Congratulations to the winners of our Harvard Square history quiz

Congratulations to winner Javier Bastos, M.Ed. ’98, and honorable mention Carol Horne.

We received 147 entries to our Harvard Square history quiz. The winner, Javier Bastos, M.Ed. ’98,  a science teacher at McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland, submitted a flawless set of answers to the 13 questions. Bastos’s father has lived in Cambridge most of his life, and Javier has often escorted visitors from his Costa Rican family around  the Square. Each summer, he also teaches science and technology at the Crimson Summer Academy. Bastos wins a copy of Mo Lotman's Harvard Square: An Illustrated History Since 1950, the subject of "Pictures in the Square" (November-December 2009).

An honorable mention goes to Carole Horne of Dorchester, Massachusetts, whose entry was nearly perfect. Carole, a graduate of Stonehill College and Boston University, has worked at the Harvard Book Store in the Square since 1974.

The questions, and their answers: 

  1. What is the maximum number of gas stations that operated in Harvard Square at any one time since 1950? (Today, there are none.) (Five) 
  2. In what Harvard Square club did Joan Baez give her first concert, and how old was she at the time? (Club 47; she was 17)
  3. What is this man's name and what business did he own? (Sheldon Cohen; Out of Town News)
  4. What was the name of this bookstore and what was its motto?  (Paperback Booksmith; "Dedicated to the fine art of browsing")
  5. What is the name of this café? (The Blue Parrot)
  6. What is this man’s name and what kind of business did he run?  (Ralph Cahaly; a convenience store)
  7. What international soap chain began in the equipment room of the Brattle Theatre?  (Crabtree & Evelyn)
  8. What bookstore did the man on the right found in 1927?  (Gordon Cairnie; Grolier Poetry Bookshop)
  9. What now stands on the site of the original Design Research? (Gutman Library)
  10. What function did this building serve before it became a shopping mall, The Garage? (a parking garage)
  11. What is the name of this bar and restaurant? (Casablanca)
  12. What record album did Van Morrison write while living on Green Street in 1968? (Astral Weeks)
  13. What year did Leavitt & Peirce open? (1883)
Related topics
Harvard History

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