It’s National Monopoly Day! A day to break out one of America’s most loved and well-known board games. To celebrate, we’d like to share a few board games from the archives collection!
Cambridge-opoly
Cambridge-o-poly was initially released in 2000 and designed in Randolph, MA by a company called Just Board in collaboration with Karen Carmean the president of the Cambridge Action Fund. This nonprofit fundraising agency helps to fund programs that combat homelessness. The game plays much like any other Monopoly game, but the design team’s goal was to make players more aware of homelessness in Cambridge and the organization set up to assist those in need. In place of what traditional Monopoly would call “Community Chest” cards, Cambridge-opoly has “Cambridge Action Fund” cards. Each card references one of the Action funds many funded organizations with instructions like, “Six homeless need beds for tonight at Harvard Square Homeless Shelter. Donate $150 to Cambridge Action Fund. Inc.,’’ or, “Affordable housing built for six families! Your rate goes down. Collect $30.” The spaces on the board available for purchase feature many Cambridge businesses, some now gone and some still around. These include Susan’s, Masse’s Hardware Company, Cambridge Savings Bank, Cardullo’s, the Longy School of Music, Gypsy Moon, and Picante Mexican Grill. The game was sold for $37.50. If you bought it from the Cambridge Action Fund, the cost was a taxable deduction and half the cost went directly to program funding. (Source Cambridge Chronicle)
The Champion Game of Baseball
The Champion Game of Baseball was manufactured in 1889 by Proctor Amusement Co. of North Cambridge. The game, consisting of a baseball field board, red and blue play pieces, and a spinning wheel, is designed to be played by 1, 2, or 4 players. There is not much strategy involved as your team’s performance is based largely on the spin of a wheel. 16 spots on the inner wheel that read various outcomes, “Out, Base Hit, Strike, Strike Out, 3 Base Hit, Ball, 2 Base Hit, Base on Balls, Foul, and Home Run,” with, of course, the Outs being the widest sections and Home running being the narrowest. Additionally, there is an outer ring used for stealing bases. It reads, “Out, Sacrifice, and Safe.” While the game is primarily based on chance, it seems like a great way to pass the time, become more familiar with baseball rules, and practice skills like keeping score.
Women’s Lib?: A Game of Women’s Rights
Women’s Lib was created in 1970 by Urban Systems Inc. a corporation previously operating at 806 Mass Ave. (Source: OpenCorporates) According to the instruction pamphlet, the objective of the game is “enlightenment.” It’s a sort of roleplaying game where each player chooses from a selection of characters,” The Male Chauvinist, Traditional Female, Moderate Woman, Moderate Male, (W.O.M.B.) women opposed to male bigots, Male Liberationist, and (W.I.S.E) women interested in sexual equality. After choosing your character, you are given a booklet that details that character’s beliefs and the facts that support them. With this in mind, you must debate election topics with your fellow players to persuade them to vote one way or another. Election topics include abortion, child care, employment, education, legal rights of the wife, and male contraception to name a few. The outcome of the vote in tandem with a “Historical Precedent” card then modifies the salary of each player. As mentioned earlier, the objective of the game is “enlightenment,” so there is no true way to “win” or end the game, you’re simply meant to discuss topics from different points of view.
We hope you enjoyed learning about some of our less typical collections items! Go play a board game with someone today!
“…this war has ruined my business. Those I owe will have to wait untilI can get the money out of the business” From G. H. Marshall April 9, 1917
November 11, Veteran’s Day, was founded after the end of WWI in 1918 and is one of two days where our nation remembers veterans of war, the other being Memorial Day, observed in May. Like all wars, WWI brought on changes in individual lives and businesses of every conceivable sort. The records of the Ellis & Melledge Real Estate and Insurance Co. reminds us of the tenor of the times – both in correspondence with the firm about housing: rentals and maintenance and selling or buying properties, and from the circulars on savings, reducing consumption, an increase in insurance rates, and hiring returning soldiers sent out from various state and government agencies.
As the quote above illustrates, some of the correspondence brings the consequences of the War in daily life down to a human scale. Here are some more examples:
“My Dear Mr. Ellis,
I have decided to give up my room in Prescott Hall, beginning Sept. 1st. I know that the time is short, but as I have been put on active service sooner than I expected there is nothing else to do…It is with regret that I must give up my room, but since the Army is not likely to take a rest for some time, I have no reason to believe that I shall have use for my apartment any longer…” (August 20, 1917 from James B. Munn, 2nd Lieut. U. S. R.)
Prescott Hall at 472-474 Broadway as photographed by Christopher Hail on August 16, 1987
This next letter refers to Samuel Chew (1871-1919) a Harvard graduate and lawyer in Philadelphia, who, working with Ellis & Melledge, was a large investor in Cambridge property, particularly on Church Street.
“Dear Sir: –
…Mr. Chew is with the American Field Ambulance in Paris, and will not return for several months. In the mean time you may continue the management of his church Street property…” (March 1, 1917)
The letter below was from Cecil K. Drinker, a professor at the Harvard Medical school from 1917-1932, who was living on Hurlburt St. in Cambridge:
“Dear Mr. Ellis:
Duties brought upon me through the war necessitate absence on my part from Cambridge after July first of this year. This has been a sudden development and renders it impossible that I should go forward with rental of the garage as we had planned…” (May 16, 1917)
6-8 Hurlburt St as photographed by Christopher Hail on January 13, 1985
Navy Commander W. L. Littlefield wrote Ellis & Melledge in 1917:
“Dear Sir:…Officers in attendance at the [Naval]War College here, are being ordered to sea daily and my turn will come any day now so you can readily understand that I am anxious to get this matter straightened out before I go to sea.” (March 17, 1917)
Commander Littlefield’s home was at #10 Mellen St.
10 Mellen St via Google Street View (November 2020)
Five months later, in August, Littlefield writes: “…due to the war conditions I would appreciate as prompt a reply as practicable, as I do not know where I will be tomorrow….”
