Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the architecture lover, history enthusiast, urban development aficionado, or anyone who simply loves Cambridge? We’ve got you covered!
Building Old Cambridge: Architecture and Development (2016)
Our latest publication, Building Old Cambridge: Architecture and Development (2016), is a must-have. This beautifully illustrated volume uncovers the story of the neighborhood that grew around Newtowne—founded as the capital of Massachusetts Bay in 1630—and Harvard College, established in 1636. Authors Susan E. Maycock and Charles M. Sullivan trace Cambridge’s evolution of Old Cambridge as quaint village into suburban community and vibrant hub where academic and civic life intertwine.
Abbott Building, 1–7 Kennedy Street (1909, Newhall & Blevins, architects). The upper floors were designed for professional offices. Photo ca. 1910.
Packed with rare historic photographs never before published, Building Old Cambridge offers a comprehensive look at the city’s offers a rich exploration of the city’s architecture, development, and history—a reference you’ll treasure for years to come.
On June 11, 1970, community members led by future city councillor Saundra Graham (with bullhorn) invaded Harvard’s 319th commencement to protest the university’s intrusion into the Riverside neighborhood.
To order your copy of Building Old Cambridge, click here or email us at histcomm@cambridgema.gov. If you’re in a rush and would like to pick up a copy in person, we have several in stock at our office at 831 Mass Ave in Central Square. If you’re lucky, one or both authors may be around to sign it!
Our publication All in the Same Boat: Twentieth-Century Stories of East Cambridge, Cambridge, Massachusetts is a collection of more than 125 oral histories that explore the tightly knit neighborhood of East Cambridge from the perspective of its residents.
Anna Scolles’ birthday, ca. 1949
Manuel Rogers, Sr., behind the soda fountain at the Paradise Spa, 352 Cambridge St, 1931
The book, illustrated with historic and family photographs, offers a vivid picture of the diverse cultures that coexisted in East Cambridge during the 20th century and examines the social, economic, and political changes in this rapidly evolving neighborhood.
Day of Portugal Parade, June 1990
To hear stories of those who lived, grew up in, immigrated to, and built their lives in East Cambridge, stop by our office or click here and obtain your own copy of this rich oral history book! For more information, email us at histcomm@cambridgema.gov.
Cover of All in the Same Boat: Twentieth-Century Stories of East Cambridge, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2005)
The publication We Are the Port represents a five-year effort to interview more than 125 longtime Port residents of diverse backgrounds. Over the course of 150 years, the Port faced many challenges – from the federal anti-immigrant acts of the 1920s to plans for an Inner Belt highway that would have displaced many families and businesses. In the last fifty years, residents have joined the struggle for civil rights, including needs for educational parity and a more responsive city government. The community has weathered the winds of change, from the construction of Newtowne Court and Washington Elms in the mid- to late-1930s to the redevelopment of Kendall Square. The generational family stories inspired and moved the author, Sarah Boyer; many shared accounts of the courage of those who left their native countries to face an unknown world, toiling to provide for their families and improve the lives of their children and succeeding generations.
Ruby Higginbotham, her daughter, Suzanne Revaleon, and her son, Paul Revaleon (in carriage), outside 9 Worcester Street, ca. 1920
The following selection of passages comes from the section “Growing Up on Worcester Street” by Suzanne Revaleon Green (1912-2012):
“There were many children in the neighborhood, and we spent many hours playing together. As a little girl, I can remember standing in our bay window at dusk to watch the lamp lighter ride up the street on his bicycle to light the gas lamp at the corner of Norfolk and Worcester Streets.
My father, with the help of our next-door neighbor, a retired Irish carpenter, built me a playhouse in our yard. Parts of its construction came from the demolishing of some beautiful old houses on Norfolk Street, where new apartment houses were being built.
I walked to the Fletcher School on Elm Street each day and returned home for lunch, returning for school within an hour for the afternoon session. We all attended our nearest neighborhood schools.”
To learn more about Suzanne’s experience and those of many others who grew up in Cambridgeport, stop by our office or click here and obtain your own copy of this rich oral history book! For more information, email us at histcomm@cambridgema.gov.
Following a multi-year effort, The Cambridge Historical Commission has made its extensive architectural survey records available to the public digitally through the Cambridge Digital Architectural Survey and History (CDASH) project!
