Shopping Days in Retro Boston presents.....A Proposal for Today

Hello, My Fellow Retro Boston Lovers!

Today I am pleased to present a rather unique and very exciting update!
Elizabeth Fuller contacted me a while ago and thanked me for all the helpful information contained on my retro Boston blog. She also spoke of a very creative thesis project that she was about to embark on at the University of Notre Dame....a new design for the old Filene’s site in Boston.

Well, I was thrilled! I told Elizabeth that my readers would love to see her ideas and to please share them as soon as her project was completed. She said yes....and now...here it is!!

I normally focus on Boston’s rich and wonderful past....but with the downtown Boston of today in search of its identity and roots....it’s time to look at new options. Options that are creative, provocative and....AND.....in keeping with its impressive retro tapestry of the past!!!

I know that some readers will view Elizabeth’s ideas as far too extravagant, but I feel the original Burnham building deserves every penny used to preserve and develop it and the adjacent area.

Look at the expense and labor that went into bringing the 1930’s treasure, The Paramount Theater, back from its decay and disuse.

Boston needs ideas....ideas that respect and preserve its past. Elizabeth brings to the table just that philosophy...and with a touch of delightful retro style that Boston so desperately needs!

Bravo, Elizabeth!! Thank you for sharing your insight and creativity. I have no idea what you grade you received for this well conceived and artfully designed project....BUT....I give you a well earned... A+!!!!



Here are Elizabeth’s own words and renderings to present here outstanding project:






The Franklin Shops
A Department Store for Downtown Crossing
Boston, Massachusetts
Spring 2011

I chose to design the Franklin Shops Department Store for my thesis at the University of Notre Dame because it is a real project that involves an additional challenge of historic preservation on the site. I proposed a building that respects the architectural character and scale of its surroundings.

The building is located in a dense urban area of Boston's shopping district, Downtown Crossing. It is adjacent to Daniel Burnham's Filene's Department Store. I chose this location because the partially demolished urban block is where a new shopping center will be built in the future and I wanted to offer an alternative to the proposed design.

The department store revolves around a dramatic progression on the ground level: a five-story atrium off of the main entrance, a one-story central circulation space, and a three-story stairhall with a curved staircase leading to the second floor of the Burnham building.

One of the design goals of the Franklin Shops is to make it a boutique department store with much more intimacy and permanence than today's warehouse department store design. Eight floors of shopping connect on each level to the adjacent Burnham building. The building also connects on the ground level to my design for the renovation of an early 20th century mid-rise on the site. I also designed a new subway entrance for the plaza on Franklin Street.






















Boston planners and developers take note.....Elizabeth Fuller wants to your complete attention...invite her to your next meeting!!!


Charles:-)



PS....Don't forget....I am still working on my Jordan Marsh memory project. Write me!!!!


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Retro Lunch at Schrafft's in Boston....Very Tasty!!

Hello, My Fellow "HUNGRY" Retro Boston Lovers!

A recent email from Ed got me back in my “Sherlock” mode again and I began yet another investigation into the wonderful retro past of our dear Boston.

Ed recalled fondly the delightful concept of a full day shopping plus having lunch out while “in town”. He was keen to know more about the once legendary Schrafft’s and its various locations in the Boston area. So....I took a big bite into the retro world of "Boston at lunch"...and what a “sweet” mouthful it was!


















Schrafft’s, for me, will forever be a box of delicious chocolates in fancy wrappings...for those older than me....it will be the Schrafft’s Stores which contained an amazing patchwork of soda fountain, full-service restaurant , bar and a huge candy and baked goods display. The various shops came in different sizes but each contained most of the above features in some way. In Boston, Schrafft’s on West Street was the main location. The 1920’s building, designed for the company, was a gold star example of what eating out “in town” was all about!

Note the wonderful scans of the plans for the West Street shop....nothing left out!
Schrafft’s Stores became the place in Boston to rent function rooms and hold annual meetings and be looked after in style.

The company was a great Boston success story and began as a simple local candy making establishment in 1861. The company grew with the addition of new leadership and began the venture into the world of candy shops and restaurants in the early 1900’s. New York City became the place for the first few locations but Boston soon followed with two locations....one on Summer Street and the other on West.
New York City was filled with Schrafft’s locations by the late 1930’s and Boston would have further stores added as well, they included two on Boylston Street, one on Milk Street and another in Cambridge on Brattle Street. Another in Brookline would open during the next decade and that would be seven stores in total by 1950 in and around Boston!

The business boomed and eating at one of the Schrafft’s Stores in Boston was part of the “in town” experience for thousands of shoppers from the early 1900’s right up until the early 1970’s.

Schrafft’s was known as the kind of place you could see a refined old lady sipping a cocktail at one table, a group of suits lunching and talking shop at another and a gaggle of kids licking ice cream cones over at the counter....something for everyone and at prices all could afford.

It’s fun to note that all the Boston locations were shut on Sundays except the one at 356 Boylston Street in the Back Bay. Why? Back in those days the Back Bay was so full of church goers that needed lunch after all the many Back Bay churches released their crowds, that any restaurant in this area would have been foolish not to “make hay while the sun shines”!







Schrafft’s last big Boston venture was the opening of its Prudential Center branch in the mid-1960’s. The venture was costly since the Prudential Center did not really take off as planned....and like so many legends of retro Boston retailing...the 1970’s economy hit hard and business began to decline.
All the locations in Boston were closed by 1973 and the large space in the Prudential Center became The Ground Round in late 1974. New Yorkers would also see the demise of their Schrafft's restaurants & stores during this decade as well.






Please enjoy this fond look back at one of the most beloved eateries of retro Boston and thanks to Ed for making his request and sending me on a totally tasty trip back in time!!


Charles:-)

ps....A BIG THANK YOU to Jan for sending me this Schrafft's in Brooklyn
menu scan from 1931!!!! Tasty selections indeed!!!!


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