The History of Department Stores
Under the clock: Let's talk
Almost every city had one department store with a big corner clock where people met, perhaps to talk over the events of the day. Do you have opinions about department stores, shopping, about the "olden days" -- or about stores now? How has your city changed since the days when there were one, two, maybe three department stores downtown? Did you used to "meet under the clock?" Gone? Name changed? If your missing store isn't in the list to the right, let me know. I'll add missing ones to the list, in red. Also, I (JW) and expert Michael Lisicky (ML) will try to answer your questions. Click and type in a question or comment While I was browsing at a used book sale this weekend, what did I happen to find but a copy of "A Treasury of Favorite Recipes from Lazarus." No date, but I would judge it's from the 1970s. Anybody searching for a recipe from this famous Columbus OH (etc) department store? -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Jan, I have a holiday toy catalog from Weil and Company, in Detroit. Yes, they also utilized the slogan "The store with a million friends". The flagship 10 story store (which opened in 1915) was located on Washington Boulevard at Michigan Avenue. (That same structure today is the Gabriel Richard Building, home to the Catholic Diocese of Metro Detroit). Weil & Co. also had Detroit branch stores on West Grand Blvd. near Woodward, 4500 Grand River Ave. at Wabash, 7925 West Jefferson Ave, at West End Ave., and 14155 Gratiot Ave. at Eastwood Ave. Hope this is helpful. - Michael Hauser -- Michael, I believe you have found it! Thanks so much! -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Looking for information on a store I assume is a dept. store. I have a spoon with a 10 story building with this name "Weil and Company" and a slogan that says "the store with a million friends." -- I have never heard of a dept store with that name. Perhaps it was in a small town but there were very few stores with 10 floors in small towns, in fact no buildings that tall at all usually. The slogan was a very popular one, and was used by a number of popular-priced bargain furniture and department-type stores in the early 20th century including Spiegel (Chicago), Edwards (Portland OR), Atlas Furniture (KC MO), and Bacon's (Boston). I would guess the spoon came from a short-lived bargain store pre-WWI or around then. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- I'm looking for information on a Frank & Seder department store in Philadelphia. It seems to be effectively erased from Philadelphians' memories (we talk about Wanamaker, Strawbridge & Clothier, Lit Bros., Gimbels, and occasionally Snellenburg's when we talk about historic Philadelphia department stores, but never about it). I've seen a number of historic testimonials, throwaway remarks, and photographic evidence that suggests it was there, but no photographic or architectural evidence (that is, nothing of the building itself). I've adduced (guessed) that it was on the 1000 block of Market, across the street, and I've found out it was definitely torn down by 1960. Can anybody tell me the history of this building? --Frank & Seder came to Philadelphia by way of Pittsburgh in 1915. In 1925, F&S opened a 12 story building at 11th & Market Street. F&S is credited as opening the first branch of a center city Philadelphia department store. It opened a branch on 69th Street in October 1929. This branch was eventually purchased by Lit Brothers as a home for its Upper Darby location. F&S's Center City store was the smallest of the 'big 6'. In November 1953, F&S decided to close its Philadelphia location and 400 employees lost their jobs. The building was demolished in 1959 for a parking garage. Look for my upcoming book "Wanamaker's: Meet Me at the Eagle" to be released by History Press this fall. You can read (and see) more about Philadelphia's sixth department store! -- ML ------------------------------------------------------- I was raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Does anyone know if there was a time that the Frank & Seder and Kaufmann's department stores used a small metal disk for a charge card or they gave them to their customers for...?? (don't know what reason) My father was born in 1898 and I have an old key case of his containing metal disks with department store names on them. Because of his birth date, I would assume these could be from anytime from 1920 to the 50's. The Frank & Seder is oblong approx. an inch high and 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. The front has a monogrammed styled F&S design. On the back is stamped 'Shopping and Identification Tag -registered - in case of accident requiring identification of bearer notify Frank & Seder Pittsburgh PA - 137858. The other is a smaller oval & has KAUFMANN'S Fifth Avenue Pittsburgh on the front and the number 263687 on the back. I would love to find out what these were used for, any help would be appreciated. -- What you are looking at is the standard department store 'charge coin'. These coins predate Charg-a-plates and the standard department store credit card. Department stores from coast to coast used these metal 'coins' for customer identification. Eventually, these coins were replaced by metal credit cards. These cards were kept in distinctive leather cases and were the predecessor to today's plastic cards. Charge coins and metal credit cards can be highly collectible. They tend to fetch up to $50 to the interested party. The coins were basically used up until the 40s, when metal credit cards came into fashion. -- ML Department stores were very selective about who got credit during this period; only the most upright citizens were awarded an account. The tags were a status symbol. It took quite a while before retailers realized that more liberal credit would stimulate buying. