Spa (1882 origin for Boston eatery?)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

It appears that "Thompson's Spa" started the Boston use of the name "spa."


(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS--CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR)("spa" and
"lunch")
Classified Ad 51 -- No Title
Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current file). Boston, Mass.: Sep 4, 1909. p.
18 (1 page)
RESTAURANTS
(...)
STUDENTS' SPA
282 HUNTINGTON AVE., BOSTON.
12 1/2% discount meal ticket $3.50; catering a specialty.

Display Ad 27 -- No Title
Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current file). Boston, Mass.: May 20, 1911.
p. 11 (1 page):
_THOMPSON'S SPA_
_ENDORSES_
_GAS COOKING_
We reproduce a letter from the proprietor of the well-known restaurant,
Thompson's Spa.
(219-230 Washington St.--ed.)

Classified Ad 25 -- No Title
Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current file). Boston, Mass.: May 5, 1916. p.
12 (1 page):
Gridley's Chimes Spa
LUNCHEON BAKERY SODA
SPECIAL WEDNESDAY NIGHT SUPPER
Upper Huntington and Massachusetts Avenues
BOSTON

HIGH RESTAURANT PROFITS ALLEGED; Massachusetts Owners and Proprietors of
Eating Places Represent That Price Reductions Are Impossible at Present Price
Investigation New York Housing Committee to In- quire Into Building Stuffs Hotel
Data Sought Federal Campaign to Lower Food Prices in New York
Specially for The Christian Science Monitor. Christian Science Monitor (1908.
Oct 19, 1920. p. 6 (1 page):
Calling on Malcolm H. Eaton, one of the proprietors of Thompson's Spa, a
high-class lunch, Mr Gallagher cited certain data gathered at this establishment
by his agents.

Two Pies Men Like; Yellow Pie Nut, or Sour-Cream Pie
Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current file). Boston, Mass.: Feb 6, 1925. p.
8 (1 page):
The next times the wife shopped in town she obtained an invitation to lunch
wherever that good pie grew, which, it appeared, it did only on one tiny lunch
counter, Sally Jane's Spa.


(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)("Thompson's spa")
SPA CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY
Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current file). Boston, Mass.: Sep 14, 1932.
p. 2 (1 page):
_SPA CELEBRATES_
_50TH ANNIVERSARY_

Fifty years ago today, a young man with an idea and a little borrowed cash
launched into business in Boston. The idea was to erect a restaurant in an alley
used as a short cut by many business folk to a lunching place on Washington
Street. Thompson's Spa today stands as a testimonial to the wisdom of its
founder, Mr. Charles S. Eaton, whose three sons have continued to carry on the
business with the same foresight which marked its suscess at the outset.

The stability of the organization is attested in the list of 37 workers who
have been with the business for more than 25 years. From its small beginning,
the company has grown to include eight locations serving 25,000 persons daily.
Thompson was the maiden name of the founder's wife, and "spa," officials of
the company explain, is the name of a town in Belgium famous for its mineral
waters.


Famous Thompson's Spa Now Link in the Sheraton Chain; Friendly Warnings
Boston Concern
By Donald O.J. Messenger Staff Writer of The Christian Science Monitor.
Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current file). Boston, Mass.: Apr 17, 1946. p. 5 (1
page):
Ezra S. Eaton, son of Charles Eaton who opened the original "Thompson's
Temperance Spa" in 1882, despite countless friendly warnings that the venture was
doomed from the start unless liquor could be served, recalled some of the early
history of the company, as told by his father.

Thompson, by the way, was his mother's family name. "Spa" was used because
the original idea was to have on hand every kind of mineral water bottled at
famous American and European Spas, from Poland Springs to Vichy. Milk shakes and
egg-and-milk drinks were soon added. Later came sandwiches and finally,
complete meals.

The founder, Charles Eaton was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology
graduate, and took particular delight in working out the button-pushing order
system, the dumb waiters, the piping of beverages, and other mechanical details,
which along with the strict "no tipping" rule, have long distinguished Thompson's
Spas.