"Dirty Old Boston"

kz1000ps said:
Some randoms found on Flickr here

Copley Square 1975

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1950s Kneeland Street avec neon

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That funky little modernist gas station in the North End that recently met its demise, seen in 1978

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I remember seeing this maybe around 2012 or something after it was long shuttered. I always wondered what it was, thinking it was an escape stairwell or vent building for the tunnels. I never ventured to the North End, and usually only went to Columbus Park where I proposed to my now wife back in 2011. Anyways, I have a fondness for brutalism and modernism, so this definitely caught my eye. Does anyone know when the petrol station closed?
 
Ok so back in 2014 I became somewhat fascinated with colorizing black and white photos, and it's something I've tried to do myself maybe about three times -- it's a LOT of work. This is the first one I started way back 7 years ago, and I only worked on it for maybe an hour per year since then, and I think it's finally at the point where 1) I want to be fucking done with it and 2) it looks passable enough.

Why did I choose this rather mundane BPL shot of Huntington and Longwood in 1948? Because at that time I was living in Mission Hill and taking the E line through here all the time, plus I spotted that Howard Johnson's and have a particular love for their vintage orange and teal color scheme.

So here's the original

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And after seven years of simmering, the final-ish product

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I dunno... just messing around ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Another photo from this Flickr album showing Boylston and the Prudential under construction in 1963

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But this triggered a thought: Dirty Old Boston had a good number of these sidewalk signs

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I've seen them in random old pictures many, many times before, and I believe the vast majority of them existed on Boylston because of the Back Bay's unique layout where the buildings are set back from the public right-of-way by 20 feet, and in Boylston's case it's all paved and essentially public sidewalk but still allowing landowners to have permanent signage.... maybe?

Here's some other examples, like this formidable Howard Johnson's neon deco sign

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It sat at the edge of Clarendon, where 500 Boylston now is

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Another impressive one down on Huntington

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Back on Boylston, I lived in the old Piano Forte building for three years and walked out to this ragged Costello Liquors sign on a daily basis

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At this point they're basically an extinct breed and I don't recall seeing signs like this in any other city. Does anyone know their details?
 
kz1000ps said:
And after seven years of simmering, the final-ish product

51310530542_dc37e42403_h.jpg


I dunno... just messing around ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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That colorization is outstanding work, my friend. Howard Johnson's ("HoJos") at Concord Ave and Fresh Pond Parkway, and another one on the Route 128 rest stop in Beverly (on our many trips to Gloucester), were the places we always went when I was a kid.
 
At this point they're basically an extinct breed and I don't recall seeing signs like this in any other city. Does anyone know their details?
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Very interesting photos- My wild guess would be that they result from the building owners possessing rights to sidewalk frontage that would allow them to erect signs like that (especially because in the last photo the sign is positioned on the crease between two different pavements) . If or why this is specific to the Back Bay would be interesting to know.
 
^ That has some lovely views in it! I particularly like this angle here where you can see the facadectomy under way at 125 Summer, the older tunnel vent stack, and the old city parking garage on the site of the future One Lincoln.

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Benson said:
Not sure if this has been posted before... Helicopter ride over Boston from the GBH Archives, looks like late 1980s.
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This makes me wonder if the complete helicopter B-roll from the old Omni Theater intro exists anywhere.
 
^ Yup exactly. That truss holding the signs sure looks to be the same one as today.

Up ahead with the teal paint, is that a pedestrian bridge?
 
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