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Seniors at a city-sponsored event
By adamg on Tue, 07/20/2021 - 11:14am
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this photo of Boston seniors at a city-sponsored event. See it larger.
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Brighton
Chestnut Hill Avenue looking north to Washington Street, with Market Street in the distance.
Addendum
The bus is in front of the Municipal Building, which houses the Senior Center.
Brighton Center, looking up
Brighton Center, looking up Washington Street toward the intersection with Market Street/Chestnut Hill Ave.
Market Street looking South in Brighton Center
Washington Street is the cross street.
Look at that coat!
Wonder if this is long enough ago that it was acceptable, not to mention chic, to wear a fur coat.
Fur was acceptable not that long ago
When I was a child in the 1960s I used to loved snuggling against my mother when she wore her fur coat.
Fur timeline
It went beyond the 60s. People acceptably wore fur coats throughout the 70s and I'd say even into the 80s a bit. But towards the end it was almost exclusively really older women who wore it as it was considered increasingly unhip. I can't remember if it was Jordan Marsh or Filene's, but they advertised their "fur storage" service right up until they closed.
Don’t forget the Eighties!
Almost EVERYONE had a mink coat in the eighties—even secretaries! For some women they were a somewhat affordable status symbol…along with the Rolex watch, Burberry raincoat and BMW. I knew someone who had a mink, a Persian Lamb and a silver fox back then. She thought she was the cat’s meow! My mother and aunts wore various forms of unfortunate small animals back in the sixties…lots of mink stoles and coats were placed on someone’s bed when the family got together at a relative’s house. My cousins and I loved to roll around in them! So glad it’s politically incorrect to wear fur today. No one with a conscience could possibly justify wearing fur today.
So, which one is it -
So, which one is it - political correctness or conscience?
-
I agree that it's mostly out, and not necessary, but...
if it's some animal that you do have some other reason to hunt or trap, then by all means make use of all of it - including hide/pelt.
The last time I saw a fur coat
We had a foster home licensing worker about 10 years ago who was a senior citizen and would show up at our (properly heated) place wearing a bigass fur coat, and when we'd offer to take her coat for her, would act kind of scared/offended at the idea of us taking it and wouldn't take it off the whole visit. The preferring-coat-on thing itself didn't strike me as odd, as I know plenty of people who do that because they have a thing about people's furniture and pets and whatnot, but it did stand out that it was a huge fur coat rather than a fleece or something that would be more normal to have on inside a heated building. We would wonder afterward if she had opium or a sword or something hidden in it.
This reminds me of...
the Dragnet episode with the fur robbery where Bill has to go undercover and pretend to be a furrier. Amazing stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb2JTRk7ikk
Fur is nature's insulation.
While we're in that PC frame of mind, where can I get a good veal parm these days?
So go grow all the fur your
So go grow all the fur your follicles can pump out.
1950’s
and they’re boarding a bus to the Playboy club on Stuart Street.
Outside the Senior Center
The bus is outside what is now the Veronica Smith Senior Center, 35 Chestnut Hill Avenue in Brighton Center. Rourke's Drug Store is visible in the distance, on the first floor of the building with the corner tower. I am guessing sometime during the 1970's, Kevin White was big on events for seniors. It was know as the Municipal Building and used for various events and activities before it was turned into a senior center.
The Answer
Thanks for playing, folks! This is a seniors trip leaving from in front of the municipal building on Chestnut Hill Ave in Brighton. The photo was taken on December 29, 1972.
The senior center in the 1980s?
Given that we agree it's Brighton Center, the location to see those buildings at that angle (which are all still there in more or less that form) should correspond to the Veronica B Smith Senior Center, which conveniently enough wasn't built until 1982 or so, so unless it's a coincidence maybe something to do with that in the 1980s.