December 24, 2024 • 39 mins
Morgan White Fills in on NightSide with Dan Rea:
The iconic Christmas Tree Shops featured unique gifts and housewares for decades. As its owners Chuck and Doreen Bilezikian once said, “Together we grew a successful company and created many memories.” Noted local historian and author Anthony Sammarco joined Morgan to chat about this beloved store of the past.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
The iconic Christmas Tree Shops featured unique gifts and housewares for decades. As its owners Chuck and Doreen Bilezikian once said, “Together we grew a successful company and created many memories.” Noted local historian and author Anthony Sammarco joined Morgan to chat about this beloved store of the past.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Thank you, Emma. My name is Morgan White Junior. I'm
here for the rest of this week and Monday and
Tuesday of next week. While Dan takes a well earned vacation,
I'm gonna be speaking with at ten o'clock Boston sports
anchor at Channel four. Back in the day, he's went
(00:31):
on the bigger and better things of the cities New York.
I'm trying to think if there are another city besides
New York that Jimmy Myrius went to. Well, Jimmy Myriers
will be here and the next two hours between now
and ten o'clock. I've got a gentleman, believe it or not.
(00:52):
He's written almost ninety books, and I'm gonna mention a
book did a book on the Christmas tree shops, and
I don't know if that was number eighty nine or
number ninety, but he is an extremely knowledgeable man. When
it comes to Boston, it's neighborhoods and it's environs. So
(01:19):
please get comfy, scooch up next to the radio and
be prepared to welcome my friend mister Anthony San Marco. Anthony,
Happy Holidays to you.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Happy holidays to you, Morgan. How are you.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I'm doing very very well, and I was looking forward
to this because there's some things that we didn't cover
the last time in regards to the Christmas Tree Shops
that I will cover tonight. And by the way, any
of you out there who were fans of the old
Christmas Tree Shops, how many of them were? They're in
(01:56):
Massachusetts back in the day, the.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Mill Ezekans who founded the company, by two thousand and
three had twenty three, but throughout New England they were
over forty five, but bedboth and beyond between two thousand
and three and twenty twenty would expand it to the
point that they were in sixteen states and they were
close to ninety. So it was really quite an expanse
(02:21):
of growth in the early twentieth century.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
And both stores were under the same umbrella.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Correct, correct, And the thing was in that instance, the
Christmas Tree Shops in some ways was something that not
only had the name, but it was also something that
had the prototype that basically became a cookie cutter. But
these places were so intriguing. The architecture was incredible.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
And one thing I noticed, as you would pass one,
and I guess this is the same for every store circumstance.
Their look was identical, that little slay for their brand
(03:10):
no matter where you were, you down in the Cape,
you were up in the North Shore. And were they
one of the first stores to do that?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Well, well, the funny thing was when you say they
were identical, the logo was identical. But many of these
buildings were iconic. When you think of the Sagamore Bridge Store,
it not only was an Irish cottage, but it had
the largest fatue for the world. The store in Linfield
had a wonderful lighthouse. Orlean's Massachusetts had a sea captain's house.
(03:44):
So in a lot of ways they looked similar, but
they weren't. They were individual stores. And one of the
aspects was that Chuck Blazike and who with his wife
Doreen Belazikian, founded in nineteen seventy trying to make each
door unique and in that instance not only architecturally intriguing,
(04:06):
but in a lot of ways what the Washington Post
called disney Esque architecture. I agree. I used to say
to myself when I read that first time, I said, Wow,
that's incredible. I mean, but it was. It was something
that was not only unique but attractive, and it was
(04:27):
more than just a store to shop in. It was iconic.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
And you mentioned nineteen seventy, so that was the first
year they opened.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Correct, They had bought a company in Yarmouthport that was
known as the Christmas Tree Shop. They have been founded
in nineteen forty six by the Matthews family. They went
bankrupt and in nineteen sixty one a man by the
name of Dawn Winner bought it at auction and was
running it when Chuck Bilerzekean met with him on July
(04:58):
fourth weekend of nineteen seven. At that point, after a meeting,
he casually asked, would you like to buy a store?
And in that instance, not only did they, but they
went into debt, sold their house in Newton, went to
Yamouthorte lived above the store. And what they did was,
over the next five years, continually work in such a
(05:22):
way that with hard work, drive, the termination and reinvestment
of capital, they were able to make a go of
a business that was a remainder and wholesaler.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Now, if I'm mistaken, they spread out all over New
England and beyond. Correct, but they had a new England Seal.
How was that go ahead?
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Well, for the first thirty years they were primarily just
New England. They had stores all over the Cape, and
then beginning in the period of the late nineteen seventies,
they opened their first off Cape store in Pembroke, Massachusetts.
But during the period between nineteen seventy and two thousand
(06:11):
they were basically expanding it in such a way by
asking people when they checked out at the cash register,
what is your zip code? And they use that information
to actually gauge where are people coming from. You know,
they're on Cape cod By, they native Cape Corners, Are
they summer people or are they basically for the day.
(06:34):
And by the period of twenty two thousand, which was
the turn of the twenty first century, they were opening
in South Portland, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York. And
they weren't truly something that not only many people looked
at as a place to shop in, but it was
(06:55):
something that you never knew what you were going to
find and people loved it. I mean the type of
a thing when you arrived at the parking lot, here
was a building that was unlike any other retail establishment.
It was a gift shop wrapped up in thatch or
a lighthouse or something that was unusual, and it was
(07:17):
fun to not only walk through the door, but everything
seemed to hit you. Not only were they beautiful displays,
all sorts of things to purchase, but the century sensory aroma,
especially of cinnamon, seemed to be pervasive. So when you
walked into these doors, it was something that hit you
(07:38):
all at once. And I think people really really really
enjoyed this, and it was something that became not only popular,
but tremendously successful.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
All Right, I have to take a break. I'm going
to open up the phone line six thirty eight, eight nine,
ten thirty. This is Nightside. Dan is off. My name
is Morgan. I'll be here until midnight. And if you
want to call in to speak to Anthony San Marco,
(08:08):
you can, and do me a favor when you call in.
If you're calling in from Boston, don't just say Boston.
Boston is split into eighteen nineteen twenty different neighborhoods sections.