INSURANCE
Costs went up for everything, including insurance. This letter from the New England Insurance Exchange (November 17, 1917) announces a 10% rise in rates:
TO ALL AGENTS
We are handing you, herewith, promulgation of a general advance in rates of 10%, effective on November 19, and which you have, no doubt, been long expecting….the insurance business is no different from any other, and conditions which demand a general increase in prices, affecting all lines of business, because of the increased cost of doing business, and the increased expense in the way of taxes to maintain the defense of our Country, produce the same results with the business of insurance.
Three weeks after the U. S. entered the war (April 26, 1917) insurance companies responded with ominous warnings about threats you could face in your own home. For instance, bombardment, as seen in this letter from Gilmour, Rothery Co.:
“Dear Sir:
YOUR CLIENTS ARE NOT INSURED If their property is destroyed or damaged by fire, originating from foreign enemies, military power, civil commotion, riots, etc. BECAUSE …Fire insurance policies do not cover damage by explosions or bombardment. There is far more reason to secure protection from these dangers now than here is to insure against fire in times of peace…” (April 26, 1917)
Or this newspaper advertisement:
Cambridge Chronicle March 17, 1917
Other businesses also took advantage of war time fears. The advert below implies that enemy troops may even be at your own gate!
Cambridge Chronicle March 17, 1917
SHORTAGES & SAVINGS
Shortages affected everything, but fuel was uppermost of mind. National and local government agencies sent flyers to businessmen about how to aid in preventing fuel shortages, as seen in this excerpt from the New England Fuel Administration flyer. (Reducing elevator service would not automatically come to mind these days):
“To Tenants of Apartment Houses November 19, 1917
“A serious shortage of coal threatens New England and it is important that every possible pound of coal should be saved. If each New England consumer will reduce his consumption twenty per cent, the total saving will be over nine million tons and we will get through the winter without serious factory shutdowns and without suffering…We offer the following suggestions:
Do not ask to have suites heated higher than you actually need; suggests 65 to 70 degrees
Do not waste hot water
Prompt attention to turning off burners of gas ranges will save considerable accost
Reduce elevator service where practicable
Shut off heat in all unoccupied rooms where there is no danger of freezing pipes
Pull down window shades at dusk. A drawn shade keeps in the heat nearly as well as a double window
Bank your fires as early as is expedient“
Of course, the newspapers all did their patriotic duty to encourage fuel reduction as well. These two articles were printed in the Cambridge Chronicle on the same date: January 12, 1918
FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE WAR
This advertisement is a grim encouragement, reminding people to buy Liberty Bonds. Liberty Bonds were a way of individuals “loaning” to the government to pay for the war. The loan would be repaid with interest after a designated number of years. These bonds became a symbol of fulfilling one’s patriotic duty.
Cambridge Chronicle April 13, 1918
The excerpt below is from a flyer sent out by the Treasury Dept., National War Savings Committee to enlist businessmen in helping raise money for the war effort through Thrift Stamps:
TO THE BUSINESS MEN OF MASSACHUSETTS
The importance of a general distribution among wage-earners and others of United States Government Thrift Cards and Thrift Stamps cannot be overestimated. With these cards and stamps widely distributed throughout the State a great savings movement will have begun.
I AM ACCORDINGLY REQUESTING YOU AND EACH AND EVERY OTHER EMPLOYER WHO CAN POSSIBLE DO SO TO GIVE A THRIFT CARD WITH A THRIFT STAMP AFFIXED (cost 25 cents) TO EACH EMPLOYEE.
…the Thrift Stamp bears no interest and is intended to be bought stamp by stamp by people who save in small amounts. When sixteen of these stamps are accumulated, amounting to four dollars face value, they may be exchanged for a War Savings Stamp by adding the necessary few cents to meet the price of the War Savings Stamp at that time. The War Savings Stamps are promises of the United States of America to pay five dollars June 1, 1923. …It will help bring to everyone’s attention the necessity of economizing in the expenditure of money, materials, and unnecessary labor so as to help keep up supplies for the Army and Navy.” (From Robert F. Herrick, State Director of the National War Savings Committee December 18, 1917)
Cambridge Tribune October 26, 1918
Of course, small- time businessmen also did their part:
Cambridge Sentinel June 30, 1917
AFTER THE WAR
After the war life, citizens had to adjust back to what used to be considered “normal.” But with demobilization, new issues arose:
“Dear Mr. Ellis:
The Fortunes of War or of Peace are bringing us back to Cambridge from Washington and we find ourselves in the peculiar position of hunting for a place to live with our own house rented.Are there any possibilities of small furnished apartments? Now that the soldiers and sailors are demobilizing I should think there would be attendant vacating of apartments.” (From Rachel Perry [Mrs. Ralph Barton] Perry November 27, 1918) [138 Irving St.]
138 Irving St with Francis Ave in foreground, no date. Photograph gift of William B. King
The housing situation was a jumble, but, perhaps more importantly, so was the employment situation. A circular from the U. S. Department of Labor on February 5, 1919 warned:
“War contracts are nearly all completed, necessitating the closing of a considerable number of shops. In many cases the people employed on these war contracts must find employment in entirely different directions. Discharged soldiers in continually increasing numbers are seeking replacement in industry.”
In Cambridge, a local Bureau for Returning Soldiers and Sailors was organized under the chairman Walter F. Earle, president of the Harvard Trust Co. And on January 25, 1919 the Harvard Square Business Men’s Association sent this to its membership:
“Dear Sir:
Your attention is earnestly called to the efforts now being made to provide work for the returning soldiers and sailors. These men have been representing you on the battle-fields of France and they have just returned after winning the greatest and most righteous war of all time. Now they desire employment – – not charity, but an opportunity to reenter [sic] business life and once more fill their places as good citizens. Can you help to provide employment for these men?”
* * * *
Cambridge Tribune November 16, 1918
Cambridge Tribune November 16, 1918
End note: Because Ellis & Melledge dealt mostly with properties in Mid and West Cambridge, the correspondence does not reflect the all the concerns of those living in Cambridge, particularly east of Central Square.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox
Oh, the sorts of properties real estate agents are asked to find!
In 1893, Ellis & Melledge received a request from sculptor George Thomas Brewster. Brewster wrote from the Mechanics Building in Boston, looking for studio space in Cambridge. His discussions about taking a studio owned by “Mr. Newell” didn’t work out because “the floor supports will not be strong enough to stand the weight of some large work that I shall want to commence soon…”
Image of George T. Brewster as it appeared in Empire State Notables, 1914.
