Hello! My name is Phillip Wong, and I am a graduate student from Simmons University volunteering with the Cambridge Historical Commission. I am happy to say that there is a newly processed collection at the CHC! Say hello to the Dewey and Almy Chemical Company Records, 1919-1994. Bradley Dewey (1887-1971) and Charles Almy Jr. (1888-1954) established the company at 66 Whittemore Avenue in 1919, having specialized in chemical treatments and processes as students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dewey assumed the role of president, and Almy took charge of sales.
Bradley Dewey (left) and Charles Almy, Jr. (right), ca. 1950
Inspection Certification for the site at 62 Whittemore Ave., 1954
Aerial photograph of the 62 Whittemore Ave. location, ca. 1990
The firm’s main outputs were sealing compounds for the food industry and new machinery to help with production. Their early products included Wilson Soda Lime, stronger labeling adhesives, and shoe cements, and with these early successes the Dewey and Almy Chemical Company established plants in Illinois, California, Canada, Italy, France, England, Germany, and Argentina.
Account book covering finances in Naples, Italy, ca. 1942
The company was acquired in 1954 by W.R. Grace Inc.; the newly formed Dewey and Almy Research Division developed weather balloons, brake bands, and Cryovac® shrink film. The company’s evolution is detailed in the many company histories in the collection.
Advertisements for Dewey and Almy’s products, including a balloon for advertising and toys
Decoy Duck (left) and Experimental Weather Balloon (right)
One of the interesting aspects of the collection is the thorough documentation of the company’s and their peers’ machinery. The ‘Machinery Photographs’ files contain images that trace the evolution of and improvements to the company’s processes, including examinations of other company’s machinery (one example is their research into the Hawaiian Pineapple Company)
Photograph of factory worker demonstrating proper stirring methods, 1928
Photograph of factory worker alongside a lacquer machine for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company
Other items of note include the technical bulletins, in which research into new technologies is presented to and considered by the heads of the division. These reports include summaries of new technologies, informational pamphlets and articles, and researcher suggestions for how the technology could be introduced into existing work processes.
Technical Bulletin for handling contaminated materials along with supplementary pamphlet, 1946-1948
Organizing the collection wasn’t difficult, despite its size, as a lot of the documentation could be easily categorized based on its function within the company. Those in charge of documentation made sure everything was properly labeled and kept together (be it with screw posts, tiny brass fasteners, or rusty nails). For example, if someone were to come in and view the Machinery Photographs, they would see that most of the folders are marked with the date the photo was taken, the name of the part or process, the specification number of the part, and whether the part or process was obsolete.
To end this post, I would like to take a moment to talk about my favorite piece of ephemera: a short case study called Causes of Industrial Peace Under Collective Bargaining: The Dewey and Almy Chemical Company.
Published in December 1948 and written by Douglas McGregor and Joseph N. Scanlon (both lecturers at MIT), the case study details how the relationship between upper management and union workers developed into one of peace and health after initial conflict. It provides interesting insights into how the company worked from an outsider’s perspective and is an early example of giving a voice to those not always represented by the company image. Worth a gander!
The ad below caught our eye while trawling old newspapers for interesting 19th century stories.
Cambridge Chronicle April 6, 1861
A glance at the 19th century Cambridge newspapers reveals a plethora of cockamamie remedies for nearly every common affliction. Today, such products seem quaint or even downright hilarious, but that is only because we now have more medical knowledge. These examples of 19th century adverts illustrate something about both the worries and prevalence of illnesses as well as what people thought—or hoped—would prove to be real cures at a time when true scientifically-based remedies were limited.
Below are advertisements for all that ailed you back in the day: King’s Evil (tubercula swelling of the lymph glands), catarrh (mucus congestion), tuberculosis, nervous prostration, piles, weak lungs, brain fatigue, seminal weakness (oh dear…), “Brickdust Deposit,” gravel (Kidney stones), costiveness (constipation) worms, ague, and jaundice.
One of the features of these advertisements is that they often include an astonishingly-long list of ailments they purported to cure, without mentioning the actual ingredients. For instance, Holman’s “Nature’s Grand Restorative”:
Cambridge Chronicle June 11, 1846
Or “MRS. DR. TUCK’S PLASTERS.” (Did you know you needed an electrician to cure your aches?)
“…Inflammatory and Gouty Rheumatism and Neuralgia, Bunions and Enlarged Joints positively cured. Sciatic, Lumbago, Liver and Kidney troubles relieved and cured. Asthma treated very successfully, by drawing the inflammation and humors to the surface. Indigestion removed, weak stomachs strengthened. This is no imposition upon the public. The Dr. has used 250 in two months, without advertising. Testimonials given. Circulars sent by sending stamp to her office.
The Dr. is a thorough Electrician and Eclective Physician. Piles and Constipation and Female Diseases aSpecialty. Office 28 Winter Street, Boston, or Hygienic Retreat, South Weymouth, Mass. N. B. All patients while under treatment, by calling at the Dr.’s office, can avail themselves of the cumulative exercise known as the health-lift of lifting cure. It is good for everybody.” (Cambridge Chronicle February 23, 1878)
Here we have “Vegetable Germicide,” another wonder cure. But wait a minute—Germicide? Isn’t that an oxymoron?
