We at the CHC were saddened to hear of the passing of a Cambridge icon, Frances Antupit, long-time proprietor of the landmark establishment Koby-Antupit Photography Studios. In her studio, Frances photographed architects, politicians, scientists, and activists, as well as local students, couples, and children.
Frances Antupit in the Boylston/JFK St studio, ca. 1960s. Koby-Antupit Portrait Collection, Cambridge Historical Commission
Frances V. Antupit was born October 5, 1934, and raised in West Hartford, CT. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1957. Although Frances took only one photography course, she and a friend would sneak into the school’s darkroom after hours to develop film and make prints. Looking back, Frances laughed at her work from that time–mostly odd compositions of doorways and objects–calling it the “Ashcan School of Photography.”
Paul Koby Studio business card. Koby-Antupit Portrait Collection, Cambridge Historical Commission
Frances soon moved to Boston, intending to pursue a graphic design career, but quickly discovered few positions available. She was interviewed by a Copley Square art director who noticed her eye for photography and suggested she apprentice to an established photographer. In the yellow pages, Frances found an ad for Paul Koby’s studio in Harvard Square. Koby initially dismissed her, but Frances soon convinced him of her abilities, and she began her training in lighting skills, darkroom techniques, and retouching.
View of Paul Koby Photography studio, above the Wursthaus in Harvard Square. Cambridge Historical Commission
Koby left the Boston area in the 1970s. In 1978, despite no formal business training, Frances decided to purchase the business. Along with the studio, Antupit inherited a large collection of Koby’s negatives and prints.
Chris Jennings by Frances Antupit, 1991. Koby-Antupit Portrait Collection, Cambridge Historical Commission
Unknown couple by Francis Antupit, date unknown. Koby-Antupit Portrait Collection, Cambridge Historical Commission
In 1997, Cambridge Savings Bank bought the building that housed Antupit’s studio, and all tenants were given notice to vacate. Frances later opened a new studio but despite her reputation as a creative photographer, the new location proved difficult for returning customers and walk-ins alike. Antupit began afresh in neighboring Belmont before finally retiring. In 2006, Frances donated her collection of photography materials to the CHC. The Koby-Antupit Portrait Collection contains photographic materials taken by and relating to Frances and her work in the studio and material created by Koby.
On the night of April 18, 1775 while Paul Revere was bolting on horse from Charlestown to Lexington warning of the advancing British, his colleague William Dawes Jr. (1745-1799) was likewise galloping out of Boston in the opposite direction. Dawes was a second sergeant in the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co. of Massachusetts. Earlier, having already managed to steal a couple of cannons out from under the nose of British soldiers, he was already active in acts of subterfuge.
Dr. Joseph Warren of Bunker Hill fame organized both men, believing two riders had a better chance of getting through than just one. The 30-year-old Dawes, member of the Sons of Liberty and father of six children, departed around 9:00 pm, about an hour before Paul Revere. Sticking to the Boston side of the river, Dawes crossed the Boston Neck (120 ft wide at high tide), successfully crossing through the British checkpoints. It is generally thought that because his profession as a tanner often required him to ride out on business (not to mention his pretending drunkenness in taverns to pick up intelligence from British soldiers), he was a familiar face to the sentries who let him through without question. This trip was no exception.
After crossing the Neck, Dawes galloped through what is now Roxbury, Brookline, and Allston, finally crossing over “The Great Bridge” to Cambridge. Most Cantabrigians are familiar with what is now known as the Anderson Memorial Bridge, which connects the Harvard Square side of the Charles River with the Harvard Stadium side. But did you know the role this bridge played in the Revolution?
Boston Neck in the red circle on the right; Cambridge red circle on the left. Arrow showing Great Bridge location. Detail: Boston, 1775, Siege, Battle of Lexington & Concord, Framed Revolutionary War Map courtesy Battlemaps.us.
Built in 1660 from “Little Cambridge” on the south side of the Charles to Cambridge on the north, this timber bridge was the first to span the Charles River. Over the centuries, deteriorating conditions led to several repair iterations, including adding a draw for barges passing upstream. The bridge that we see today – the Anderson Memorial Bridge – was rebuilt in 1915.
After Dawes crossed the river late that night, well prepared Cambridge citizens removed its planks to impede British General Hugh Earl Percy and his troops from literally following in Dawes’s hoofprints. According to the diary of British Lt. Frederick Mackenzie in Gen. Percy’s army, the troops did not mobilize until 8:45am on the 19th:
“…that they were- to march out of town to support the troops that went out last night. A quarter before 9, we marched in the following order, Advanced Guard, of a captain and 50 men; 2 Six pounders, 4th Regt., 47th Regt, 1st Batt. Of Marines, 23rd Ret., or Royal Welch Fusiliers, Rear Guard, of a Captain & 50 men. The whole under the Command of Brigadier General Earl Percy. We went out of Boston by the Neck, and marched thro’ Roxbury, Cambridge and Menotomy, towards Lexington. In all the places we marched through, and in the houses on the road, few or no people were to be seen; and the houses were in general shut up.”(Diary of Frederick Mackenzie, officer of the regiment of Royal Welch Fusiliers during the years 1775-1781)
Thats a lot of soldiers! Percy’s troops found the bridge planks, reinstalled them, and eventually followed in Dawes’s path to Lexington.