Brewster goes on to explain: “the clay alone will weigh from 3 to 4 tons and when the plaster mould [sic] is added it will make from 1 ½ to 2 tons extra.” About Mr. Newell’s studio, he “noticed that the supports for floor at the stairs are only nailed. Even if the cross beams were set into the sils [sic] they would not be heavy enough to support my work…”
Brewster finally settled on the studio of Cambridge sculptor William Clark Noble (1858-1938) at 46 North Ave, a building that is now demolished, but would be located at present-day 1607 Mass Ave at the intersection of Everett Street. The two sculptors undoubtedly knew each other and one another’s work as they were contemporaries. Both had worked in New York and specialized in monumental bronze memorial sculpture.
Detail of 1894 G.W. Bromley and Co. Bromley Atlas showing 46 North Ave
George T. Brewster
George T. Brewster was born in Kingston, Mass and was a descendent of William Brewster, after whom Brewster, Massachusetts is named. George studied at the Normal Art School in Boston and the Ecole des Beaux in Paris, and later taught life drawing classes at the Art Students League in New York and at the Cowles Art School in Boston. Brewster was a prolific sculptor of war memorials, cemetery memorials, and portraits.
In late 1893, Brewster entered a competition to design a Civil War monument in the Forest Dale Cemetery in Malden. He won the commission, and it is likely that this was the reason he was looking for studio space in Cambridge. His winning design was of “an heroic figure of a woman who will stand as a symbol of the valor by women during the struggle for freedom.”
“…the left hand grasps the now useless sword, the right holds the laurel crown ready to be set upon the head of the victors. A spiked cannon is under her left foot, a soldier’s cap and other accessories strewn about signify that war is over, that no more will the rampant hand of bitterness and death sweep over our land, that the armies have disbanded and that the spirit of woman, so sincere and earnest in the success of the sacred cause, now just as earnestly proclaims that peace is on earth and that good will must prevail towards men.”
Monumental News, July 1895
The dedication took place in Malden on Labor Day, 1894. The following year, Brewster’s plaster casts of five American poets were on display in J. F. Olsson’s art supply store in Harvard Square:
Cambridge Chronicle April 20, 1895
Other images of Brewster’s work include:
The Greek Law Giver. Image: Columbia University, Libraries Digital Collections
Sculptor W. Clark Noble with his Lincoln the Candidate bust, August 30, 1924. Cropped from negative. National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress.
William Clark Noble was born in Maine in 1858. Legend has it that he was inspired to become a sculptor at the age of eight after reading the life story of the Danish sculptor Berthel Thorvaldsen.[ii] Noble studied under Richard Greenough, and by 1879, when he was only 21, he had relocated in Newport, Rhode Island. There, Noble designed a statue of William Ellery Channing and the Soldier’s and Sailor’s monument. He was a busy man! In 1892, Noble opened a studio in New York.[iii] At the same time, he had a studio in Cambridge at 46 North St. In 1893, when Brewster was trying to locate studio space, Noble’s statue of Robert Burns (destined for Rhode Island) was still at his studio on North Avenue.
Boston Globe May 22, 1892
Cambridge Tribune July 9, 1892
From “Paper on ‘Cambridge Artists’” by Miss Almira L. Hayward as published in the Cambridge Chronicle November 4, 1893
Governor Andrew Curtin (1911-13), Pennsylvania State Memorial, Gettysburg Battlefield. W. Clark Noble, Sculptor. Photographed 1914. Image: Wikipedia.
Among Noble’s most famous monumental sculptures are the Phillips Brooks Monument in New York, the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Congdon Park, Newport, Rhode Island, the portrait bust of Revolutionary General Potter, and Napoleon Bonaparte. Noble also took on smaller commissions, one example being a portrait bust of George Washington Carver:
Patinated Copper-clad Bust of George Washington Carver, after William Clark Noble. Image: https://www.invaluable.com/
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox.
SOURCES
Catalogue of an exhibition of contemporary American sculpture held under the auspices of the National Sculpture Society; June 17-October 2, 1916. via HathiTrust.
Empire State Notables, 1914 New York, N.Y. : H. Stafford, [c1914]. Electronic reproduction. New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Libraries, 2008.
Soldiers’ Monument, Malden, Massachusetts. George T. Brewster, Sculptor. In The Monumental News, vol. 7, no.7 July 1895, pp. 419. Lehman College Art Gallery.
“My previous experience in Cambridge is that it is somewhat like Egypt, in the way that it is subject to various pests, particularly rats. These rats of course, cause a great deal of damage in the house, and the only way to get rid of them is to hire a rat exterminator; if this becomes necessary, through no fault of our own, I expect to deduct the cost of this sort of thing from the rent…”
That was written in 1919, in reference to #225 Brattle St. This account gives a slightly humorous sense of the many demands and expectations of those looking for housing in Cambridge.
Exterior of 225 Brattle St as it appeared in The American Architect, vol. 105, no. 2006 (June 3, 1914)
This post will serve as an introduction to a new series on the many aspects of late 19th and early 20th century Cambridge life revealed in the correspondence of William R. Ellis (1846-1903), real estate broker—expectations being one of them. Ellis founded his real estate firm in 1888. He dealt in sales, rentals, mortgages, and insurance. As you see below, he was also a Justice of the Peace.
Cambridge Chronicle March 16, 1889
Dealing primarily with properties in “Old Cambridge” west of Central Square, Ellis’s offices were always in the Harvard Square area: 910 Main Street, (the building that now houses the Hong Kong Restaurant at 1236 Mass. Ave), 440 Harvard Street, and, by 1893, the “Lyceum Building” (demolished in 1924, now the location of the Harvard Coop.) He also kept an office in Boston.
By 1890, Ellis had added “Auctioneer and Notary Public” to his resume. Note that he also maintained a registry of “Student’s Rooms and Boarding Places”:
Cambridge Chronicle January 11, 1890
In 1893, fellow realtor Robert J. Melledge (1855-1917) joined the firm, now called “Ellis & Melledge.” The firm dropped “Mortgages” from their advertising to focus on real estate and Insurance.
