Boston in the Seventies

In the late 80's it seemed to change hands, and moved over to Franklin St. where it was reinvented as a Yuppie fern bar. Some forms of evil never die.
 
Oh well, Biddy Early's is still around. Somehow.
 
Brandy Pete had run the original since the 1930s, he was blind and still shuffling around the place in his later years, chatting with customers. When he died, it was sold off to soulless corporate owners, hence why it is generic now.
 
It was very popular with insurance people, underwriters and the like. Also hardened alcoholics. Once hired an itinerant bagpiper there to serenade a Scottish girlfriend. Paid him with drinks. Sounded pretty shitty by the time it came to do the job. But what the hell, it was only bag pipe music.
 
Where was the original Brandy Pete's? What is located there now? I always assumed the original was replaced by the current office building where the new Brandy Pete's is located.
 
It was on Broad Street, where Folio is now, I believe. The imitation moved around the corner on to Franklin. For what it is worth, the reincarnated "Littlest Bar" bar, no longer so little, is now just down the way on Broad.

There used to be a crazy sounding lesbian bar late 70's early 80's just around the corner on Franklin too. I remember trying to sneak in one night because I could hear a killer live band from out on the street. But the bouncers told me I didn't fit the bill. It later went out of business when a fire broke out in the bathhouse located on the upper floors. Some investors who own a chain of strip clubs turned the property into a popular Italian restaurant. The restaurant is gone, but Centerfolds Boston, Centerfolds 2000 Oxford, Centerfolds Worcester, etc. live on in their respective communities.
 
tobyjug said:
There used to be a crazy sounding lesbian bar late 70's early 80's just around the corner on Franklin too. I remember trying to sneak in one night because I could hear a killer live band from out on the street.
Click to expand...

So you were trying to sneak into a lesbian bar .... because you were interested in the music inside. Hmmm, its okay tobyjug, we won't judge you, every dog has its needs.
 
Ha! I never claimed that I was sober that night!
 
I don't remember!

It was a day in April, maybe 2am, 3am, foggy. Mist clinging to the derelict Chadwick Leadworks, me stumbling around in vacant lot next door, tripping over a pothole or cobblestone or two.

The sound of loud chicks and rowdy music echoed off the empty buildings. A mixed gaggle of pretty lipsticks and jackboot butches clanked down Broad, then walked up this granite step toward a flashing light that punctuated the darkened Franklin Street.

It was the only thing happening, besides the drunks puking and pissing in the alleys. Got halfway in the door, to be told by laughing crew cut bouncer girls that it wasn't my night, dickie boy.
 
ablarc said:
SUNDAY MORNING IN THE SEVENTIES

0050.jpg
Click to expand...

AWESOME!

That's some good grit. (The soot and grime on the building make it for me.) And Souper Salad! (Does that still exist?)

This is MY Boston! Those pictures are really how I best remember it.


In this pic of the Boston Five with the street hugging the curve of the building--it is much more effective looking than the plaza that is there now, although the plaza is a decent enough small-pocket gathering place.

ablarc said:
SUNDAY MORNING IN THE SEVENTIES

0320.jpg
Click to expand...


tobyjug said:
There used to be a crazy sounding lesbian bar late 70's early 80's just around the corner on Franklin too. I remember trying to sneak in one night because I could hear a killer live band from out on the street. But the bouncers told me I didn't fit the bill. It later went out of business when a fire broke out in the bathhouse located on the upper floors.
Click to expand...

The club on Franklin was called Somewhere Else.

I will NOT admit to why I know that! :eek:

Being beat up by bull dykes is most humbling. :eek:
(Ummmm, okay. That admitted it.)

A cluster of clubs came and went over the years from those two square blocks or so. Aside from that still open parking lot, you can almost smell the medieval streets of Boston in that location. Lots of great dives to eat at, too. I suppose most of those are long gone as well.
 
Last edited:
Amazingly that Souper Salad location is still in business. All of those streets still have cobblestones too under two inches of asphalt, whenever there has been utility work large swaths are carted away.
 
Lurker said:
All of those streets still have cobblestones too under two inches of asphalt, whenever there has been utility work large swaths are carted away.
Click to expand...
What's carted away: swaths of cobblestones or swaths of asphalt?
 
Ha! Large swaths. I envisioned them being ripped up en masse like sheets of tiles, flopping around, but with a different sounding sort of jangle than the tiles have. :)

Into what does cobblestone get recycled?

In the Boston in the Seventies--18-70s thread, the question was raised about the 'autheticity' of brick/cobblestone as paving. I find cobblestone to be as skid-worthy as brick. Why was it de riguer for so long? (History of 'paving' ... anybody?)
 
^ Egyptians used asphalt to preserve mummies and Romans made concrete buildings, but use of these materials for paving became widespread only in the 20th Century.
 
It is my understanding the cobble stone in Boston is trucked away for use in the DCR park system on paths or to line the bottoms of rivers. When Broad Street was torn up years ago for the part of the Big Dig utilities relocation they had several dump trucks filled to the brim with them.
 
Maybe they use cobblestone and brick because it looks nice...
 
Asphalt replaced cobble primarily due to cars requiring smooth surfaces for a comfortable ride and less travel noise. The initial cost of asphalt being cheaper is lost in the long term due to the need for repaving, compared to to cobble, which is periodically hammered flat.

Why streets aren't paved with cobble as an aesthetic bonus and traffic calming in selected districts is beyond me. Newbury Street, Washington/Winter/Summer Street in Downtown Crossing, and Hanover Street would be ideal for this.

And I'm talking about REAL flat evenly spaced cobble, which can be found under asphalt or in patches of South Boston, rather than the treacherous faux historic garbage found in Quincy Market.
 
^Thank you Lurker for clarifying the difference between today's use of cobble (which is too widely spaced and treacherous for walkers) and yesterday's, (which was not intended for walkers, but for carriages and horses; walking paths and side walks were paved with large, dressed granite.) I believe the ancient source of cobblestone for paving was the ocean, as colonials simply found what was plentiful and used it. Acorn St. in Beacon Hill is an example of early cobble.
 
So what is the paving material in downtown Nantucket? That is by far the worst surface I've ever tried to bicycle on, and it can't be much fun for strollers or wheelchairs or shopping carts either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top