Cambridge Chronicle February 22, 1902
40 drops of “Constitution Water” seems easy to take. Especially since the product was apparently “pronounced by the medical faculty and the public to be the most wonderful remedy for the stomach, liver, kidneys and bladder that has ever been offered. IT IS NOT A SPRING WATER, but a preparation by an eminent physician.”
Cambridge Chronicle December 20, 1884
Sometimes adverts were clearer than others as to a concoction’s ingredients. Sarsaparilla had been used since ancient times as a remedy for joint and skin problems, including leprosy. (Not to be confused with the soft drink of the same name which was made from the Sassafras tree.)
Cambridge Chronicle December 20, 1884
“Elixer” of Opium: now there’s a surefire remedy! Advertised by Henry Thayer, Apothecary:
Cambridge Chronicle June 4, 1846
Jujube Paste is made from a deciduous shrub of the buckthorn family (Ziziphus jujuba). The shrub’s fruit has the consistency of an apple and tastes like a date.
Cambridge Chronicle February 13, 1851
Jujube’s medicinal use dates back to China 3000 years ago, when it was considered an effective herbal remedy for calming the mind and improving sleep. It is still marketed today.
Here we have a “Kidney & Liver” cure with no known ingredients. The text of this ad (below) claims that “Scientists of to-day agree that most diseases are caused by disordered Kidneys or liver”—That’s quite a claim!
Cambridge Chronicle February 13, 1851
It continues: “If, therefore, the Kidneys and Liver are kept in perfect order, perfect health will be the result. This truth has only been known a short time and for years people suffered great agony without being able to find relief. The discovery of Warner’s Safe Kidney and Liver Cure marks a new era in the treatment of these troubles. Made from a simple tropical leaf of rare value, it contains just the elements necessary to nourish and invigorate both of these great organs, and safely restore and keep them in order. It is a POSITIVE Remedy for all the diseases that cause pains in the lower part of the body…” (Cambridge Chronicle November 13, 1880)
Without knowing more about the manufacturing of this cure, it is uncertain whether the above illustration was intended to relay an accurate portrayal of the harvesting of this leaf in tropical setting, or was simply the racially insensitive employment of a stereotypical figure that would have been more quickly recognized by the illustrator’s audience.
And then we have blood food for “the Intellectual Worker”!
Cambridge Chronicle October 26, 1878
There were many remedies for “Nervous Diseases,” including Phosphoric Air:
Cambridge Chronicle November 17, 1877
For a more subtle approach to what ails you, you might try “animal magnetism,” a practice developed by Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). Mesmer was a German physician who believed in “the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects.” He called this phenomenon “animal magnetism” which later came to be known as “Mesmerism” and is today akin to hypnotism. Mrs. H. F. Mumler of Boston was a practitioner:
Cambridge Chronicle August 23, 1879
Then there is the “Dreaded Disease”—Smallpox. In November 1901, the Cambridge Board of Health discussed a possible smallpox outbreak, but “…It was decided to take no measures at present looking toward the vaccination of citizens, but to await developments since but one case of smallpox had thus far made its appearance.” (Excerpt from Cambridge Chronicle November 9, 1901). Nonetheless, druggists were on alert, as was the Lifebouy Soap Company:
Cambridge Tribune December 28 1901
Cambridge Chronicle June 28, 1902
Other ailments and remedies:
Costiveness:
Cambridge Chronicle February 12, 1859
Vermifuges – to expel intestinal worms:
Cambridge Chronicle May 14, 1859
Olive Tar
Cambridge Chronicle April 5, 1856
Catarrh: Ely’s Cream Balm “positively cures Catarrh colds in the head, Hay-fever, Deafness…”
Cambridge Chronicle February 28, 1880
And Gents—one just for you:
Cambridge Chronicle February 28, 1880
We close with the efficacy of “Foreign Leaches”
Cambridge Chronicle October 19, 1848
Just as in the 19th century, “snake oil”[1] salesmen are still among us. A casual trawl through internet and TV advertising today will reveal an equal number of “health cures” that are unsubstantiated by fact.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox.
Cambridge Public Library’s Historic Cambridge Newspapers Collection.
Chen J, Liu X, Li Z, Qi A, Yao P, Zhou Z, Dong TTX, Tsim KWK. A Review of Dietary Ziziphus jujuba Fruit (Jujube): Developing Health Food Supplements for Brain Protection. Evid Based Complement AlternatMed. 2017;2017:3019568. doi: 10.1155/2017/3019568. Epub 2017 Jun 7. PMID: 28680447; PMCID: PMC5478819.
[1] “Snake oil” derives from the Chinese workers on the transcontinental railroad. “They used the oils produced by the Chinese water snake, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, to soothe sore muscles or treat arthritis.” – HistoryExtra
It’s time for a historic building spotlight! We are featuring the former filling station at the corner of Concord Avenue and Walden Street in North Cambridge. Today, the building has a whole new look.