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Does anyone know the brand name of the cash registers that Kaufmann's and Gimbels department stores used in the 60s and 70s. These registers produced receipts that were NCR forms and were a 2x5 inch receipt. They seemed like giant adding machines. There were large buttons on the right side and the top button was for credit authorization. MPS ------------------------------------------------------- Is it true that Wings department store of New Bedford MA once bought a millinery store at Purchase and William Street called "Angelina's Millinery Store?" ---NJL -- Other than discovering that the full name of Wing's was C. F. Wing Co. or Charles F. Wing Co. I cannot find anything about the store's history, nor about Angelina's. Your best bet may be to contact a reference librarian in New Bedford. Good luck. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Looking for (I.M.) Thedieck's in Ohio from the 30's or 40's. -- Information on I.H. Thedieck's store in Sidney, OH is a little sketchy. Thedieck began his dry goods business in 1875. In 1914, a spectacular fire destroyed the building. The business reopened on September 22, 1915 in a 5 story, 45,000 square foot structure. According to local historians, Thedieck's closed sometime in the 1930s. (This may not be accurate.) The building later housed a branch of Uhlman's Department Store, a small store chain based out of Bowling Green. The 1915 building still stands and currently is occupied by Furniture Express. -- ML ------------------------------------------------------- My Mom, when she worked for Tinker-Air Force Base bought these beautiful 50's to 60's suits. One of them says 'STREETS." Do any of you remember this store and would there be a way I could sell them? I have kept them just hanging in my closet, no bags or anything like that. I check them every so often to make sure they have no holes and so far they are in excellent shape. Thanks for any advice. I've searched the web with no results! -- DJ --I'm assuming the store was in Oklahoma City OK, but I do not believe it was a department store, probably a men's (?) store. Your best bet for selling the suits would be to check out e-Bay for prices on comparable sold items, then take them to a vintage clothing store. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Check out Bruce K's new blog on department stores called The Department Store Museum. ------------------------------------------------------- My grandfather, who died in 1912, worked for Brager's Dept. Store. Do you know if any department store business records are archived in Baltimore? Thanks. SC -- Albert A. Brager opened his first retail store in Baltimore in 1882. Brager's was a "popularly priced department store" located at Eutaw and Saratoga Streets. In 1929, Brager's merged with Eisenberg's, a similar type of operation, and renamed the store 'Brager-Eisenberg'. Brager-Eisenberg grew to 85,000 square feet. Most of the store consisted of former residences that had been converted to retail use. However, Brager-Eisenberg did not have a presence on Howard or Lexington Streets, Baltimore's main shopping streets. On July 9, 1959, Brager-Eisenberg announced that it was merging with the Julius Gutman Co., located at Park & Lexington Streets. Gutman's operated a large, modern store in the heart of the main shopping area. The combined stores would operate out of the Gutman building and on August 3, 1959, business ended in the former Brager's storefronts. Shortly after the Brager buildings were vacated, Hochschild Kohn moved part of its home store operation into those buildings. Brager-Gutman's served the Baltimore area for many years with the store on Lexington Street and branches at Eastpoint, Westview, Harundale, Mondawmin, Hillendale, and Pikesville. I have never come across any historical papers from Brager's past. Epstein's purchased Brager-Gutman in 1985 but that company has been long gone. The Pratt Library does have a limited vertical file on the store but that is all that I know of. -- ML ------------------------------------------------------- I was told a story during a business course once about a department store in New York City, I believe in the late 1800s-early 1900s. The story goes that the owner took excellent care of his workers, even had a resort somewhere they could take their families on vacation. Apparently some union rep got in the store though and convinced enough of the workers that the owner really didn't care about them, and that they needed to form a union to protect themselves. The owner got word of a union forming meeting, and showed up and closed the doors of the store the next day and retired. I'm trying to find more information about this, and verification of the facts. Anyone have any information about this? --I have heard this story before but I do not know if it ever truly happened. In the 1900s, department stores were in their infancy and I would be surprised if this would have forced someone in to retirement. Check out Daniel J. Opler's book "For All White-Collar Workers: The Possibilities of Radicalism in New York City's Department Store Unions, 1934-1953". Yes, it's not the time period that you mentioned but it might make reference of such a story, if it indeed happened -- ML Generally when department stores built workers' gyms, started choral groups, and sent workers to summer camps, it was an attempt to stave off unionization. All of those "extras" were nice and the workers no doubt liked them, but they did not address the issues of low pay and long working hours that were prevalent in the early 20th century. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------ Ahhh....L.S. Ayres in Indianapolis, In. The clock was just a clock most of the year, yet magically, every Thanksgiving Evening after midnight, the Christmas angel would appear, and just a magically, every year after midnight on Christmas Day, the angel would go "home" for another year. The windows at Ayres were animated and the delight of all of Indianapolis's children. There was a beautiful tea room in Ayres, and every mother's daughter who was brought here to dine remembers it fondly. This was definitely not a jeans and t-shirt place. You dressed up to go to Ayres downtown as you would dress to go to church! What memories! -- L.S. Ayres was a Midwest retailing institution. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company also operated stores in Fort Wayne, Springfield, IL, Louisville and Cincinnati. But the downtown Indianapolis store was the heartbeat of the business, and the community. Ayres dominated the retail scene and was a pioneer in branch development. After May Company purchased the stores from Associated Dry Goods in 1986, Ayres began to lose its independence and control of the business. In November 1990, the unthinkable happened when May announced that it was closing the downtown Tea Room in order to cut losses at the downtown store. Shoppers protested but the Tea Room closed anyway. But May didn't stop there. On October 25, 1991, May announced that Ayres downtown would close and all operational staff would be merged with St. Louis based Famous Barr stores. The name, L.S. Ayres, remained on the stores until 2006 when May was purchased by Macy's. L.S. Ayres is still alive at the Indiana State Museum. The Tea Room still serves Ayres' favorites. Any fan of Ayres must own "The L.S. Ayres Cookbook". Full of pictures and stories, it is available through the museum. Or visit this site. -- ML ------------------------------------------------------- I am the fourth and last generation of the Freedlander Family. Our family business, Freedlanders was the last independent department store in America and was in Wooster, OH. The building was torn down in December of 2009 and I am working on a book about it. The store was founded by my great-grandfather in 1884 and was sold when my dad retired in 1989--105 years of wonderful history. I am looking for stories from employees or their families and customers to put in the book. I would love to hear from you. Please email me at aandbhunt@gmail.com and please put Freedlanders in the subject line so I don't delete your story. I would love to hear from people all over the country! -- Ann (Freedlander) Hunt -------------------------------------------------------Hi Kathy. I presently have a blog about Denholm and McKay in Worcester at www.denholms.blogspot.com. I have long been a historian of the store, and have never found any record of a death of a small child there? Also as Jan mentioned, the store opened in 1871 so it was after the date given. I am more than happy to look into it more deeply though. -- Christopher ------------------------------------------------------- I am in search of Frederick & Nelson's - Seattle - wonderful shrimp, celery, etc. salad sold in their deli. If you remember that salad and know its contents, please log on and share. I believe it was small shrimp, grated/chopped celery, mayo, mustard(?), and maybe boiled eggs. Yummy!! Do you remember? ------------------------------------------------------- My mom grew up shopping at the Denholm & McKay store in Worcester. She tells me of a cousin Eddie Hakenson/Bishop who was about 9 yrs old (around 1840) who was crushed to death while playing in the elevator. Is there any way to find a record of this event in the store's history? Kathy P. -- I believe Denholm McKay was established in 1870, so I doubt he was killed in that store. I would suggest you try to find his death certificate in Worcester and when you have the exact date, search newspaper archives (if they exist). Most children killed in elevator accidents in the 1840s were working children who were killed in factories or on farms. The elevators were industrial hoist operated elevators, not passenger elevators. The latter didn't come into use much until the 1870s. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for tapping into a well spring of fond memories. As a native of St. Louis your comments about Famous, Stix and Scruggs resonate with me. A summer week with my grandparents in Granite City...the best was a trip to The Grand Leader, a visit to the tearoom for frozen fruit salad and chicken salad on crustless white bread. Shopping for quilt kits to embroider, fabric for a new dress, paying the gas and electric bills, going to the in-store post office...Stix had everything! I started my career as a management trainee at Stix...as an assistant buyer in the infant's department. Imagine, the elderly sales ladies wore nurses uniforms. It wasn't unusual for them to spend over an hour with soon-to-be mothers or grandmothers putting together a complete layette. I ended my retail career as a childrens buyer in the budget store. But the handwriting was on the wall...a full service operation could compete with the growing regional and national discount chains. Now all of the regional discounters are gone. I moved to the manufacturing side, watched many great retailers die and now there are just a handful of national retail accounts. All have the sameness that comes from a price driven, self service model. Things change, we serve a few customers that serve millions of consumers. But we hold our memories dear and I thank you for refreshing mine. -- Thank you for this "view from the inside." The nurses' uniforms detail is priceless. Yes, sameness among retailers is the complaint I hear again and again, not to mention the absence of service such as the infant's department used to deliver. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Does any one know anything about the Hochschild-Kohn department store?- DH -- The following excerpts are from my (ML's) book, "Hutzler's: Where Baltimore Shops" (History Press): "Max Hochschild initially opened his ‘one price store’ on Gay Street in 1876. Twenty years later, as focus on Howard Street intensified, Hochschild’s left its Gay Street location. Joining with the Kohn brothers Benno and Louis, Hochschild, Kohn & Co., Baltimore’s newest ‘palace’ department store, opened its doors on November 15, 1897. Located at the corner of Howard and Lexington Streets, the building was designed by architect Joseph Sperry. The structure expanded in 1912 and a sixth story was added. By 1947, Hochschild Kohn encompassed five buildings and served as a main anchor to the famous intersection. Though it could be argued that it was not the store that Hutzler’s was, Hochschild’s was actually more innovative than its competition. In 1946, Hochschild Kohn opened one of the nation’s earliest branch department stores at the Edmondson Village Shopping Center in West Baltimore. That was soon followed by another branch in November 1948 at York Road and Belvedere Ave. During the 1950s, Hochschild’s located stores at Eastpoint (1956) and in one of the nation’s first enclosed shopping malls, Harundale Mall (1958.) In 1966, the descendants of the Hochschild and Kohn families sold the firm to Diversified Retailing. Three years later, Supermarkets General took control of the company. It attempted, unsuccessfully, to expand into York, Pennsylvania and Columbia, Maryland before it was forced to reevaluate its market and its downtown store." The downtown store closed on Labor Day 1977 and the final four Hochschild's stores closed in 1986. ------------------------------------------------------- Hello, I just bought Hutzler's, where Baltimore shops. Oh, the memories. I'm a pastry chef who cannot forget eating the chocolate icebox pudding at the Quixie, the only place to really eat at Hutzler's. This was in the 50's and my mother took me practically every week. Over the years, I've tried to replicate the recipe but with not much luck. Would you have any thoughts as to where I might find some clues to this dessert? Thanks so much for doing this book. Ann A. -- Yes, thanks to ML for thoroughly researching and writing this wonderful book. I think he included most of the recipes that he found. Alas, they are not easy to locate but maybe a reader will turn up with this one. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- I had a great aunt who was a model at Lacrosse and Cook Department Store in Toledo, OH in the 1950's. Lacross and Cook was a subsidiary of Macy's. Any info you have or can find would be great. I'd love to see any of the ads she was in. Her name was Vera East. email: mjwaller@suddenlink.net. Thank you. Johanna Waller -- I don't know of a department store by that name. I strongly suspect you are thinking of LaSalle & Koch, one of the first stores to be acquired by Macy's. Probably the only way to find advertisements with your aunt in them would be to look through Toledo newspapers from the 1950s. You should contact a reference library in the main branch of the Toledo public library to find out if there are any newspaper records available. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Hello, I am doing some research on department stores and the 1960's. I was hoping to focus some of this research towards luxury goods department stores, but I keep hitting walls when trying to find historical background on such stores. My main location focus is New York and the East coast. Can you suggest any good sources? Your book "Service and Style" has been a big help so far. Thank You Elizabeth H. Ehay224@yahoo.com Most department stores did not deposit their papers in an archive when they went out of business and so it's a difficult task to find research material from the stores themselves. Of course, newspapers, so many of which are digitized now do provide a source, but one you have to check carefully. Wanamaker's papers are at The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Phil. and Filene's has papers at the research library of the Boston Public Library. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- I am doing some research for Snellenberg's Department store in Philadelphia, PA. I would like to know when it was established and when it ended, who were the owners, and where located. I am assuming Snellenberg's owned it, if so, who bought it. My Great Aunt was a personal maid for Mrs. Snellenberg. I never knew the first name of Mrs. Snellenberg, or her daughter, because my Aunt always called her Mrs. Snellenberg, as I was also only 10 at that time. frandallas@comcast.net use my email address. thank you. frances friedman -- Nathan Snellenburg opened his mens' clothing store in 1873 on Philadelphia's South Street. Before long, the store moved to its landmark location at 12th and Market Streets. Snellenburg's became one of Philadelphia's Big 6 department stores, joining Wanamakers, Strawbridge's, Gimbels, Lits, and Frank & Seder. N. Snellenburg Co. was purchased by Bankers Securities Corporation in June 1951. Bankers Security was also an affiliate of City Stores, the parent company of Lit Brothers. Like Lits, Snellenburg's catered to the working class of Philadelphia. Snellenburg's did branch out to the suburbs, opening stores at 23rd & Oregon Ave., Willow Grove and Lawrence Park, along with several auto centers. In August 1958, Snellenburg's purchased Atlantic City's M.E. Blatt Co., creating Snellenburgs-Blatt, South Jersey's largest department store. In February 1962, Snellenburg's announced that all of its suburban stores would be acquired by Lit Brothers. Snellenburg's operated its flagship store for one more year until February 15, 1963. On that day, customers were quickly ushered out of the stores before 2pm and employees were gathered and told by store officials that store had just closed its doors permanently at the 2pm hour. All merchandise was liquidated one month later in Lits' basement store. -- ML ------------------------------------------------------- Missing: Scruggs, Vandevoort and Barney; Boyd's -- Both of St. Louis -- Thanks! ------------------------------------------------------- Readers of this website who are seriously interested in department store history will want to know about a book by Richard Longstreth about to come out from Yale University Press. "The American Department Store Transformed, 1920-1960" follows the evolution of downtown stores as they built branches and service buildings. See also attached documents (top, right column) which list: 1) downtown stores; 2) branches of downtown stores; 3) shopping centers with two anchors; and, 4) service buildings. Professor Longstreth, George Washington University, includes his email address in the documents and is interested in hearing from knowledgeable readers who have corrections or additions. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- there were several stores in new orleans, la. when i was young, among them d.h.holmes, maison blanche, godchaux's, labiche's, that all shared a common credit card, with their logos on it, and it could be used at any of these. does anyone remember the name of the card?, thanks, lhackman -- It's likely that it was a charga-plate because many department stores across the country used these from around 1935 into the 1950s before credit cards became common. It was a metal card with the user's name and address embossed on one side and a piece of paper on the other with their signature. It was not really a credit card in that users had to pay the full balance each month. -- JW The WYES video "Where New Orleans Shopped" (2002) prominently features the red and white "New Orleans Shoppers' Credit Card" on its back cover. This card, complete with fleur di lis, might be what you're thinking of. But if you want more information on the stores in New Orleans, you should call the station as this video is a must have. -- ML ------------------------------------------------------- Interesting story about the old Friedlander's department store of Wooster OH. ------------------------------------------------------- Regarding the Frank and Seder Downtown Detroit location, the structure on Woodward Avenue is still standing. After the demise of F and S, a number of different retailers leased space on the ground floor from the 1950s through the early 1980s. The upper floors remained vacant. In the mid 2000s, the building was completely gutted for loft style apartments with renovated ground floor retail space. There is still a faded hand painted sign on the side of the building for Frank and Seder. - M. Hauser --Thanks for this interesting addition to the story. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Hello, I was hoping someone would have some information about my grandfather's department store in PA. He was co-owner of Frank & Sedar Department Store. I only met my grandfather once and would like to find out any information about him. His name was Cecil Frank, married to Jewel Frank. --Frank & Seder was founded in Pittsburgh in 1907. The large store was located at the corner of 5th and Smithfield St. A founder of the store, Jacob H. Frank, died suddenly on December 9, 1933. The store was known for its Balcony Tea Room and a common expression was "Meet Me at the Balcony". Frank & Seder expanded to Philadelphia and became one of Philadelphia's six strong department stores that lined Market Street. F&S also opened a branch store in suburban Upper Darby which was sold to Lit Brothers in 1948. The store also expanded to Detroit where it opened a six story store at 1425 Woodward Ave. On November 9, 1953, Frank & Seder announced the closing of the Philadelphia store. The Pittsburgh store closed in 1954 and the Detroit