Sometime around 1954, photographer Leslie Jones documented the holiday decorations on many of the major downtown Boston department stores. Here are two of his photos of the corner of the Filene's building.
This photo with the tree as the focal point can be found at this link.
Here's the same view earlier this month. The canopy that held the tree is being renovated.
In this shot (found at this link), the two bottom bells of the Filene's carillon can be seen.
Here's a similar view today. While many things have changed, the flag for E.B. Horn Jewelers (founded in 1839) can be seen across Washington Street in both.
The Filene's Building
Bostonian's have a habit of clinging to old descriptions of places so, for a few more years, this will be known as the Filene's Building. It recently reopened after being empty and under construction since 2006. The current owners are referring to it as the Burnham Building.
Edward Filene commissioned this building for his department store in 1911-1912. It was designed by architect Pierce Anderson of D.H. Burnham & Company, the firm named for the renowned Midwest architect Daniel Burnham.
For PBS Masterpiece fans, Burnham also designed Selfridge & Co. Department Store, in London.
And, for twitter followers of Max Grinnel (@theurbanologist), Anderson was the architect for the Marshall Field and Company building in Chicago. Thus, we have another Chicago/Boston connection.
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: Photo today, © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino. Historic photos: Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection. (Used under creative commons license.)