Concord Avenue near the corner of Walden Street, facing east. September 6, 1933.
In the early twentieth century, Concord Avenue served as a main transportation route, though the area had evolved from its early rural roots to a more suburban character. The advent of the automobile as a mode of transportation for the average person opened up this area to further residential development. Fresh Pond and Kingsley Park were also major draws for day-trippers taking a drive into the countryside. With people and cars came the need for fueling stations. The gasoline station at 299 Concord Avenue was one of 8 gas stations to be built along Concord Avenue between 1905 and 1930.
Rotogravure originally printed in the March 8, 1925 edition of the Boston Traveler as part of the series “Colonial Filling Stations of Boston.”
As an example of an early gas station, the Colonial Filling Station at 299 Concord Ave was built in 1924 for $7,000. The building was designed in the Colonial Revival style and executed by Boston-based consulting engineer Allen Hubbard. Born in 1860, Hubbard spent his early life in Westfield, Mass and later became the town’s first major league baseball player. Hubbard attended Yale to obtain an engineering degree and became the college’s baseball team captain. Soon after his graduation in 1883, Hubbard left his baseball career behind and worked as a bookkeeper and engineer for contractors in Boston before forming a business partnership with Hollis French in 1898. Throughout his career, Hubbard would consult on various large-scale engineering projects, including the Boston Public Library.
Allen Hubbard in his Yale catcher’s uniform (via adonisterry.tripod.com)
Hubbard’s design for the hip-roofed structure was elaborately detailed with dentil moldings, a Federal-style doorway with elliptical fan light and side lights, round-arched windows with lancet-arched muntins, red roofing shingles, and a wood balustrade at the roof peak. The masonry detail further embellished the station, with arched brickwork over the windows and a soldier course of bricks at the base, topped by a course of headers. A large sign band filled the space between the doorway and the cornice.
299 Concord Ave ca. 1973-74. Photograph by Richard Cheek.
The station went through a series of owners over the decades. A garage bay for automobile servicing was added in 1938. When the building was surveyed by the CHC in 1973, it was in nearly original condition and one of the oldest surviving of its kind in Cambridge. By 1978, gasoline services had ceased, and the building was converted to office use. Then-owner Cambridge Alternative Power Co., Inc. (CAPCO) undertook major alterations to and built an addition. Subsequent projects included the construction of a windmill and solar greenhouse.
299 Concord Ave in October 1982. Photograph by CHC staff.
In 2003, the CHC received an application to demolish the former gas station and its additions to make way for new construction. Rather than demolish the structure, an updated proposal was submitted in which the new design would preserve the original fabric of the façade to the fullest extent possible.
299 Concord Ave 299 (June 4, 2003)
View of work on façade (August 4, 2005)
Today, the original filling station façade can be seen from Concord Ave.
View north from Concord Ave via Google Street View (October 2017)
SOURCES
“1883 Yale Baseball Captain Added to the Bulldog Club Posthumously” article by Dan Genovese (The Yale Newsletter, Winter 2005) Cambridge Public Library Online Newspaper Database CHC survey files
Located at the intersection of Binney and First Streets in East Cambridge, a man named Adolph Sommer lived and died for his business. Adolph Sommer, born and educated as a chemist in Germany, later worked as a druggist in California, where he first studied and then taught at UC Berkeley. There he discovered the formula from which he afterwards made his principal product, Viscol. By about 1890, he removed to Cambridge, and opened a small wooden factory building in the rapidly developing industrial area of East Cambridge. The history of “Viscol” as a trademark began by Adolph Sommer in 1889, as “leather-grease”. Sommer was at the time a resident of California, and the product to which the mark was applied was a liquid preparation made principally from vegetable or animal oils and chloride or sulphur. There is evidence that this preparation was being advertised in California as early as 1891 for sale in cans as “Viscol dressing” for softening, waterproofing and preserving boots, shoes, harness, belting, etc.
Viscol can, CHC Objects Collection.
Viscol box and can, CHC Objects Collection.
Sommer was actively engaged in the operation and development of the Viscol business in Cambridge and during this period of over 40 years, the product was advertised nationwide under the “Viscol” mark in shoe and leather journals and in Montgomery Ward catalogs. Sales during the period were made in small cans to merchandising outlets for retail distribution, and in 5-gallon cans and 50-gallon drums to tanneries for use in processing leather. Sommer oversaw the expansion of the company which coincided with the need for more manufacturing space and employees. The complex consisted of three buildings along First Street.
1930 Atlas map showing extent of Viscol Mfy in blue.
Undated flyer depicting multiple uses of Artgum, an artificial rubber developed by Viscol Company. Original located in CHC Ephemera Collection.
