A Visual History Of Boston’s Combat Zone
Photographs used with permission from the artists.
WBUR’s Lisa Tobin co-produced and edited this story.
Related Links:
WBUR Topics
- Beacon-hill »
- Mass. Lawmakers Agree On Wind Energy Permits Bill
- Officials: Mass Lawmakers Weigh 3 Casinos, 2 Slots
- Indie Auto Mechanics Fight For ‘Right To Repair’
- Commentary »
- Remembering Journalistic Icon Daniel Schorr
- Half-Hearted Hooligans Cheer On Fútbol At Fenway
- Lester Is Pitching To Join Boston’s Great Hurlers
- Crime-justice »
- Mass. Retirement Board To Appeal On DiMasi Pension
- Civil Rights Advocates Say FBI May Be Profiling
- Icy Sidewalks Ruling Could Be A Slippery Slope
- Election-2010 »
- Political Damage Done In Kerry Yacht Controversy, Analyst Says
- Vote For Good Lookin’: Candidates’ Appearances Affect Election Results
- Cahill Outlines Bill To Ban Credit Checks In Hiring
- Energy »
- Coalition Sues Feds For Approving Cape Wind
- Mass. Study: Wood Power Worse Polluter Than Coal
- Patrick Signs On To Wind Energy Consortium
- Environment »
- Swimmers Cautioned After Chatham Shark Sightings
- Groups Criticize State’s Bottled Water Spending
- Proposal To Ban Lobstering From Mass. To NC Killed
- Media »
- Mass. Newspaper Erects Commenter Paywall
- Remembrance: Longtime Boston TV Newsman John Henning Dies
- Ann Curry Apologizes For Confusing Wheaties
- Religion »
- Boston Advocates: New Vatican Rules On Punishing Clergy Abuse Fall Short
- Dioceses Oust Abusers They Had Pledged To Monitor
- Theology School For Religions To Form In Mass.
- Swine-flu »
- FAQ: Swine Flu Vaccine Availability
- Mass. Lifts Swine Flu Vaccine Restrictions
- Study: Swine Flu Is Relatively Mild Virus After All
WBUR Program
- Friday’s Show
-
Week In Review: Casinos, Kerry’s Boat, War Funding
Is a gambling bill on the verge of passage? Did Sen. John Kerry try to dodge state taxes by docking his yacht in Rhode Island? Are the state's congressmen turning against the war in Afghanistan? Our panel discusses the news of the week. More...
- 65 Years After The USS Indianapolis
- In Newburyport, A Bee-Happy Boy
- Concerns For The Sea Mix With Music In ‘Ocean Voices’
Most Popular
- Looking Out: Pre-Teens Set Sail In Outward Bound
- Veterans Groups Struggle To Attract Young Soldiers
- Swimmers Cautioned After Chatham Shark Sightings
- Weekend ‘Tea Party’ Steeps Boston In Poetry
- Boston Fed: Cash Use Subsidizes Card Use
- Shark Map Update: Sightings Off Chatham
- Icy Sidewalks Ruling Could Be A Slippery Slope
- Diagnosing Alzheimer’s Earlier
- Plans For Kennedy Senate Institute Unveiled
- Your Olive Oil May Not Be The Virgin It Claims
- Looking Out: Pre-Teens Set Sail In Outward Bound
- Your Olive Oil May Not Be The Virgin It Claims
- (N)Ole! Spanish Region Says Adios To Bullfighting
- Diagnosing Alzheimer’s Earlier
- Veterans Groups Struggle To Attract Young Soldiers
- Weekend ‘Tea Party’ Steeps Boston In Poetry
- Boston Fed: Cash Use Subsidizes Card Use
- Concerns For The Sea Mix With Music In ‘Ocean Voices’
- Life Insurance Firms Profit From Death Benefits
- Study: Probation Ineffective, Wasting Money
- Looking Out: Pre-Teens Set Sail In Outward Bound
- Using An Alias At Starbucks
- Weekend ‘Tea Party’ Steeps Boston In Poetry
- Job Loss — And Zombies — Hit The Stage
- Ousted Evangelical Reflects On Faith, Future
- Veterans Groups Struggle To Attract Young Soldiers
- Dr. Atul Gawande: Make End Of Life More Humane
- Vote For Good Lookin’: Candidates’ Appearances Affect Election Results
- Icy Sidewalks Ruling Could Be A Slippery Slope
- Jay Roach, Steve Carell Pair Up For 'Schmucks'
WE NEED A NEW COMBAT ZONE WITH FRESH MEAT .
HOW DO WE KEEP PRICES DOWN A SUCH A PLACE?
To this day, I miss the Combat Zone. As a young man in the late sixties, it, to me, was by far the most exciting place in Boston, if only to sit in King of Pizza and people watch. I actually got my start in music playing drums (believe it or not) on Sunday afternoons in the Two O’clock Lounge. Back when they had a cheesy organ and a backbeat to “take it off ” to!
What a mysterious, film noir kind of feel the place had. I was always comfortable there, except I NEVER wanted to walk up LaGrange St. at night. That place gave me the creeps. I think the fact “The Zone” was on the edge of the equally “mysterious” Chinatown lent it an even deeper sense of intrigue.
Love looking at the old photos–they bring back a lot of fond memories.
[...] back.’ And they’ll come in. Just like 25 years ago, they wouldn’t go near the Combat Zone and now you barely hear about it because the opera house. It’s the theater [...]