Tell Anthony what area you are, Jamaica, Plane, the North
(08:30):
End East. Let him know so he can give you
a little thumbnails sketch about your neighborhood. During the holidays
because he will know about it. I guarantee time and
temperature here on Night side eight, sixteen thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World,
Night six Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
I hope you're enjoying your Christmas Eve. I hope you
can got all the things done, the shopping, the food prep,
the gifts all wrapped, all of that needed to be completed,
hopefully by the day, if definitely not by this evening,
(09:18):
so you'll be ready for Christmas morning. And on Aka
morning they overlapped this year. You know, Anthony Sarah Marco
is here. He's my guest. And Anthony is there within Boston,
within Boston's communities. Is there a way that's traditional to
(09:39):
the North End for celebrating Christmas versus Jamaica Plane for
celebrating Christmas, versus Roxbury for celebrating Christmas or is it
all kind of just one unified look at the holiday.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Well, if you were going to ask me, and I
did write a book called Christmas Traditions, you have to realize. Initially,
in the seventeenth century, Boston was settled by Puritans. Puritans
were basically englishmen and women and they came to this
country to celebrate and worship in their own manner. It
(10:15):
was something in a lot of ways that was very different.
But you have to realize they banned Christmas in sixteen
fifty nine, and a lot of times when I teach
this I used to teach at Boston University, I was
always intrigued that a lot of people had no idea
that the Puritans were so strict and adhere to what
(10:37):
was basically the Bible Commonwealth and by not only creating
an aspect of banning Christmas, nobody could feast, nobody could
actually enjoy a day off. Everybody had to work, and
it was something and in that instance it was probably
to hold off not only throughout the seventeenth but throughout
(10:59):
the eighteenth century. Really wasn't until the time of the
nineteenth century when immigrants were coming from Western Europe and
they were bringing their Christmas traditions with them, and we'd
see not only people from the British Isles in Ireland
and Germany and France and eventually even Middle Europe. But
(11:20):
it was something that each person representing a distinct culture
under so to speak, Christianity, might celebrate Christmas, but in
a different way than everyone else. I am half Italian,
So this evening we actually had the Feast of the
Seven Fish. It's a little bit peculiar. It was a
(11:44):
lot of food, but I started this afternoon and I
had not only shrimp and scallops. I had stuffed scallops.
I had a lobster pie. I made linguini with clam sauce.
There were things that just typical of what I would
have had as a child, but a little bit different.
(12:07):
And it was fun to do because in that instance
it was a tradition for my past. But it doesn't
matter where we come from. These are things, in some
ways that come down to us through our grandparents are
great grandparents, and it's a great and important way to
maintain that tradition. So whether one might have the Feast
(12:27):
of the Seven Fish, and of course my family had
lived in the North End of the turn of the
twentieth century, or they lived at Jamaica Plain or Roxbury,
we have to realize it is celebrated somewhat differently, but
there's a reason for celebrating. It's a birth of Jesus
Christ and many many people in Boston, and we actually
(12:50):
may come from different cultures, different religions, different ethnicities. But
we've woven this thriving nexus of cultures that we call
the City of Boston, and we do things like decorate
the Boston Common Department stores with beautiful lights and decorations,
(13:12):
and our places of worship, whatever it might be, is
a great way to see music and singing, and of
course the wonderful aspect of community. So yeah, sometimes it
is different, but it all represents the same thing, and
Christmas is a special time in Boston.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
The Puritans had such a stranglehold on what you can
and cannot do in Boston for decades.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Beyond exactly exactly is there.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
A pinpoint moment you mentioned the different immigrants that came
to our city from places in Europe. Is there a
pinpoint moment when that grip by the Puritans loose and
allow people to relax on Christmas or allowed people to
give gifts on Christmas?
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Well, the very first instance was when King William the
Third and Queen Mary the Second, they were joint rulers
of England, began the Glorious Revolution by accepting people for
who they were, whatever religion they were, would actually establish
a place of worship in Boston. That was the Anglican
church that was King's Chapel. It's at the corner of
(14:30):
Tremont and School Street. At that point, not only did
they have their own chapel, but they sent silver a Bible,
and it was the first instance of non traditional Puritan worship.
So you began to see a slight change. And during
that period of time, there were many people, you know,
(14:55):
that looked at that as something that was not only horrible,
but it something in some ways that people couldn't understand.
And the Reverend Cotton Mather, who was a minister in Boston,
he had realized his father had been increased Mather or
President of Harvard, but also a well known minister, and
his grandfather was not only Reverend John Cotton, but the
(15:17):
Reverend Richard Mather. He would say in seventeen twelve that
the feast of Christ's Nativity is spent in revelry, dicing, carding, masking,
and all licentious liberty, by mad mirth, by long eating,
by hard drinking, by leude gaming, by rude reveling. Well,
(15:38):
in that instance, many people began to realize the way
Christmas had been celebrated under King Henry the eighth was
now being in some ways reinstituted, and that would continue,
but it would really be in the period of the
eighteen forties, with the beginning of the Irish coming to
Boston because of the Great Famine, they themselves would see
(16:02):
Roman Catholicism of something that not only they worshiped, but
also would create a place of worship that the whole
aspect of Christmas, with not just Christmas Eve, but Christmas Day,
in the feast of the Epiphany and Little Christmas would
all come to the point where now Boston was beginning
(16:24):
to celebrate in a very different way. And in that
nineteenth century it wasn't just Roman Catholics, but people would
begin to write books. And you probably know Charles Dickens,
and in eighteen forty two he came to Boston to
do readings from his book A Christmas Carol. Now Dickens
(16:47):
was Anglican, and he talked about Christmas past, present, and future.
And people had to look at that and say to themselves, Wow,
this is something that's not only a literary class, but
it was also something a lot of ways that really
did chronicle what people were thinking in the period before
the Civil War.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
And see I didn't know Dickens did that. And he
came to Boston. Obviously, I'm familiar with the Book of
Christmas cow I think we in my fifth grade had
to read that.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Yeah, well, he came and he lived at the Parker House,
and the Parker House was one of those I know.
I'd stay there in the bar. So long as I
could have Parker House rolls and butter, I'd be happy.
But that was the thing. And I mean during that
period you also had people like Lydia Mariah Child, who
(17:42):
a well known writer from Medford, Massachusetts, and I'm talking
to eighteen thirty eighteen forty period. She wrote, over the
bridge and through the woods to Grandfather's house we go,
and everyone knows.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
The horse knows the way to carry the slave to
the white and crispy snow. Oh Ma, thank you. I'm
going to stop here, take my bottom of the hour
news hit, and when we come back, hopefully we'll be
joined by college. But I find this fascinating, and I
could talk to you about this for the next three days,
(18:18):
but we only have ninety minutes of show to go
with Anthony. If you want to call in six, one, seven, two, five, four, ten,
thirty eight eight eight, nine to nine ten thirty. Time
here on night Side is eight thirty temperature thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You're on night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WBZ Boston's
news Radio.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Good evening, I should say, good Christmas Eve evening. My
name is Morgan White Junior. I'm gonna be here and
Dan instead, he'll be off and until the first of
the year twenty twenty five. I'm going to be here
on night Side until then. And my guests this evening,
(19:10):
mister Anthony San Marco and Anthony. How many books? Is
it eighty nine ninety?
