Ye Olde Oyster House (Union Oyster House), Boston, MA, circa 1930

Subject: Restaurants & Taverns
Card type: Linen
Date: c. 1930 (White Border)

Back of Ye Olde Oyster House (Union Oyster House), Boston, MA, circa 1930, Tichnor Bros. Inc., MA, USA, c. 1930 linen postcard — Back

About this postcard

Corner view of the red-brick Union Oyster House on Union Street near Faneuil Hall, with green-shuttered dormers, a green awning, and painted signs for the Union Oyster House and Ye Olde Oyster House. The restaurant has done continuous business since 1826, keeping its oyster bar and stalls in their original positions. Before that the building held Thomas Capen's silk store, 'At the Sign of the Cornfields,' and in 1769 Benjamin Thompson, later Count Rumford, was apprenticed there as a clerk. Louis Philippe, later King of France, lived on the second floor during his exile and taught French to prominent Bostonians. Isaiah Thomas published the Massachusetts Spy upstairs from 1771 until the fighting began in 1775, and Ebenezer Hancock, a Continental Army paymaster, kept headquarters in the building during part of the Revolution.

Postcard Details

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PublisherTichnor Bros., Inc.

Ye Olde Oyster House, 41 Union Street, Boston Your visit to Boston would not be complete with- out a call at the Historical Oyster House, which has been doing continuous business since 1826, with the same stalls and oyster bar in their original positions. On the second floor of this building lived Louis Philippe, afterwards King of France, during his exile, and here he taught the French language to many prominent Bostonians of the period. Previous to 1826 it had been the well-known store of Thomas Capen, importer of silks and fancy dress goods, and was known as "At the Sign of the Corn- fields." Thomas Capen succeeded his father, Hopestill Capen, with whom in 1769 Benjamin Thompson of Woburn, afterwards Count Rumford, was apprenticed as Clerk. Here at the same time the distinguished merchant, Thomas Parkman, learned his trade. In the upper part of this building, Isaiah Thomas published the "Massachusetts Spy," having for its motto, "Open to all parties, but influenced by none," from 1771 to the beginning of hostilities of the Revo- lutionary War in April, 1775, when it was moved to Worcester, Mass., where it was long known as the oldest paper in America in point of continuous service. During a part of the Revolutionary Period, Ebenezer Hancock, a paymaster of the Continental Army, had his headquarters here.

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Postcard record

Publisher	Tichnor Bros., Inc.
Series	72042
Condition	Very good
Place depicted	Tichnor Bros. Inc., Boston, MA
Place mentioned	Union Oyster House, 41 Union Street, Boston, MA
Place mentioned	Faneuil Hall, Boston, MA
Notes	Linen-textured stock with visible cross-hatch grain; thin white border at edges; long printed history text occupies the right half of the front; no handwriting. No postmark (unused card). Divided-back linen-era Tichnor card, printed stamp box "PLACE STAMP HERE / 72042 / MADE IN U. S. A."; no handwriting anywhere on the back.

Cite this card

Ye Olde Oyster House (Union Oyster House), Boston, MA, circa 1930, postcard, c. 1930. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/ye-olde-oyster-house-union-oyster-house-boston-ma-circa-1930. Accessed November 2, 2026.