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We are only TWO WEEKS AWAY from Kathy Alpert's Book Talk Lost & Found: Historic Boston in Postcards. Explore Boston's 20th century history through the novel, visual (and mail-able!) lens of postcards! Get tickets by clicking the link in our bio.

#TheWestEndMuseum #Boston #PostCards #AuthorTalk #BookTalk #SpecialEvents by @thewestendmuseum

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a month ago

Join us tomorrow at the Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History from 10-3 in Weston, MA for a spectacular postcard show. We'll have postcard dealers from MA, NH, RI, ME and NY. And it's free. 🎉 by @thewestendmuseum

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2 years ago

Don't you just love Mr. Potatohead's expression? Here's a taste of the copy (some of which gets cut off because of formatting issues with Insta.🥹):

"A word to the wise is sufficient. Use the Bay State Fertilizer manufactured by The Clark's Cove Guano Company of New Bedford, MA."

Sample copy from flip side: "Very flattering reports are received daily from those who have given it a trial."

For those who aren't familiar, trade cards, distributed at the point of purchase, were popular during the last quarter of the 19th century. Their fantastic imagery and sometimes brilliant chromolithography made them both an easy sell and a hot ticket. If you can find a scrapbook full of trade cards, you've struck gold. They're becoming more popular as a collectible recently. With me, anyway.

#newbedford #newbedfordma
#mrpotatohead #mrpotatoehead #baystatefertilizer by @thewestendmuseum

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2 days ago

The Merry-Go-Round at Boston’s Copley Plaza Hotel in the 30s after the repeal of Prohibition, and after an update in the 60s, when the hotel was briefly known as the Sheraton Plaza. The hotel changed hands several times during the 20th century. Its owners included the John Hancock Insurance Company and Saudi prince Al Waleed bin Talal and Olympus Real Estate.

#merrygoround
#carousel
#fairmontplaza by @thewestendmuseum

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3 days ago

Japanese matchbox cover art in the Art Deco. Found at Allentown.

#japanesematchboxlabel
#matchboxworld
#allentownpapershow by @thewestendmuseum

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3 days ago

The Hotel Essex was one of the finest hotels in Boston when it opened next to the South Station at the turn of the 20th century. Along with other hotels of its stature - the Brunswick in Back Bay and the Madison (previously Manger) next to North Station/Boston Garden - the Essex closed as a hotel in the mid-20th century. The Brunswick and Manger/Madison Hotels were both demolished, but Hotel Essex’s building survived and lives on as the Plymouth Rock building at 695 Atlantic Avenue.

#hotelessex by @thewestendmuseum

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6 days ago

With an interior far more glamorous and visually arresting than the building's fortress-like exterior, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is known for its lush greenery and floral displays along with its priceless paintings, architectural elements, and antiques. And of course there was that little mishap that resulted in a few literally empty frames. I'd always thought the actual "palace" itself had been transported from Europe. Apparently, that is a common misconception. While in Europe, though, Ms. Gardner did some serious shopping for decorative and architectural elements and fragments, personally overseeing the building process.

From my collection of Boston postcards: The Court: West Path, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

#gardnermuseum
#vintagepostcard by @thewestendmuseum

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9 days ago

Artist Michael Bourque at the opening of his show at FP3 Gallery in the Seaport. Click through to see closeups of some of the very cool textures in Michael’s paintings.

#michaelbourque
#fp3gallery taken in Boston, Massachusetts by @thewestendmuseum

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11 days ago

Most people recall the "Rat" in Kenmore Square (1974-1997), but there was another Rathskeller on Hanover Street on the edge of Boston's original Haymarket Square (1907-1935). At the time, Hanover Street was a gateway between Scollay Square and the North End. This Rathskeller was located inside a hotel, the New American House. There were decorative murals, carved woodwork, and the place had a jovial beer hall atmosphere. The restaurant closed when the hotel was demolished in 1935. Today the JFK Federal Building occupies the site. by @thewestendmuseum

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13 days ago

LOST & FOUND: HISTORIC BOSTON X WEST END MUSEUM

It was a full house for last night’s book talk at the West End Museum. Jaydie Halperin was a huge help and great fun to work with. Thanks to my friends Joni Lee Catherine Rossi, Beth Carroll-Horrocks, Janet Steins and Lauri-Jo Kotzen for being there. I also made two new ones, including culinary sage Richard Gutman whom I’ve admired from afar. Postcards are dazzling when projected on an entire wall. The image shown here is of Boston’s Scollay Square around 1906. There were laughs, applause, and I may have even recruited a member or two for the New England Postcard Club. Boston’s West End Museum is a gem. Among its holdings are seats from the late, great Boston Garden. Also on display at the West End Museum is a trunk brought to the West End by a Polish immigrant in the late 19th century. Equally compelling: a piece of the facade from the now demolished Hotel Manger next door. The Beatles stayed at the Hotel Manger when they performed at Boston Garden in 1964 and I’m here to tell you I was at that show. By then, it was known as the Hotel Madison.

#westendmuseum
#historicboston
#postcards taken in Boston, Massachusetts by @thewestendmuseum

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16 days ago

Fun at the beach, ca. early 1900s

#bathingbeauties #vintagepostcard #beachlife by @thewestendmuseum

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20 days ago

Animated postcard created by my friend @dotinaseurat with the assistance of Grok using a card from my personal collection.
#animatedpostcard #fourthofjulyweekend🇺🇸 #grok #postmarkpress by @thewestendmuseum

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21 days ago