and she’d always wear these white blouses with a high white collar behind her neck.” Her clothes were maybe a little out of date, but they were always pressed without the slightlest wrinkle. Her hair was pulled back and her make-up was always perfect. “She was an older woman, and so prim and proper looking. “Vivian was the bartender,” Carrie recalled, “I don’t think I was ever at that bar when Vivian wasn’t working.” One particular night, Carrie had stopped at Playland with some of her girl friends. “I couldn’t get him to leave,” she laughed now, “We were there for over three hours, and Joel knew the words to every single song.” “More than one of them would have their heads on the bar as the night went on.”Ĭarrie told about the night she took Joel to Playland with her, and how he embarrassed her by singing louder than anyone. “Tons of make-up, lots of gaudy jewelry and ill-fitting dresses that sparkled.” “You would look down the bar and most of the customers were old, kind of broken-down transvestites,” Carrie said. His music inspired loud, off-key sing-along chorusing and occasionally even drew a quiet tear from the motley crew huddled at the bar. but they had this wonderful piano bar upstairs and everyone would sing along.”Īpparently the old man tinkling the keys upstairs played every show tune in the book. “Playland was turning into a transvestite hang-out,” Carrie explained, “Of course there was the gay bar below. but just to give you some idea, the joint was decorated with year-round Christmas lights.) (Carrie described the upstairs as “overly fabulous”. The Playland Cafe had a really seedy bar downstairs, but on the street level there was a somewhat-less-seedy lounge that was popular with local workers - bartenders, wait staff, dancers, and hookers taking a break from their street trade. One of her favorite choices was to head with her friends to an old piano bar in Boston’s Combat Zone (a two-block area where all the strip clubs were located.)
(Except for Carrie’s fantastic new hair style - it rocks, Carrie!)Īnyway, Carrie was talking about when she used to bop around, looking for new things to do, new places to experience life. They’re married now with two children, but neither of them has really changed. Joel helped me with my fraternity alumni website (Beta Phi Epsilon) ten years ago, and he helped me set up this blog. Carrie and Joel would show up at the club several times a week and the two of them were among our absolute favorite customers. We’ve known Carrie and her husband Joel for 15 years or more, back when they were both at MIT and first dating. (I heard this story about The Playland Cafe second-hand from our good friend, Carrie.)Ĭarrie was in Johnny D’s last weekend and she was telling a group of us about an experience she’d had just after her college days.
Today we’ll look at a simple, thoughtful moment - and the lasting image of a veteran bartender doing something beyond what her job called for. no bells and whistles, no big bang at the end. The Playland Cafe in Boston’s Combat Zone (closed now, but formerly just known as “Playland.”)