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It's Sadie nine. I think at this point I'm working
on one called The Prince Spaghetti Company.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Hey, Anthony, I heard that if I.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Could run that far, it might have been. But it
wasn't the four. It was Anthony Montyetti.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yes, all right, Well you've gotten a phone call. It's
a gentleman. I know. He's been actually on the radio
with me a number of times. He and his brother
Bill Winnakers called in to speak to you.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Well, how are you, Bill, Anthony?
Speaker 4 (19:57):
I'm so good. You know, when you're on Morgan's show,
I always learned so much. I'm Morgan, I appreciate you
having Anthony on because it's you know, Anthe you're a
Boston treasure, and.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I think that's a good way of putting it.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
Yeah, well you're a Boston treasure too, You're you're both
Boston treasures. And Morgan, your knowledge of the history of
Boston is phenomenal as well. I mean, so to hear
the two of you banter back and forth, I just
learned a lot. And I grew up twenty miles south
(20:35):
of Boston on a farm in Millics, but so I
didn't get to hang around in the city like you
two did. And you both know every nook and cranny
of the city of Boston. And I came to college
here and was fascinated after living in the country. But Anthony,
(20:57):
I've just learned so much from you all the time,
and from you too, Morgan.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I love the best city of Boston, and I have
been to every every major community in America. I've been
to Philly, I've been to New York. I've been to
a number of communities in Miami. I've been to Chicago,
San Francisco, Los Angeles, obviously, Las Vegas. And I love Boston,
(21:30):
always have always will Ye I was.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I'm very lucky to stay here. I was lucky to
stay here after college. I absolutely love it. And there's
not a day that goes by that I don't do
reading about Boston. I mean, tonight probably i'll read because
some of my books just arrived this week on Boston.
These are things that sometimes I've had copies, but I
(21:54):
give them away and I buy new ones. But I
think Boston is something at some point that it's just
a very special place and it doesn't matter who you are.
You begin to realize in some ways, each family creates traditions,
especially during the holiday season, whether it's Christmas or Kwansa
or Hnagar, And people look at this and they say
(22:16):
to themselves, I want my children and grandchildren to do
what I and my grandparents had once done. And those
are the traditions that we, you know, kind of pass
on from a generation to another.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Absolutely, you know, this is one of the great cities
of the world, and I love that we can walk.
I often take the tea through Park Street and walk
back to Brookline and walk in different directions. First I
might go down to the waterfront and just explore all
(22:53):
the different parts of the city. It's so walkable and accessible.
It's just a thrill to liver here. There was college
that brought me here and I've never left.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Well, it's funny you say that it is a walkable place,
But there is a club that I belonged to on
Beacon Hill and Vernon Street is probably one of the
steeper hills of Boston. I have to admit I'm a
little bit winded by the time I get there for
my cocktail. I still get up a hill, believe me.
(23:27):
But no, that's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And gentlemen, let me tell you this. Wait, wait, Bill,
let me tell you this. And I interviewed him on
a number of occasions. This man loved to walk Boston
before he was in office, while he was in office
as the mayor of Boston. And yeah, well, Kevin White,
(23:52):
but I'm talking about Ray Flynn.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Oh, Ray walked every way.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Lynn loved to walk all over this city.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
He sure did.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Yeah, I haven't had the money. I haven't had the
money in years. Maybe I'll see if I can get
him for twenty five.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
But he loved we love him, and we used to
see him all the time. He was a close friend
of the Duncee family at the Parker House, and we
my folks lived in the Parker House for years.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
There is that name again, the Parker House. So much
of bost so much of Boston's history is woven in
and through and around the Parker House.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Well yeah, well I was just going to say, it's
the oldest continuously run hotel in America.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Yeah, and lived across the street from me in Milton,
Is that right? Yeah? I mean it was so funny
because I used to say to myself, take who lives
in that house that I found out, and I was like, well,
I mean, introduce myself. Now. I think in a lot
of ways, this is the fun thing. I mean, it's
not just a hotel. It's not just a place of worship.
(25:09):
It's not the State House. All of these things combine
into something that creates what we know of as Boston.
And it's not just during the holiday season. I mean,
we have the public Garden, we have the back Bay
mall leading from Arlington Street to Muddy River, beautiful tree shrubberies,
(25:32):
green space, the Charles River. It's a place that is
a very special one and I think when I write
about it, I try to not only reinforce to those
of us that are Bostonians, but also to those that
might not necessarily know about the city as either tourists
(25:52):
or recent arrivals. How very special Boston really is.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Anthony. You teach as you write these books, and when
you worked at BU as a teacher, you inform you
impart knowledge and your love of the city is so
obvious when you flip through one of your books. The
photos of the company accompany most of these books. When
(26:21):
I have you on the radio, when I've heard you
in the radio with other people and other circumstances, your
love of Boston shines through it.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Sure does. Sure I appreciate it. I want to say
one thing, Morgan. We had the extreme pleasure of working
an event with Anthony, and that was really the first
time we get to meet each other.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Let me hear about it before I let you go
tell me about that event.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Yeah, I rather have Anthony tell you because all my
mind is blankization.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Now, well, it was ironic earlier us here there was
a wonderful group of people in Boston's North End that
wanted to actually honor Nancy Schon, who was the sculptors.
So they make way for ducklings in the Boston Public Garden.
She was doing a new sculpture called a Noble Journey,
(27:16):
which is a bronze gangplane from a ship leading from
Italy to Boston, and it was footsteps and feet and
it was to be installed at the entrance way to
Saint Leonard of Port Maurice, which is actually at Prince
and Hanover Street of the North End. So I became
(27:36):
involved in the fundraising and we were moving along, but
I suggested we have a large party at the same
Patop club. Would be a little bit more expensive than
some of the other events, but it would be something
in some ways that would be a very fitting tribute.
And I planned the party and I asked the Winnakers
(27:59):
the Aus trio to come and play at the ballroom,
and we had a lovely reception, copious wine, wonderful music,
and Nancy Showan was somebody who's ninety six years of age,
was somebody who not only was the principal guest, but
(28:20):
she was something in some ways that surpassed what you
could imagine. Her artistic skills, her linguistic skills, her family.
