When Downtown Crossing had Christmas Magic

When I was a child growing up in the late 1950's, the area now known as Downtown Crossing was magical starting the day after Thanksgiving and people came from all over New England to see the sights.

                Jordan Marsh had this huge Nativity scene on their facade on Summer Street.

        Windows at Jordan's along Washington Street rivaled anything you could find in Manhattan

                   Washington St near Franklin was the home of Raymond's Department Store

                   Jordan's arch rival Filene's also went all out with windows that would dazzle

The Boston Common went all out as well - these decorations were holdovers from when James Michael Curley was the Mayor and he wanted to remind the State House that Boston was very Catholic.

This is a small part of the Boston that existed in the years after World War II.

I would like to thank the MIT Rotch Library for allowing me to share these photos with you.

Their entire collection of Boston circa 1955-64 is on Flickr. It captures Boston of that era.