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You've just won your party's primary, maybe you don't feel like putting on pants the next morning

Frank Bellotti

Back in the day, politicians who'd won elections would often invite the press in the next morning to watch them bask in the glow of being a winner.

On Sept. 11, 1964, Arthur Howard of the Boston Record-American captured Frank Bellotti sans pants in his Quincy home the morning after the lieutenant governor had defeated his boss, Gov. Endicott "Chub" Peabody, in the Democratic primary (Bellotti then went on to lose to Republican John Volpe, whom Peabody had beaten two years earlier).

On Sept. 26, 1963, after coming in first in the preliminary for mayor, incumbent John Collins had enough time to put on pants and even a tie before Gene Dixon, also of the Record-American, arrived to snap Mary Collins pouring him a victory cup of coffee:

Collins with pipe and coffee

Collins went onto win re-election in November.

In 1967, the morning after Secretary of State Kevin White defeated School Committee member Louise Day Hicks in the race to replace Collins, he sat for interviews in his Beacon Hill home, then went out with wife Kathryn for a jaunt around the Public Garden:

White and wife

Morning photos from the BPL Brearley Collection. Posted under this Creative Commons license.

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Comments

Wow. Women have a come a long way since then. Or have we really?

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Know how to keep a pair of pants zipped up?

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I was the mailman for The Whites before they passed. Both were very nice people. Mr White would always call me "Khed".

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He had 12 kids, but he kept them on outside the house. An intelligent class act, who probably would have been elected governor if the Globe hadn't run the swarthy Italian "cartoon" before the primary.

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I'd be curious to see this cartoon.

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...because there's one thing Massachusetts is noted for is a lack of Italians.

And, ya, let's see the cartoon. I don't remember the race, too young, but please enlighten us as to the 'anti-Italian' bigotry you are alluding to.

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Lots of veiled references to Belloti’s “ethnic organizations (LCN). Shameful chapter.

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You really think that there *wasn't* anti-Italian bigotry in New England in the mid-60s? Good grief man.

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Belotti and his wife are still alive.

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Volpe was Italian, too.

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And his professional career involved owning and building a large construction firm.

Which, at the time, makes ethnic slurs against a lawyer seem ... odd.

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...Volpe was much more plugged into the political establishment than Bellotti thanks to his active role in the state Republican Party. He had Also been appointed MA Commissioner of Public Works and then, by Eisenhower, the first administrator of the Federal Highway Administration and had served as Governor before Peabody defeated him by about 4,000 votes. JFK had endorsed Peabody, plus Ted was running for the Senate for the first time which fueled Democratic turn-out. Peabody’s two years were marked by missteps & controversies, so Bellotti was able to beat him in the primary despite JFK’s continued support.

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Adam why are you giving the Globe a pass on the cartoon? Why aren't you holding them accountable for sins of the past?

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The Bulger outfit, who were backing Mr. Nice Guy John Silber, started a smear effort against Bellotti.

There was a tenuous connection to someone name John Coady and Bellotti. Someone just happen to spray paint on the northbound of the expressway right on the Hubbardston Street abutment after the DYC at eye level for everyone stuck in traffic "Who Killed John Coady"?

There was no effort to remove this graffiti for years even though other graffiti was always removed by the then Mass Highway.

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At 97 i bet he can still kick a##, super sharp and a nice guy too.

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... redlined Boston.

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