She was just a lovely, lovely person. And it turned
out that my father in law had worked for her
back in the nineteen fifties and sixties. Her father owned
harry Quit Nurseries, so it was the type of a
(28:43):
thing that it was, those very unusual connections. So I
met Bill and Bo Winnaker for the first time. No,
we've chatted, you know, and we've known each other, but
not well. And we had about one hundred and twenty
five hundred and forty people and it was the most
wonderful event that we raised the money that was necessary to,
(29:04):
you know, have this piece installed. It's now part of
the history of the North End.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Bill Well, that was one of the most special events
I've ever intended. The camaraderie and everybody was so warm
and friendly, and it was just an extraordinary night of
bonding and friendship. And it's just I can't even describe
(29:34):
how wonderful it was.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
I stop a line too.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Had something to do. Guys. I got to stop here
because they have a break to take. But Bill, I
was showing your family a fantastic Christmas, your best year ever.
Tell your brother and your mom. I said, Hi, I.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Will Bill, thank you, thank you so much. Good night.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Let's take our break. When we come back, we'll speak
to Larry and reading here on night Side Time on
night Side eight forty five thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Let's immediately go back to the telephone. We have full lines,
by the way, so as I take a call, that's
when you time your darling. Let's go to reading and
speak to Larry. Larry, Hello there right.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
Uh, I just want to mention the same to you.
Merry Christmas and a happy Honikah.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
And I think you.
Speaker 5 (30:48):
I wanted to mention the the old Jordan Marsha store
used to was in half a dozen locations before it
ended up where it is.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Yes, and also.
Speaker 5 (31:06):
It was originally designed to be a twelve story building.
I got less from in nineteen twenty eight the Guidebook
of Boston.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
And how come it was funny? Because go ahead?
Speaker 2 (31:19):
No, My question simple, why didn't that happen?
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Well?
Speaker 5 (31:25):
Should I?
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Well? The funny thing was Jordan marsh was something that
did move quite a few times, and then it eventually
settled at the corner of Washington Street in Avon Place.
By nineteen twenty two they had bought out a Schumann
company and they moved all the way to the edge
of Semeer Street. But for that centennial, which was going
(31:46):
to be in nineteen fifty one, they hired a company
by the name of Perry Sharon Hepburn, a well known
company that had actually restored Colonial Williamsburg for the Rockefeller family,
and they did a new plan to destroy the entire
block and build a new eleven story building, nine above
(32:08):
the ground and two below the ground. But it never happened.
And what they did was to build what was basically
the part at the corner of Chauncey Street in Summer Street.
And the reason was in some instances they didn't think
that they were actually going to be able to afford
this enormous new structure. But the new building, the part
(32:32):
was radiant heat, sidewalks, escalators, electric elevators, central heating, air conditioning.
It was the most modern department store in New England.
But the whole thing was in a lot of ways.
It was actually in nineteen fifty that they actually had
their first suburban store, and that was Shopper's World on
(32:54):
Route nine at Framingham. And what they really felt at
that point was why invest so much in downtown Boston
when the population was moving north, south and west of
the city. And what they did was between nineteen fifty
and you know nineteen ninety six when Macy's took them over,
(33:17):
they had all these satellite stores and that was much
more successful than the flagship store, which was in downtown Boston.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Is Jordan Marsh Great Warehouse sailed this Saturday out in Auburndale.
I remember that jingle being played over and over.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
Third you remember the one, And there was one in Squatham.
There was a factory and a warehouse and Squantham that
basically sold you know, very good furniture and lamps right
for that sort. But you know, Jordan's was something in
some ways. It was a department store and it had
originally two hundred and twenty four departments under one roof.
(34:03):
And by the period of say the nineteen fifties, they
had the Bristol building, They had Jordan Marsh basement. These
buildings were all around that area. Not everyone was contiguous
to the other. But my favorite was the annex that
was at the corner of Avon Street of Washington Street
(34:25):
across to the original store. And you know, the annex
had the bakery, it had stamp collection, coin collections, records.
It was something that was really a destination when I
was a child.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
And let's not forget in the mid sixties when some
genius came up with the Enchanted Village, and.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
I mean Edward Richardson Mitton, who was the president between
nineteen thirty seven and nineteen sixty three, not only created
the Enchanted Village, but he open trade with West Germany.
And a lot of people don't realize these pieces the
automatons were made in West Germany, and this was something
(35:11):
only thirteen fourteen years after World War Two had ended,
so it was something that he had petitioned the federal
government to continually do. But it wasn't until nineteen fifty
eight that they actually allowed mitten to actually trade with
(35:32):
Germany and they hired a company that actually produced the
Enchanted Village of Saint Nicholas, and it was something I mean,
nobody seemed to realize how impact of it was. And
between that period and you know that period until nineteen
ninety six, it brought in millions of people.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
It was a big hit. The second they advertised come
see it. I agree everybody. I'm guaranteeing everybody who was
a kid at some time in the mid sixties and up,
mom and dad or aunt and uncle or grandfather, grandmother
(36:14):
or next door neighbor took you to see the enchanted village.
And some of us went every.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Year, well some of us went many times each year.
I loved it. But the funny thing was, you know,
it was called a Tudor Revival village, and it was
three quarters at scale, and you have these little tableaus,
a bakery or an ice cream shop. You had a
(36:41):
school mastershop, glass blower shop, the village jail, a barbershop.
But it seemed like there were men, women, and children
and animals that were these automatons, and they moved in unison.
But it was also the fact it was live music.
There were three men who used to play at the
(37:01):
sherry Biltball that was on Massachusetts Avenue. They dressed in
Tyrolean hats and leader hose and played Germanic music and
when they were on break, somebody played the organ with
all sorts of Christmas jingles and sons. But it was
something that the day had opened, which was the day
(37:22):
after Thanksgiving in nineteen fifty nine, it was said to
have attracted just that one winter season, over thirty five
thousand people and.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
That's a lot.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
It's a huge amount.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
That's a lot, Larry, Is there anything else you want
to touch upon while you're here?
Speaker 5 (37:42):
I think the favorite part of Jordan Marsh for me
was the annex, which I what they made into the
Hotel Lafayette. Yes, and there was the toy Department.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Well do you remember they called us toy Land. And
toy Land was a destination for every young person under
the age of sixteen because toy Land was something that
had railroad sets, it had race car sets, it had
dolls that had you know, Gi Joes, it had Johnny West,
(38:22):
it had Barbie dolls. It was something that had something
for every child. And when I did my book on
Jeordan Marsh, I had these wonderful photographs that I had
bought on eBay. I just couldn't believe they were on eBay.
