I see in the comments that there is a lot of people assuming that Boston was so fighty because it was predominantly Irish. And although Boston in the 20th century was heavily Irish, that doesn't even begin to tell the story. Boston wasnt exactly a melting pot until around the 70s, but more a collection of various ingredients waiting to cook. Im half Greek and half Irish. I was born in 1978 and my siblings and 1st cousins are the first generation of mixed ethnicity children. I have one side all Greek and one side all Boston Irish. Before that, however, boston and greater Boston had towns. Neighborhoods, and regions of concentrated immigrants and culture. There were just as many Italians as Irish. When i was in school every kid was part irish or part Italian. Some part. But there were neighborhoods of Polish. Greek, Russian, entire towns of Orthodox Jews (Brookline). Hyperbole, but LARGE population of Orthodox jews there. Nevermind the Black neighborhoods, Hispanic and South American neighborhoods. If the largest wave of diverse Immigrants came here fleeing WWI, or pre war Imperial Europe, they defined their neighborhood with a Church. We have every religion here, as long as its Christian. A joke, but we had every kind of Church, built as the beacon and center of that countrys immigrant community. Coming here and dont know anything or anyone? Go to your church and you will find you people. What i have not mentioned is the huge background of predominantly British settlers that were here first. The Brahmin class. But they just existed in the background and ran shit. Boston is the most liberal city in American history that has not been destroyed by its liberalism. Close, but no san Francisco. Fuck that. We Are a perfect representation of the national identity. But man are we packed tight here. So before the state was entirely gentrified and the AVERAGE home was $1m, people from different places and countries and religions lived largely separated but very very close to each other. And every one of those cultures could be described as a "drinking" culture. It aint just thr Irish. Its cold here. Snow sucks. The roads were terrible. Everybody drinks. Before life here was easy. Life was tough. Downtown Boston, back bay, Newton. Wellesley, Weston…. There have always been very wealthy people in Boston. But thats not who came here in the 1900s. People had to jockey for positions and fight for survival in the literal sense. And if you came here poor, fleeing the royals and aristocracy of europe, where rebellion would see you killed, you could come here, nobody was legally better than you like in the rest of the world, and you could take whatever you could defend. Including your dignity. It takes a certain type of person to get on a ship for a month, packed like sardines with nothing in your pocket, land here knowing nothing and having a chance to do whatever you were capable of doing. There werena lot of first and second generation millionaires borne of hard work and a little bit of luck. Imagine showing up in a country where you don't speak the language and your grandchildren live like royalty from your home country? God bless America.
Yh I remember β that was the move back thenβππππππ
LMAO 2 of the best π―
A rat bouncer with taped hands is so badass
This is some of the most captivating conversation I've ever heard. I could listen to these Boston stories all day.
I see in the comments that there is a lot of people assuming that Boston was so fighty because it was predominantly Irish. And although Boston in the 20th century was heavily Irish, that doesn't even begin to tell the story. Boston wasnt exactly a melting pot until around the 70s, but more a collection of various ingredients waiting to cook. Im half Greek and half Irish. I was born in 1978 and my siblings and 1st cousins are the first generation of mixed ethnicity children. I have one side all Greek and one side all Boston Irish. Before that, however, boston and greater Boston had towns. Neighborhoods, and regions of concentrated immigrants and culture. There were just as many Italians as Irish. When i was in school every kid was part irish or part Italian. Some part. But there were neighborhoods of Polish. Greek, Russian, entire towns of Orthodox Jews (Brookline). Hyperbole, but LARGE population of Orthodox jews there. Nevermind the Black neighborhoods, Hispanic and South American neighborhoods. If the largest wave of diverse Immigrants came here fleeing WWI, or pre war Imperial Europe, they defined their neighborhood with a Church. We have every religion here, as long as its Christian. A joke, but we had every kind of Church, built as the beacon and center of that countrys immigrant community. Coming here and dont know anything or anyone? Go to your church and you will find you people.
What i have not mentioned is the huge background of predominantly British settlers that were here first. The Brahmin class. But they just existed in the background and ran shit. Boston is the most liberal city in American history that has not been destroyed by its liberalism. Close, but no san Francisco. Fuck that.
We Are a perfect representation of the national identity. But man are we packed tight here. So before the state was entirely gentrified and the AVERAGE home was $1m, people from different places and countries and religions lived largely separated but very very close to each other. And every one of those cultures could be described as a "drinking" culture. It aint just thr Irish.
Its cold here. Snow sucks. The roads were terrible. Everybody drinks. Before life here was easy. Life was tough. Downtown Boston, back bay, Newton. Wellesley, Weston…. There have always been very wealthy people in Boston. But thats not who came here in the 1900s. People had to jockey for positions and fight for survival in the literal sense. And if you came here poor, fleeing the royals and aristocracy of europe, where rebellion would see you killed, you could come here, nobody was legally better than you like in the rest of the world, and you could take whatever you could defend. Including your dignity.
It takes a certain type of person to get on a ship for a month, packed like sardines with nothing in your pocket, land here knowing nothing and having a chance to do whatever you were capable of doing. There werena lot of first and second generation millionaires borne of hard work and a little bit of luck. Imagine showing up in a country where you don't speak the language and your grandchildren live like royalty from your home country? God bless America.