[...] back.’ And they’ll come in. Just like 25 years ago, they wouldn’t go near the Combat Zone and now you barely hear about it because the opera house. It’s the theater [...]
[...] If you’re insulted by Men’s Health magazine ranking Boston the soberest city in the nation, get yourself over to the Boston Combat Zone: 1969-1978 photo exhibit at the Howard Yezerski Gallery in the South End. It’ll cheer you up with images of hookers, strippers and guys driving around in muscle cars drinking Schlitz. Hurry — you only have until March 16 to catch the show, which WBUR profiled nicely on the web and the airwaves with A Puritan City’s Experiment in Adult Entertainment. [...]
I was a costume designer in the Combat Zone, among other places, from the early 80s until the late 90s. I loved my work and felt that the Zone was an opportunity for me to make and sell the weird things I usually came up with just for fun. The women I met through my job were mostly wonderful, intelligent individuals who wanted an alternative way to make a living. It was, of course, not for everyone. No one talks about the strength, both physical and mental, that is necessary to endure the stress of such a job. Where else could one make such a good living for doing 4 aerobic workouts a day?
I saw women who worked consistently at the clubs go on to open their own businesses, put themselves through college, and attain a level of independence not possible in the 9 to 5 thing. Sure, there was an element of sleaze but it tended to be in the eye of the beholder, as one makes of oneself what they would have in any occupation. If you use your head in your life, you will do so in this extraordinary situation as well.
I was sad when I realized that the show was over as far as the main source of income for me, but I always knew that the position was temporary. I still make weird stuff.
Right, the Combat Zone was quaint. No drug/alcohol-addicted street people, no hookers, no violence, no objectification of women. Nothing that might damage a young woman’s sense of self, everyone was there for fun and positive experiences. And everybody went there to see the high-class dancing. Of course.
Right, the Combat Zone was quaint. No drug/alcohol-addicted street people, no hookers, no violence, no objectification of women. Nothing that might damage a young woman’s sense of self. And everybody went there to see the high-class dancing. Of course.
Right, the Combat Zone was quaint. No druggies, no hookers, no pimps; everything was above-board and charming. Nothing that would damage a young woman for the rest of her life. Nothing that would objectivize a female. And everybody went there for the high-class dancing. Of course.
Back in the 60’s I loved the combat Zone. They had some great bands play there. I met my husband in Jerome’s in 1966. He was on the USS Wasp. We were married 33 years before he died. My friends and I always felt safe in Jeromes. We went back after it all changed to adult sleeze. we hated it and never went back.
The ‘Zone’ represents memories of my youth in terms of a place not to go because of the rough characters that hung out there. As I got older, I’d take a long peek now and then and found out that there was more than just a handful of sleazy people and drunks, but also employees of TNMC and other decent business people walking to their jobs. Sadly, women office workers would get hassled by ‘legitimate businessmen’(usually morons who thought that they were something) assuming that they were prostitutes, just because they were heading to and from the medical center.
I grew up mostly in the suburbs and for the guys who had younger brothers, the ‘Zone’ was a place to take them on their 18th birthday. Supposedly, the experience they received there would make ‘men’ out of them. If they weren’t lying about the time they spent there, they probably came back with a good case of the Clepp or VD. Dummies. That was the mindset of the mid to late 70’s. Thanks for the memories, Combat Zone. Good riddance!
[...] http://www.wbur.org/2010/02/19/combat-zone [...]
The Combat Zone had a certain amount of mythic power. Back in the 70’s a friend of mine died of a heart attack. He was in his thirties. In reality, he died on the dance floor at Dance Free. Some time later, he came to me in a dream and intimated that he had been murdered in the combat zone. It seemed better for his myth, as if that was how he’d rather be remembered. So now, when I think of him, I am as likely to think of the Combat Zone as I am to think of Dance Free.
Fantastic collection of articles and photographs that really bring this place/period in history to life! The graphic artist in me also appreciated the layout/presentation. Much love to WBUR!
I was on board the USS Wasp 1959-1961. I loved the combat zone and the salvation army. I use to go in 4 different bars, 18 yrs old. Bar maids would take me to the back and give me a beer,with sandwich. I went into a bar off Washington street,a guy at the bar wanted to buy me a beer, the bartender(friend) threw me out. I came by later in the day, he said there was hit out on the guy.
I was known as Julie Jordan/Miss Bicentennial one of the Headline acts at The Mousetrap from 1975 to 1978. – Since everything was red, white & blue in Boston I jokingly suggested to my costume designer, Hedy Jo Starr, that we have a patriotic stripper. She came up with an amazing 10 piece costume complete with top hat, cane, and a bolero cape. That chapter of my life was exciting, fun and very interesting. I was the baby who entered the world of Burlesque in it’s last days of existence. It was a job that was marred by shame and judgment by family,friends and some of the clientele. When asked by anyone outside of the Combat Zone “what do you do for a living? I had to carefully weigh my answer. Do I lie or go through their reaction of shock, judgment and questions. I met many wonderful women and customers and let’s not forget the bartenders who took care of us in their own ways. To this day I am very dear friends with 4 of the gentlemen I met at The Mousetrap. I feel lucky to have experienced a chapter of my life in Boston’s notorious Combat Zone. A place and time in history that will never be again. It was dark and light and full of characters. It was like living in a movie set except the dramas were real. It was a real privilege! You can write me: julie713@cox.net