But they showed the you know, the enchanted village. But
they also showed toy Land, and whether you were buying
(38:44):
it or not, a lot of children would go there
on weekends just to take a peek at what was
being offered. And it was something special.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Anthony, I got stop you here at Larry. I got
to say goodbye as coming up, and thank you for
your calling. Happy holidays to you all right and for
Sandy and Jerry on hold. Will get to you afternoons
and a few messages here on night side. Take care.
Time and temperature eight fifty eight thirty degrees
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Thank you, Emma. My name is Morgan White Junior. I'm
here for the rest of this week and Monday and
Tuesday of next week. While Dan takes a well earned vacation,
I'm gonna be speaking with at ten o'clock Boston sports
anchor at Channel four. Back in the day, he's went
(00:31):
on the bigger and better things of the cities New York.
I'm trying to think if there are another city besides
New York that Jimmy Myrius went to. Well, Jimmy Myriers
will be here and the next two hours between now
and ten o'clock. I've got a gentleman, believe it or not.
(00:52):
He's written almost ninety books, and I'm gonna mention a
book did a book on the Christmas tree shops, and
I don't know if that was number eighty nine or
number ninety, but he is an extremely knowledgeable man. When
it comes to Boston, it's neighborhoods and it's environs. So
(01:19):
please get comfy, scooch up next to the radio and
be prepared to welcome my friend mister Anthony San Marco. Anthony,
Happy Holidays to you.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Happy holidays to you, Morgan. How are you.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I'm doing very very well, and I was looking forward
to this because there's some things that we didn't cover
the last time in regards to the Christmas Tree Shops
that I will cover tonight. And by the way, any
of you out there who were fans of the old
Christmas Tree Shops, how many of them were? They're in
(01:56):
Massachusetts back in the day, the.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Mill Ezekans who founded the company, by two thousand and
three had twenty three, but throughout New England they were
over forty five, but bedboth and beyond between two thousand
and three and twenty twenty would expand it to the
point that they were in sixteen states and they were
close to ninety. So it was really quite an expanse
(02:21):
of growth in the early twentieth century.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
And both stores were under the same umbrella.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Correct, correct, And the thing was in that instance, the
Christmas Tree Shops in some ways was something that not
only had the name, but it was also something that
had the prototype that basically became a cookie cutter. But
these places were so intriguing. The architecture was incredible.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
And one thing I noticed, as you would pass one,
and I guess this is the same for every store circumstance.
Their look was identical, that little slay for their brand
(03:10):
no matter where you were, you down in the Cape,
you were up in the North Shore. And were they
one of the first stores to do that?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Well, well, the funny thing was when you say they
were identical, the logo was identical. But many of these
buildings were iconic. When you think of the Sagamore Bridge Store,
it not only was an Irish cottage, but it had
the largest fatue for the world. The store in Linfield
had a wonderful lighthouse. Orlean's Massachusetts had a sea captain's house.
(03:44):
So in a lot of ways they looked similar, but
they weren't. They were individual stores. And one of the
aspects was that Chuck Blazike and who with his wife
Doreen Belazikian, founded in nineteen seventy trying to make each
door unique and in that instance not only architecturally intriguing,
(04:06):
but in a lot of ways what the Washington Post
called disney Esque architecture. I agree. I used to say
to myself when I read that first time, I said, Wow,
that's incredible. I mean, but it was. It was something
that was not only unique but attractive, and it was
(04:27):
more than just a store to shop in. It was iconic.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
And you mentioned nineteen seventy, so that was the first
year they opened.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Correct, They had bought a company in Yarmouthport that was
known as the Christmas Tree Shop. They have been founded
in nineteen forty six by the Matthews family. They went
bankrupt and in nineteen sixty one a man by the
name of Dawn Winner bought it at auction and was
running it when Chuck Bilerzekean met with him on July
(04:58):
fourth weekend of nineteen seven. At that point, after a meeting,
he casually asked, would you like to buy a store?
And in that instance, not only did they, but they
went into debt, sold their house in Newton, went to
Yamouthorte lived above the store. And what they did was,
over the next five years, continually work in such a
(05:22):
way that with hard work, drive, the termination and reinvestment
of capital, they were able to make a go of
a business that was a remainder and wholesaler.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Now, if I'm mistaken, they spread out all over New
England and beyond. Correct, but they had a new England Seal.
How was that go ahead?
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Well, for the first thirty years they were primarily just
New England. They had stores all over the Cape, and
then beginning in the period of the late nineteen seventies,
they opened their first off Cape store in Pembroke, Massachusetts.
But during the period between nineteen seventy and two thousand
(06:11):
they were basically expanding it in such a way by
asking people when they checked out at the cash register,
what is your zip code? And they use that information
to actually gauge where are people coming from. You know,
they're on Cape cod By, they native Cape Corners, Are
they summer people or are they basically for the day.
(06:34):
And by the period of twenty two thousand, which was
the turn of the twenty first century, they were opening
in South Portland, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York. And
they weren't truly something that not only many people looked
at as a place to shop in, but it was
(06:55):
something that you never knew what you were going to
find and people loved it. I mean the type of
a thing when you arrived at the parking lot, here
was a building that was unlike any other retail establishment.
It was a gift shop wrapped up in thatch or
a lighthouse or something that was unusual, and it was
(07:17):
fun to not only walk through the door, but everything
seemed to hit you. Not only were they beautiful displays,
all sorts of things to purchase, but the century sensory aroma,
especially of cinnamon, seemed to be pervasive. So when you
walked into these doors, it was something that hit you
(07:38):
all at once. And I think people really really really
enjoyed this, and it was something that became not only popular,
but tremendously successful.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
All Right, I have to take a break. I'm going
to open up the phone line six thirty eight, eight nine,
ten thirty. This is Nightside. Dan is off. My name
is Morgan. I'll be here until midnight. And if you
want to call in to speak to Anthony San Marco,
(08:08):
you can, and do me a favor when you call in.
If you're calling in from Boston, don't just say Boston.
Boston is split into eighteen nineteen twenty different neighborhoods sections.
Tell Anthony what area you are, Jamaica, Plane, the North
(08:30):
End East. Let him know so he can give you
a little thumbnails sketch about your neighborhood. During the holidays
because he will know about it. I guarantee time and
temperature here on Night side eight, sixteen thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World,
Night six Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
I hope you're enjoying your Christmas Eve. I hope you
can got all the things done, the shopping, the food prep,
the gifts all wrapped, all of that needed to be completed,
hopefully by the day, if definitely not by this evening,
(09:18):
so you'll be ready for Christmas morning. And on Aka
morning they overlapped this year. You know, Anthony Sarah Marco
is here. He's my guest. And Anthony is there within Boston,
within Boston's communities. Is there a way that's traditional to
(09:39):
the North End for celebrating Christmas versus Jamaica Plane for
celebrating Christmas, versus Roxbury for celebrating Christmas or is it
all kind of just one unified look at the holiday.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Well, if you were going to ask me, and I
did write a book called Christmas Traditions, you have to realize. Initially,
in the seventeenth century, Boston was settled by Puritans. Puritans
were basically englishmen and women and they came to this
country to celebrate and worship in their own manner. It
(10:15):
was something in a lot of ways that was very different.