In its original paper form the Cambridge Historical Commission’s Architectural Survey fills 10 filing cabinets of physical materials detailing the history of the city’s built environment. The collection documents nearly every building in the city, demolished or extant, through newspaper clippings, articles, photographs, atlas details, ephemera, correspondence, and more. Now available online, users can browse over 131,000 pages of information covering nearly 15,000 distinct places in the city. Explore this resource at cdash.cambridgema.gov.
Examples of resources that can be found in CDASH
The user interface and the administrative back end for CDASH have been created with the popular open-source repository and discovery platform Omeka-S. Customizations to Omeka-S showcase the versatility of geographic referencing as a means of linking data from diverse sources. In its current form, CDASH is best accessed with a computer. In the coming year, we hope to bring CDASH to small screens and in the field as a GPS-enabled mobile app.
Cambridgeport originated soon after the completion of the West Boston Bridge in 1793. At that time there were only three farms in all of Cambridge east of Harvard Yard, none of which were near the bridgehead at today’s Kendall Square, and the only connection to Cambridge proper was via a causeway now traversed by Main Street. A new settlement sprang up on the nearest dry ground at Pelham’s Island, which was closer to Lafayette Square than it was to Kendall Square. The marshes on both sides of the causeway near the bridgehead remained unbuildable until real estate investors began to dig canals and create dry ground using the spoil. The area was known only as “the Neck” until 1805, when promoters convinced the U.S. Congress to designate Cambridge a port of delivery, thereby giving rise to the name of Cambridgeport.
Cambridgeport aerial by Lawrence Lowry Aerial Photography ca. 1965
As long as Cambridge remained a town, neighborhood names such as Cambridgeport and East Cambridge had no formal significance (see J.G. Hales, Map of Cambridge, 1830). When Cambridge became a city in 1846 it was divided into three wards, Old Cambridge, Cambridgeport, and East Cambridge (see H.F. Walling, Map of Cambridge, 1854). The Cambridgeport ward ran from Kendall Square west to Lee Street and from Somerville south to the Charles River. As the city grew the old wards were broken up, but the geographic identities of the three neighborhoods remained in popular usage.
Above: Cambridgeport and East Cambridge as depicted in 1830 and 1854.
The original Cambridgeport ward incorporated numerous smaller localities, including the residential neighborhoods of Dana Hill, Riverside, Pine Grove, and the early settlement of Pelham’s Island, which became known as the Lower Port (so called because it was downstream, and furthest from the settled areas of Cambridge). Businesses congregated at major intersections, and other neighborhoods took their names from those squares: Central Square, Lafayette Square, Inman Square, and Kendall Square. All were popularly understood to be part of Cambridgeport.
Traditional neighborhood distinctions began to break down after WWII. In 1949 the planning board divided the city into thirteen districts that were intended to facilitate demographic analysis of the 1950 census (see Cambridge Neighborhoods, 1949). A few of these arbitrary boundaries respected established neighborhoods, but most did not. In this scheme Cambridgeport was reduced to an area south of Central Square, while other neighborhoods traditionally associated with Cambridgeport were given only numbers. Squares were not delineated at all.
Cambridge neighborhoods as defined by the Planning Board, 1949
The new appellations gradually became current in the more transient communities around Harvard Square, but in 2018 the City Council allowed Area 4 to revert to its traditional designation as the Lower Port. Most neighborhood distinctions in Cambridge remain mysterious to newcomers and residents alike.
Today’s post was written by CHC Executive Director, Charlie Sullivan
JJ Gonson is a photographer known for her work documenting a variety of live music performances by punk and hardcore bands at various venues in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A Cambridge native herself, Gonson began photographing bands in the 1980s while studying photography at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. A chance meeting with Mike Gitter, the current Century Media Records’ vice president A&R and the creator of the fanzine xXx on Cambridge’s punk scene, led JJ to create a significant body of work focused on several local venues.
Descendents, performing at TT the Bear’s Place in Cambridge. Photo taken from the JJ Gonson Photograph Collection.fIREHOSE, performing at TT the Bear’s Place in Cambridge. Photo taken from the JJ Gonson Photograph Collection.Descendents, performing at TT the Bear’s Place in Cambridge. Photograph taken from the JJ Gonson Photograph Collection. fIREHOSE, performing at TT the Bear’s Place in Cambridge. Photo taken from the JJ Gonson Photograph Collection.