Undated flyer depicting multiple uses of Artgum, an artificial rubber developed by Viscol Company. Original located in CHC Ephemera Collection.Enter a caption
In Cambridge, Adolph lived alone, had no social relations, worked an unusual number of hours everyday, never took a vacation nor allowed his employees to take any, permitted no conversation or cooperation among his employees, and even lived in the manufacturing plant. He was known as being industrious, alert, keen, strong willed and stubborn; yet, he was kind to his employees when they got into financial difficulties, and many worked for him for decades. In 1922, when seventy-one years old, Sommer married a widow of fifty-one, Emmeline Harnden, who had worked in the factory for more than twenty years. At the time of their marriage, Sommer was actively looking for someone to take over his business and generated a written contract with his new wife that upon his death, the company and all holdings would go to his legal heirs, which apart from his widow, were two children of a deceased sister in Germany.
200 First Street, built for Adolph Sommer and Viscol Manufacturing Co. Building constructed in 1904, razed in 1986. Photo taken 1970, CHC Survey Photo.
185 First Street, built for Adolph Sommer and Viscol Manufacturing Co. Building constructed in 1913, razed in 1986. Photo taken 1970, CHC Survey Photo.
On October 1933, 82-year-old Sommer and his plant superintendent, Hans Bloomberg, picked up over $1,000 from the Lechmere Bank on Cambridge Street before driving back to the factory to pay the workers. Upon arriving to the factory, five robbers with pistols trapped the car and demanded the money. One man pointed a gun at the face of Sommer, who was sitting in the driver seat of his vehicle. When he saw the pistol, 82-year-old Sommer is said to have swung the door open and lunged at the robbers gathering his pistol from his pocket. Upon lunging he was shot three times and died, but not before shooting one of the thieves, who got into a get-away car and fled over the Prison Point Bridge to Charlestown.
Boston Daily Globe clipping from October 21, 1933 detailing crime scene.
Boston Daily Globe clipping from October 21, 1933 depicting Mr. Adolph Sommer.
There were few leads besides the witnesses, one of which identified the gunman to Cambridge Police as James Deshler. It was soon after unveiled to the public that Edward Galvin of 22 Lambert Street, was the witness who placed Deshler as the gunman. Within a week of the arrest, three men attacked Galvin in a parking lot, seemingly as retribution and were never identified. Two men were eventually imprisoned for the robbery and murder of Mr. Sommer, James Deshler and Marshall “Hickey” Bowles. After the death of Sommers, the company and properties were sold in 1936 to the Stamford Rubber Supply Company, a Connecticut corporation located at Stamford, Connecticut, which operated the business as one of its own departments until January 1937, later selling again. The complex was used for other industrial and storage uses until they were razed in the mid 1980s.
Boston Daily Globe clipping from October 31, 1933.
Today’s post was written by guest author Rick Ashton and tells the story of the Ashton Valve Company, formerly located at 161 First Street, East Cambridge.
The sound of a steam train whistle in the distance can stir your imagination. The Ashton Valve Company offered locomotive whistles in sizes up to 48″ tall. The beautiful brass gauges in the cab of a locomotive and the safety valves on the engine also could have been manufactured by Ashton Valve. For over 100 years the company was one of the leading manufacturers of railroad-related items.
One Ashton item was an innovation that saved lives. How? If the engine’s boiler happened to build up too much pressure, the Ashton “Pop” Safety Valve would activate or “pop” and let the excess steam blow off, preventing a possible boiler explosion. We have Henry G. Ashton to thank for that life-saving invention.
Henry G. Ashton was born in Norfolk, England in 1846 (Editor’s note: Henry G. Ashton is the great-great-grandfather of this post’s guest author, Rick Ashton). He attended public schools and took courses in mechanical engineering. In 1869 he arrived in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife Emma and infant son, Albert. He was first employed by the Hinkley Locomotive Works. In 1871 he invented his Lock-up “Pop” Safety Valve. It was the first effective safety valve to actually work and was an immediate success. He formed the Ashton’s Lock Safety Valve Company (Ashton Valve Company) and set up shop on Pearl Street in Boston with three other employees. In 1872 the company secured a contract with the United States Navy for safety valves, a contract they held for 76 years.
Henry G. Ashton. Courtesy Rick Ashton.
The Great Boston Fire of 1872 destroyed the Pearl Street building, but the company persevered and by 1879 they relocated to 271 Franklin Street, a building they would occupy for 27 years. The building was four stories tall and business was so strong that in 1900 a fifth floor was added to keep up with the demand. In 1892 they purchased the Boston Steam Gauge company and began manufacturing steam gauges, a perfect compliment to the various steam related valves they were producing. The gauges were manufactured with the same assurance of quality as the valves were.
After 24 years of managing the company, Henry Ashton, the company founder, died in 1895. His son Albert, who had attended engineering classes at MIT, took over many of the management responsibilities and ran the company for the next 27 years.
Ashton Valve outgrew the Franklin Street building and in 1907 they built a new facility at 161 First Street in East Cambridge. The building was 45,000 square feet and was built at a cost of $67,000. That’s $1,797,000 in 2018 dollars. A completely modern building, it had electricity on all floors and modern bathroom facilities. The building still stands today with the Ashton Valve name carved in granite over the front entrance.
Credit: Cambridge Sentinel, 1921.
