Dirty Old Boston: Four Decades of a City in Transition

I grew up in the middle of Boston and went through twelve grades of public school there plus kindergarten. I worked at all sort of jobs in many areas of the city including Scollay Square which is now Government Center. In fact there is a two page spread of the building that housed the Casino Burlesque Theater and one of my employers, a garment factory on the floor where the "O" of the Casino blade sign may be seen. I was a delivery driver in Boston, a dock worker, a deli worker near South Station, and lived in Dorchester near Southie. I sold Fuller Brushes door to door. Also worked in a tobacco warehouse. Delivered newspapers and sold them on Sundays from a news stand. My after school jobs included setting pins in a bowling alley, making sub sandwiches, trueing bicycle wheels, and more.I left Boston in 1960 to take jobs outside of Massachusetts and outside of the USA as well. From time to time, I would return and note some of the changes taking place on the roadways, urban renewal, the new tunnel and more. The author did a great job of choosing from the multitude of photos and memories he must have on file. I shall have to spend some time on his web site. It feels good to curl up with a cup of coffee and this book and to revisit some old haunts and to be reminded of some of the culture and the verbiage, slang and in-your-face attitudes that make Boston Boston. Those who have walked the old, run down streets, the Combat Zone, Chinatown, and who rode the MTA (and I rode almost the entire system before I got out of high school), who swam in the polluted water of Carson Beach should get a kick of of this book. If you were born to late to have been there back then, this book can help you visualize what went before when you visit some of the locations where neighborhoods for the lower and middle classes once were bustling street scenes. Wherever you live in the old Boston, you are living on top of history.There are some inspiring street shots in the book. And the depiction of the growth of Logan Airport blew me away. I only go back to 1940. Can still recall the trop trains, the VE (Victory Europe) parade, and more.Still have some of my 1950s Brownie Hawkeye photos.Compliments to the author.

As someone who was born and raised in Boston, it’s been a mind-boggling & bittersweet past 15 years or so- so much of this city has changed, much of it to the point of it becoming unrecognizable. All of the places I used to hang out at in my “wasted youth” are either “new & improved” or just straight up GONE. Kenmore Square, for instance. GONE.So when my husband showed me the “Dirty Old Boston” Facebook page (I don’t ascribe to social media- yeah, I’m old school lol) I was overjoyed! I’m not old enough to remember a lot of the places in the much older photos, but many of the pics from the late ‘70s on brought back so many memories- big, small, long drawn out & “snapshot”- it was like a flood in my mind (in an awesome way, if that makes any sense...)Boston is such an interesting, storied, historical (officially as well as colloquially) place that I feel doesn’t really get the personal recollection it deserves- because it really is such a pivotal place in the history of the US, that type of historical relation tends to be the focus most of the time (I’m talking Paul Revere, the “tea party”, et al). But Boston has such an amazing history in many other respects. Music, architecture, DIVE BARS! Much of these aspects have been, if not demolished or erased, then SEVERELY ALTERED. Disrespect to the highest degree, IMO.This amazing book, much like the amazing FB page, is a must have for anyone- whether you’re from here or just like it here, I think you’ll get immense enjoyment from it- over and over again! I don’t personally know the author, but I gotta say, I can feel the love (not to mention he knows his stuff!) This man really did his homework and this is such a beautiful fruition! I really love it & if you love Boston, I KNOW you’ll love it too! Get it, it’s so worth it & then some!

I follow Dirty Old Boston on Facebook and love the pictures that I get to see daily. I purchased this for my 70 year old father for Christmas because he's always talking about his time when he was a young man living/working in Boston. He LOVED it. I think he looked through the entire book on Christmas day! It's a great coffee table book - one you can pick up and really observe all of the little facets of each picture. If you have a Boston lover in your family, get this as a gift!

My 77 year old father has been in the hospital the last few weeks. I bought him this book to help him keep occupied but also to help his memory. This book has been a lifesaver, literally. He's spent hours looking through the pictures of his childhood and remembering landmarks and stories. It's helped him heal in so many ways and helped us connect more as well. I'm hearing stories I've never heard before and his memory and mind are working as good as ever. This is such a great piece of Boston's history. Thank you for putting this book together. I can't thank you enough

This is a really great book if you grew up around here....you'd enjoy it anyway, but when you remember the old days when the Combat Zone was the Combat Zone and the Orange line was still the El, it really takes you down memory lane. I was proud to make the final cut, and am in a photo in the 80's section of me and GG Allin. If you are a GG fan, it's before he got so whacked, and looks all normal.....Anyway, as I was getting ready to leave my sister's on Christmas day, I saw my Dad pouring over the copy I gave him for Christmas and he looked like he was really enjoying it! Jimmy Botticelli did a great job of putting the book together. Thanks Jimmy!

Dirty Old Boston is a wonderful photographic tribute to the Boston of my youth. It captures the gritty, working class city during the post-war years until the late 1980's, when the city began to transform into the more modern place that it is today. Anyone who lived in Boston before the 1980's, especially, will appreciate the memories of places now long forgotten and the faded headlines that were sometimes associated with them. Dirty Old Boston is a family album for all of us who remember the Boston of days now long gone by, but not yet lost in the mists of personal memories.

Il libro è forse più indicato per coloro che abitano a Boston piuttosto che per il largo pubblico perché comprende molte illustrazioni di personaggi non famosi e scene di vita quotidiana. Nel complesso, comunque, offre una splendida panoramica dell'evoluzione della città di Boston dagli anni Quaranta agli anni Ottanta. Sebbene sia disponibile soltanto nel formato con la copertina morbida, mi pare comunque un prodotto ben confezionato e le pagine sono di alta qualità. Decisamente, un acquisto di cui non pentirsi.

米国でもっとも歴史のある都市の一つであるボストンの戦後４０年間の写真集。時代の変遷を映し出す街の風貌の変化が伝わってくる。プロのカメラマンの写真だけではなく、一般のボストニアンの写真も多い。「グッド・オールド（古き良き）時代の」ではなく、「ダーティ・オールド」という形容に、ボストニアンが抱く愛着が感じられる。