One of the most well-known was TT the Bear’s Place, formerly located at 10 Brookline St in Central Square, a prominent spot beloved by its patrons. TT’s hosted local bands as well as household names such as California punk rock band Descendents. TT’s thrived at the center of the local music scene during this time and was a local favorite up until its closure in July of 2015.
Photo taken in Ferranti Dege in Cambridge of JJ Gonson (left) and a friend. Photographer unknown. Photo taken from the JJ Gonson Photograph Collection.Photo taken in Ferranti Dege in Cambridge. Photo taken from the JJ Gonson Photograph Collection.Photo taken in Ferranti Dege in Cambridge. Photo taken from the JJ Gonson Photograph Collection.
As a Cambridge resident, Gonson’s work also features many of the city’s local businesses and prominent landmarks. The businesses in and around Harvard Square, as well as the university itself, appear in the collection alongside her punk and hardcore music subjects. The city’s famed Mount Auburn Cemetery, the earliest example of a garden cemetery in the United States, is documented as well. Gonson’s family and friends, as well as photographs of her home, also feature heavily in her work.
Hullabaloo, performing at TT the Bear’s Place in Cambridge. Photo taken from the JJ Gonson Photograph Collection.Hullabaloo, performing at TT the Bear’s Place in Cambridge. Photo taken from the JJ Gonson Photograph Collection.fIREHOSE, performing at TT the Bear’s Place in Cambridge. Photo taken from the JJ Gonson Photograph Collection. Hullabaloo, performing at TT the Bear’s Place in Cambridge. Photo taken from the JJ Gonson Photograph Collection.
The collection consists of primarily black and white photographic negatives, but also contains color negatives, photographic prints and contact sheets. A finding aid is available on ArchivesSpace, and the collection is open and available for research at the Cambridge Historical Commission.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer, Jordan Shaw.
Ferdinand Friedrich (Frederick) Adrian Bruck was born on January 24, 1921, in Breslau, Germany (present-day Wroclaw, Poland) the son of Eberhard Ferdinand Bruck and Irmgard Jentzsch Bruck. At the age of 15, Ferdinand left Germany for England and enrolled at the Bootham School in York, England. As they had means to do so, Bruck’s family fled Germany due to the growing antisemitic ideology seen there. Ferdinand Bruck was listed as “Hebrew” in his immigration documents, and his father fled Germany as a “refugee scholar”, the latter finding work elsewhere in Europe and eventually landing in the United States accepting a teaching position at Harvard.
Bruck in his Harvard Freshman Yearbook, 1937.
In 1937, Ferdinand Bruck arrived in Cambridge to attend Harvard University, his freshman dorm room was in Matthews Hall in Harvard Yard. His education was interrupted by World War II when he was drafted. Before leaving for the War, he and his girlfriend attended the Cocoanut Grove Nightclub in Boston, the night where the infamous fire occurred, which claimed the lives of 490 people. Bruck helped people escape from the blaze. He was hospitalized as a result of the fire and ensuing panic, and his departure for war was delayed. From the hospital, Bruck applied to the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and was accepted.
Aftermath of Cocoanut Grove fire, Boston, November 1942. Boston Public Library collections.
He attended GSD during the spring and summer of 1942 but had to leave soon after for the war. He served in the US Army’s Military Intelligence Service unit back in his home country of Germany. Mr. Bruck spent the end of 1942-1945 overseas. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1943 while serving.
Draft registration card for Ferdinand Friedrich Adrian Bruck. Ancestry.com
After the war, Mr. Bruck completed his time at GSD, where he learned Modernist design under Walter Gropius, a fellow German architect. During the summers, he apprenticed at the engineering firm of Stone & Webster, a major electrical engineering firm, designing power plants, dams, and other such structures along with the other estimated 800 fellow draughtsman at the company. Bruck would state in a later interview that it was not a good experience, but he learned something.
Ferdinand F. Bruck’s senior picture in Harvard yearbook.