Portrait of Hugh Percy, Second Duke of Northumberland by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1788, High Museum of Art
(Later that summer, in July of 1775, George Washington also passed over the bridge to attend the funeral of Col. Thomas Gardner, who was wounded in the Battle of Bunker Hill and died on July 3, 1775 at home in Little Cambridge, now Brighton).
The Anderson Bridge about 1900. The tugboat with smokestack on the left is waiting for the draw to open. Cambridge Historical Commission
Arriving on the north bank of the Charles, Dawes would have stepped onto a causeway crossing the mud flats, passing alongside the “Colledge” Wharf at the end of Wood Street. Wood St led up to what is now Harvard Square and was subsequently called Brighton Street in 1838, renamed to Boylston Street in 1882, and renamed to its current designation, John F. Kennedy (JFK) Street, in 1982.
The Route
Recreated map: Cambridge in 1775 by Robert Ballou Lillie (1949) with path of William Dawes in red
It is startling to realize that along his way through Cambridge Village (as it was referred to at the time), Dawes would have passed by some of the same buildings and places that we still see today. Today, we see the house of carpenter John Hicks at 64 JFK Street, across from the Eliot Street intersection. Dawes would not have passed the house at its current location: it was originally built in 1762 on the corner of Dunster and Winthrop Streets and later purchased by Harvard and moved to its current location at 64 JFK St in 1928.
Photograph of John Hicks House as it appeared in Historic Guide to Cambridge by Hannah Winthrop Chapter D.A.R. (1907) when standing at its original location of Dunster and Winthrop Sts
But Hicks, also an active patriot, having already taken part in the Boston Tea Party, was no doubt aware of Dawes’s travels just a block away. In fact, the next afternoon, April 19, while ambushing the retreating British soldiers at the corner of Mass Ave and Rindge Ave (then called Watson’s corner), Hicks was shot dead. Later, General Israel Putnam used the house for his office during the war.
The Hicks house today at 64 JFK Street. Image: Kathleen Fox
The first location, still in the same place that Dawes would have passed, was the Market between Winthrop Street and Mount Auburn Street, then known as Long Street and Spring Street. This land was originally that of Sir Richard Saltonstall. Following his return to England, the lot was designated a public marketplace in 1635. In 1834, it was enclosed as a park and dubbed “Winthrop Square.” The current park reflects the restoration done in 1987.
Image: Kathleen Fox
Winthrop Square in 1889. Cambridge Historical Commission
Winthrop Park today. Image: Kathleen Fox
And just past Mt. Auburn St on the left, Dawes would have passed the Ebenezer Bradish’s Blue Anchor Tavern, a popular watering hole for political discussions, where monthly meetings of Selectmen took place. The “joint was jumping” on the night of the 18th as news of the British troops arrival spread. The original tavern building is long gone, but the place is marked by a Cambridge Historical Commission blue oval. Today, this is the location of Union Square Donuts, 15 JFK St.
Contemporary view of the former location of the Blue Anchor Tavern. Images: Kathleen Fox.
Wood Street ended at what was then a small common and is now is now Harvard Square. Dawes passed The Courthouse on the left, situated about where the Harvard Coop is today. The small common is now the traffic island and entrance to the MBTA.
Court house (1758) and Prentice-Webber House (1750). Harvard University Archives Image: https://hls.harvard.edu/today/two-professors-six-students-three-rooms/. Harvard Law School Historical and Special Collections. Boyd, William (Harvard College Class of 1796). Mathematical thesis, 1796
Middlesex County Courthouse, Harvard Square (1758). Harvard University Archives, HUC 8782.514 (82). Robert Hallowell, “Northeasterly Perspective View of Cambridge Court House Taken from “the Stone Bridge”
Across from the Courthouse was the Fourth Meeting House, built in 1758. This is now the site of Lehman Hall, across from the Harvard Square Kiosk.
Fourth Meeting House Marker
Location of marker in Harvard Square (Google Street View)
If Dawes looked to his right while riding past the Courthouse, he would catch a fleeting view of Wadsworth House, located just to the right of the Fourth Meeting House. Built in 1726, Wadsworth House was the residence of Harvard presidents until 1849. It served as Gen. Washington’s first command center for two weeks before moving to the Vassall estate on Brattle St (now the Longfellow House). While Washington’s HQ was in Wadsworth, then-president of Harvard, Samuel Langdon, was permitted to continue living in one of its rooms. The two small wings seen below were added in 1783.
View of Wadsworth House ca. 1920. Cambridge Historical Commission
Continuing out what is today Mass Ave, Dawes passed five Harvard buildings that in 1775-1776 were used as barracks for Provincial troops. The Paul Revere print below (1767) shows three of these five buildings (left to right): Harvard, Stoughton, and Massachusetts Halls. Hollis Hall, not visible in the print, is tucked in behind the northeast corner of Harvard Hall, and Holden Chapel is also out of view to the left of Harvard Hall. Both were in existence at the times of Dawes’s ride. Massachusetts Hall accommodated 640 soldiers; Stoughton: 240; Harvard Hall an indeterminant number; Hollis Hall 640; and dinky Holden Chapel, believe it or not, housed 160 men.