Cambridge Chronicle September 23, 1893
Above: Exterior of Lyceum Hall in Harvard Square (March 22, 1907). Boston Elevated Railway Collection. Below: detail of Robert J. Melledge and Benjamin P. Ellis advertisements in upper windows.
After the deaths of principals Ellis and Melledge, the firm went through several name changes as its management was taken over by the sons of both men in conjunction with other partners. But the name “Ellis” was always part of the company’s name. Under each of these iterations, the firm was active in Cambridge for over 100 years. In 1994, the Cambridge Historical Commission received a collection of the firm’s business correspondence covering the years primarily between 1893-1936. The collection provides extraordinary insight into the development of Cambridge, and the changing social, cultural, and economic forces at work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Here’s a portion of another letter from a prospective renter (June 8, 1907):
“Allow me to ask if you have a small house for Sale at a Bargain cheaply on a hilleven if it is outaways. I own a large library of about 2000 books & I must move them this Summer. …I wish to rent a small place that I buy & put all my Books in the attic, or one small Room…. I can pay down $250.00 or so & may be $490.00 to $500.00 & the Balance in payments. I own a farm in Oklahoma & whenever my share of Rent falls due I can pay that on my house – if I can get something for $1000 or $1200 – I don’t want anything where negroes live…I prefer Cambridge on account of Harvard University…”
Apart from the eccentricity of the request, this letter also reveals one aspect of the prejudices all too common during this era. Intolerances abounded against othered groups such as Jews, Italians, Catholics, and large families. We’ll revisit such biases in a later post.
Other topics revealed in the correspondence include: expectations for renting houses fully furnished, often counting china, linens and a stable; owners stipulations about to whom they will rent; rental unit complaints (“the tank in the Water Closet has bursted and we are without water…”); the effects of WWI on housing and the post war recession; housing arrangements for Harvard students (boarding houses, tea rooms); health concerns (renting a unit after an occupant suffered from scarlet fever); and the cost of insuring pigeons or Cadillacs. The list goes on!
Let’s close this edition of Real Estate Revelations with a reassuring excerpt from a letter written in 1910 by Harvard physics professor Harry W. Morse. Professor Morse worked at the Jefferson Physical Laboratory, and planned to rent property at #42 Church Street, where he expected to do work in “…experimental electro-chemistry. There will be no work on a large scale and no explosives will be used nor will our stock of chemicals be any more dangerous than that of a drug store…” Whew! Quelle relief.
30-42 Church Street (demolished ca. 1927) was originally built as a stable and was later used as a gymnasium. Photo: detail of 1921 Harvard Square aerial with 32-40 Church St circled. U.S. Army Air Service photo, Harvard University Archives.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox
In honor of National Fire Prevention Week, check out the description below and accompanying images of “Spectacular Fires” that ravaged Cambridge buildings in the 20th century. The account appeared in the January 16, 1969 edition of the Cambridge Chronicle:
Fire at Memorial Hall, Harvard, 1956 (Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection)
Fire at Squire’s meatpacking plant on Gore Street, April 14, 1963 (Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection)
Fire at the Jordan Marsh Warehouse on Commercial Avenue, July 15, 1965 (Cambridge Photo Morgue Collection)
“Firefighters battling a fire from the truck in Kendall Square” [Warren Bros. Construction Co. on Potter Street], May 6, 1966 (Brearly Collection, Boston Public Library Arts Department)
Part I: H.R.R. Richardson and the Romanesque Revival
Henry Hobson Richardson created and introduced to America a distinctive architectural style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. It derived from the architecture of Medieval Europe, especially that of France, which had been influenced by the region’s ancient Roman structures. Richardson admired many aspects of the Romanesque—its visual weight, rounded arches and towers, recessed windows and door, and the use of varied building materials—and used those elements to inspire his own designs.
Two examples of the Romanesque in France. Above: West front of Notre Dame la Grande, Poitiers, France. Gibert Bochenek photo. Wikimedia Below: West front of Church at Fontevraud Abbey. Jean-Christophe Benoist photo. Wikimedia
Henry was born in 1838 in rural Louisiana and spent part of his childhood in New Orleans. He enrolled in Tulane University in 1855 but soon transferred to Harvard College. The wealthy and affable young man formed lifelong friendships with fellow students such as Henry Adams (a future client) and Edward W. Hooper.
Richardson had intended to study civil engineering but was drawn to architecture and moved to Paris in 1860 to attend the École des Beaux-Arts. Money troubles forced him to leave the school, but he stayed on in Paris, working for a French architect, studying and practicing his craft, and traveling extensively.
Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Guilhem Vellut photo. Wikimedia
He returned to the States in 1865. Two years later he married Julia Gorham Hayden of Boston, and the couple and their growing family (six children in all) settled on Staten Island. Richardson and his near neighbor—the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted—became good friends and colleagues. Richardson’s talent and connections brought in commissions, especially in New England, and the family moved to Brookline in 1874 (possibly to finish work on Trinity Church, Boston, 1872-77). *
25 Cottage Street, Brookline.* The Richardson’s rented no. 25 from Edward Hooper. Julia purchased the house after the deaths of Richardson and Hooper. Public Library of Brookline, Brookline Photo Collection. Digital Commonwealth
H.H. Richardson’s library and studio at 25 Cottage Street. Public Library of Brookline, Brookline Photo Collection. Digital Commonwealth
Henry died in Brookline of Bright’s disease in 1886. Julia died in 1914.
Richardson’s New England commissions are diverse in style and size and include houses, community libraries, suburban railroad stations, and churches, as well as education, commercial, and civic buildings. He designed Sever and Austin halls for Harvard, which cites the latter “one of the best examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in the world.” Austin Hall’s façade is both grounded and vivacious: undressed (rusticated?) Longmeadow sandstone is laid in polychrome patterns that contrast with arches and an incised cornice band of pale Ohio sandstone. The round corner tower is topped with a conical roof; the recessed center entrance is approached through a triple Romanesque arch.
Austin Hall. Harvard University photo.