After graduating from Harvard GSD, Bruck taught at the school part-time as an Associate Professor, a position he held from 1952-1963. Concurrently, he was hired by The Architects Collaborative under former professor Walter Gropius and assisted on designs with the firm as well as accepting independent commissions under his company, F. Frederick Bruck, Architect and Associates.
After his time at Harvard, Bruck was awarded the coveted Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship in 1954 and had the opportunity to travel the world, studying Modern architecture. Upon his return to the United States, Mr. Bruck married Phoebe Ann Mason (more on her later) and the couple purchased and moved into a new home at 77 Walker Street in Cambridge, a modest Queen Anne Victorian house built in 1885. Bruck’s Modernist sensibilities were toned down for his personal updates to his residence with a simple one-story porch and entry, new windows at the sides and rear, and a renovated interior. The exterior was largely maintained which likely made the neighbors happy at the time!
77 Walker Street, the home to Fred and Phoebe Bruck until the 1970s.
In 1959, Bruck received possibly his first commission in Cambridge by Peter Knapp, a psychiatrist at 77 Raymond Street, who sought an addition where he could hold meetings with clients. The house which was sited at the rear of the lot was reconstructed from an existing stable in 1938 on its existing site in the Colonial Revival style. F. Frederick Bruck envisioned an elongated Miesian-style one-story wing which would project off the side of the 1938 home. The glass addition and solid fence would create a private, inner courtyard which was landscaped to provide a feeling of solace and serenity to his patients when they visited the home. A meandering path was added to connect the driveway and detached garage to the house at the rear of the lot. Bruck was also commissioned to construct a new addition at the rear of the existing garage for Knapp’s wife’s art studio and storage space. The overall composition is not visible from the street.
Drawing by F. Frederick Bruck of “Knapp House Addition”, (1960) 77 Raymond Street. Cambridge ISD Plans.
Fred Bruck’s first major new construction project in Cambridge is a project that almost never was. When renovating a 1922 house on Gray Gardens East, the owners were heartbroken to learn a fire reduced their home down to the foundation. The owners, Harvard Professor I. Bernard Cohen and Frances Davis Cohen retained Bruck in 1962 to design them a new house. In rebuilding, Fred Bruck used the same foundation from the original house, but more vertical in a townhouse form. A requirement by the owners was for large expanses of side walls without windows to give the Cohens the space they needed for paintings and Professor Cohen’s large library, which was located on the top floor overlooking mature trees. A special design feature of the house in the front hall with its arched entrance, a nod to the Federal Revival fan light transoms, and on the inside, an 18-foot-high ceiling. The façade is dominated by an exterior chimney, further accentuating the verticality of the design.
22 Gray Gardens East, CHC Staff photograph.
22 Gray Gardens East front elevation drawing (1962)22 Gray Gardens East rear elevation drawing (1962)
About the same time Bruck designed the Cohen House, he was engaged in one of the largest design competitions in the country, the Boston City Hall competition. In October 1961, Mayor John Collins announced that the City of Boston would select the design for its new City Hall through an open, nationwide design competition. By the deadline, over 200 submissions were received, and eight finalists were selected, including one from the team of F. Frederick Bruck and Ervin Y. Galantay (a visiting architecture professor at Harvard GSD at the time). The duo’s design was a large, square building elevated on columns, with an expansive plaza surrounding. The building was on an elevated plaza which was connected to the larger open space by a bridge leading to a circular reflecting pool. The design was ultimately not chosen by the panel, who instead selected the design by the young team of Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles.
Proposed architectural model for Boston City Hall designed by “F Frederick Bruck and Ervin Y Galanty” (1962). Courtesy of Boston City Archives.
Within a year after he lost the design competition for Boston City Hall, Fred Bruck was commissioned by Alan and Claire Steinert to design them a new residence in the Reservoir Hill area of West Cambridge. Alan Steinert of the Steinert Piano family and his wife Claire were in their sixties and when they purchased the former Charles C. Little House on Highland Street, they decided it was too large and dated for their tastes. It was demolished and Fred Bruck was hired to design a one-story Modern house to accommodate the aging couple, their art collection, and allow for social gatherings. The couple insisted on having the latest technologies, including central air-conditioning, radiant heating, and low voltage lighting to highlight their artworks. The design was featured in Architectural Record’s annual Record Houses, highlighting the best residential project designs of the past year. Describing the construction of the house, Frederick Bruck said “the house is wood frame with dark brick veneer. Brick was chosen to blend with the substantial character of the surrounding houses, to reduce maintenance, and because it is a material which could meet the sloping terrain. Wood frame was chosen for economy and to facilitate construction during the winter months.” The building remains one of the best examples of 1960s residential designs in Cambridge.
