Here’s a slide show of Newton from days of yore complete with a Blind Faith retro soundtrack.
It was all before my time here but I still loved seeing all the period details.
Newton trivia question – What’s that promotional photo of 1970’s TV show Starsky & Hutch doing in this Newton nostalgia compilation?
Answer: Paul Michael Glasier, TV’s Detective David Starsky came from Newton and his parents lived off Jackson St (Thanks Alison)
BTW – I just noticed that the Christmas day photo of Austin St in the thread below could be dropped seamlessly into this Newton-of-yesterday slide show.
Jerry,
I knew it! The actor has taken off the costume and finally come out.
One by one the NVA becomes less anonymous. But Newton was so old fashioned,.. Just look how we have progressed. Soon Newtonville will finally have caught up with Newton Corner. And West Newton is waiting in the wings.
Cool photos but very odd, creepy even, song choice, given that it’s about someone who has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction.
@blueprintbill – ???
I remember King’s! I think. That was on the east-west part of Waltham Street near the Waltham line, right? That was such a handy place.
The Barn, is what I remember from over there! And the guitar shop in NC! And the Cab station by the MTA tracks in Newton, I remember we had an acct there. Later I was surprised you actually had to pay for a cab! I thought all cabd were free!
Jerry,
You are a NVA member publishing something like this ? So retro,.. So old timey,..
Doesn’t this read as a call to keep, preserve the good old days?
That’s all .
Jerry, did you purposefully choose a song about struggling with addiction? Just wondering.
Julia, I believe King’s was actually between Watertown Street and California Street near the Watertown line. The store is where the Stop & Shop is now located. Actually, the first store was in the red brick building next to the newer building that houses the S&S.
I think you are thinking of Mass Hardware which was on High Street, which is what Waltham Street becomes when it crosses into Waltham. I agree that Mass Hardware was a good place for lots of different household needs. Kings had great toys for young boys and girls.
Julia,
Isnt it a shame we dont have some of those old buildings still among us ? I remember the old Newton North High school buildings,, and those beautiful old street front buildings at Newton Corner,.. And the toboggan slide at the Newton Centre Park,.. And the soon to be lost Humpty Dumpty at Cabot School.
Thank Mayor Mann for surplusing Hyde, Weeks, Warren, Claflin, etc into private hands ! They are becoming landmarks today. We tear down and throw away our legacy with such ease. In some circles its called Smart Growth.
What happened to Meadowbrook? I know one of the colleges bought it I think? I know Oak Hill was the Solomon Schecter school for a while, but then they sold it??
One of the most short-sighted, harmful decisions made by any Newton mayor in recent history.
Adam,
But those buildings are still standing, and in great shape. This city is bankrupt, it cannot / will not maintain it’s own property. Its time to sell off city hall ( like Boston ) and see it thrive as condos, a restaurant, commercial office space . Aldermanic Chambers might make a nice chamber music space, veterans hall could become a performing arts center. It’s replete with leaks, peeling paint, masonry buckling, entry stairs are crumbling, what else is to be done?
Fill in the pond in front and stack up some lovely mobile homes, put some underground parking under it and call it “the New City Hall” ! Brand new, the roof won’t leak for a few years, .. After all we all know new construction is less expensive than remodeling. That’s progress !
@Blueprintbill and Adam– I’ve heard this criticism of Mayor Mann, many times before. Frankly, I think you’re both way off base. In the period of time after Mayor Mann’s death, we watched every occupied school building in this city deteriorate due to lack of maintenance. So if you’re going to make that particular criticism of Mayor Mann, you should at least stipulate how you would have funded the maintenance of unoccupied school buildings for the 15-20 year period when we couldn’t even fund the buildings we were using. I’m sure Blueprintbill knows that maintaining an unoccupied building the size of Weeks or Warren, costs almost as much as maintaining an occupied building. Mayor Mann made a tough decision, but he made the right decision.
Patrick, you’re right. It was Mass Hardware in that spot that we were always going to. But I remember King’s, too, although that seems in the more distant past. like Barron’s in WN square.
Mike Striar, the point I am trying to make, is that our public buildings, school houses, libraries, and City Hall itself, are not at all well maintained, and that at least those formerly public buildings, now in private hands, ARE,… And seem to be thriving. The city can’t do that.
As it seems we are more in agreement than not, I’m not sure how far off base, in your judgement I may be. ???
Did the money leave Newton? I mean we were the premier school district in the state for a long long time. Why did they quit keeping up on the maintenance ?
Should Mayor Mann have sold off the school buildings,.. No! He dismantled and permanently damaged the school system and it’s formerly great reputation. But from the point of view of the cities architectural heritage it was agood thing he did.
Confusion abounds!
@blueprintbill – I have no connection with the Newton Village Association. In fact I have some significant difference of opinions with some of their positions. I think you’ve got the wrong guy.
@Ted Hess-Mahan – I didn’t put that montage together. Someone with the moniker “raffrif” posted it to YouTube in Oct 2014. Someone forwarded me a link this morning and I thought V14 readers might enjoy it.
As for the song, I suspect whoever put the slideshow together had no idea of the addiction theme and was just taking the refrain “I can’t find my way home” at face value.
FYI – this is not Jerry’s video, just one of those cool Newton-related things that he finds and shares with us. If you don’t know the story behind it and just listen to the lyrics/sound, it can easily be interpreted as a “longing for a home that’s no longer there” kinda thing…
@Blueprintbill– I certainly agree with you that the City, like many other municipalities, has historically done a poor job maintaining its buildings. That’s not even an opinion, it’s a fact. So how would the city have maintained vacant school buildings at a time when they weren’t even properly maintaining occupied ones? Those buildings like Weeks and Warren would have fallen into such disrepair over their 15-20 years of inactivity that they would have become decrepit shells, and the conversation today would be whether they could be saved at extraordinary cost [like the Newton Centre Library], or should be torn down and replaced [like Angier]. SoI think we agree those buildings are in better hands now.
But I still have to take issue with your comment that Mayor Mann “damaged” the school system and its “great reputation.” Our school system was at it’s very best when Ted Mann was mayor. It’s decline started when he died. In my opinion he was the greatest mayor in the history of the city, and unquestionably the best in my lifetime as a Newton resident.
A day late and a dollar short. Story of my life. Carry on.
Mike Strair,
Newton Schools may well have been at their apogee when Mayor Mann was in office, but it’s my understanding that it was his doing to surplus those schools, which compromised the walkable community / village school , and the system in general, which was one of the prime attractants for me in coming to Newton Highlands / Hyde School.
I think its safe to say he lost a few points in that game.
I think the song was chosen for the line “can’t find my way home” rather than the underlying meaning of the song. As in, the creator of the video can’t find the places that are gone. The video seems like someone’s deeply personal statement, not a political message (although this is V14 where the temptation is to give everything a political twist).
@Jerry– Amazing slide show. Now I know who I’ve been bidding against for Newton memorabilia on eBay. I enjoyed the soundtrack as well. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that my that my heart sank upon seeing the young man in the high school yearbook who was KIA, apparently near the end of WW2.
My Mom and Dad used to do date nights at the Totem Pole.
And all of the nostalgia makes me want to go for lunch at the Langley Deli.