* In November 2020 a developer acquired properties on Cottage and Warren streets in Brookline, including the Richardson’s house at 25 Cottage and the house of John Charles Olmsted and his wife, Sophia, at 222 Warren (John Charles was Frederick’s nephew/stepson), and applied to the Brookline Preservation Commission for a demolition permit, which quickly imposed an 18- month demolition delay. BPC staff researched the properties and ultimately proposed the creation of the Richardson/Olmsted Local Preservation District that was approved at Brookline’s fall 2021 town meeting. The new district comprises 25 Cottage, 16 and 222 Warren (residences of John Charles), and 99 Warren Street known, the senior Olmsted’s house and studio.
Richardson freely adapted elements of the Romanesque in his own designs; other architects did the same with Richardsonian Romanesque, using Richardsonian elements in their own fashion. Tune in next week for a survey of Richardsonian Romanesque buildings in Cambridge–none of which were designed by the great architect.
The ad below caught our eye while trawling old newspapers for interesting 19th century stories.
Cambridge Chronicle April 6, 1861
A glance at the 19th century Cambridge newspapers reveals a plethora of cockamamie remedies for nearly every common affliction. Today, such products seem quaint or even downright hilarious, but that is only because we now have more medical knowledge. These examples of 19th century adverts illustrate something about both the worries and prevalence of illnesses as well as what people thought—or hoped—would prove to be real cures at a time when true scientifically-based remedies were limited.
Below are advertisements for all that ailed you back in the day: King’s Evil (tubercula swelling of the lymph glands), catarrh (mucus congestion), tuberculosis, nervous prostration, piles, weak lungs, brain fatigue, seminal weakness (oh dear…), “Brickdust Deposit,” gravel (Kidney stones), costiveness (constipation) worms, ague, and jaundice.
One of the features of these advertisements is that they often include an astonishingly-long list of ailments they purported to cure, without mentioning the actual ingredients. For instance, Holman’s “Nature’s Grand Restorative”:
Cambridge Chronicle June 11, 1846
Or “MRS. DR. TUCK’S PLASTERS.” (Did you know you needed an electrician to cure your aches?)
“…Inflammatory and Gouty Rheumatism and Neuralgia, Bunions and Enlarged Joints positively cured. Sciatic, Lumbago, Liver and Kidney troubles relieved and cured. Asthma treated very successfully, by drawing the inflammation and humors to the surface. Indigestion removed, weak stomachs strengthened. This is no imposition upon the public. The Dr. has used 250 in two months, without advertising. Testimonials given. Circulars sent by sending stamp to her office.
The Dr. is a thorough Electrician and Eclective Physician. Piles and Constipation and Female Diseases aSpecialty. Office 28 Winter Street, Boston, or Hygienic Retreat, South Weymouth, Mass. N. B. All patients while under treatment, by calling at the Dr.’s office, can avail themselves of the cumulative exercise known as the health-lift of lifting cure. It is good for everybody.” (Cambridge Chronicle February 23, 1878)
Here we have “Vegetable Germicide,” another wonder cure. But wait a minute—Germicide? Isn’t that an oxymoron?
Cambridge Chronicle February 22, 1902
40 drops of “Constitution Water” seems easy to take. Especially since the product was apparently “pronounced by the medical faculty and the public to be the most wonderful remedy for the stomach, liver, kidneys and bladder that has ever been offered. IT IS NOT A SPRING WATER, but a preparation by an eminent physician.”
Cambridge Chronicle December 20, 1884
Sometimes adverts were clearer than others as to a concoction’s ingredients. Sarsaparilla had been used since ancient times as a remedy for joint and skin problems, including leprosy. (Not to be confused with the soft drink of the same name which was made from the Sassafras tree.)
Cambridge Chronicle December 20, 1884
“Elixer” of Opium: now there’s a surefire remedy! Advertised by Henry Thayer, Apothecary:
Cambridge Chronicle June 4, 1846
Jujube Paste is made from a deciduous shrub of the buckthorn family (Ziziphus jujuba). The shrub’s fruit has the consistency of an apple and tastes like a date.
Cambridge Chronicle February 13, 1851
Jujube’s medicinal use dates back to China 3000 years ago, when it was considered an effective herbal remedy for calming the mind and improving sleep. It is still marketed today.
Here we have a “Kidney & Liver” cure with no known ingredients. The text of this ad (below) claims that “Scientists of to-day agree that most diseases are caused by disordered Kidneys or liver”—That’s quite a claim!
Cambridge Chronicle February 13, 1851
It continues: “If, therefore, the Kidneys and Liver are kept in perfect order, perfect health will be the result. This truth has only been known a short time and for years people suffered great agony without being able to find relief. The discovery of Warner’s Safe Kidney and Liver Cure marks a new era in the treatment of these troubles. Made from a simple tropical leaf of rare value, it contains just the elements necessary to nourish and invigorate both of these great organs, and safely restore and keep them in order. It is a POSITIVE Remedy for all the diseases that cause pains in the lower part of the body…” (Cambridge Chronicle November 13, 1880)
Without knowing more about the manufacturing of this cure, it is uncertain whether the above illustration was intended to relay an accurate portrayal of the harvesting of this leaf in tropical setting, or was simply the racially insensitive employment of a stereotypical figure that would have been more quickly recognized by the illustrator’s audience.
And then we have blood food for “the Intellectual Worker”!
