Walk Like a Cantabrigian

From Dave Brigham:

I've been through Central Square in Cambridge, Mass., approximately one million and seventy-eight times in my life, but recently I actually had a camera with me and snapped some random photos.

I don't want to bury the lead, so I'm gonna start with the most stunning building I saw on my short trip.

This is the former headquarters of the Cambridge Mutual Fire Insurance Company. I believe the completion date for this gorgeous edifice was 1890. On August 4, 1888, the Cambridge Chronicle published drawings and information about the yet-to-be-built headquarters. Located on the site of a former stable, the fire insurance building was constructed by Howard Coon & Company. The building now houses a coffee shop, an organic cafe and a hair salon, among other businesses. Cambridge Mutual was acquired in 1913 by The Andover Companies.

Almost directly across the street from the grand old fire insurance building is the Cantab Lounge, which, despite what its terrible-looking web site might lead you to believe, is actually still open. A dive bar that features a regular roster of dance bands, blues jams, poetry slams, bluegrass and folk music, the Cantab has been open since the dawn of time. Approximately.

A quick jog away from the Cantab is the Cambridge YMCA.

Built in 1905, the Y offers all sorts of health and wellness services, as well as a 128-unit, substance-free, affordable housing facility operated by Caritas Communities. Below is a shot of a window at the YMCA, with the organization's logo, which was adopted in 1896.

From the Greater Green Bay YMCA, here's some history about the logo:

"In 1878, the Eighth Conference of the World Alliance of YMCAs met in Geneva, Switzerland, and had on its agenda the creation of a 'distinctive international badge of the Associations.'... Three years later at the Ninth Conference in London, the alliance approved...[a] circle, depicting the oneness of mankind, divided at its outside edge into five segments bearing the names of five parts of the world as they were described at the time: Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and America: separated by small decorative scrolls called cartouches 'upon which can be read in many languages the initials of our title, YMCA.'

"Inside the circle are the first two letters of the word Christ. The Greek letters Chi and Rho (XP) form the ancient symbol that early Christians painted on the walls of the catacombs. It was used by the Y to remind all that Christ was at the center of the movement. Finally an open Bible was added 'both because this divine book is the weapon of warfare which St. John gives to young men, and because it's the distinguishing mark of the great Reformation.'

"[In 1891] Luther H. Gulick, who revolutionized sports and physical fitness at the YMCA, proposed a red equilateral triangle as a symbol.... It was adopted immediately by Springfield College. The sides of the triangle, Gulick said, stood for 'an essential unity: spirit, mind, and body: each being a necessary and eternal part of man, being neither one alone but all three.'

In 1895, the annual convention of the U.S. and Canadian Ys authorizes adding the triangle to the old World Alliance Insignia. In 1896, the logo is simplified and a second ring is added. It is said the second ring represents friendship and love without end among individuals. This remains the Y's official emblem."

The YMCA's housing is substance free, but the next two places on my walk are decidedly not.

The People's Republik is a "Russian Communist-themed bar decked out with bombs & propaganda posters & offering casual fare," according to Google. Here we see Comrade Elvis Presley.

Just up the street is the Dana Hill Liquor Mart, with this amazing sign.

My last stop on this short tour is Pill, Inc. Hardware. The store was incorporated in 1931, per this online document. I dig this sign, too.

I plan to visit Central Square again before too long to shoot some more.