161 First Street today. Credit: Google Maps.
By 1907 the company had sales offices all over the world. Ashton products were internationally known for their quality. As their advertisements stated, “higher in first cost but cheapest in the end.” The 1920’s and 1930’s were the peak years and the company employed up to 300 people. Their profits often were in the millions (in today’s dollars).
Ashton’s Railroad Division had been the backbone of the company since its inception in 1871 and was run as a separate entity until the 1950’s. They produced separate catalogs for the valves, whistles, and gauges used on trains. Some of the Ashton products produced for the train industry included: locomotive mufflers and open pop safety valves, steam gauges including the Ashton-Lane-Bourdon locomotive gauge, double spring steam locomotive gauges, duplex steam and heat gauges, air brake gauges, protected dial pressure gauges, air brake recording gauges, wheel press recording gauges, locomotive steam whistles and whistle valves.
Ashton Valve pressure gauge, ca. 1923-1924. CHC Objects Collection. Photographed by John Dalterio.
With the advent of diesel locomotives, electricity, and gas engines, sales started to drop off in the late 1940’s. The peak years were over. In 1948 Ashton merged with the Crosby Valve and Gauge Company, but kept the Ashton name alive until sometime in the early 2000’s. Today one is liable to see the Ashton Valve name on gauges sold on eBay to collectors, and they demand a high price.
The next time you hear a train whistle in the distance, think of the Ashton Valve company – it could be an Ashton whistle!
Located on the corner of Main and Albany Streets in Cambridgeport, Ivers & Pond Piano Company was a preeminent manufacturer of grand and upright pianos known for their use of exotic woods such as mahogany and rosewood, and detailed cabinet work.
Illustration of factory. Cambridge Sentinel, Jan. 17, 1925.
William H. Ivers started the company in 1870 with a small factory in Dedham, MA, and ten years later he partnered with Handel Pond, a noted organist. Soon thereafter, the company decided to move manufacturing to a site in Cambridgeport adjacent to the railroad with plenty of land available for expansion. The first factory was constructed in 1881, consisting of a 5-story brick building with a flat roof. Two 6-story additions were built soon after in 1883 and 1886. The overall architecture was typical for the period with brick bearing wall facades and regularly spaced double hung windows. The only ornamentation occurs at the corner facing Main Street, where the façade projects outward from the main plane of the building, incorporating pilasters topped with arches and a cornice that raises the height of the roof. The factory continued to add more manufacturing space, storage rooms for wood, drying facilities, a coal shed, and a boiler house, enabling production of 2,500 to 3,000 pianos each year. Ivers resigned as president of the company in 1887, and Pond assumed leadership until his death in 1908. Pond’s sons, Clarence and Shepard, then took the reins as president and treasurer.
Below is an excerpt from one of the company’s brochures explaining the process involved in constructing their pianos.
Ivers & Pond Piano Co. catalog, 1899, http://www.antiquepianoshop.comMap showing the first building on the corner Main and Albany Streets. 1886 Hopkins Atlas. CHC Collection.
By 1905, the factory consisted of 5 6-story buildings, 5 dry-kilns and lumber sheds, encompassing 160,000 square feet. To facilitate shipping, spur tracks connected to the Grand Junction railroad. The factory employed 300 workers, while the offices and warerooms located on Boylston Street in Boston had 50 employees. The company’s advertising listed over 500 educational and musical institutions as customers, including the New England Conservatory of Music which purchased over 250 pianos.
1888 Sanborn map showing the expansion of the factory, drying room, and lumber storage. Mapjunction.comDetail from 1888 Sanborn map showing wood floor construction. Mapjunction.comMap from 1903 showing the expansion of the factory along Albany Street and the railroad tracks. 1903 Bromley Atlas, CHC Collection.
View of Main Street in 1909 with Ivers & Pond Piano Co. to the left. Boston Elevated Railway photograph collection.
This “Princess Grand” piano by Ivers & Pond was a wedding gift to Rose and Joseph Kennedy in 1914. On display at the JFK Birthplace in Brookline. Photo courtesy of the National Park Service, John Fitzgerald Kennedy Historic Site.
Map from 1930 Bromley Atlas showing the full extent of the piano factory development. CHC Collection.
Advertisement with illustration of the piano factory complex. Cambridge Sentinel, March 27, 1926.
Plan from 1936 showing location of wood storage areas and dry houses along with main manufacturing buildings. Rice-Mank Collection.
During the Depression, the company moved its offices and warehouses from Boylston Street to Cambridge as a cost saving measure. Soon after, the company was acquired by another piano manufacturer, but accounts vary as to exactly when and by whom. Two sources claim that the factory was acquired by Winter & Company in 1945 and eventually taken over by the Aeolian Corporation of New York in 1959. Another source states the company was acquired by Aeolian in the 1930s.
Aerial view in 1947 of Ivers & Pond Piano Company with train tracks. CHC Collection.
