Hotel Manger / Madison
The beginning
The Manger and The Gahden
The Manger and The Gahden
In its day one of the finest hotels in Boston, the hotel, adjacent to Boston's North Station, The Manger was opened in August 1930. It was named for Julius Manger, head of the New York hotel- development company that built it for $2.5 million. For several years during the mid-1930s the Manger was home to radio station WMEX (before it moved to the Kenmore Square area.) The postcard of the Manger (in the 1930s) is courtesy of CardCow.com
The Manger and The Gahden
The Manger and The Gahden
The Manger and The Gahden
Another postcard of the Manger and Boston Garden in better times
Connections
Playing the hits
Playing the hits
A 1939 ad for the Manger, touting its "direct entrance from Boston Garden"
Playing the hits
Playing the hits
Playing the hits
Posted in the WMEX Facebook Group this ad, from a late 1930s/early 1940s trade magazine, shows the office for one of Boston's first radio stations was initially in the old Manger
Radio in every room!
The "new" Central Artery has just opened
The "new" Central Artery has just opened
This wonderful matchbook is from Debbie Bourque. Her fine collection of matchbook covers - from hotels all over the United States - are for sale. Contact Deb here.
The "new" Central Artery has just opened
The "new" Central Artery has just opened
The "new" Central Artery has just opened
This 1952 photo demonstrates the intimate connection between the Manger and the old Boston Garden. Visible on the lower right is the famous "Last Tenement," a building that defied the wrecking ball and still tenaciously stands today just across the street from the wonderful West End Museum website
North Station 1930
North Station 1930
North Station 1930
The Manger played unusual, and sometimes sad roles in American history, as was explained in this article from Dissent Magazine on the "red Scare" of the 1950s: "Noted literary scholar F. O. Matthiessen [most known for his influential 1941 book "American Renaissance"] was one of five Harvard faculty members accused of belonging to “Communist front” organizations. In March 1951 he committed suicide by jumping from the twelfth floor of Boston’s Hotel Manger." Just three years later, according to Sport Magazine, it was in front of the Manger where boxer Ray Arcel "...was skulled by an imported slugger wielding a hunk of pipe on September 19, 1953..." this, after Arcel had run afoul of the Mob.
A story revealed
North Station 1930
North Station 1930
In December 2020 I was contacted by a deceased man's daughter who found this among his possessions. She was looking for a proper home for this hanger from the Manger, so I put her in touch with the folks at the wonderful West End Museum in Boston. I learned something from the owner of this simple coat hanger... that the Manger was just one of several hotels named for the developer, Julius Manger. I'd love to hear about the others in the chain, so please email me.
Manger to Madison to... the Fab Four
Manger to Madison to... the Fab Four
Manger to Madison to... the Fab Four
The hotel's name was changed to the Madison in 1958. Through its early life the hotel hosted NBA and NHL teams scheduled to play at the old Boston Garden, as well as performers such as the Beatles, who not only stayed here in 1964, but on September 12, 1964 held a press conference in the "Madison Room" of the hotel. It was at the press conference which three college students "crashed" and actually were able to ask the Beatles questions! Their hilarious story is told here, on the Beatles Ultimate Experience web site.)
She loved him (yea, yea, yea)
Manger to Madison to... the Fab Four
Manger to Madison to... the Fab Four
The March 6, 2022 Boston Globe featured a special section celebrating 150 years of its publication. Deemed worthy of inclusion was this additional tale of the Beatles press conference at the Madison Hotel.
Aunt Kay
Janet, a visitor to this website, wrote with this wonderful story which she said we could share: "I have many fond memories of being at this fine hotel as a young girl. My Aunt Kay Simmons was in housekeeping and I often went to work with her. She once placed me in a utility closet so that I would be able to touch the Rolling Stones as they got into an elevator! I can still see the look on Mick's face! Actually I touched each one of the Rolling Stones and I remember they all looked frightened of me because I popped out of this utility closet and startled them! My Aunt stressed that I couldn't tell anyone about it because they demanded privacy. (I believe my Aunt also was involved in the "numbers" back then too, she was quite the character!)"