Cambridge Chronicle October 26, 1878
There were many remedies for “Nervous Diseases,” including Phosphoric Air:
Cambridge Chronicle November 17, 1877
For a more subtle approach to what ails you, you might try “animal magnetism,” a practice developed by Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). Mesmer was a German physician who believed in “the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects.” He called this phenomenon “animal magnetism” which later came to be known as “Mesmerism” and is today akin to hypnotism. Mrs. H. F. Mumler of Boston was a practitioner:
Cambridge Chronicle August 23, 1879
Then there is the “Dreaded Disease”—Smallpox. In November 1901, the Cambridge Board of Health discussed a possible smallpox outbreak, but “…It was decided to take no measures at present looking toward the vaccination of citizens, but to await developments since but one case of smallpox had thus far made its appearance.” (Excerpt from Cambridge Chronicle November 9, 1901). Nonetheless, druggists were on alert, as was the Lifebouy Soap Company:
Cambridge Tribune December 28 1901
Cambridge Chronicle June 28, 1902
Other ailments and remedies:
Costiveness:
Cambridge Chronicle February 12, 1859
Vermifuges – to expel intestinal worms:
Cambridge Chronicle May 14, 1859
Olive Tar
Cambridge Chronicle April 5, 1856
Catarrh: Ely’s Cream Balm “positively cures Catarrh colds in the head, Hay-fever, Deafness…”
Cambridge Chronicle February 28, 1880
And Gents—one just for you:
Cambridge Chronicle February 28, 1880
We close with the efficacy of “Foreign Leaches”
Cambridge Chronicle October 19, 1848
Just as in the 19th century, “snake oil”[1] salesmen are still among us. A casual trawl through internet and TV advertising today will reveal an equal number of “health cures” that are unsubstantiated by fact.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox.
Cambridge Public Library’s Historic Cambridge Newspapers Collection.
Chen J, Liu X, Li Z, Qi A, Yao P, Zhou Z, Dong TTX, Tsim KWK. A Review of Dietary Ziziphus jujuba Fruit (Jujube): Developing Health Food Supplements for Brain Protection. Evid Based Complement AlternatMed. 2017;2017:3019568. doi: 10.1155/2017/3019568. Epub 2017 Jun 7. PMID: 28680447; PMCID: PMC5478819.
[1] “Snake oil” derives from the Chinese workers on the transcontinental railroad. “They used the oils produced by the Chinese water snake, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, to soothe sore muscles or treat arthritis.” – HistoryExtra
April 26 was National Help a Horse Day, which recalled city living in the age of horse transportation.
These days most of our relationships with animals are limited to dogs or cats. But in the 19th century, everybody had a relationship with horses, whether they owned one or not. The “circulatory system of commerce” depended on horses[i] (New England Quarterly June 2001). All transportation depended on them. Horses were the engines of the day—so much so that still today we measure engines in terms of “horsepower.”
Today a stroll down Mass Ave can be noisy: cars, buses, sirens, horns honking, etc. But is it that much worse than in the horse drawn era? Horses neighing, hooves and wagon wheels clattering on crushed stone paving, the Horse Railroad screeching over tracks, teamsters shouting, whips cracking and so on. What follows is a light survey of horse related facts in Cambridge back in the day.
HORSES BY THE NUMBERS
HOW MANY?
The mayor’s address of 1896 states that taxes were paid on 4,711 horses in the city that year. This number, of course, did not include all the horses owned by the city. The City Stables held at least 55 horses. In addition, each department (Fire, Police, Public Health, etc.) had two to eight horses each. So, the total was probably closer to 4,800.
James White’s carriage shop occupied the former fire and police stations at 27 and 31 Church Street from 1875 to 1896. Carriages were very light, and the improvised ramp and platform afforded additional workspace. Photo ca. 1890.
HOW MANY BUSINESS STABLES?
The 1896 City Directory listed 33 Boarding, Livery, Sale, or Hack stables. Historically, several were clustered in and around Harvard Square: on Church, Brattle, Bennett, Palmer, and Dunster streets. Also in the neighborhood were many ancillary businesses: blacksmiths, harness makers, carriage makers, etc. In 1886, the Cambridge R.R. Co. stables took up an entire block of Bennett Street (the current location of the Charles Hotel). By 1894, this stable had been taken over by the West End Street Railway which also had stables on Dunster Street.
On Brattle Street, there was Gwynne’s University Stable (whose name is misspelled in the advertisement here).
Cambridge Chronicle November 24, 1888
Two stables on Church Street, owned by J. (Joel) S. and James Pike, were often confused:
Cambridge City Directory, 1879
Cambridge City Directory, 1879
In 1876, James Pike had purchased the old police station on Church Street for his stables. [ii] By 1878, he felt compelled to take out an ad in the Cambridge Chronicle (March 30, 1878), stating, “Mr. James Pike desires to inform the public who have confounded his name with Mr. J. S. Pike, that the latter gentleman is an entirely different person, and that Mr. James Pike has no connection with the stable of Mr. J. S. Pike on Church Street.” James Pike later decamped from Church Street to his stable at 565½ Main Street.
The J .S. Pike’s stable next passed into the hands of Irving Blake. Blake’s obituary in 1901 described the premises: “The stable of Irving Blake, 35, 36, 37 and 38 Church Street, which is one of the oldest and best equipped establishments of its kind in New England, is a good example of the modern public stable. [Note: The street numbers were changed around 1900.] The fact that about 17 employees are kept busy looking after approximately 100 horses and carriages will show even the casual reader that the business is one of considerable magnitude.” (Cambridge Chronicle September 7, 1901).
Stables at 35 Church Street, owned and rented out by Samuel Chew Cambridge Coach Co. photo, ca. 1905
In 1902, a Harvard graduate and investor, Samuel Chew, purchased these properties, and the Cambridge Coach Company moved in.
Cambridge Chronicle June 28, 1902
Cambridge Chronicle June 21, 1902
Horse-related business in the area included:
Cambridge City Directory, 1878
The Nelson Carriage Co. (below) succeeded J. H. Prescott & Son, which had succeeded J. P. Nutting & Co. at the same location on Palmer Street.
Cambridge City Directory, 1894
The farrier James Bolger, a 22-year-old native of Newfoundland, first established his business in 1867 at the corner of Church and Palmer streets and worked on the site until his death in 1896.
Cambridge Tribune September 15, 1888
Speaking of horseshoers, we can’t resist this article from 1849 about the horse with five legs:
Cambridge Chronicle September 13, 1849
HORSE-RELATED OCCUPATIONS
There were hundreds: harness, tack, and saddle makers, horseshoers, cart and carriage makers, horse breeders, manure collectors, feed dealers, hay storage, hack drivers, horse trainers, etc. The 1896 City Directory lists:
890 teamsters (astonishing!) 155 hostlers 34 hack drivers 20 horseshoers 19 stable foremen 53 harness makers/ cleaners 3 trainers 7 horse dealers 27 carriage or wagon makers 14 feed, grain, and hay dealers 10 veterinary surgeons (two of whom worked on Church and Palmer streets) and 200 blacksmiths.
