Ye Olde Oyster House (Union Oyster House), Boston, Massachusetts

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

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

About this subject

A corner view of the red-brick Ye Olde Oyster House (Union Oyster House) on Union Street in Boston, with green-shuttered dormers, a green awning, and painted signs reading "Union Oyster House" and "Ye Olde Oyster House." The right half of the card is filled with a long printed history of the building, from Louis Philippe's exile lodgings to Isaiah Thomas's Massachusetts Spy.

Postcard Details

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PublisherTichnor Bros. Inc.

UNION OYSTER HOUSE Ye Olde UNION OYSTER HOUSE EST. 1826 OYSTER HOUSE YE OLDE OYSTER HOUSE LIVE LOBSTER FRESH OPEN LOBSTER MEAT UNION OYSTER HOUSE ATWOODS OYSTERS CLAMS LOBSTERS Your visit to Boston would not be complete without 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 Cornfields." 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 Revolutionary 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. AIR COOLED AND CONDITIONED Branches: 122 CANAL ST. — 143 STUART ST. BOSTON, MASS. Ye Olde Oyster House, 41 Union Street, Boston --- UNION OYSTER HOUSE, Inc. Ye Olde Oyster House Since 1826 41 UNION STREET, BOSTON, MASS. Near Faneuil Hall Branches 122 Canal Street 143 Stuart Street Boston, Mass. POST CARD PLACE STAMP HERE 72042 MADE IN U. S. A. "TICHNOR QUALITY VIEWS" REG. U. S. PAT. OFF. MADE ONLY BY TICHNOR BROS., INC., BOSTON, MASS.

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Postcard record

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, Massachusetts, postcard, c. 1930. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/ye-olde-oyster-house-union-oyster-house-boston-massachusetts. Accessed October 5, 2026.