64 Highland Street, 2016.
F. Frederick Bruck and his wife Phoebe moved from their Walker Street home to Coolidge Hill Road in the mid-1970s, modernizing a 1920s brick Colonial Revival house for their retirement. Other projects by Fred Bruck include the 1966 Bullfinch Office Center (remodeled in the late 1980s in the Post-Modern style by Graham Gund), the 1970 Charlestown Fire Station, and dozens of private residences all over New England. Fred Bruck died on May 14, 1997 and is buried at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.
Phoebe A. Mason Bruck
Phoebe Ann Mason was born in Highland Park, Illinois on November 26, 1928, the daughter of George Allen Mason and Louise Townsend Barnard. After attending Bard College from 1946 to 1949, she studied architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s (IIT) Institute of Design, which was founded as the New Bauhaus. There, Phoebe was introduced to Modern architecture and design, which would impact her taste and career for decades to come. She graduated from IIT in 1954.
Undated photo of Phoebe Ann Mason Bruck, Cambridge Chronicle 2004.
While in Illinois, Phoebe worked as a designer at Baldwin Kingree, a women-owned Modern design store established in 1947 in Chicago. Baldwin Kingree was founded by Kitty Baldwin Weese (wife of Modernist architect Harry Weese) and Jody Kingree. The store specialized in Scandinavian Modern furnishings to fill American homes with affordable, architect-designed furniture and objects. While in Chicago working at Baldwin-Kingree, Phoebe was spotted by Ben Thompson of The Architects Collaborative, who convinced her to move to Cambridge to serve as head of the design department for his new store.
In Cambridge, Phoebe worked as Head of the Design Department at Design Research, Inc., a home furnishing store in an old, mansard-roofed house on Brattle Street. In her capacity as head designer for Design Research, Phoebe worked often with The Architects Collaborative (TAC) and Sert, Jackson Associates Inc., on many of their projects providing designs and furnishings for interior spaces. While working with Design Research and TAC, Phoebe met F. Frederick Bruck, and they married in 1956. Phoebe, like many women in the design profession at the time, likely consulted and worked on dozens of projects where she is not credited, it is unclear as to how many projects Phoebe was involved with during her time at TAC or Sert, Jackson, Associates.
Original Design Research Harvard Square store, c.1968. CHC Collections.
Design Research, Inc. new Cambridge store, 48 Brattle Street, c.1972. UVA: Richard Guy Wilson Architecture Archive.
Early in their marriage, Phoebe earned a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University in 1963, and would join forces professionally with her life partner, Fred Bruck at his firm F. Frederick Bruck Architect and Associates, Inc. At the firm, Phoebe wore many hats consulting on furnishings and interiors for her husband’s projects as well as developing landscape plans and designs complimentary to Mr. Bruck’s Modern designs.
In 1968, Phoebe stumbled upon an advertisement in the Boston Globe, which marketed land in New Hampshire, suitable for a vacation retreat. The ad read, “…Strafford. 48 acres. Mountain top, excellent view. You can see for miles. Small log cabin. Timber cut off.” Phoebe and Fred Bruck travelled up to New Hampshire to find a formerly wooded lot littered with tree stumps, trees lying on top of each other, piles of empty fuel cans and exposed ledges scarred by logging operations. They had already purchased the lot and Phoebe began planning her regeneration of the devastated lot. By 1969, conditions were favorable for burning and much of the site was cleansed with a controlled fire to help restore the soil and forest. Within a year, low bush blueberries, aspen, young maples, birch, and oak trees began to sprout from the charred soil. Fred Bruck converted a former two-room (350 sq. ft.) log cabin into their summer house with decks and a detached out-house for rustic living when visiting their New Hampshire property. Phoebe restored the forest and developed natural gardens scattered throughout the property. The restoration of the forest here was featured in Landscape Architecture Magazine. Phoebe ended the article by writing:
“Ten years after logging, piles of rotting slash still remain in the far corners and along the edges of the property, a vivid reminder of the devastation and seeming destruction which once pervaded the entire site. The green tidal wave of vigorous young pines, birches, oaks and maples, which threatens the engulf the woodlot gives new meaning to the concept of regeneration, for the land as well for its owners.”