Manufacturing most likely continued through the 1940s. In 1951, a permit was issued for the demolition of the factory building on Main Street. A year later, additional permits were issued to demolish two factory buildings on Albany Street to make way for new construction by Polaroid Corporation. Further demolition occurred in 1964 and 1965 by MIT. The Ivers & Pond name continued to be used by the Aeolian Corporation until it closed in 1983.
We have recently added three new collection finding aids and five old but newly updated finding aids to our website. Check out the list below, and email us at chcarchives@cambridgema.gov to research any of these collections.
New!
Scully Family Collection
This collection relates to two generations of the Scully family, beginning with Daniel Scully, a Cambridge cooper who emigrated from Ireland in 1872. He married another Irish immigrant in Cambridge, Mary Tackney, who worked as a waitress. They had 8 children and the collection heavily focuses on two of their sons, James and George. Topics include service in WWII, the St. Mary Church of Annunciation in Cambridgeport, Irish heritage, U.S. citizenship, and Norumbega Park in Auburndale, Mass. The records in the collection were created between 1872-1970 and consist of official documents, commemorative pins, photographic materials, a newspaper, and large objects.
Noteworthy items include a water-front port pass, a cooper’s mallet, and a grappling hook that connect Daniel Scully to the Goepper Bros. Co. and the Revere Sugar Refinery, two companies with locations in Cambridge. There is also an encased tintype and photographs that display the family’s residence on Spring Street. Find out more about the collection and the background history of the family here.
Daniel Scully’s cooper’s mallet and grappling hook. Image from our Flickr album, photograph by John Dalterio.
Watson Funeral Home Collection
The Watson Funeral Home Collection consists of photographs, certificates, clippings and ephemera related to the Watson Funeral Home, a 20th century business in Cambridge that was once on Magazine Street. The funeral home was run by Charles Burnett Watson and the collection holds content about his conversion of the Greek Revival house into his business. Other items include his Old Farmer’s Almanac, newspaper clippings about the house, and matchbook advertisements. Click here to learn more about Watson’s biography and read the collection’s inventory.
Carter’s Ink Collection
This collection contains ephemera relating to the Carter’s Ink Company that was collected by John Hinkel, a “labeled master inks” collector from Missouri. The Carter’s Ink Company was a nationally-prominent manufacturer of inks and office supplies. The bulk of this collection consists of advertisements, internal corporate documents, and external publications. The independently produced advertisements range from cardstock illustrations, postcards, bottle-shaped adverts, a calendar, and a dictionary. The corporate documents have information pertinent to general workers, including employee rules, as well as the official company newsletter.
To get a taste of what is present in this collection, some of the items have been digitized and uploaded to our Flickr. Click here to view the album.
Carter’s Ink Advertisement Card. Image from our flickr.
Updated or Digitized Collections:
Alfred E. Vellucci Snapshot Collection:
Vellucci was once mayor of Cambridge and this collection reflects a public relations project from 1976. Images are now digitized and available for viewing on our Flickr page here. Click here to read the original post highlighting this collection.
Rindge Technical School
We have uploaded two albums to our Flickr page concerning the school. The Rindge Technical School Collection album contains digitized images selected from Box 1 of the collection. This box holds sports photographs from 1912-1922. Click here to see players from the football, crew, hockey, track, swimming, and baseball teams. If you would like to learn more about the entire collection, click here.
The other album, Rindge Technical School Construction – 1932 includes a selection of large-print negatives that reflect the school demolition and construction project conducted in 1932-1933. The new building was designed by architect Ralph Harrington Doane and built by the George A. Fuller Company. These negatives and others have been printed and bound in “Rindge Technical School, started Feb. 2 1932, completed Jan. 12 1933” by George A. Fuller Co. The book is available for viewing in the CHC Library. Click here to view the album.
Cambridge Objects Collection – new objects and new photographs on Flickr
Additional images of objects from the Cambridge Objects Collection have been uploaded to the Flickr album. This is an artificial collection of objects relating to various aspects of Cambridge history. Click here to check them out and click here to read the finding aid!
An Ashton Valve Company pressure gauge, ca. 1923-1924
Rindge Technical School Bowl and Mug
Curtis Mellen Photograph Collection
This collection has recently been reorganized and an updated finding aid has been published here. The collection consists of photographs of the family as well as interior and exterior views of the family’s homes in Cambridge. The Mellens were a very prominent family in Cambridge, and their soap business, Curtis Davis & Co., became the American branch of Lever Brothers, the largest soap manufacturer in the world at the time. To see what is available in the collection, we uploaded select images to a Flickr album here.
Harry Havelock Hanson Collection
Recently, we created the Handsome Harry Hanson StoryMap. It tells the story of occasional Cambridge resident Harry Havelock Hanson in a walking tour format. This StoryMap allows you to follow an online map and images around Harvard Square as though you were actually there. Follow the tour to learn about the exciting exploits of Harry Havelock Hanson, as recorded in his calendar entries between 1891 and 1919. Click here to check it out!
This collection is primarily composed of the daily pocket diaries of Harry Havelock Hanson, occasional Cambridge resident and career railway man. It also contains some personal papers belonging to Hanson and his family. The finding aid for the collection is available here.
