Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

In 2009, I did a story about shopping in Davis Square. Someone left this comment: “I had a relative, Hyman Kimmel, who owned a store called Mickey Finn’s in Somerville.  Do you know how I could find more data about this store or the owner?”

I couldn’t find anything about Hymen, but I sure gathered a lot of info about Mickey Finn’s. It was one of my favorite stores in the square back in the ‘60s and ‘70s. We seem to recall that it was right next to the Smoke Shop.

Mickey Finn’s was the place to go for Dad’s Christmas, Father’s Day or birthday gift. You could get a belt, a shirt, a hat and pretty much anything else a man could need. I don’t know how they fit so many different types of merchandise in that medium-sized store. They sold these funky things called “jac-shirts.” It was a shirt that you wore untucked, like a jacket. They came in a variety of gaudy fabrics and prints. I can still see the revolving rack of shiny sparkling and very loud vests. These items were great for bands and other performers. Of course I had a few! You could also get your official Somerville jacket with your name embroidered on the sleeve at Mickey Finn’s. You just had to be careful when you wore it in Medford (Meffa.) It was one of my prized possessions.

– Photo courtesy of Ron Bargoot

They sold work clothes and Dingo boots there. A friend of mine told me that she bought every single color of Levi corduroys that were ever made for her boyfriend. You could buy swanky neck scarves, bandanas and even Western bolo ties at Mickey’s. Many Somerville kids got their first pair of Converse All Stars at Mickey Finn’s. My friend Jeff bought his pants with a “continental cut” there along with a snazzy leather jacket.

For Christmas and birthdays, my cousin Carol bought her dad initialed handkerchiefs–and every year he loved them. They carried Boy Scout gear, as well as camping necessities like canteens. If you needed a compass/whistle, you went to Mick’s. You could also buy your “pegged pants” there. Pegged pants were what we called slacks that were very tight. You could buy them that way or have the tailor peg them for you.

A young Somerville athlete in the ‘60s probably got his first baseball glove or pair of ice skates at Mickey Finn’s, along with other sporting goods. My cousin Butch bought his “engineer boots” there, and I got them when he outgrew them! What a sweet deal! They sold all kinds of cool hats there, too. When painter’s pants, farmer’s jeans and overalls were the rage, Mickey’s was the place to get them. It was quite the haberdashery!

In the ‘60s, Mickey Finn’s was the mop top shop…that is…it’s where my friend Pat’s dad bought him and his brother Dennis their authentic Beatle suits, which included the jacket, pants, shirt and thin tie. The Beatle boots, or “Gauchos” as they were called, were purchased next door at Highland Shoe. The official Beatles wigs sold for $2.00 across the street at Woolworths. Pat remembers that the suits cost $25 and the boots were $15.  With a little help from Mickey Finn’s, the O’Neil boys looked fab!

Common opinion seems to think that Mickey Finn’s was gone by the ‘80s. There was also a Mickey Finn’s in Boston’s Combat Zone area.

So chalk up another great store from the past that a lot of Somerville people remember. I bet if you look in the back of your closet (or your dad’s), you may find one of those loud, sparkly shirts that came from good old Mickey Finn’s in Davis Square.