North Street

The above picture is of North st. in 1929. It had been beautifully decorated for an All Saints Day parade. The North End had a large population of Italian immigrants at this time. A 1906 Boston Globe article describes the annual tradition of fireworks, parades and feasts that Italian immigrants brought with them from Italy. The North End served as a place for them to come together and celebrate the Saints in a similar way as they would have in Italy.

Jones, Leslie. "North Street in the North End, decorated for Saints Day." Photograph. June 23, 1929. Digital Commonwealth, https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/5h73rd80j."OBSERVANCE OF SAINTS' DAYS: THE ITALIANS OF BOSTON CELEBRATE LOYALLY. MUCH MONEY SPENT ON FIREWORKS BY THE MANY SOCIETIES." 1906.Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Jul 22, 29. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www-proquest-com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/historical-newspapers/observance-saints-days/docview/500624996/se-2?accountid=11456. 
Boston (Mass.). "124 North Street." Photograph. May 20, 1930. Digital Commonwealth, https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth-oai:h415rw78n.The Boston Globe "ECONOMY AS STATE POLICY CAUSES UNUSUAL THINGS...BUSINESS TROUBLES". Daily Boston Globe (Jun 3, 1934). p.g A40. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Boston Globe.Ancestry.com. Heritage Quest, U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. https://www.ancestryheritagequest.com/HQA/CityDirectories"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RH8-77P?cc=1810731&wc=QZF3-GRP%3A648804401%2C649619901%2C649458701%2C1589284389 : 10 December 2015), Massachusetts > Middlesex > Somerville > ED 462 > image 19 of 32; citing NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002).

A. Albertelli & Co. Groceries

Anthony Albertelli and his wife Rina lived in West Somerville. Rina was an Italian immigrant and Anthony's parents were Italian immigrants (Family Search, 1930 Census). This was his grocery store at 124 North St. (pictured here in 1930) The 1933 street widening demolished this building. And in 1934, A. Albertelli & Co. had an involuntary petition of bankrupcy filed against them for claims of $1423 (The Boston Globe, 1934). Despite the demolition and subsequent bankruptcy claims, Albertelli moved his grocery store right down the street. His grocery store was listed at 145 North st. in the 1935 and 1936 City Directories. By 1938, Albertelli must have closed his grocery business, as he became the president and treasurer of Owen's Tavern Co. instead (Heritage Quest, City Directories).  

Historic New England. Billhead for Fitz, Dana & Co., metals, iron, steel, tin plates, 110 North Street, Boston, Mass., dated September 24, 1907. Ephemera Collection.  https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/259497/Historic New England. Billhead for Fuller, Dana & Fitz, importers of tin plates and metals, 110 North Street, Boston, Mass., dated October 24, 1884. Ephemera Collection. https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/259275/

Fuller, Dana & fitz Importers of tin plates and metals

This metal importing business was located at 110 North St. The pictures on the left are original billheads (receipts) for customer orders. The first one is from 1884. And the second one is from 1905, when the business was just Fitz, Dana & Co. A real estate transfer lists them as still leasing 110 North st. in 1920 (The Boston Globe, 1920). 

The Boston Globe "Real Estate Transactions: Valuable Property In the North End is Sold". Boston Daily Globe (Jun 16, 1920). p.g 5. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Boston Globe.

Hathi Trust Digitical Library. "The Boston Directory. 1882/83 PT.3." https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c050780900&view=1up&seq=470National Diagram Bureau, Insurance maps of Boston volume one (1882). Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library. COLD STORAGE PIONEER DEAD: George H. Stoddard Passed Away This Morning Boston Daily Globe (May 20, 1925); p. A6. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Boston Globe .BOSTON'S BIGGEST ICE CHEST: Cold Stotage Plant Has 17 Warehouses and ... Boston Daily Globe (Jan 17, 1915) pg. 45. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Boston Globe.

The first picture is an 1882 advertisement for The Mechanical Refrigerating Company. It was the, first company in Boston to create a warehouse for a complex system of insulators for refrigerated foods (The Boston Globe, 1915). George Stoddard is known for helping to bring the new invention of refrigeration for storing food to Boston (The Boston Globe, 1925). He was sometimes known as the "father of Boston's cold storage system" (The Boston Globe, 1915).

The second picture describes it as a refrigerator/perishable goods warehouse on an 1882 map.