“Westerly view of the Colledges in Cambridge, New England, 1767 ; Revere view of Harvard” (1767). Revere, Paul, 1735-1818, creator, engraver. Chadwick, Joseph, artist, approximately 1721?-1783. Harvard University Archives.
Massachusetts Hall (above right)was built in 1720 as a student dormitory. Today, the first two floors are taken up with the office of the president, provost, general counsel, vice presidents and their support staff. The upper two floors still serve as dorm rooms for about 24 Freshmen.
Massachusetts Hall, Harvard University, photographed by Ralph Lieberman (2012). Harvard Fine Arts Library, Special Collections
Stoughton Hall (middle building in the Revere print above) was completed in 1700 and served as a student dormitory. Over time it was deemed in such need of repair that it was declared “an unsubstantial piece of masonry,” and taken down in 1780. The current University Hall, built between 1813-1815, took its place. The second brick Stoughton Hall is seen today is on Mass Ave to the left of the Holden Chapel. It was opened in 1806.
Stoughton Hall photographed by William Notman & Son, 1874. Theodore Roosevelt Collection 560.12-021, Harvard University
Harvard Hall (left building in Revere’s print above). The first Harvard Hall, built in 1682, served as the university library, chapel, lecture hall, dining hall and meeting place. When it was destroyed by fire in 1764, lost were nearly of the Library’s books, along with various “philosophical apparatus” such as telescopes, medical instruments, and microscopes. By 1766 it had been rebuilt. The Harvard Hall in the Revere engraving represents the rebuilt building.
Harvard Hall photographed by Ralph Lieberman, 2012. Harvard Fine Arts Library, Special Collections.
Hollis Hall. In a quirk of fate, Hollis Hall (completed in 1763), had been designed by Thomas Dawes, who it turns out, was a cousin of our man William Dawes.
Holden Chapel was erected in 1744 by the wife of the Honorable Samuel Holden (1675-1740). He was a member of the British Parliament who was “…deeply interested in the cause of learning and religion in New England.” After his death, Holden’s wife donated four hundred pounds sterling to erect the Chapel in his honor.
Postcard featuring Holden Chapel, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Fine Arts Library, Special Collections A.00934.
Recently, Holden Chapel underwent an historic preservation project which restored the western pediment that Dawes saw to its original colors.
Holden Chapel today, facing Mass Ave. Image: Kathleen Fox
After being dismissed in May of 1775, Harvard students resumed their classes in October of that year in Concord, Mass. When the British departed Boston in 1776, so did the provincial soldiers quartered at Harvard. Jamming so may mostly young soldiers (average age around 22) into such cramped and uncomfortable quarters resulted in substantial damage, requiring sizeable renovations.
Back across Mass Ave, past the Courthouse on the left, just before today’s intersection of Garden St and Mass Ave was the Old Burying Ground (est. 1636), looking much as it does today, including this way sign to Boston:
The Old Burying Ground Image: Kathleen Fox
Old milestone to Boston, Old Burying Ground, Cambridge. Photograph undated. Cambridge Historical Commission
The Burying Ground was adjacent to Christ Church, which was built in 1761 facing the Cambridge Common. Services were few during the Revolution, although General Washington is said to have occasionally worshipped there. As were the Harvard buildings, Christ Church was also used as a barracks, with the same sad results of damage by the soldiers. It was not fully back to use until around 1790.
Detail of a watercolor of Christ Church (ca. 1871) by Joshua Green. Harvard University Archives
Left wing of Old Christ Church, Garden Street, Cambridge, Mass.-1, photographed by Leon H. Abdalian on October 25, 1929. Boston Public Library Arts Department via Digital Commonwealth
Finally, just before heading out the Road to Menotomy, Dawes would have passed the Cambridge Common on his left. Originally, this “Cow Common” extended all the way up to Linnean Street. In 1724, the Common was reduced to the size we see today. In the 1770’s, prior to April 1775, it was used as a training ground for the local militia. As the story goes, it was on the Common that George Washington officially took command of the Continental Army. During the war, thousands of militia men not already housed in Harvard buildings camped on the Common in wretched conditions. On the northwest side of the Common, Dawes might have noticed the home of Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse at 7 Waterhouse Street, which still stands today. The street was named after Dr. Waterhouse, a Harvard professor of medicine who introduced the small pox vaccine.
7 Waterhouse St as it appeared in Historic Guide to Cambridge by Hannah Winthrop Chapter D.A.R. (1907)
7 Waterhouse St. today. Image via Google Street View (Nov 2020)
Today, Cambridge Common is a National Historic Landmark.
William Dawes and his heroic gallop the night of April 18, 1775 is remembered today by Dawes Island, a traffic island between Garden St, Mass Ave, and the Common. His name is inscribed in the pavement, along with brass replicas of his horses hoofprints. Dawes fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill. In 1776, he was commissioned as major of the Boston Militia and served as a quartermaster in central Massachusetts. He died in 1799. His great-great grandson, Charles Dawes, was President Calvin Coolidge’s vice president.
