By Mark Duffield
On Oct. 20, 2022, Marika’s Antique Store at 130 Charles St. and its beloved owner, Matthew Raisz, took their last breath.
As Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton opined when President Abraham Lincoln had passed away: “He now belongs to the ages.”
It was a sentiment that recognized a legacy that would echo through future generations. Marika Raisz and her grandson, Matthew, and their unique store were the last standing in the golden age of antique stores throughout Boston and, in particular, Charles Street on Beacon Hill.
The American antiques trade and its popularity and growth can actually be traced as early as the late 1920s as European immigrants flocked to Boston. They realized that New England colonial antique furniture, decorative arts and jewelry had a built in customer base that longed for and yearned to collect things from America’s past. It wasn’t long after that Charles Street was soon lined with antique stores that satisfied the wants and demands of this emerging customer base.
Throughout the decades Charles Street antique stores and their dedicated dealers would ebb and flow as history, as it often does, intervenes with economic disturbances, wars and other calamities.
After World War II, the antique trade on Charles Street would enter a prominent and historic age – a golden age. Store after store sprouted up and down the street, which quickly became the epicenter for collectors of American antiques.
In 1972 there were over 40 antique stores on Charles Street. This new age attracted the wealthy, movie stars like Jack Lemmon and regular folks seeking to beautify their homes with treasures that couldn’t be found elsewhere.
Taking center stage in this new wave was Marika Raisz, of Hungarian descent, emigrating in 1924, who opened an antique store on Boylston Street. Later in the early 1960s she moved it to its present location on the corner of Charles and Revere streets. It quickly became an institution for friends, neighbors and discerning customers and regular clients in search of timeless gifts.
After the passing of Marika in 1986, her grandson, Matthew Raisz, took over the shop and quickly became a legend in his own right. He was beloved and admired by all. In describing Matthew many appreciated his knowledge of the trade and his love of educating customers on the history of each piece they bought. A recurrent phrase often associated with him was: “You entered as a customer and left as a friend.”
This golden age would eventually begin to diminish somewhat by the early 1980s. Looking back, Beacon Hill is fortunate to have several individuals who were major players in the field of antiques during its heyday. One such individual is Helen Higgins.
Helen was the former owner of 37 River Street Antiques, among many former locations. She is a known and respected expert in the antique world. She was a great friend of both Marika and Matthew. Helen described that in the day all antique store owners knew one another and supported one another.
It was an era of collegiality when a rising tide of support would float all stores. Marika’s was the center of it all. Like many who came to own an antique store Helen came to it humbly enough in Red Beach, Maine. It was here that her Aunt Molly had a small shop where Helen spent many delightful hours as a child. This piqued her early interest, and she absorbed all.
She would eventually travel the world buying antiques and like so many other Charles Street antique stores she sought only the creme de la creme of treasures learning along the way,
Memories of the magical world of Marika’s Antique Shop from its admirers would fill volumes. But these few comments by Matthew’s sister Kate and his brother’s Jonathan, Nick and Stephen encapsulate the tenor of those times when all was right with the world.
From Kate: “As for family anecdotes, we have many! The thing that impressed me most about both my grandmother and brother is how knowledgeable and fair they were. Each could remember vivid details of every piece that they bought and sold, even decades later. And they wouldn’t want you to buy something if they thought it wasn’t right for you. On Saturdays, the shop was a meeting place for all sorts of characters, including one that my grandmother called ‘Selma, the unmade bed.’ All were welcome from the eccentric to the sophisticated.”
From Matt’s brother, Jonathan, these gems: “Matthew loved antiques in part for their fine craftsmanship, it pained him for instance, that beautiful silver pieces were worth more melted. Marika would call items that hadn’t been sold for many years… coffin liners! Eccentric antique dealers stopped by daily. One had a thick New York accent and brought an antique clock to show Marika and told her ‘it’s poifect but it doesn’t woik.’ There was always laughter in the shop.”