Blacksmiths did many things besides horseshoeing and making carriage wheels. A smith also fashioned boot scrapers—a necessary product in the age of horses (see below).
THE MANURE PROBLEM
Remember those 4,711+ horses? The Pennsylvania State Extension School informs us that, on average, a 1,000-pound horse produces about 30 pounds of manure a day. It doesn’t take much imagination to see the magnitude of the problem. Addressing the issue thus brought to their attention, the Cambridge Board of Aldermen reported:
Cambridge Chronicle November 21, 1874
In 1888, the Board of Health came out with the following regulations:
“The owners and occupants of livery and other stables within the city shall … shall keep their stables and yards clean and not allow large quantities of manure to accumulate or remain in or near the same, at any one time between the first day of May and the first day of November, and no manure shall be allowed to accumulate or remain uncovered outside of the stable building.”
Regulations of the Board of Health, Cambridge Press October 27, 1888
Thankfully, there were a few businessmen who bought and sold manure. But, somewhat mysteriously, there is little information to be found in the newspapers or town reports about how manure sanitation was managed on the streets. General street cleaning for all streets was about once every three months, and for heavily trafficked streets about once every three weeks. Still…
THE LIFE OF A HORSE
The average horse can live 25 to 30 years. Horserookie.com tells us that “horses need to consume about 2% of their body weight in forage per day.” That equals about 20 pounds of hay per day.
Oats are also on the menu.
Two particularly deadly infectious diseases affecting horses are horse influenza (referred to variously as horse distemper or horse meningitis) and Glanders. In 1872, a major epidemic of horse flu spread down from Canada in much the same way that human diseases such as cholera or typhoid do—through heavy population density, crowded living circumstances, and poor sanitation. The economic effect was to put a big dent in trade—all of which depended on horse-delivery systems. Though cities were hit the worst, Cambridge appears to have emerged relatively unscathed compared to Boston. Glanders, an infection of the respiratory system, spread in similar ways, and was so highly contagious that horses found to have it were killed.
All aspects regarding the health of horses led to the appointment of City Veterinary Surgeon Dr. William Ferguson in 1890. By 1893, Dr. Ferguson had established a Veterinary Hospital on Bay Street. Since his practice was primarily for horses, he seems compelled to mention that he also treated dogs:
Cambridge Chronicle July 22, 1893
THE INEVITABLE
Cambridge City Directory, 1887
THE DEMISE OF HORSE-DRAWN TRANSPORTATION
It is interesting that the 1906 City Directory devoted, for the first time, about five pages to listing horse owners by name, address, and number of horses owned, which totaled in the thousands. The same was done for car owners, which only totaled approximately 160.
Naturally, as the use of electric trolleys and motorized vehicles increased (not to mention the new subway), the use of horses declined. The transition was gradual: the 1910 Census for Livestock states that Cambridge still had 4,294 horses! It took another 10 to 20 years for motorized vehicles to completely take over from horses on city streets in America.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox.
SOURCES
Cambridge Historical Commission Cambridge Library digitized Cambridge Newspapers Genealogybank.com “The Great Epizootic of 1872-73: Networks of Animal Disease in North American Urban Environments” by Sean Kheraj HorseRookie.com New England Quarterly June 2001, Gilded Age Boston, Clay McShane Newspapers.com Penn State Extension: https://extension.psu.edu/horse-stable-manure-management Wikipedia
This spring, the staff of the Cambridge Historical Commission will offer walking tours exploring the history, development, and uses of neighborhood conservation districts. What is an NCD? How are they created and by whom? What makes a neighborhood special and worth preserving?
The four-part series will begin on May 14 with a walk through the Half Crown-Marsh NCD in Old Cambridge. Tours on June 4, 11, and 16 will explore the proposed East Cambridge NCD. Each tour will take about 90 minutes.
Saturday, May 14: Half Crown-Marsh Neighborhood Conservation District at 11:00am. Meet on Mt. Auburn Street at the corner of Brewer Street (in front of Darwin’s). Tour leaders Eric Hill, the CHC’s survey director, and Jim Van Sickle, a longtime member of the district commission, will provide an overview of the Half Crown-Marsh NCD and highlight some of the area’s history and architecture. This NCD of approximately 200 buildings represents a blending of what were once two separate NCDS. The district is west of Harvard Square between Brattle Street and the river; it is bounded by Hilliard Street on the east and Lowell Street on the west and bisected by Longfellow Park.
Saturday June 4: East Cambridge History and Architecture at 11:00 AM. Meet at Centanni Park, Third Street at Otis Street. East Cambridge is one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. It was developed in the late 18th century by Andrew Craigie, a land speculator, who convinced Middlesex County to build its new courthouse not in Old Cambridge but in East Cambridge. The tour will be led by the architectural historian Susan Maycock, the author of Survey of Architectural History: East Cambridge (1988) and co-author of Building Old Cambridge (2016).
Saturday, June 11: East Cambridge Preservation and Development at 11:00 AM. Meet at 11:00 AM at Gold Star Mothers Park, corner of Winter and Fifth streets. East Cambridge is one of the oldest and most densely settled neighborhoods in the city, with a rich mixture of early- to mid-19th century architectural styles, traversed by a traditional neighborhood shopping street. It is also a source of naturally occurring affordable housing. Trends in Cambridge real estate often increase the pressure for development, which can lead to inappropriate alterations or destruction of significant buildings. Charles Sullivan and Eric Hill of the Cambridge Historical Commission will discuss the current proposal to establish a neighborhood conservation district in the area.
Thursday, June 16: East Cambridge Preservation and Development. Meet at 6:00 PM at Timothy Toomey Park, Third and Bent streets.
“Telephonic Coal” – What the heck? The above was part of an 1877 advertisement from the Austin C. Wellington Co. in Boston specifically for Cambridge customers to acquaint them with the benefits of ordering coal by telephone. Imagine! In this era of cell phones and 5G, we thought it would be interesting to take a look back 146 years to the dawn of the telephone age.