Dawes Island sign. Image: Kathleen Fox
Dawes Island, with bronze plaque at left and other historical markers photographed by Howard Lange. The Descendants of William Dawes Who Rode Association
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Text and hoofprints marking the path of William Dawes in Harvard Square. Image: Kathleen Fox
View of Cambridge Village from the North in 1776. Model based on original research by Robert H. Nylander, Cambridge Historical Commission
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen M. Fox
Diary of Frederick Mackenzie, giving a daily narrative of his military service as an officer of the regiment of Royal Welch Fusiliers during the years 1775-1781 in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York (1930) by Frederick Mackenzie. https://archive.org/details/diaryoffrederick21ptunse/page/n7/mode/2up.
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
Welcome to the second and final installment of our series about the evolution of eating oysters and the Cambridge restaurants and eateries that served them in the 19th century.
And now THE BIG QUESTION: Are Oysters an Aphrodisiac?
Jacob Ochtervelt, The Oyster Meal, 1664-65. Private collection.
Eating oysters frequently raises a slight naughty twinkle in one’s eye. Remember Albert Finney in the classic Tom Jones movie? The jury is out on scientific proof about the oyster’s aphrodisiac qualities. These days, it is thought the zinc and amino acids in the bivalve might possibly stimulate sexual desire. So, who knows—the legend might be true. At least Casanova thought so.
OYSTER NEWS Oysters were so popular that items about their origin regularly made the news:
New York: Cambridge Chronicle January 4, 1849
Long Island Sound, New York: Cambridge Chronicle October 15, 1859
Cambridge Chronicle September 19, 1868
Cape Cod: Cambridge Chronicle June 7, 1879
Virginia: Cambridge Chronicle January 1, 1870
Providence River: Cambridge Chronicle March 15, 1879
PRIORITY ON THE MENU
Eduoard Manet, Oysters, 1862. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
“An oyster leads a dreadful but exciting life.” M. F. K. Fisher
Oysters became so popular that they were often the first food highlighted in restaurant advertising, ahead of meats, fruits, ice cream, etc. They were also featured various celebrations.
George Teague again:
Cambridge Chronicle December 29, 1855
Cambridge Chronicle May 28, 1859
Cambridge Chronicle November 12, 1864
Cambridge Chronicle December 25, 1880
Cambridge Chronicle October 14, 1875
AND WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE OYSTER SHELLS?
What happened to all those oyster shells, you might well ask? They were added to cement, road beds, railroad beds, ground up for chicken feed for hens (for digestion and calcium for egg shells), compost for vineyards, and cleaning the insides of coal burning stoves. Oysters were not allowed to be dumped just anywhere:
Excerpts: Cambridge Chronicle July 2, 1846
THE DROP IN CONSUMPTION
Susan Koolman, in the “Great Oyster Craze” writes: “Whereas New Yorkers in the 1800s ate an average of 600 oysters per year, today Americans eat an average of less than three oysters per year.” Several factors were in play: over-harvesting native beds led to importing oysters, which brought disease with them, which diminished the supply. There were concerns about the sanitation of oyster processing facilities. These concerns were addressed in 1906’s Pure Food and Drug Act. The new regulations were costly, and many oyster houses went out of business. In addition, the 1924 typhoid outbreak in New York, Washington, and Chicago was associated raw oysters.
Madera Tribune (California) December 11, 1924
Then along came Prohibition, closing a lot of the saloons and taverns that specialized in oysters. All in all, these factors put the “kaybash” on consumption. Later in the 20th century, evolving expectations about environmentally correct and ethical oyster farming have elevated the cost of raising oysters once again.
FOR FUN
More on the love of oysters is best demonstrated by following samples of ads and commentaries over the years. Have you ever considered that thunder might kill oysters? An opposite theory is that thunder inspires oysters to spawn…
Cambridge Chronicle June 4, 1870
“Never serve oysters in a month that has no paycheck in it.” – P. J. O’Rourke, political satirist and journalist
“A good oyster cannot please the palate as acutely as a bad one can revolt it, and a good oyster cannot make him who eats it live forever though a bad one can make him dead forever.” – Rebecca West, author
“Give me oysters and beer, for dinner every day of the year, and I’ll be fine.” – Jimmy Buffett
“All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” – Federico Fellini, Italian film director
“Oysters are the most tender and delicate of all seafoods. They stay in bed all day and night. They never work or take exercise, are stupendous drinkers, and wait for their meals to come to them.” – Hector Bolitho ‘The Glorious Oyster’ (1960)
“Animal rights, taken to their logical conclusion, mean votes for oysters.” – Bertrand Russell, polymath
“You ought to try eating raw oysters in a restaurant with every eye focused upon you – it makes you feel as if the creatures were whales, your fork a derrick and your mouth Mammoth Cave.” – Lillian Russell, actress
“I prefer my oysters fried; That way I know my oysters died.” – Roy Blount, Jr., writer
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox
The Great Oyster Craze: Why 19th century Americans Loved Oysters. MSU Campus Archaeology Program. (2019, January 17). http://campusarch.msu.edu/?p=4962.
Wilde is referring to the saying “the world’s mine oyster,” from Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. In the story, the character Falstaff is haggling with another man over money. After Falstaff refuses to give him a single penny, the man replies “Why, then, the world’s mine oyster, which I with sword will open.” His meaning: I’ll get anything I want any way I can—i.e. stabbing with a sharp instrument as in shucking oysters to find the pearl. Over time, the phrase morphed to mean “You are in a position to take the opportunities that life has to offer.” (Oxford English Dictionary)
“An oyster, that marvel of delicacy, that concentration of sapid excellence, that mouthful before all other mouthfuls, who first had faith to believe it, and courage to execute? The exterior is not persuasive.” (Henry Ward Beecher 1813-1887, brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe)
Even when induced to pry open the shell however, the creature inside was somewhat intimidating. As Jonathan Swift said, “He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.”
