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Hot chocolate with whipped cream for just five cents
By adamg on Mon, 05/02/2022 - 12:02pm
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this photo (street name blurred out, natch). See it larger.
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Comments
pearl and high st
boston
https://goo.gl/maps/3gnZRSJPQL8hBkXC6
Pearl Street sort of near
Pearl Street sort of near Post Office Square?
Mitchell Woodbury
imported china and crockery and was at 80, 82, and 84 Pearl Street
But this seems to be a
an eatery of some sort
Building is too old for that location
Or it is absolutely not what would have been rebuilt there.
I doubt the photo was taken before The Great Fire, which nuked that area, and places were built back bigger and with more modern lines and spaces in that neighborhood.
The building looks like the ones in Bay Village or Charlestown from the early part of the 19th century - which jibes with the "Established 1850" signage.
My guess is Bay Village or South End area.
Still Called The Woodbury Building in Apartment Listings
The building is still there.
Blowing
One of those awnings is having a good time in the wind.
But this seems to be a
an eatery of some sort
Second story windows
What is going on in the windows right at the corner. Pictures seem to small to be seen from street level.
The one with the window makes
The one with the window makes me think there were residences there.
Photography studio (see the
Photography studio (see the sign at the street-level door on the left of the corner). Samples on display in the window.
I know! I know!
... but only coz I saw the earlier pic on Twitter, the one that had the intersection name at the bottom of the pic.
(Hint: Pearl St isn't correct)
There was a Woodbury at 80.
There was a Woodbury at 80. 82 and 84 Pearl Street. Hmmm..
https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/capobject/...
196 Tremont?
196 Tremont?
https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/capobject/...
Same issue with building age
196 Tremont was also in an area nuked by the great fire, and this building is likely from the early part of the 19th century. Anything built downtown in the wake of that conflagration did not look like this.
Surviving buildings that do look like this are found in the North End, South End, Charlestown, and Bay Village.
ETA: East Boston
Maverick Square
My guess is Lewis St. (foreground at left) at Sumner St. (extending to right background) in Maverick Square, East Boston.
The building is still there today:
https://goo.gl/maps/7Hx7SLgc94gUVrz9A
I seem to recall that this building was the subject of another of these quizzes, maybe 5 or 6 years ago.
You kids today
You all complain you never have any money but then you spend 5 cents a day on your hot chocolates with the whip cream.
(probably said by someone at whenever time period that pic was taken)
I'm going to suggest
I'm going to suggest Billerica Street, maybe at the corner of Causeway. Somewhere around the front steps of the Tip O'Neill Building.
To possibly put a date/era on
To possibly put a date/era on it... Is that a New England Telephone or Bell Telephone or something logo on the lower part of the Woodbury doorway? When did public phones first come in?
Woodbury Pharmacy
Woodbury Pharmacy was still there at 1 Lewis Street through 1960 (listed as vacant in 1961)
https://archive.org/details/bostondirectoryi602bost/page/469/mode/2up
The Answer
Thanks for playing, folks! This is Sumner and Lewis Streets in East Boston in about 1900. You can see a high res version of the photo here: https://cityofboston.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_8d3bc8e5-329...
I did enjoy learning about
I did enjoy learning about the other Woodbury companies - ie the china and ceramic company and the cafe with art appreciative lobsters.