Phoebe was very busy in Cambridge architecture and landscape circles. She worked as a design critic for the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard GSD concurrently with her serving as a judge for the New England Flower Show from 1971-1979. She also served on various boards and committees including the Harvard Square Association, the Harvard Square Advisory Committee, the Quincy Square Design Committee, and served as President of the Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA) from 1973-1975.
Phoebe was a force in her role as President of the Harvard Square Defense Fund and as chair of the Harvard Square Advisory Committee, where she pushed on architects, developers, and the City of Cambridge, advocating for high-quality design that maintained the character of the square. Phoebe was always firm in her positions and was very active in city life in Cambridge until she passed away in 2004. She was buried next to her partner, Fred, on Azalea Path in Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Grave memorial for Fred and Phoebe Bruck. Courtesy of Mt. Auburn Cemetery.
Today, we’re wrapping up our exploration of electricity and its uses, starting with…
Electric Appliances
Cambridge Chronicle November 11, 1916
The Cambridge Tribune January 28, 1888 (excerpt)
Electric appliances were sold by the electric company, not by what we would think of today as an appliance store. Here is what was on offer in 1916 at the Cambridge Electric Light Co.
Cambridge Chronicle December 2, 1916
Electric irons were sold for only $2.00:
Cambridge Tribune June 29, 1907
Electric refrigerators were invented in 1913, but not mass produced until 1918.
“Electrical Notes” Cambridge Sentinel August 1, 1914
Cambridge Tribune March 26, 1921
Electric vacuums: One of our favorite descriptions of an electrical appliance is this one for the “Dirt Annihilator”:
Cambridge Sentinel November 10, 1917
Electric fans and stoves:
Cambridge Chronicle June 24, 1921
Electric washing machine. The first electric washing machine was invented in 1901 by Mr. Alva Fisher. It was not mass produced for several years.
Cambridge Chronicle March 8, 1919
Cambridge Sentinel August 29, 1914
Electric doorbells were invented as early as 1832 by American scientist Joseph Henry, mentioned above, who was later the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. But because the doorbells depended on expensive electric batteries, the product didn’t really take hold until about 1913, when transformers replaced the need for batteries.
Electric clocks were first invented in 1840, relying on a combination of battery and spring pendulum. A “self-contained battery driven clock,” didn’t hit the market until around 1906.
Let us not forget the 1888 Cambridge baseball team named The Electrics.
Cambridge Chronicle July 28, 1888
Though many aspects of daily life were made easier and safer by electricity, there were still issues. We’re reminded of the expression by Maggie Smith’s Downton Abbey character, the Countess of Grantham, in response to electric illumination: “Sometimes I feel as if I were living in an HG Wells novel. But the young are all so calm about change, aren’t they?”
Medical consequences were just one concern on the public’s mind. How about this reference to electricity causing cholera in 1849:
Cambridge Chronicle July 26, 1849
Of course, the medical community lost no time in advertising electrical remedies for whatever ailed you. As early as 1853, Edward C. Rogers was advertising his services as a “Medical Electrician”:
Cambridge Chronicle June 11, 1853
A few decades later, Dr. J. D. Werner bragged that his practice included the “intelligent” use of Medical Electricity.
Cambridge Chronical December 31, 1881
Some of these practices were no doubt precursors to the contemporary and medically-accepted use of electricity to treat mental disorders, such as ECT (electroconvulsive therapy). However, there is something about using Dr. Rhodes’ “Electric Transfusing Battery” to cure everything from rheumatism to flatulence, that seems a little suspicious:
The above ad from the June 26, 1880 edition of The Cambridge Chronicle goes on to list many additional ailments, purported to be cured by his “electrical transfusing battery”, including: Gout, Swollen Joints, Sciatica, Lumbago, Spinal Disease, Wasting, Decay, Restless Nights, Nightmare, Lack of Power of Will, Loss of Confidence, Hysteria, Epilepsy, Heartburn, Dropsy, Asthma, Pleurisy, Jaundice, Seminal weakness, Female Complaints” Oh my!
