A 1964 Contact Sheet (And That's A Wig)

I spent the winter of 1963/64 in Boston freezing, taking some photos, partying, working at Zeff Photo Supply in "The Photo District" on Bromfield Street, and being thankful for public transportation. Besides freezing on that bike the streets would get slushy during the day and the ruts would freeze solid at night. Once you got in a rut you were like riding down a railroad track! You couldn't turn out of it. A friend of mine helped me schlep the little Honda up a flight of stairs where it remained until spring thaw. The other shots were in and around Borton and cambridge and no, I don't remember any of their names. It's all there on the contact sheet.

These days almost everybody shoots color with a digital camera, downloads the images into a computer, ant the little pictures on screen are called "thumb nails". This woman was sitting in My usual Starbucks looking over her day's take while her daughter looked thoroughly bored. She seemed very intrigued with the Roleiflex I was carrying, but even that didn't seem to pull her daughter out of her boredom. We talked for a few minutes about how she really likes black and white, and that digital pictures in black and white never seemed to look as good as those shot on film.

I left her with my card, suggested that we might meet up for coffee sometime and chat photography, but that she should finish her editing and get that poor bored little girl home as soon as possible. The girl smiled, but first she wanted to get one more look through the Rolleiflex's finder at the backwards image.

The Camera District, Bromfield St., Boston, 1964

Zeff was on the second floor of what was still Boston's "camera district". It was the "camera district" back in the 1930's when my dad lived in Boston. Zeff didn't need a ground floor location because it was a pro supply place, catering mostly to the portrait and wedding studios. You could buy frames and wedding albums, and they'd get the albums gold stamped with the bride and groom's names because the guy who did it was on the second floor right across the street.

It was a place where you could get replacement dark slides for your sheet film holders. They even knew where to send the holders to get the felt light traps renewed, or put new hinge tape on the flaps.

Ektacolor film was new at the time but they carried lots of B&W film and papers and chemicals by Ansco, DuPont, Agfa, Gavaert, Luminos, and of course Kodak. Sheet film was stocked up to 8X10 but a few customers had 8X20 and 12X20 "banquet cameras". Only one emulsion for them was in stock. I got my supplies at cost and got some great deals from the other dealers on the street. The repair guy across the street flash synched some old shutters for me at next to nothing.

Then Murray came up with this bright idea of switching health insurance companies. I wasn't on the plan because frankly for what they were paying me I couldn't afford it. The snag they had was that in order to set up "a group" they needed one more person, me. It would save them all a bundle compared to individual coverage. I ran the figures (never hire a bright stock boy!) and concluded that if they all got together and paid my premiums for me they'd all still be money ahead. So would I...LOL They didn't go for it.

I started asking around and within a week I had a new job in a photo lab, and it was $20 more a week. A decent amount back in 1964! Twenty bucks would buy a 500 sheet box of 8X10 Luminos paper or a 100 roll bulk pack of 120 Gevapan, and in either case you still had enough change for lunch and a pack or two of Camels.

That's Leo with his ever present pipe, and the two girls in the office, I can't remember their names. I guess it was Leo's brother-in-law, Murray, that co-owned Zeff with him. There was another guy, fiftyish, who was a salesman also. I was the stock boy, delivery boy, that sort of thing.

I shot the pix with my just purchased Minolta Autocord.

Boston ~ December, 1964, Cold, Snow, And A Warm New Wife

It was cold in Boston the winter of 1964. I'd been working at Zeff Photo Supply for about a year Before I worked there Joe Lopes worket there. Like me he was originally from New Beford although I didn't know him from there. He'd stop by Zeff on occasion, sometimes with his kid, shown in strip 706. Joe was best man at my wedding to Stephanie. The next three strips show my new bride Stephanie doing a taste test of that night's dinner. We had an apartment at 3 Willis Terrace, behind the Roxbury Courthouse.

Most of the other pictures are just depicting the snow on the Boston Commons.

I have no idea whatever happened to Joe. When my son Jonathan moved to the Boston area a few years ago he chacked out a few of my old haunts. Willis Terrace still has the same three story house behind the courthouse. Zeff long ago moved from 36 Bromfield Street, the old "photo district", to a new location out in the suburbs. Shortly after I took these pictures I got a new job in the photo lab at Boston Blueprint Company at 777 Boylston Street. The work wasn't as interesting, but I got a 33% boost in my income! I had a new wife to support.