Today we are highlighting some archival photographs that we recently digitized. In our archive’s stacks there is a flat box housing seven mounted photographs associated with the T.J. Flynn Metal Works Inc., a 20th century Cambridge business.
Life raft metal cross-section. T.J. Flynn Metal Works Collection, CHC.
The earliest reference to the company was in 1914, when Thaddeus J. Flynn’s T.J. & Sons Co., Sheetmetal Works, was located on Albany Street in Cambridgeport. This family company witnessed many location changes from 1914 to the 1930s. In 1918 it was at 37 Albany Street, then it moved to 18-20 Portland Street in 1925, and in 1930 it was located at 49 Albany Street. By 1918, the name of the company changed to its more well-known version, T.J. Flynn Metal Works Inc.
Associated with this larger business was Flynn Roofing and Metal Co., run by Flynn’s son, Edmund T. Flynn. It also moved around the neighborhood – residing at 37 Albany Street in 1917, 8 Portland in 1920, then 35 Albany Street between 1921-1922, and subsequently 49 Albany Street in 1937. Unfortunately, none of the original buildings have photographic references in the CHC files and the larger company was officially unincorporated by 1968-1972, although its final locations are unknown.
During the heyday of the T.J. Flynn Metal Works Inc., Thaddeus married Mary A. Flynn. Their son Edmund invented a life-raft design in the early 1900s. The photographs in the CHC’s archival box are accounts of his work.
A polygonal-shaped testing model raft created by Edmund T. Flynn. T.J. Flynn Metal Works Collection, CHC.
It is unknown when these images were taken since they do not reflect Edmund’s patent approved by the U.S. Patent Office on July 16, 1918. His final design notes emphasize how the official raft was “substantially pointed” at each end and that the “buoyant member is non-circular in cross-section.” The polygon version reflected in the photographic images could have been an earlier design Edmund scrapped during his tests at Scituate Harbor. Or, it could have been a later revision since his patent was updated in 1941.
Two unidentified men standing in a raft to demonstrate the submerged section. T.J. Flynn Metal Works Collection, CHC.
Nevertheless, Edmund’s patented life-raft was a success. It was used in both World Wars and it was officially approved for use on ocean, coast, bay, lake and sound vessels by the Department of Commerce.
E.T. Flynn’s patent design authorized by the U.S. Patent Office on July 16, 1918. Patent # 1,272,412. Source: USPTO PatFT database.
Thaddeus also gained a patent in 1929 for a roof drain. A year later, on September 9, 1930, Thaddeus died, and his wife Mary became president of the company. She was assisted by J. Henry Flynn and his wife Belinda S. Flynn, who were first referenced as additional owners of the company in 1925. However, by 1968-1972 the family business had dwindled out. Edmund’s son, Jonathan, opened European Engineering in Belmont, MA in 1958 but it was ultimately a failed venture. Jonathan’s son, Nick, recounts his father’s subsequent journey in “The Button Man,” published in The New Yorker in 2004.
Welcome to Torn Down Tuesday where we feature buildings in Cambridge that have been demolished. Today we highlight the building that once stood where the Fresh Pond Mall is located today: 541 Concord Ave, the Prest-O-Lite industrial complex.
Aerial views: Prest-O-Lite complex at 541 Concord Ave (1947 and 1948)
Businessmen Carl Fisher, James Allison and P.C. Avery started Concentrated Acetelyene Company (later changed to Prest-O-Lite) in Indianapolis in 1906 with the plan to manufacture portable cylinders containing compressed acetylene.
Motor Vehicles – In Use – Model 18-F three-speed twin, Prest-O-Lite attachment with side car. Photographer: Harley-Davidson Motor Co., 1917-1918 (NARA)
The cylinders would allow drivers of motorcycles and automobiles to operate headlights on their vehicles via a sparking switch.
Advertisement from Scientific American (6 January 1912)
The company invented this technology before the use of electric lights, which were pioneered by Cadillac in 1912. In 1920, the Prest-O-Light Company obtained a permit to build a plant in Northwest Cambridge. The complex would include 13 buildings with the purpose of producing acetylene for use their line of products.
1930 Bromley Atlas image showing location of Prest-O-Lite complex
Bordered by Concord Ave and Alewife Brook Parkway, the site was originally marshland and later owned by the New England Brick Company. Construction for Prest-O-Lite was carried out by John T. Scully Co. builders, a company that had completed large projects for companies such as Simplex Wire & Cable Company and lumber dealer E. D. Sawyer. Like many industrial buildings of Northwest Cambridge from this period, the buildings were of an extended form and low scale.
Clipping from Cambridge Chronicle (7 August 1920)
North Cambridge was composed of prime agricultural land during the colonial period, while West Cambridge began as a swath of grazing land before evolving into a fringe industrial area during the 19th century. Up until the mid-twentieth century, much of the area was still composed of industrial or commercial properties.