The interest in the miracle of electricity did not fade during the 20th century. By 1913, the Cambridge Sentinel still saw fit to have a regular column “The Electrical World” (or sometimes “Electrical Notes”) consisting of random reporting about the uses of electricity worldwide. For instance, the world-shattering fact that “seven electric motor trucks will be purchased by the Manila post office.” Wow! Some other snippets from 1913 and 1914 include:
1913
1914
(Nationally-known market gardener Warren W. Rawson was employing the same electrical technique in his greenhouses in Arlington, Mass)
As we’ve seen above, every new technology spawns new jobs, vocabulary, and idioms. Between 1880 and 1899 inclusively, the word “electric” appeared in the Cambridge Chronicle 5,020 times and in the Cambridge Tribune 3,455 times.
In searching the Cambridge City Directory for jobs self-identified as associated with electricity, we find that in 1880 there was only one electrician listed: William H. Humans, who lived at #11 Rogers Block, on Main Street. The Cambridge Electric Light Co. was located nearby at #23 Main Street. By 1900, there were 140 listed electricians.
The life-changing effect of electricity on private lives is pretty well summed up in this excerpt from a description of soap manufacturer Edward D. Mellon’s new house in 1898:
So…Ever been amped up? Or gone out like a light? Had a “lightbulb” moment? Close your eyes now and just imagine how differently our experience of nighttime would have been before the advent of electricity
“We had the sky, up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made, or only just happened—Jim he allowed they was made, but I allowed they happened; I judged it would have took too long to make so many.”
– Mark Twain
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox.
SOURCES
Building Old Cambridge. Susan E. Maycock and Charles M. Sullivan, 2016 Cambridge Historical Commission; the MIT Press
“A bright light is the enemy of rascality”- Cambridge Chronicle July 7, 1883
Cambridge Tribune March 2, 1921
Ever get your wires crossed? Blown a fuse? Received a rousing charge? Blame it on electricity!
In 1869, two out of the four “great events” of the century, ranked by the Cambridge Chronicle in their issue of May 29th, were Morse’s invention of the telegraph in the United States, and the laying of the Atlantic Cable. The other two events were the death of slavery in the U.S. and the completion of the Pacific Railway. Alexander Graham Bell made his first telephone call 1876, and then…
Wow! The Electric Telegraph
Although existing in various experimental forms in Europe in the early 19th century, in the United States it was artist and inventor Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1821, born in Charlestown, Mass) who made the electric telegraph a reality here. Invented around 1837, it was not until 1843 that Morse received funding from Congress for the first telegraphic line. The cable was strung between Baltimore and Washington, D. C. The first message? “What god hath wrought.”
The transatlantic telegraph was laid between 1854 and 1858. Written a year before its completion, this awestruck note appeared in the Cambridge Chronicle (September 19, 1857) Excerpt:
By 1869, Cambridge had installed 15 fire alarm boxes using the electric telegraph. The boxes were hooked up to only one bell—that of the Methodist Church in Ward Two at the corner of Third and Cambridge streets. In the Cambridge Annual Report of 1870, it was recommended that henceforth they should be connected to one bell in each ward.
Next Came the Lightbulb Moment
“A boastful Edison catalog cover from 1887” (Courtesy of collectorsweekly.com)
As they did with the telegraph, inventors worldwide were attempting to invent an electric light bulb. In 1835, an electric “arc” bulb was demonstrated in Britain. In the U. S., William Sawyer (1850-1883) and Albon Man (1826-1905) were working together in an attempt to invent the first electric light bulbs here. However, the bulbs continued to burn out too quickly and were not mass produced. It was Thomas Edison (1847-1931) who improved the filament and commercialized the incandescent light bulb, for which he received two patents: in 1879 and 1880.
Cambridge was impatient to join the electrical ranks. On July 9, 1881, The Cambridge Chronicle reported: “There is a movement on foot to introduce electric lights in this city,” implying that things could have been moving more swiftly as they had in other towns. By 1880, Boston was using electric lights. In 1883, William J. Marvin, Commissioner of the West Boston and Cambridge bridges, did succeed in having both bridges illuminated by electric lights. On July 7, 1883, the Chronicle proclaimed “A bright light is the enemy of rascality. Lighting our streets by electricity would be equal in value to doubling our police force.”