No kidding! Just look at them:
Image: bbcgoodfood.com
Though it’s a little hard for some of us to see how anyone found them tempting, LOTS of people did. Oysters have been eaten for eons, but at the beginning of the 19th century in America only the wealthy could afford them. This changed by mid-century when improved harvesting techniques, canning, refrigeration, and railroad express delivery brought the price down substantially. The oyster craze swept the country; eventually even the ordinary working family could afford oysters. Oysters became cheaper than meat, fish, and poultry as a source of protein. By 1885, oysters cost $0.03 each (equivalent to $0.73 today) and dropped to $0.01 (equivalent to $0.25 today) each by 1889.
The oldest restaurant in Boston—the famous Union Oyster House—opened its doors in 1826 under the name Atwood & Bacon’s Oyster House on Union St. in Boston’s Haymarket. It is reputed that Daniel Webster ate there regularly, consuming six plates of oysters at a single sitting. Over the years it became known simply as the Union Oyster House:
Union Oyster House or Capen House, Union St. Built ca. 1714, became oyster house in 1826. Photo: 1855. From Boston Pictorial Archive via Digital Commonwealth
Atwood was “Hawes” Atwood. Originally from Wellfleet, Mass., the Atwoods were active in the oyster business for generations and it is likely that S. C. Atwood in the Cambridge advertisement below was related in some way to Hawes. S. C. mentions his catering experience in Boston. Hawes’ son, Benjamin F. Atwood, also had an oyster house in Boston, and there is a David Atwood appearing in the Cambridge City Directory from 1872 as an oyster dealer living on Seaver Place, with his business at Fanueil Hall Sq.
Cambridge Chronicle November 3, 1866
The earliest reference to oysters in the Cambridge newspapers that have been digitized is the advertisement below for Benjamin Seaver’s Temperance Oyster Saloon. The influence of the Temperance Movement of the 1820’s and ‘30’s was increasing, and Seaver may have thought that providing a “dry” place to eat might lure more customers:
Cambridge Chronicle July 16, 1846
On the other hand, by a few months later, Seaver may have had a change of heart. His ads no longer mention the temperance angle.
Cambridge Chronicle December 3, 1846
Cambridge Chronicle December 10, 1846
George M. Teague, who owned several different eating establishments in Cambridge, did not mention temperance in the advert below, but the following article of the same date about the restaurant did:
Cambridge Chronicle February 20, 1851. #418 Main St, corner Magazine.
Cambridge Chronicle February 20, 1851
Poor George Teague: his first wife died, and 12 years later in 1890 he married his second wife. Three years later (and four years before his own death) the notice below suggests that it was not a good match:
Cambridge Chronicle September 2, 1893
Teague had assumed ownership of the eatery from D. Stone, who in 1847 advertised “City Lunch,” at the same location, under Joseph A. Holmes Co. on Main St. This was in the same building as the Cambridge Chronicle.
Cambridge Chronicle April 8, 1847
Also, in 1851 Charles H. Foster advertises his Oyster Saloon under Lyceum Hall (built 1841) in Harvard Square. The Harvard Coop demolished the Hall in 1924, but the columns of the current façade are reminiscent of the original. Note the sign for “Restaurant” in the lower right. Over the years there were several iterations of restaurant at the location, including one run by Charles F. Belcher, who also briefly ran the concession at the Mt. Auburn Cemetery Reception House.
Cambridge Chronicle September 27, 1851
Lyceum Hall ca. 1860. Image: Southwest Harbor Public Library.
Close by, in at least 1848, John Goodridge had an “Oyster Saloon” on Brattle Street in Harvard Square several years before this advert below appeared in 1852 (Brighton St. was the current JFK Street):
Cambridge Chronicle February 21, 1852
HOW TO EAT OYSTERS
Oysters are an excellent source of vitamin B12 and are also rich in minerals, including selenium, zinc, and iron. The best way to get all of their nutritional benefit is to eat them raw. It was once thought that one should eat oysters only in months whose name contains an “R,” which excludes May, June, July and August. The theory was that one might avoid oysters during this time as there are bacteria levels in “red tides” in the summer months, or to give oysters a break while they spawn. Some claimed that summer oysters had a bad taste.
Cambridge Chronicle May 10, 1873
Cambridge Chronicle October 29, 1853
These days, oyster farming is highly regulated and these conventions no longer apply.
Oysters were eaten in pies, pickled, escalloped, stewed, fried, raw, or in soups. According to an article in the Salem Register in 1850 (March 11), “Stewed oysters and boiled eggs are digested in three hours and a half—an hour more than is required by the same articles raw.” Mmm…
Fried: Cambridge Tribune April 21, 1888
Pickled: Cambridge Chronicle October 7, 1847
Stewed: Cambridge Chronicle March 28, 1868
Oysters were sold by the quart or gallon:
Cambridge Chronicle March 22, 1856
(Maybe this was the problem that befell this Maine lady after eating four quarts)
Cambridge Chronicle December 13, 1873
And eaten with style
Cambridge Chronicle December 27, 1873 (excerpt from article on the American Restaurant)
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox. Check back soon to read part two!
