Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Sylvia Sweets Tea Room


[Sylvia Sweets Tea Room, corner of School and Main Streets, Brockton, Massachusetts, December 1940 or January 1941. Photograph by Jack Delano (1914–1997). Click for a larger view.]

Another beautiful photograph from the Library of Congress. It would be grand to cross the street (we have the light) and stand hatted and overcoated outside Sylvia Sweets.

What makes this photograph's 21st-century existence especially exciting is that Brocktonians have filled in some of the history of Sylvia Sweets and environs in their comments on the photo's Flickr page. (The Library of Congress information as to location was simply "industrial town in Massachusetts.") The Flickr contributors include William Wainwright, son of George L. Wainwright, whose law office was on the second floor of the building. (William practices law in Brockton in what is now a three-generation family firm, Wainwright and Wainwright.)

Don't miss the photograph in its original size, with the window signage at least partly readable. Fried clams, 40¢!

This photograph is one of the 4065 photographs that the Library of Congress has made available via Flickr. Wikipedia has an article on photographer Jack Delano.

Related posts
Library of Congress photographs
Orange crate art
Sylvia Sweets remembered

comments: 5

Lisa Johnson said...

Great information! Thank you for sharing. ; )

Genevieve Netz said...

What a great sidewalk scene. Look how the photographer kept the whole scene in sharp focus -- hardly a hint of blur, even though it was a rainy day and probably a bit dark.

I'm grateful that the LOC has made so many photos and documents available online. I've used the LOC website literally hundreds of times.

Michael Leddy said...

Thanks for reading and commenting, Anali.

Genevieve, you might want to look at the Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection at Indiana University. There are many good photographs of mid-century downtowns.

Bee Skelton said...

I just want to pop into Sylvia Sweets Tea Room for a cuppa Rosie Lee and a tea-cake. I'm English in case there's any doubt. I just love images like this!! Great blog ... I'll be back.

Michael Leddy said...

Thanks for reading and commenting, Bee.

I know a little rhyming slang, but I've never heard "Rosie Lee" — thanks for that too.