Ten or so years ago,
I inherited a scrapbook from my mother. She had compiled it in the 1930s when
she lived with her parents and sister in the Boston area. The whole family
loved the theatre (not “theater,” mind you…); they went often, and my mother
pasted programs and flyers into her scrapbook faithfully—a perfect historical
record.
In 1936 or so, she
went to the Plymouth Theatre (on Stuart Street in Boston) to see “Boy Meets
Girl,” a new play in three acts by Bella and Samuel Spewack; she pasted the
program into her scrapbook—a program that contained advertisements for Boston
eateries, and there were plenty of them: Ye Old Pub (so close to the Plymouth
Theatre that they had a 2-minute curtain bell installed at the bar); Ye Old
Oyster House (right next door); the Copley Square Hotel bar; the Blue Room at the
Hotel Westminster, the Embassy…
…you went to the theatre, you went out
for a drink and/or a bite to eat afterwards.
That’s just what you did.
One of my mother’s
favorite places to go after a performance was the Hotel Touraine, a residential
hotel on the corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets in the theater district of
Boston—a big brick and limestone building with a café and bar.
The Café Royal had
luncheon plates for 55 cents; dinners cost 75 cents, and were served from 5
until closing. The Touraine also had (according to this flyer) “the most
beautiful cocktail bar in Boston,” although in November of 1936, my mother was
barely seventeen years old, so I doubt she was cruising the tables.
One of her possessions was a coffee server from the Hotel Touraine…I have no idea how she
got it (I can’t, in my wildest moments, believe she actually might have stolen
it). It’s heavy silverplate; it has “Hotel Touraine” and a manufacturing number
stamped on the bottom.
I keep it in my dining room, polish it
faithfully.
What a lovely coffee server. Let's assume your mother did not steal it. Let's assume the Hotel Touraine was upgrading their pieces or buying new and simply gave away the ones they no longer wanted. Yeah, that's it.
ReplyDeleteActually, Wendy...I'm kinda hoping she DID steal it; it would provide evidence of some rebellious behavior to an otherwise-obedient child...
DeleteOkay, let's suppose in another life she was a barely 17 year old waitress who stole the coffee server and then grew up to be quite the opposite of that younger version.
ReplyDeleteThat would work for me! And I'm thinking there's a novel in all this...
DeleteWonderful! I did not expect people to have this kind of ephemera, but clearly menus can have the same magic powers of preservation as old postcards and snapshots. I looked up the Hotel Touraine and read in its Wikipedia page that it closed in 1966. A closing-down auction/sale would be a good way (or a legit one if we follow Kristin's spin):-) to acquire that coffee server. That's how my mom picked up similar things.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if a relative got it for her? At any rate, I'm glad I've got it now...I think it's just lovely to look at...
DeleteThe coffee server is a treasure. I wonder if young people who scrapbook save menus. I hope so because they do tell a story of their times. Just back from Singapore, some of the restaurants had electronic menu things like ipads...hope this doesn't spread, even though the convenience can't be denie.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Helen...hope the electronic stuff doesn't take over; what would we do without stuff to collect?
DeleteOops. d.
ReplyDeleteShe might have actually purchased the coffee pot from the hotel. Sometimes they will sell admired things. I once admired a set of 2 glasses set out on our table and asked if I might purchase them, and they were offered to me for a fair price. It never hurts to ask! :)
ReplyDeleteNow THAT'S a perspective I never even considered. And it's possible, too. Thanks, Gail!
Delete