We have recently processed a collection from our holdings and added its finding aid to ArchivesSpace . Currently, the Historical Commission is offering limited research assistance. Please see our main webpage for the most up-to-date information.
We have digitized a significant portion of this collection, so that it is available from the safety of your home. The items are available for viewing on our Flickr page here. If you would like to research this or any other collections, please email us at chcarchives@cambridgema.gov.
Alice Darling Secretarial Service letterhead. N.d.
Partial booklet of address labels. N.d.
The Alice Darling Secretarial Service Inc. Ephemera collection contains records of the business activities supplied by the corporation from 1948 to 1991. The bulk of the items were created between 1948 and 1955 when the Alice Darling Secretarial Services changed management and expanded its Alice Darling Secretarial School. Present are textual records that reflect the legal status, certification process, job descriptions, and financial costs involved in providing the vocational service of clerical work. Also available are draft letterhead designs and other evidence of the products of contracted work for clients, including correspondence and marketing tools. Of particular interest are the correspondence and business transactions connected to members of the Shia sect of Islam, some of which are written in Arabic. Scroll down to learn more about the historical background of this collection.
The Alice Darling Secretarial Service Inc. was started in 1913 at 1384 Massachusetts Ave. in Harvard Square, Cambridge. The founder, Alice Darling, born Azniv Beshgeturian in Turkey in 1883, belonged to a prominent Armenian family of clerks, bishops, professors, and ministers. She was brought to America in 1885 and attended Boston public schools and Bridgewater State Normal School (now Bridgewater State University), where she graduated in 1902. After graduation she taught for several years in Boston.
As a savvy businesswoman, Darling knew she’d find no lack of demand in Harvard Square. Typewriting began to supplant handwriting in business correspondence in the late 19th century. While many employers once employed male secretaries exclusively, women began to find employment opportunities as typists and stenographers, taking dictation in shorthand (coded language) and typing finished documents. Typing and stenography were skills that allowed women access to relatively high-paying office jobs, but were not widely valued by men; throughout the 20th century secretaries were almost always women. Many girls learned to type in high school, but men did not.
Typewriter diagrams and instructions, in Arabic. N.d.
While America’s growing businesses and industries were the major employers of secretaries, Cambridge’s academic community offered special opportunities for Darling’s services. Harvard students (entirely male until the 1940s) needed papers typed, often overnight; doctoral candidates required professional typists to prepare flawless dissertations meeting rigid standards for format, layout, and paper quality; and faculty authors needed assistance to prepare their manuscripts for publication. (It was cheaper to have a typist create a draft from an author’s longhand than to commission a printed page proof.) The gendered bias of mid-twentieth-century academia and its “approved” tasks made it undesirable for male students and scholars to type their own work.
In 1920 Darling expanded her business to include the Harvard Square Stenographers Bureau, also known as Miss Darling’s Business Employment Bureau, which facilitated job connections for secretarial services. In 1923 she founded the Alice Darling Secretarial School to provide women and college students with formal secretarial lessons. A person seeking to assume a role in Boston’s competitive secretarial market had to possess this knowledge. In the early years, the secretarial school only offered general stenography and typewriting courses, but it soon expanded its curriculum. In 1928 it introduced training in transcribing dictation from an Ediphone, an early recording machine.
Alice Darling Secretarial School pamphlet pages. N.d.
Darling’s school went above and beyond teaching classic secretarial competencies. Her school incorporated a psychological component, business ethics, and personality training. The Alice Darling School implemented a “tutorial system” that integrated office procedures and practical applications. Known for its talented secretaries and stenographers, Darling’s school drew people who wanted to make clerical work their vocation. A Cambridge Chronicle article from June 29, 1928 stated that the school “aside from enabling pupils to have confidence in themselves, which is an essential requisite for ultimate success, is also a means of increasing on a large scale their earning capacity.”
The school grew throughout the first half of the twentieth century. The Great Depression saw a rise in attendance because pupils were drawn to learning viable skills and networking through real world jobs in the public stenographic department. Graduates at this time were likely to earn a monthly income of $100, according to a Cambridge Chronicle article. During WWII, the school expanded again to accommodate war emergency courses. After the war, many women college graduates found that their employment opportunities were limited if they lacked secretarial skills.
Marston’s Office Service’s business card. N.d.
In the late 1940s, Alice Darling Secretarial Services was taken over by Theodora L. and John S. Marston, who had a prior business, Marston’s Office Services, at 1735 Massachusetts Ave. Theodora and John lived at 60 Brattle Street, Cambridge, and later at 17 Spring Street in Lexington. They received their state license to conduct business services in 1949. They were active participants of Cambridge’s Lesley-Ellis School, with John acting as treasurer of the Parents Association in 1954.
At this time, the Alice Darling Secretarial Services Inc. served as a licensed intelligence service for major clients, including the Internal Revenue Service. Its role as an employment facilitator extended to other state and federal positions because the company provided its workers certification by issuing the Civil Service Exam.
Letter from M. Beguel to Mr. and Mrs. John Marston. M. Beguel was the private secretary to the Aga Khan. 1959.