Alexander Graham Bell changed human communication forever when he placed his “long distance” call from Boston to Thomas A. Watson (at 28 Osborn Street in Cambridge) on October 9, 1876, just three days after receiving the patent for his invention.
Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), colorized by Sanna_Dullaway
Alexander was born in Scotland. His mother was nearly deaf, and his father taught elocution to the deaf: Bell’s interest in improving communications came naturally. The family emigrated to Canada, and in 1872 Bell moved to Boston to teach and became at the Boston School for Deaf Mutes.
In 1877, seven months after Bell received his 1876 patent, Gardiner Greene Hubbard (the former president of the old Water Company) offered to install telephones at the Water Works and in City Hall, proposing that, “the city shall be to no expense for the same unless they shall prove satisfactory to the Board.” Hubbard felt in interest in having–
Cambridge Chronicle May 19, 1877. “The Board” refers to the Water Board.
Hubbard was more than just the former president of the water company: he was Bell’s father-in-law. In 1877 Bell had married one of his hearing-impaired students, Mabel Hubbard, one of Hubbard’s daughters, who had lost her hearing at age five following a bout with scarlet fever. Gardiner Hubbard was also an investor in a plan to create a telegraph company to compete with Western Union, which backed Bell’s experiments.
Everyone hopped on the telephone bandwagon. The system had a substantial impact on public safety, connecting police and fire stations with their branches. By 1877 many businesses were proudly advertising their telephone connections—but without telephone numbers. In the beginning, callers who subscribed to a private serv ice would pick up the phone and ask an operator at a manual switchboard to connect them by name to the person or business they wanted. (The first switchboard was made in New Haven in 1878 for a grand total of twenty-one subscribers.) Early operators memorized the names of every subscriber. It didn’t take long for this system to become unwieldy, but it needed a medical crisis to develop a more efficient system. In 1879 a physician in Lowell, Massachusetts, worried that, if the town’s four telephone operators all succumbed to the current measles epidemic, no one would be left to operate the switchboards. He suggested a numbering system for each subscriber, and telephone numbers were born.
Like all technologies, the invention of the telephone created lots of new businesses and jobs. First among them were private telephone companies: New England Telephone Co., Suburban Telephone Co., Metropolitan Home Telephone, Cambridge Telephone Exchange, Massachusetts Telephone & Telegraph, and The Telephone Despatch, “Organized for the Introduction of the TELEPHONE”:
Cambridge Chronicle February 16, 1878
A month later, the company announced that it already had orders for eighty-eight telephones:
Cambridge Chronicle March 16, 1878,
Then there was the astonishing new “Telephone Harp” demonstrated by the inventor Frederick Allen Gower at a concert at Union Hall on January 23, 1878:
Cambridge Chronicle January 12, 1878
Gower set up the “newly invented telephone in the bakery of Mr. Frank A. Kennedy on Green street, and from the general office in Pearl street, Boston. … He then called for a cornet solo at Mr. Kennedy’s bakery, and it was given clearly and loudly, the notes being perfectly rendered, both through the instrument on the platform, or through instruments depending from the ceiling by wires…”
After that was a demonstration of the Telephone Harp: an instrument comprising steel tongues set into a steel frame, beneath which was a hammer similar to a piano key. When the keys were played, the vibrating steel tongues came in contact with a metallic point opening a circuit. The notes where then transmitted over the wires to the telephone instruments in the hall. The Quadruplex telephone in the advertisement was actually an electric telegraph system invented by Thomas Edison in 1874 that allowed four separate signals to be transmitted simultaneously. The crowd was dazzled.
Needless to say, there were commentaries on what this new-fangled invention meant to daily life:
Cambridge Chronicle September 8, 1877
Some more philosophical comments waxed on about the changes to daily life brought on by telephones. Below are excerpts from the Cambridge Chronicle (March 16, 1878), which called the telephone the “crowning invention of the age.” Change a few of the details and the complaint could have been written today about the speed of contemporary life:
“…parties were in adjoining rooms…. The beauty of thing will be that everybody will feel the necessity of having a telephone. The business places which do not have a telephone will naturally be at a disadvantage, and will soon succumb to the pressure……For ordinary messages the memory of the operator at the central office will suffice, but for longer ones a phonographist would be required.”
Cambridge Chronicle March 16, 1878
Does anyone know what a “phonographist” might have been?
In 1879 the Chronicle reported there were 30,000 telephones in the United States (Sept. 20, 1879). In 1883 the paper carried an article about telephone usage world-wide:
Cambridge Chronicle January 27, 1883
Trouble in River City: In 1887 trials in Cambridge of the “electric motor” cars produced substantial interference on the telephone lines. Customers complained: among them was James W. Lovering, Superintendent of Mount Auburn Cemetery and an early adopter of the telephone. By 1889 he was so fed up that he wrote to New England Tel & Tel: “the telephone service is so bad from this buzzing noise on the wires that we are unable to do any business with it, and unless it can be put right at once I do not care to continue the instrument in the office.” And, to one of the monument makers: “Since the electric cars began running the interference has been so great that we have been unable to use the telephone with any degree of accuracy, and until the telephone company … remedy the matter it is absolutely unsafe to attempt to send any message by telephone in regard to anything which is of importance.”
Lovering wasn’t alone. In October of 1889 a meeting of telephone subscribers was convened to address complaints:
Cambridge Chronicle October 12, 1889
A month later, the Cambridge Telephone Exchange “agreed to put in what is called the McClure system at an expense of $7000. This system is said to be such as to remedy the existing trouble.” (Cambridge Chronicle November 9, 1889)
But the troubles didn’t end there….
Cambridge Chronicle August 13, 1892
Installing telephone equipment on public streets produced hundreds of kerfuffles that were reported in the newspapers. In the decade 1890-1899, there were about 1,400 articles, editorials, or announcements about telephones—poles, wires, rates, etc. An example of one of the more benign complaints:
Cambridge Chronicle February 22, 1890
Hard to know exactly what this complaint was about:
Cambridge Chronicle June 28, 1890
The Cambridge Tribune reprinted this tidbit from the Boston papers on October 28, 1899:
