Season’s Greetings

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Richard Schwarz Toy Emporium, 497 & 499 Washington Street, Boston, Mass.
Richard Schwarz Toy Emporium, 497 & 499 Washington Street, Boston, Mass. from Historic New England

Of the many holidays we celebrate at this time of year, Christmas is certainly the best marketed.  Chances are, whether you decry this or embrace it, you can’t escape it.  The images in this post are for the Richard Schwarz Toy Emporium.  First of all, we need more toy emporiums.  (Emporia?)  Who wants to go to a toy store when they could go to an emporium?

If the Schwarz name calls to mind an even more famous toy retailer, you are not mistaken.  Four German immigrant brothers came to America and started their own businesses, all importing and selling toys: Henry in Baltimore, G.A. in Philadelphia, Richard in Boston and F.A.O. in New York City.

Richard’s emporium was located at 484 and 486 Washington Street in Boston in 1895 when Moses King described it as follows:

Among the most fascinating of the stores on Washington St. is the great toy emporium of Richard Schwarz, at 484 and 486, by far the largest concern of its kind in the city.  Everything desirable in imported or domestic toys, games and fancy goods, from the tiniest to the biggest from the lowest-priced to the most costly, is shown here in endless variety. (King’s how to see Boston; a trustworthy guide book ..Boston: Moses King, 1895.)

The adjacent trade cards have the emporium located at 497 and 499 Washington St.  I’m not sure if Schwarz moved or if the street was renumbered, a not unheard of practice in 19th century Boston.  Another 19th century difference to note is that Santa has fewer reindeer pulling his sleigh (more like a sled on one card).  Santa also is dropping packages down the chimney (See left.) while staying on the roof himself, a much more practical approach if you ask me – especially if you’re wearing a black hoodie and carrying a whip like the Santa below.

Richard Schwarz, toy emporium, 497 & 499 Washington Street, Boston, Mass.
Richard Schwarz, toy emporium, 497 & 499 Washington Street, Boston, Mass. from Historic New England

May this holiday season find you and those you love in good health, good spirits and experiencing great joy.

 

New Collections added to Digital Commonwealth in November

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108 Book Fair Exhibit 1940
108 Book Fair Exhibit 1940 from Boston Children’s Museum Lantern Slides

Let us give thanks for November’s new collections.  And additions to existing collections.  But I was most taken with two of our new collections: Boston Children’s Museum Lantern Slides and the Washington Historical Commission Collection.

Many of the lantern slides are hand-colored, giving unnaturally rosy cheeks to all captured in the image.   I never knew the Children’s Museum started in Jamaica Plain, but you can see in the image at left that it was still there in 1940.  Not that the museum was parochial – you’ll see Images of international exhibits on Egypt, China and Scandinavia for a few.

The Washington Historical Commission Collection is a wonderful collection of images, texts and ephemera.  The Reward of Merit (Below right) is something I’ve never seen.  Apparently, they were handed out by teachers to students.  Who wouldn’t settle down to their studies if they were given certificates like this?

 

 

Reward of Merit from the Washington Historical Commission Messenger Collection
Reward of Merit from the Washington Historical Commission Messenger Collection

Boston Children’s Museum
Boston Children’s Museum Lantern Slides – 350 items

Boston Public Library
Paintings and Fine Arts Collection at the Boston Public Library – 5 items added to existing collection

Harvard Law School Library
Sacco-Vanzetti Collections -153 items added to existing collection

The Medford Historical Society & Museum
The Medford Historical Society Civil War Collection – 320 items
The Medford Historical Society Civil War Photograph Collection – 95 items added to existing collection

Southeast Asian Digital Archive – 4 collections, 337 items re-harvested

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library – 80 items re-harvested

Washington Historical Commission
Washington Historical Commission Collection – 573 items

Snow

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Blizzard of 1978
Blizzard of 1978 from Newton Free Library
Main St. after the blizzard of 1888
Main St. after the blizzard of 1888 from Lee Library Historical Collection

Every year there is a first substantial snow of the year.  As I type this, snow has just started falling in Boston.  Over the course of the Thanksgiving weekend, the prediction has gone from “up to 12 inches” to 6-12″, to 4-6″ to “wintry mix”.  I have no idea how much snow we’ll get in the end.  It definitely will make a difference if you’re in the Berkshires, Greater Worcester or south of the Pike.

Two things I do know: media forecasters will talk as if this is a never-seen-before event in Massachusetts and drivers across the state will drive like they’ve never seen snow before.  Come on, people.  We have snow every year.  Some storms are historic, like the Blizzard of ’78 or the Blizzard of ’88.  This time, though, the timing is everything.  The Blizzard of ’78 occurred in February, in 1888 it was March.

This time it’s Thanksgiving weekend.  One of the busiest travel days of the year.  No matter how much snow we get, it couldn’t come at a worse time.  So be smart, slow down, be careful and be safe.

Old-fashioned snow blizzard, Boston. Coldest snow blizzard at its height on Tremont St.
Old-fashioned snow blizzard, Boston. Coldest snow blizzard at its height on Tremont St. from Boston Public Library’s Leslie Jones Collection