In the 1950s, the business served Prince Shāh Karim al-Husayni, the current Aga Khan (IV) of the Imāmate of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias, a sub-sect of Shia Islam. He was attending Harvard University at the time and his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III, provided the school with an endowment to create the Aga Khan Professorship of Iranian. When Aga Khan III died in 1957, Karim Aga Khan assumed the tenure of the religious leadership position while still attending school. Addressed as Karim Aga Khan in this collection, some of his business transactions are available for research.
Alice Darling published a “semi-autobiography” two years before her death in 1966. She recalled that she had typed papers for Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his sons; Henry Cabot Lodge and his sons; John F. Kennedy; John DosPassos; and many others. She typed so many papers for law students that she became interested in field and took a law degree from Northeastern University, graduating in 1939. Her profession, she said, had enabled her to acquire “a college education, free of charge, in one of the leading universities in the country.”
In 1998 Alice Darling’s long-time location in the Read Block in the heart of Harvard Square was sold for redevelopment. Now operating from an office on Mifflin Place, Alice Darling Secretarial Services offers transcription services via electronic media for “conferences, interviews, focus groups, meeting, film, press conferences etc.”
It is hard to name an architecture style more identifiable with Harvard than the Georgian style. The oldest extant buildings in Harvard Yard include Massachusetts Hall (1720), the Wadsworth House (1726) and Holden Chapel (1744), just some of a larger group of Georgian buildings constructed before the American Revolution. The Georgian style is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, George III, and George IV—who reigned in continuous succession from 1714 to 1830. It is in this time that Harvard, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, created its now iconic architectural identity. By the 19th century, other buildings in various styles were designed in the Yard, from University Hall (1815) in the Federal style, to Matthews Hall (1872) a Victorian Gothic dormitory, to Sever Hall (1880) one of the greatest examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in the world; Harvard would later return to the Colonial-era Georgian style. Two great and lesser-known examples are Lionel Hall and Mower Hall.
1930 Bromley map showing recently completed Lionel and Mower Halls enclosing the two small quadrangles.
Current aerial of Lionel (yellow) and Mower (blue) Halls, facing west. Holden Chapel at center.
Abbott Lawrence Lowell, Harvard University President (1909-1933) is responsible for the wide-scale revival of the Georgian style at Harvard through his massive building programs for the Harvard River Houses, dormitories in the Yard, and the new President’s House. Two of the smallest being Lionel Hall and Mower Hall.
Circa 1925 image of Mower (left) and Lionel (right) Halls during construction from Peabody Street. Courtesy of Harvard Property Information Resource Center.
Plans of Lionel Hall (identical to Mower Hall) published in Architectural Forum, Dec. 1925.
Lionel and Mower Halls were built in 1925 in the Georgian Revival style and sited to frame the Holden Chapel and enclose the western edge of the Yard. Appropriately nicknamed “The Holden Twins”, the two dormitory buildings were designed by the firm of Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch, and Abbott, who went on to design many later buildings for Harvard, including the River Houses (both the Georgian style and later Modern Houses). Both Lionel and Mower Halls were funded by a building campaign by President Lowell to expand the university and house additional students. They are constructed of red brick with stone trim. Both buildings are near-identical and rise 2 1/2 stories into a gambrel roof. Symmetrical facades and stone entries with fluted pilasters capped with Corinthian capitals over rusticated stone complete the Georgian Revival motif.
Lionel Hall quadrangle facade. Photo by Ralph Lieberman (2012).
Lionel Hall entry detail. Photo by Ralph Lieberman (2012).
Lionel Hall is named after Lionel de Jersey Harvard (class of 1915), an English descendent of John Harvard who was killed in World War I in France. Lionel was the first known relative of John Harvard to attend his namesake’s University. He descended from Thomas Harvard (1609–1637), brother of Harvard University founder John Harvard (1607–1638), who had died childless. Lionel Harvard in 1918 served as Commander of Number One Company, in the British Army and died from mortar fire in March of 1918, during the German Spring Offensive, leaving behind a widow and infant son.
Undated photo of Lionel de Jersey Harvard, Creative Commons.
Mower Hall is named in honor of Thomas G. Mower, by a gift valued over $18,000 from Miss Sarah E. Mower as a memorial to her late father. Thomas Gardner Mower (1790-1853) graduated from Harvard College in 1810 and immediately began to study medicine, later enlisting in the army as a surgeon in the War of 1812. After the war, Mower settled in New York and became a head Surgeon and examiner for the US Army until his death.
While these two modest dormitories do not stand out for their size nor architectural grandeur among the iconic buildings in Harvard Yard, they together showcase how proper design, massing and siting can truly enhance the character of an area without diminishing the significance of nearby buildings.
The former Cambridge Federal Savings Bank was designed in 1937 by local architect William L. Galvin as was located at 38 Brattle Street in Harvard Square.
38 Brattle Street as it was constructed, photo taken circa 1939.
The limestone-faced bank was an excellent and rare example of Art Moderne architecture in Cambridge built at the tail-end of the Great Depression. At this time, banking institutions sought high-quality design in their facilities to provide a sense of wealth and security for existing and prospective members. The two-story bank was symmetrical in form and had a metal and glass storefront with glass blocks comprising most openings.