But you have to realize they banned Christmas in sixteen
fifty nine, and a lot of times when I teach
this I used to teach at Boston University, I was
always intrigued that a lot of people had no idea
that the Puritans were so strict and adhere to what
(10:37):
was basically the Bible Commonwealth and by not only creating
an aspect of banning Christmas, nobody could feast, nobody could
actually enjoy a day off. Everybody had to work, and
it was something and in that instance it was probably
to hold off not only throughout the seventeenth but throughout
(10:59):
the eighteenth century. Really wasn't until the time of the
nineteenth century when immigrants were coming from Western Europe and
they were bringing their Christmas traditions with them, and we'd
see not only people from the British Isles in Ireland
and Germany and France and eventually even Middle Europe. But
(11:20):
it was something that each person representing a distinct culture
under so to speak, Christianity, might celebrate Christmas, but in
a different way than everyone else. I am half Italian,
So this evening we actually had the Feast of the
Seven Fish. It's a little bit peculiar. It was a
(11:44):
lot of food, but I started this afternoon and I
had not only shrimp and scallops. I had stuffed scallops.
I had a lobster pie. I made linguini with clam sauce.
There were things that just typical of what I would
have had as a child, but a little bit different.
(12:07):
And it was fun to do because in that instance
it was a tradition for my past. But it doesn't
matter where we come from. These are things, in some
ways that come down to us through our grandparents are
great grandparents, and it's a great and important way to
maintain that tradition. So whether one might have the Feast
(12:27):
of the Seven Fish, and of course my family had
lived in the North End of the turn of the
twentieth century, or they lived at Jamaica Plain or Roxbury,
we have to realize it is celebrated somewhat differently, but
there's a reason for celebrating. It's a birth of Jesus
Christ and many many people in Boston, and we actually
(12:50):
may come from different cultures, different religions, different ethnicities. But
we've woven this thriving nexus of cultures that we call
the City of Boston, and we do things like decorate
the Boston Common Department stores with beautiful lights and decorations,
(13:12):
and our places of worship, whatever it might be, is
a great way to see music and singing, and of
course the wonderful aspect of community. So yeah, sometimes it
is different, but it all represents the same thing, and
Christmas is a special time in Boston.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
The Puritans had such a stranglehold on what you can
and cannot do in Boston for decades.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Beyond exactly exactly is there.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
A pinpoint moment you mentioned the different immigrants that came
to our city from places in Europe. Is there a
pinpoint moment when that grip by the Puritans loose and
allow people to relax on Christmas or allowed people to
give gifts on Christmas?
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Well, the very first instance was when King William the
Third and Queen Mary the Second, they were joint rulers
of England, began the Glorious Revolution by accepting people for
who they were, whatever religion they were, would actually establish
a place of worship in Boston. That was the Anglican
church that was King's Chapel. It's at the corner of
(14:30):
Tremont and School Street. At that point, not only did
they have their own chapel, but they sent silver a Bible,
and it was the first instance of non traditional Puritan worship.
So you began to see a slight change. And during
that period of time, there were many people, you know,
(14:55):
that looked at that as something that was not only horrible,
but it something in some ways that people couldn't understand.
And the Reverend Cotton Mather, who was a minister in Boston,
he had realized his father had been increased Mather or
President of Harvard, but also a well known minister, and
his grandfather was not only Reverend John Cotton, but the
(15:17):
Reverend Richard Mather. He would say in seventeen twelve that
the feast of Christ's Nativity is spent in revelry, dicing, carding, masking,
and all licentious liberty, by mad mirth, by long eating,
by hard drinking, by leude gaming, by rude reveling. Well,
(15:38):
in that instance, many people began to realize the way
Christmas had been celebrated under King Henry the eighth was
now being in some ways reinstituted, and that would continue,
but it would really be in the period of the
eighteen forties, with the beginning of the Irish coming to
Boston because of the Great Famine, they themselves would see
(16:02):
Roman Catholicism of something that not only they worshiped, but
also would create a place of worship that the whole
aspect of Christmas, with not just Christmas Eve, but Christmas Day,
in the feast of the Epiphany and Little Christmas would
all come to the point where now Boston was beginning
(16:24):
to celebrate in a very different way. And in that
nineteenth century it wasn't just Roman Catholics, but people would
begin to write books. And you probably know Charles Dickens,
and in eighteen forty two he came to Boston to
do readings from his book A Christmas Carol. Now Dickens
(16:47):
was Anglican, and he talked about Christmas past, present, and future.
And people had to look at that and say to themselves, Wow,
this is something that's not only a literary class, but
it was also something a lot of ways that really
did chronicle what people were thinking in the period before
the Civil War.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
And see I didn't know Dickens did that. And he
came to Boston. Obviously, I'm familiar with the Book of
Christmas cow I think we in my fifth grade had
to read that.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Yeah, well, he came and he lived at the Parker House,
and the Parker House was one of those I know.
I'd stay there in the bar. So long as I
could have Parker House rolls and butter, I'd be happy.
But that was the thing. And I mean during that
period you also had people like Lydia Mariah Child, who
(17:42):
a well known writer from Medford, Massachusetts, and I'm talking
to eighteen thirty eighteen forty period. She wrote, over the
bridge and through the woods to Grandfather's house we go,
and everyone knows.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
The horse knows the way to carry the slave to
the white and crispy snow. Oh Ma, thank you. I'm
going to stop here, take my bottom of the hour
news hit, and when we come back, hopefully we'll be
joined by college. But I find this fascinating, and I
could talk to you about this for the next three days,
(18:18):
but we only have ninety minutes of show to go
with Anthony. If you want to call in six, one, seven, two, five, four, ten,
thirty eight eight eight, nine to nine ten thirty. Time
here on night Side is eight thirty temperature thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You're on night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WBZ Boston's
news Radio.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Good evening, I should say, good Christmas Eve evening. My
name is Morgan White Junior. I'm gonna be here and
Dan instead, he'll be off and until the first of
the year twenty twenty five. I'm going to be here
on night Side until then. And my guests this evening,
(19:10):
mister Anthony San Marco and Anthony. How many books? Is
it eighty nine ninety?
