Holborn Roxbury, MA

This is an old photo I found online showing The Humboldt Theatre which was once located at 147 Humboldt Ave in Roxbury.

  
    I found this photo while I was searching for information about an old Hotel Humboldt and/or Hotel Holborn also located in Roxbury.

    A few days ago I was in the breakroom at work talking about random stuff whiole eating lunch  when one of my coworkers meantioned that his grandfather used to own or possibly manage a place called Hotel Humboldt in Roxbury. He mentioned that his grandfather was now a minister but in his youth was quite the "gangsta" and it was possibly during this 'wild youth' that the man had been attached to Hotel Humboldt. 

   I absolutely LOVE digging into Boston history and love it even more when the lead I get turns out to be hidden/forgotten history, I can't find ANYTHING at all online in regards to Hotel Humboldt and as close as I've gotten is this snapshot of an old theater on Humboldt Ave.

     I will keep digging and can't wait to learn more about this elusive establishment...

   

Activity at the big hole in the ground. (Former Filene's Building)

After years of hearing,

    "Construction is going to begin soon!" 

   businesses surrounding the giant hole in the ground in Downtown Crossing had all but given up  that anything EVER was going to happen to the giant hole. It has been a long standing neighborhood belief that eventually the gaping maw in the ground left by the merger of Filene's with Macy's was going to grow big enough to suck the dwindling profits of all surrounding businesses right into it. 

We (I used to work for Filene's and I now work for another business in the area) wanted to believe otherwise but the fact of the matter was, the facade of the old building loomed over all surrounding businesses like the grim reaper. 

We all watched while politely averting our eyes, as business after busniness failed along the surrounding streets and hoped and prayed that the next would not be the one who paid our own bi-weekly pittances. 

(The gold shop that went under due to an international police investigation that uncovered the business was a front for identity fraud doesn't count. Filene's did not put them out of business, their own massive greed and stupidity did)   

 But lo!

My boss informed me a week or so ago that construction was starting at "The Giant Hole In The Ground" and when I clearly did not believe her she said,

 "No, really! Go look for yourself! It's actually happening!"

And, go figure. There really is stuff happening at Boston's little brother to 'The Big Dig'.

  The sun shines through onto Winter Street:

         

Walls opened up, lights are on and things seem to be moving along.

   Cautiously optimistic but even a little optimisim is something new for Downtown Crossing, we're all hopefull the glass really is half full this time...

A sad senseless day...

 It is difficult to know what to say on  a day like today.

   So many people woke before dawn with such hope and anticipation.

      So many people trained for this day to be the one day this year where they were able to test the endurance of thier bodies, to achieve and to feel elation at completion of a task,
and to bask in the glory of a goal accomplished.

     So many friends, family and well wishing strangers gathered to watch the human spirit triumph over physical stress and strain, and then this had to happen.

     Although anything I have to say about today's events is pretty pointless,
   and it seems rather selfish of me to say I am glad I had planned a vaction day today and was nestled safe in my suburban home instead of in downtown crossing with all it's now terrifying public trash cans still, I am very glad I was here and not there.

     I am sure there are many who were there who wish they could say the same.

 Even for the physically uninjured, there are somethings that once they are seen, they can not be unseen and must be carried for the rest of days.

 I would not wish the memories some of those survivors now carry on anyone.

     I was very relieved to hear that friends and family who were there made it home safe and my thoughts are with those who can not say the same.

     Some tears and a lot of anger, not really sure I've got the words in me to cover that adequately...

World Championship Rodeo Boston Garden 1956 Personal Appearance by Rin Tin Tin

I picked this great item up today at Little Ritchie's Antiques in Braintree, MA.

 (50 Hancock Street, Braintree, MA 781-380-8165) 

Promo photo featuring the cast of Rin Tin Tin.

    (Interesting to note that that 'Apache Joe' appears more northern european than native north american. A sign of the times I guess...)   

SPUD cigarettes? I wonder why that brand didn't catch on...

    More fun vintage ads:

International Chewing Gum Co. Cambridge, MA (Warning: Disturbing Image)

My husband aquired this card with an assorted lot collection he purchaced years ago so we have no way of knowing where it originally came from but I tried a web search for 'International Chewing Gum Co.' and came up with nothing.

  According to the back of this card it was produced by The International Chewing Gum Co. Cambridge, MA 1938.

Since I can't find any info about this company I am not sure what type of product this card was distributed with but I certainly hope it was not a chewing gum product sold to kids.

This image distrubs me but I felt it was worth posting as it is a small piece of vintage americana and the only piece of history I can find documenting that this Cambridge, MA company ever existed.