Drawing of Cambridge Federal Savings Bank from William L. Galvin Collection at CHC Archives.
At the entrance, a curved metal canopy was topped by a bold glass transom with an eagle etched into the glass by Galvin. Also designed by Galvin, two porthole windows showing a beaver and an owl respectively, were etched into glass. The beaver was included, likely for its industrious qualities and the owl for its wisdom.
Drawing of eagle design used in transom from William L. Galvin Collection at CHC Archives.
As the banking industry grew after the conclusion of World War II, the bank expanded, also hiring Galvin to design a one-story addition which blended seamlessly with the main structure.
Photo of 38 Brattle Street after merging with Watertown Federal Savings Bank, 1972.
Photo showing one-story addition to the left of the main building at 38 Brattle Street, 1972.
1966 Sanborn Map showing location and detail of 38 Brattle Street.
In 1967, the Cambridge Federal Savings and Loan Association merged with Watertown Federal Savings Association and was renamed as the Northeast Federal Savings Bank. The bank building at 38 Brattle Street was named a branch office of the bank and served that use for the remainder of its life.
A demolition application was submitted in 1987 for the building and it was demolished soon after to be replaced by One Brattle Square.
Staff photo of One Brattle Square, 2013.
Staff of the Cambridge Historical Commission was able to save the large transom with etched eagle design from the building just before it was demolished, the two porthole windows were already removed. The transom is now framed in the wall of our conference room at 831 Massachusetts Avenue.
For more information on the building or if you would like to schedule a visit to our office to review Galvin’s plans and drawings in the William L. Galvin Collection, please contact us at histcomm@cambridgema.gov.
We are happy to announce the addition of 28 images to our CHC Flickr account. These images come from the Lois M. Bowen Collection. Bowen was a Cambridge-based photographer and entrepreneur who owned a camera shop, Cambridge Camera and Marine, in Harvard Square from the 1940s to 1995.
Kodak film cannister owned by Lois M. Bowen, ca 1960s
Ms. Bowen was a freelance photographer for several organizations and publications around Cambridge and Boston, including The Architects’ Collaborative and Architectural Forum Magazine, as well as advertising agencies and admissions publications for colleges and universities.
Cover: “Architectural Forum: The Magazine of Building”, June 1964
Pages from “Architectural Forum: The Magazine of Building” featuring the work of Lois M. Bowen, June 1964
Bowen’s work was primarily focused on architecture, but her photographic subjects spanned the Northeast and included documentation of her own life and community.
View of Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, 4 September 1978
Contact sheet: images of Strawberry Banke, October 1966
In addition to the photographic materials there are business papers and documents as well as personal correspondence and ephemera.
Interior view of Cambridge Camera and Marine, ca. 1960s
Interior View: 14 Old Dee Road in Cambridge, ca. 1960s
Welcome to the first installment of a little blog series, “Did You Know?,” where we highlight some of the documentary resources available at the CHC.
During the summer, we receive a lot of phone calls and emails inquiring after the Old Burying Ground in Harvard Square (sometimes referred to as the “Old Burial Ground”). Many people visit from out of town and would like to know where their ancestor, or person of historical interest, was buried — do we have a map of the burying ground? What about lists of burials? Records of specific epitaphs?
The answers: Yes, we have documentation on all of those things! It is important to note that, although this was the only burying ground in Cambridge until the early 1800s, many burial plots today remain unmarked.
Those interested in finding out more about the Old Burying Ground can make an appointment to check out the resources at our office, or find some of the digitized resources online.
Check out our list of some of these print and online resources:
We have a copy of the book, Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Cambridge, (1845) by William T. Harris. This publication is also available online at Google Books.
Know exactly who you are looking for? We also have an index and maps of the burial plots that was compiled in 2000 by Richard B. Anderson, Ed.D. These files have been scanned and can be downloaded as four pdf files: Cover material and notes; Base map and smaller sub-maps; Name index; Sub-map index. These are large files, especially the maps file.
We also have several other useful books in our office.
Paige’s essential early Cambridge history book, complete with helpful Supplement and Index, lists out the residents of Cambridge and their relations from 1630-1877. We often use this to figure out if a person died in Cambridge.
Consulting Cambridge’s vital records to 1850 can also help locate a burial record. Cambridge Church Records, Records of the Town and Selectmen of Cambridge, and Proprietors Records of the Town of Cambridge, may also provide interesting genealogical clues and contextual information on the goings-on in early Cambridge.
Old Cambridge City Directories can also show if and when your ancestor lived in Cambridge. This can then help us to determine where they might have been buried.
Cambridgeport Burial Ground (No longer a cemetery), opened 1812, closed 1865. When this cemetery on Broadway in Cambridgeport was closed in 1865, existing burials were relocated to the new Cambridge Cemetery or another cemetery selected by the family of the deceased. The former burial ground was then re-purposed as a public park and called Broadway Common/Broadway Park and later renamed Edward J. Sennott Park.
We have two original burial plot maps of the Cambridgeport Burial Ground in our archives; contact us for more information.
Image of the “Strangers Lot,” one of the Cambridgeport Burial Ground plot maps in our collection
To see these resources in person, or for answers to other questions, feel free to call the Historical Commission at 617-349-4683, or email us at histcomm at cambridgema.gov. Additionally, check out our other documentary resources on our page here.