And from Nick this: “I remember a kinda crazy guy would come into the shop frequently and try to sell a Sears Craftsman screwdriver or some other ‘not’ antique. Matt was always kind to him. This was Matthew to a tee, patient and kind to all who entered.”
Finally from Stephen: “While spending a year at a boarding school near Boston in 1967, I would spend the weekend with Marika and work at the shop on Saturday. Although the shop had pretty much everything, the real treasures were the small ones, the antique jewelry and Japanese netsuke. Observing her passion for these beautiful objects was a frequent joy.”
For many years Matthew Raisz had a trusted employee at his side, another Matthew – Matthew Hogan. “Matt” was a manager and superb salesman. Matt had a kindly and charismatic personality and helped to make Marika’s a popular gathering place for friends and customers who became loyal return visitors and purchasers of the many delights offered in the store. He attended Christie’s School of Fine and Decorative Arts in London.
About his boss, Matt observed, “His knowledge and expertise were extensive and deep, and he openly shared with others. He was very frugal in his personal life, but very generous to others. There were many regular repeat panhandlers at the shop. The list of our eccentric and quirky customers over the years would be way too long to list!”
Although, before his time Matt recounted a story about a daring robbery, year unknown, that took place one night when jewel thieves broke through an adjacent wall in the building and robbed an unsecured safe near the upper office landing. They made off with tens of thousands of dollars of jewels and other precious things. They had plenty of time as their furtive actions were not visible from the street. The police and the FBI got involved. But as far as anyone knows the jewelry was never recovered and the thieves never identified. At the time, an upstairs tenant, Ned Lynch, recounted that the hallway wall below him where they broke through was all brick and two feet thick. It is now crudely plastered over and still an object of curiosity. The case remains a real film noir type movie and certainly a fascinating slice of local history in the antique trade on Charles Street.
In these final days before the door is closed for good, antique aficionada and Beacon Hill resident, Ken Olson, has been retained by the family to oversee the research, organization and dispersal of the hundreds of remaining artifacts still filling the store.
Olson said, “It is less an antique store and more a private collection of artifacts dating back to 2000, B.C. I knew this was not going to be a liquidation, but more of a research project. I reviewed and researched every single piece in the store. Several pieces had certainly not seen the light of day since the shop opened. I started selling at a local flea market when I was in 6th grade. And it progressed from there. I have an intense interest in American history which is one reason I raised my family in Beacon Hill. I have handled so many documents, photographs and artifacts from those arriving on the Mayflower to presidents, important scientists, military and important figures in our history.”
The store will be open to the public during the weekend
of Dec. 6-8 for final sales
Most individual legends and wonderful legacies that stand the test of time that are revered, remembered fondly, and recorded and sown in our hearts are by those unique personalities and institutions that not for a minute ever sought to do so.
Marika and Matthew Raisz and the little antique store on the corner of Charles and Revere streets will be forever remembered and we are grateful for their immense and important trailblazing contribution to the antique industry in our neighborhood and for those visitors they attracted to the street who frequented and supported other establishments. But mostly it can be said that quietly and without fanfare they were examples of great character that all of us might find beneficial to emulate. Always adhering to the philosophy that no kindness is too small and to always help others without any reason and give without the expectation of receiving anything in return. Now they belong to the ages and are duly recorded and entered as part of Beacon Hill’s rich and enduring history.
The golden age may have ended, but the rich tradition of antiquing on Charles Street is alive and well. There remain several businesses on Charles Street with the same dedication to find the most unique antiques and timeless vintage treasures, artwork and gifts for a discerning clientele. Shops where customers can still discover rare items that value the past and that will beautify their own homes and add an historic interest to the present.
• Boston Antiques
119 Charles Street
Boston, MA 02114
617-367-9000
• Elegant Findings
89 Charles Street
Boston, MA 02114
617-973-4844
• Fabled Antiques
93 Charles Street
Boston, MA 02114
617-936-3008
• Upstairs Downstairs Home
69 Charles Street
Boston, MA 02114
617-367-1950