By 1884, a company “controlled by the American Electric and Illuminating Co.” had been formed to provide electricity to Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington and Watertown. On March 1st of that year, The Cambridge Chronicle noted that:
Excerpt: Cambridge Chronicle March 1, 1884
Still, Cambridge only inched along. Apparently, the Mayor agreed: in 1885, Mayor William E. Russell stated in his annual address:
“Cambridge is certainly behind the times in having no such lighting on her streets.
The expense is much more than lighting by gas; but the improvement is so great that I believe it commends itself to the citizens, and justifies the additional cost. Irecommend that, whenever a proper plant is established, the city place electric lightsin her squares and on some of her main thoroughfares.”
The following year he was able to proclaim “I am very happy to say that arrangements have been made for the use of electric lighting in our main streets and squares.” This included Main and Cambridge Streets, parts of North Avenue from Harvard Square to the Lexington and Arlington Railroad, and Brattle and other squares. This installation would require approximately 70 lights at “55 cents per lamp per night burning all night, or a total cost (estimating for 339 nights per year) of $13,051,50.” And the other 26 nights…?
Then the Electric Trolley
Spliced car at Arlington Heights (12 May 1898). Source: Frank Cheney.
By 1887, electric trolleys were in use in Kansas City, Cleveland Ohio, Omaha, Nebraska, and Mansfield, Ohio. But not yet in Cambridge.
Referred to as “electrics,” electric trolleys presented a big controversy. Many, many column inches of newspapers were devoted to arguments for or against the trolleys. Advocates hailed efficiencies in transportation; the opposition was of the NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) variety, complaining about the speed, noise, and the esthetics of overhead wires:
Cambridge Tribune April 7, 1888
Cambridge Tribune August 2,1890
Cambridge Chronicle July 8, 1893
The following year, residents on Brattle Street were stillfighting the case, declaring that “the electric trolley system is a new and improper use of streets.” (Cambridge Tribune September 29, 1894). As an aside, perhaps these citizens forgot to take into account the improved the life of squirrels, who could now scamper from one place to another across the wires instead of the roads, not to mention a newfound site for birds to light and socialize!
Electrical interference with the telephones (in use since 1877) was also a problem, as James W. Lovering, Superintendent of Mount Auburn, complained about in this letter to a client in Boston:
“Dear Sir: We were unable to understand your message by telephone this forenoon.
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, to whom we have already made complaint remedy the matter it is absolutely unsafe to attempt to send any message by telephone in regard to anything which is of importance.” (March 12, 1889)
But the West End Railway and electric companies forged ahead. Electric companies allowed the telephone and electric trolley lines to be attached to their poles. These unsightly metal poles were being replaced by “fine sticks of timber” (Annual Report 1891). On May 11, 1893, the Chronicle reported that “it is expected that by June 1 the electric railway system will be complete between Boston and Arlington.”
Electric wires over Central Square on June 7, 1910. Boston Elevated Railway negative, CHC collections.
Yikes! 2,000 Miles of Wires
By 1890, the city was crisscrossed with a combined 2,000 miles of wires—telegraph wires, trolley wires, telephone wires, and private electric wires. It was a dangerous situation: crossed wires started fires, webs of wires prevented firemen from reaching buildings, and trolley wires interfered with telephone reception. As a consequence, in July of 1890, the City established a new position: Inspector of Wires. The job was to sort out all the technical, legal, and esthetic issues, and to develop rules and regulations for wiring of all sorts. The position was soon filled by the aptly-named Charles H. Morse. Writing on December 29, 1890, Morse reported:
City of Cambridge Annual Report 1890
Soon, the Inspector of Wires’ job description was expanded to include the role of “superintendent of the fire-alarm telegraph, the police signal system and all other electric wires and wire systems.”
Stay tuned for the second and final installment where we explore electric appliances, medical electricity and “The Electrical World”!
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox.
SOURCES
Building Old Cambridge. Susan E. Maycock and Charles M. Sullivan, 2016 Cambridge Historical Commission; the MIT Press
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!
