Breakfronts and Busts

One of the finest local specimens of Charles Addams Victorian is the antique white building which houses the Harvard Furniture Company. Customers entering the Massachusetts Avenue store are confronted with an array of gingerbread cabinets and a pair of owl andirons with amber eyes. Like the exterior, the inside of the shop seems a memorial to the taste of the last century.

Rooms piled with lamps, sofas, baby-carriages, and bric-a-brac fill the three floors and basement. Dust has collected on glass tasseled lampshades of satin and on old sewing tables and desks. Neo-classical busts and statues are sprinkled about along with kerosene lamps. Supplementing the collection is a stuffed gila monster and a faded red and grey banner which reads, "Andover 34, Exeter 21.

There are also many fine pieces. Empire tables, break-fronts, crystal collections and an intricately carved Chinese chair.

Patriarch and proprietor of this treasury is Lowe Goldman, who emigrated from Russia about 63 years ago. "I've been in the furniture business about 30 years now," he notes. "I started up where that Chinese restaurant is now. I've had this house about 12 years. Before me the Swedish Society owned it; it must be almost eighty or ninety years old."

Goldman keeps the exact source of his furniture secret. "It comes from old estates," he explains. "I don't want to give their names, but I can tell you it's good stuff. There are no higher bids than mine." As for the average time the goods stay in his store before turnover, he reveals only, "They stay until they're sold."

He showed off some of his particular treasures. "That's a beautiful piece," he noted of the massive and elaborately sculpted oriental chair. "Genuine teakwood; you know how valuable that is. And that ship," he said pointing to a finely carved model hanging from the ceiling, "that's a model of a Philippine fishing boat. It was carved by a Harvard man. He was in the Philippines when he made it. I think the University sent him to France about ten years ago. Look at this little table. I've turned down over a hundred dollars for it." After pointing out some glasses, Goldman advised '"Listen to the ring. That's the sign of good crystal. He tapped the rim of a glass and nodded approval of the sound.

In addition to serving Harvard customers, Goldman sent three sons to Harvard, and two grandsons also attended the University. "When my son got his degree, the dean called him 'The Pride of Harvard;' One of them had his 25th reunion recently. The papers had a picture of the two who are lawyers. They called them 'The Goldman Boys.'"

Goldman doesn't think about retirement. 'I've been in business in Cambridge for about 60 years. The store I have now is just something to do. I like to keep busy. I have a lot of land behind the shop. But nothing will be sold as long as I am alive." Goldman shrugs when asked if he has done well here; "Just making a living," he replies.