Boston in 1903

^ I agree. I wish it was easier to tell which streets these are on. We seem to open on Tremont given the subway headhouse on the upper left and turn right onto, say, West St, then left on Washinton to take in Jordan Marsh.

C. 5:10 we appear to be on Boyston at Berkeley at what would have been the MIT campus at the time. Then we get to Copley Sq / Dartmouth and see the Public Library

I was also struck by how common street clocks were, though I should not have been: the wrist watch wasn't perfected/mass-accepted until WWI.

Another version here (with music) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGBN8_9aGmY
 
WOW! No bikes on the snowy streets, but one automobile at 2:14.
Anyone know what it is?
 
Really kinda fascinating. One thing I find interesting about old photo's of cities is just how busy they seem. What are all these people just doing wandering around? Boston in 1903 was smaller than it is today and stuff is never this crowded nowadays.
 
meddlepal said:
Really kinda fascinating. One thing I find interesting about old photo's of cities is just how busy they seem. What are all these people just doing wandering around? Boston in 1903 was smaller than it is today and stuff is never this crowded nowadays.
Click to expand...

The outer neighborhoods weren't as large as they are today though and more of the population was concentrated in the core, hence the greater activity.
 
Today, people complain about dog owners not picking up after their dogs but so many horses back then on the streets! The streets must have been an absolute mess of snow, slush, and horse crap! I know street cleaners shoveled up what they could but still, what a mess it must have been!
 
meddlepal said:
Really kinda fascinating. One thing I find interesting about old photo's of cities is just how busy they seem. What are all these people just doing wandering around? Boston in 1903 was smaller than it is today and stuff is never this crowded nowadays.
Click to expand...

Ironically, they probably aren't all that "busy" with anything you can consider productive. Human productivity as skyrocketed since 1903. It seems opposite to many of us sitting in our cubicals or offices all day, but our sloth-like desk jobs are part of a big economy that generates a tremendous amount of stuff/utility.

Back then, a lot of time was spent doing things that we do much more efficiently now - like getting from point A to point B, buying food to cook, and cleaning/mending clothing. We bitch about traffic in our climate controlled cars, which we use to fill our pantries and refrigerators with long shelf-life foods every other week, and we pull a T-shirt out of the washing machine only to find a little tear so we toss it and buy a new one for $5 on Amazon.

Yeah, the streets were busy, but that doesn't mean they were getting much done.
 
fattony said:
Yeah, the streets were busy, but that doesn't mean they were getting much done.
Click to expand...
Yes. It is a lot of women doing daily shopping (all daylight hours, limited by spoilage and the amount they could carry), a lot of clerks hovering over merchandise, and a lot of men doing labor that would soon be replaced by electric/ICE motors.
 
Also, remember, Boston had roughly the same population in the 1900s that it does today, with far fewer people in the outer neighborhoods. Heck, Hyde Park was an independent municipality that wasn't annexed by Boston until 1912.
 
Arlington said:
^ I agree. I wish it was easier to tell which streets these are on. We seem to open on Tremont given the subway headhouse on the upper left and turn right onto, say, West St, then left on Washinton to take in Jordan Marsh.

C. 5:10 we appear to be on Boyston at Berkeley at what would have been the MIT campus at the time. Then we get to Copley Sq / Dartmouth and see the Public Library

I was also struck by how common street clocks were, though I should not have been: the wrist watch wasn't perfected/mass-accepted until WWI.

Another version here (with music) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGBN8_9aGmY
Click to expand...

These are all very cool.

None of these street clocks seem to exist anymore.


I can't identity the clock at 1:52 as to the maker - I think this is on Washington Street ?
1min52secs-image.jpg


The clock at 2.13 has an E. Howard Post - with 4 dials.

2min13secs-image.jpg


The clock at 4:15 - is also has an E. Howard post with 2 dials.
4min15secs-image.jpg


The clock at 5:32 - is a Seth Thomas Street Clock - I think in Copley Square.
5min32secs-image.jpg



Thomas D. Erb
Electric Time Company, Inc.
http://www.electrictime.com
Tower & Street Clocks Since 1928
 
Seems like the beginning is Boston and then it changes at some point but I could be wrong
 
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