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It's Sadie nine. I think at this point I'm working
on one called The Prince Spaghetti Company.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Hey, Anthony, I heard that if I.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Could run that far, it might have been. But it
wasn't the four. It was Anthony Montyetti.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yes, all right, Well you've gotten a phone call. It's
a gentleman. I know. He's been actually on the radio
with me a number of times. He and his brother
Bill Winnakers called in to speak to you.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Well, how are you, Bill, Anthony?
Speaker 4 (19:57):
I'm so good. You know, when you're on Morgan's show,
I always learned so much. I'm Morgan, I appreciate you
having Anthony on because it's you know, Anthe you're a
Boston treasure, and.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I think that's a good way of putting it.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
Yeah, well you're a Boston treasure too, You're you're both
Boston treasures. And Morgan, your knowledge of the history of
Boston is phenomenal as well. I mean, so to hear
the two of you banter back and forth, I just
learned a lot. And I grew up twenty miles south
(20:35):
of Boston on a farm in Millics, but so I
didn't get to hang around in the city like you
two did. And you both know every nook and cranny
of the city of Boston. And I came to college
here and was fascinated after living in the country. But Anthony,
(20:57):
I've just learned so much from you all the time,
and from you too, Morgan.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I love the best city of Boston, and I have
been to every every major community in America. I've been
to Philly, I've been to New York. I've been to
a number of communities in Miami. I've been to Chicago,
San Francisco, Los Angeles, obviously, Las Vegas. And I love Boston,
(21:30):
always have always will Ye I was.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I'm very lucky to stay here. I was lucky to
stay here after college. I absolutely love it. And there's
not a day that goes by that I don't do
reading about Boston. I mean, tonight probably i'll read because
some of my books just arrived this week on Boston.
These are things that sometimes I've had copies, but I
(21:54):
give them away and I buy new ones. But I
think Boston is something at some point that it's just
a very special place and it doesn't matter who you are.
You begin to realize in some ways, each family creates traditions,
especially during the holiday season, whether it's Christmas or Kwansa
or Hnagar, And people look at this and they say
(22:16):
to themselves, I want my children and grandchildren to do
what I and my grandparents had once done. And those
are the traditions that we, you know, kind of pass
on from a generation to another.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Absolutely, you know, this is one of the great cities
of the world, and I love that we can walk.
I often take the tea through Park Street and walk
back to Brookline and walk in different directions. First I
might go down to the waterfront and just explore all
(22:53):
the different parts of the city. It's so walkable and accessible.
It's just a thrill to liver here. There was college
that brought me here and I've never left.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Well, it's funny you say that it is a walkable place,
But there is a club that I belonged to on
Beacon Hill and Vernon Street is probably one of the
steeper hills of Boston. I have to admit I'm a
little bit winded by the time I get there for
my cocktail. I still get up a hill, believe me.
(23:27):
But no, that's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And gentlemen, let me tell you this. Wait, wait, Bill,
let me tell you this. And I interviewed him on
a number of occasions. This man loved to walk Boston
before he was in office, while he was in office
as the mayor of Boston. And yeah, well, Kevin White,
(23:52):
but I'm talking about Ray Flynn.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Oh, Ray walked every way.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Lynn loved to walk all over this city.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
He sure did.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Yeah, I haven't had the money. I haven't had the
money in years. Maybe I'll see if I can get
him for twenty five.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
But he loved we love him, and we used to
see him all the time. He was a close friend
of the Duncee family at the Parker House, and we
my folks lived in the Parker House for years.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
There is that name again, the Parker House. So much
of bost so much of Boston's history is woven in
and through and around the Parker House.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Well yeah, well I was just going to say, it's
the oldest continuously run hotel in America.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Yeah, and lived across the street from me in Milton,
Is that right? Yeah? I mean it was so funny
because I used to say to myself, take who lives
in that house that I found out, and I was like, well,
I mean, introduce myself. Now. I think in a lot
of ways, this is the fun thing. I mean, it's
not just a hotel. It's not just a place of worship.
(25:09):
It's not the State House. All of these things combine
into something that creates what we know of as Boston.
And it's not just during the holiday season. I mean,
we have the public Garden, we have the back Bay
mall leading from Arlington Street to Muddy River, beautiful tree shrubberies,
(25:32):
green space, the Charles River. It's a place that is
a very special one and I think when I write
about it, I try to not only reinforce to those
of us that are Bostonians, but also to those that
might not necessarily know about the city as either tourists
(25:52):
or recent arrivals. How very special Boston really is.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Anthony. You teach as you write these books, and when
you worked at BU as a teacher, you inform you
impart knowledge and your love of the city is so
obvious when you flip through one of your books. The
photos of the company accompany most of these books. When
(26:21):
I have you on the radio, when I've heard you
in the radio with other people and other circumstances, your
love of Boston shines through it.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Sure does. Sure I appreciate it. I want to say
one thing, Morgan. We had the extreme pleasure of working
an event with Anthony, and that was really the first
time we get to meet each other.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Let me hear about it before I let you go
tell me about that event.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Yeah, I rather have Anthony tell you because all my
mind is blankization.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Now, well, it was ironic earlier us here there was
a wonderful group of people in Boston's North End that
wanted to actually honor Nancy Schon, who was the sculptors.
So they make way for ducklings in the Boston Public Garden.
She was doing a new sculpture called a Noble Journey,
(27:16):
which is a bronze gangplane from a ship leading from
Italy to Boston, and it was footsteps and feet and
it was to be installed at the entrance way to
Saint Leonard of Port Maurice, which is actually at Prince
and Hanover Street of the North End. So I became
(27:36):
involved in the fundraising and we were moving along, but
I suggested we have a large party at the same
Patop club. Would be a little bit more expensive than
some of the other events, but it would be something
in some ways that would be a very fitting tribute.
And I planned the party and I asked the Winnakers
(27:59):
the Aus trio to come and play at the ballroom,
and we had a lovely reception, copious wine, wonderful music,
and Nancy Showan was somebody who's ninety six years of age,
was somebody who not only was the principal guest, but
(28:20):
she was something in some ways that surpassed what you
could imagine. Her artistic skills, her linguistic skills, her family.
She was just a lovely, lovely person. And it turned
out that my father in law had worked for her
back in the nineteen fifties and sixties. Her father owned
harry Quit Nurseries, so it was the type of a
(28:43):
thing that it was, those very unusual connections. So I
met Bill and Bo Winnaker for the first time. No,
we've chatted, you know, and we've known each other, but
not well. And we had about one hundred and twenty
five hundred and forty people and it was the most
wonderful event that we raised the money that was necessary to,
(29:04):
you know, have this piece installed. It's now part of
the history of the North End.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Bill Well, that was one of the most special events
I've ever intended. The camaraderie and everybody was so warm
and friendly, and it was just an extraordinary night of
bonding and friendship. And it's just I can't even describe
(29:34):
how wonderful it was.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
I stop a line too.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Had something to do. Guys. I got to stop here
because they have a break to take. But Bill, I
was showing your family a fantastic Christmas, your best year ever.