Image of Prest-O-Lite fire, unknown source (1952)
Prest-O-Light operated in North Cambridge for over three decades without major incident. However, at 1:15pm on the day after Christmas 1952, an explosion of 200 gas cylinders rocked the neighborhood and shattered windows up to half a mile away. It was reported that the multi-colored flames rose 200 feet over the building and the ensuing smoke was visible from 20 miles away.
Aerial image of Fresh Pond Shopping Center, Patriquin Collection (1984)
Just a few years after the massive fire, the Prest-O-Lite complex was razed in 1959 to make way for the Fresh Pond Shopping Center, which was developed in 1962. Check out our Instagram post to read more about the Fresh Pond Shopping Center!
In 1907, shoe and leather interests in Boston and Cambridge, began to envision a trade exhibition building for the marketing and sale of goods made in the area. Led by Oran McCormick, the group canvassed the two cities, looking for prime real estate on which to construct a venue worthy of the world’s first Shoe and Leather Exposition. McCormick purchased land from property owners along the under-developed Charles River Road (now Memorial Drive). At the time of the sale, Cambridge restricted heights of buildings along the river. Fearing that the deal would fall through and the building and its revenue would be lost to Boston, the Board of Aldermen called a special meeting with the Common Council and removed the restriction, and permitted the exposition building for construction.
Shoe and Leather Expo Building during construction. CHC Archives photo from Chamber of Commerce.
Plans for the development — already in the works — were drawn by Edward T. P. Graham, a prominent local architect best known for his many Roman Catholic church designs in and around Cambridge. The white building was constructed of wood, concrete and steel, measured 500 feet long and was Classical Revival in the grandest sense, evoking memories of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
Shoe and Leather Expo Building, circa 1909. CHC Archives photo from Chamber of Commerce.
Shoe and Leather Expo Building. CHC Archives photo from Chamber of Commerce.
The building featured five domes: a large central dome to represent America capped with an American flag, and four smaller ones to represent Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe with respective labeled flags. The main dome measured 125 feet from the ground floor. Under the large dome, a circular theater, an entirely new concept for exhibition buildings, with seating for upwards of 3,000 people on the upper tier anchored the two exhibition wings. A round bandstand on the ground floor was arranged for a large band, which performed every hour while the fair was open.
1909 photo of interior showing performance arena under central dome, courtesy of Cambridge Public Library-Cambridge Room.
Two interior corridors ran the length of the building and were lined with mahogany and glass display cases that were electrically lit to display exhibitor’s leather shoes and goods. Flanking the exhibits, 6’x14′ sample rooms showcased the finest products, and dealers staffed pop-up shops and fittings for patrons where they could be measured and order directly from the companies.
1909 photo of interior showing displays and sample rooms, courtesy of Cambridge Public Library-Cambridge Room.
On the ground floor at one end, a 10,000 square foot working exhibit served as a functioning shoe factory and was sponsored by the United Shoe Machinery Company, which educated visitors on every step in the manufacture of leather shoes from assembling of materials to the finishing shine.
Balconies on the building’s upper level overlooked the displays on the ground floor as well and housed displays for retailers’ exhibits which showed local and international dealers just what styles are in demand in other parts of the country, the displays were organized by state. A promenade on the roof of the building encircled the entirety of the structure and offered views of landmark buildings in Cambridge and Boston, as well as a front-row seat to the booming industrial development along the Charles River and nearby Kendall Square.
Shoe and Leather Expo Building central dome, before 1920. CHC Archives Photo from Chamber of Commerce.
The World’s First Shoe and Leather Exposition was held the entire month of July 1909 and an estimated 30,000 visitors attended the opening night. Attendance later dwindled due to the closing of the Harvard Bridge for repairs coupled with limited places to stay in Cambridge. By the end of the month, fair organizers were over $150,000 in debt. They failed to recruit other industries for trade shows and the building’s future was uncertain. The group, which had feared bankruptcy and demolition of the building were saved when Frederic Fisk, the man who initially owned the land, and his business parner William S. Youngman purchased the complex for redevelopment.
Circa 1910 photo of interior, courtesy of Cambridge Public Library-Cambridge Room.
Half of the building was leased to the J. Frank Cutter Automobile Company. Mr. Cutter had been in the carriage and automobile business for about 25 years. His company was one of the most active builders of limousines and landaulet car bodies as well as automobile tops and slip covers. The other half of the building was occupied by the Velie Motor Vehicle Co.’s Boston factory branch.
Shoe and Leather Expo Building interior, circa 1948. CHC Archives Photo from Chamber of Commerce.
Shoe and Leather Expo Building, circa 1948. CHC Archives Photo from Chamber of Commerce.
Shoe and Leather Expo Building. CHC Archives Photo from Chamber of Commerce.
The building, with its large central dome, suffered from deferred maintenance and seemed small and inadequate compared to the Great Dome at MIT’s new campus next door. The Shoe and Leather exposition building was demolished in phases beginning in the 1920s before the site was completely cleared in 1948 for the Eastgate Apartments at 100 Memorial Drive.
Shoe and Leather Expo Building, circa 1948 photo. CHC Archives Photo from Chamber of Commerce.