Tell your brother and your mom. I said, Hi, I.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Will Bill, thank you, thank you so much. Good night.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Let's take our break. When we come back, we'll speak
to Larry and reading here on night Side Time on
night Side eight forty five thirty degrees.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Let's immediately go back to the telephone. We have full lines,
by the way, so as I take a call, that's
when you time your darling. Let's go to reading and
speak to Larry. Larry, Hello there right.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
Uh, I just want to mention the same to you.
Merry Christmas and a happy Honikah.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
And I think you.
Speaker 5 (30:48):
I wanted to mention the the old Jordan Marsha store
used to was in half a dozen locations before it
ended up where it is.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Yes, and also.
Speaker 5 (31:06):
It was originally designed to be a twelve story building.
I got less from in nineteen twenty eight the Guidebook
of Boston.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
And how come it was funny? Because go ahead?
Speaker 2 (31:19):
No, My question simple, why didn't that happen?
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Well?
Speaker 5 (31:25):
Should I?
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Well? The funny thing was Jordan marsh was something that
did move quite a few times, and then it eventually
settled at the corner of Washington Street in Avon Place.
By nineteen twenty two they had bought out a Schumann
company and they moved all the way to the edge
of Semeer Street. But for that centennial, which was going
(31:46):
to be in nineteen fifty one, they hired a company
by the name of Perry Sharon Hepburn, a well known
company that had actually restored Colonial Williamsburg for the Rockefeller family,
and they did a new plan to destroy the entire
block and build a new eleven story building, nine above
(32:08):
the ground and two below the ground. But it never happened.
And what they did was to build what was basically
the part at the corner of Chauncey Street in Summer Street.
And the reason was in some instances they didn't think
that they were actually going to be able to afford
this enormous new structure. But the new building, the part
(32:32):
was radiant heat, sidewalks, escalators, electric elevators, central heating, air conditioning.
It was the most modern department store in New England.
But the whole thing was in a lot of ways.
It was actually in nineteen fifty that they actually had
their first suburban store, and that was Shopper's World on
(32:54):
Route nine at Framingham. And what they really felt at
that point was why invest so much in downtown Boston
when the population was moving north, south and west of
the city. And what they did was between nineteen fifty
and you know nineteen ninety six when Macy's took them over,
(33:17):
they had all these satellite stores and that was much
more successful than the flagship store, which was in downtown Boston.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Is Jordan Marsh Great Warehouse sailed this Saturday out in Auburndale.
I remember that jingle being played over and over.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
Third you remember the one, And there was one in Squatham.
There was a factory and a warehouse and Squantham that
basically sold you know, very good furniture and lamps right
for that sort. But you know, Jordan's was something in
some ways. It was a department store and it had
originally two hundred and twenty four departments under one roof.
(34:03):
And by the period of say the nineteen fifties, they
had the Bristol building, They had Jordan Marsh basement. These
buildings were all around that area. Not everyone was contiguous
to the other. But my favorite was the annex that
was at the corner of Avon Street of Washington Street
(34:25):
across to the original store. And you know, the annex
had the bakery, it had stamp collection, coin collections, records.
It was something that was really a destination when I
was a child.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
And let's not forget in the mid sixties when some
genius came up with the Enchanted Village, and.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
I mean Edward Richardson Mitton, who was the president between
nineteen thirty seven and nineteen sixty three, not only created
the Enchanted Village, but he open trade with West Germany.
And a lot of people don't realize these pieces the
automatons were made in West Germany, and this was something
(35:11):
only thirteen fourteen years after World War Two had ended,
so it was something that he had petitioned the federal
government to continually do. But it wasn't until nineteen fifty
eight that they actually allowed mitten to actually trade with
(35:32):
Germany and they hired a company that actually produced the
Enchanted Village of Saint Nicholas, and it was something I mean,
nobody seemed to realize how impact of it was. And
between that period and you know that period until nineteen
ninety six, it brought in millions of people.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
It was a big hit. The second they advertised come
see it. I agree everybody. I'm guaranteeing everybody who was
a kid at some time in the mid sixties and up,
mom and dad or aunt and uncle or grandfather, grandmother
(36:14):
or next door neighbor took you to see the enchanted village.
And some of us went every.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Year, well some of us went many times each year.
I loved it. But the funny thing was, you know,
it was called a Tudor Revival village, and it was
three quarters at scale, and you have these little tableaus,
a bakery or an ice cream shop. You had a
(36:41):
school mastershop, glass blower shop, the village jail, a barbershop.
But it seemed like there were men, women, and children
and animals that were these automatons, and they moved in unison.
But it was also the fact it was live music.
There were three men who used to play at the
(37:01):
sherry Biltball that was on Massachusetts Avenue. They dressed in
Tyrolean hats and leader hose and played Germanic music and
when they were on break, somebody played the organ with
all sorts of Christmas jingles and sons. But it was
something that the day had opened, which was the day
(37:22):
after Thanksgiving in nineteen fifty nine, it was said to
have attracted just that one winter season, over thirty five
thousand people and.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
That's a lot.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
It's a huge amount.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
That's a lot, Larry, Is there anything else you want
to touch upon while you're here?
Speaker 5 (37:42):
I think the favorite part of Jordan Marsh for me
was the annex, which I what they made into the
Hotel Lafayette. Yes, and there was the toy Department.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Well do you remember they called us toy Land. And
toy Land was a destination for every young person under
the age of sixteen because toy Land was something that
had railroad sets, it had race car sets, it had
dolls that had you know, Gi Joes, it had Johnny West,
(38:22):
it had Barbie dolls. It was something that had something
for every child. And when I did my book on
Jeordan Marsh, I had these wonderful photographs that I had
bought on eBay. I just couldn't believe they were on eBay.
But they showed the you know, the enchanted village. But
they also showed toy Land, and whether you were buying
(38:44):
it or not, a lot of children would go there
on weekends just to take a peek at what was
being offered. And it was something special.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Anthony, I got stop you here at Larry. I got
to say goodbye as coming up, and thank you for
your calling. Happy holidays to you all right and for
Sandy and Jerry on hold. Will get to you afternoons
and a few messages here on night side. Take care.
Time and temperature eight fifty eight thirty degrees
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