store followed shortly. The Philadelphia store was torn down in Spring 1959 in order to make way for future parking needs. -- ML ------------------------------------------------------- Greetings from the beautiful Brazos Valley of Texas. I am the President of Navasota Theatre Alliance which is putting up a production of Clarence Day's wonderful play "Life With Father" in late April and May. The show is set in Manhattan in 1889. There's extensive mention in the show of McCreary's department store. While my research indicates that such a store did exist, I could find nothing giving its years of operation or location(s). Do you have any information on McCreary's that you could share with me. I like to research these things so that the cast can play the show in an informed way. I'd appreciate any help you can give. SH – James McCreery and Co. was an old-line dry goods store in New York City which grew out of a Canal Street store named Ubsell & Pierson founded in 1837. Comparable to other quality 19th-century stores such as Lord & Taylor and Arnold Constable, it never quite made the transition to modern conditions and closed in 1953, regarded by many shoppers as an old-fashioned dry goods store. In the later 19th century it was located in a building with a cast-iron front on Broadway and 11th street. In 1895 it opened a second location on 23rd Street. In 1901 it was taken over by a conglomerate with financial backing by J. P. Morgan & Co., and this evidently enabled it to expand into Pittsburg (1903) and then into a new store in Herald Square (34th street and 5th avenue). It was considered a high-class store in the early 20th century, the kind of place customers might go to to buy Craftsman furniture or Colonial reproductions. In 1913 the 23rd street store closed. In the mid-1930s the 34th street store was remodeled, and ornate grill work, column details, and paneling were removed. On the exterior, old ram’s head cornices, “symbols of integrity in the wool-weaving and dyeing trades,” came down. It may have been during this same remodeling that the esteemed designer George Wells created a circus-theme tea room for the store. After McCreery’s closure the building was occupied by Ohrbach’s. – JW On October 7, 1953, Associated Dry Goods announced to the 1,100 employees of James McCreery & Co. that the upcoming Christmas season would be its last. In doing so, Associated Dry Goods referred to the closing as a "transfer of assets, both tangible and intangible" to its larger sister store, Lord & Taylor. McCreery's was always known for its silks and as far back as 1867, Mr. McCreery sent a special envoy to Tokyo just to inspect looms. The grandson of James McCreery personally locked the doors of McCreery's on December 19, 1953 and New Yorkers mourned the loss of "another vanished landmark". -- ML ------------------------------------------------------- I was just thinking of all the great department stores of the past and how we are left with just Macy's. Arnold Constable, B. Altman, Bonwit Teller, Joseph Horne, Marshall Field's, Bullock's, Frederick & Nelson's, Kaufmann's, Robinson's--I remember them all so well and their exclusive merchandise. Now we are left with those bleak malls with their generic products. The Brooks Brothers and Abercrombie & Fitch that exist today bear scant resemblance to what they were fifty years ago. --PVA -- Good summary. Most of the services are gone, as are most of the departments they used to have, and also the sense of uniqueness. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------ First, I would like to say that I loved Mr. Lisicky's book. It gave me information on Hutzlers that I did not know and some information on the other Baltimore department stores I had the opportunity to visit the old downtown Hutzler's and have lunch in their restaurant, and go to Hecht's and Brager-Gutman's. I do have a question. Did Hochschild Kohn ever open a store in the Harford Mall, Bel Air Maryland? I remember an article in Stores Magazine from 1977 about Baltimore Department stores mentioning the closing of Hochschild Kohn's downtown store and they were opening 3 suburban stores in Kenilworth, North Plaza, and I thought the Harford mall. Thank You, JT ------------------------------------------------------ Two things about Mr. Lisicky's book. First Brager-Gutman's also had a small store located at the Hillendale Shopping Center at Taylor Ave. and Loch Raven Blvd. The turntable from the stereo I bought there in about 1972 still works beautifully. Two, you have missed more that half the story regarding Hutzler's. You need to speak to those of us who were on the bottom of the pecking order. The Porters, Kitchen staff, maintenance staff, engine room, sales, etc. We knew the company was in trouble long before anybody else. KFR -- One of the most enjoyable aspects of writing this book has been having people share their Hutzler stories with me. It is like the story never ends. The entire story of Hutzler's, or any such business, could never be told in 160 pages. Most, if not all, downtown department stores peaked out in the mid 1950s, just as the American dream of owning a home with a white picket fence forced middle class citizens out of the cities. Businesses either followed suit or closed their doors. Hutzler's tried to maintain an upper class image throughout most of its existence. But perhaps the biggest misstep was the opening of the Eastpoint store. Everyone throughout the corporation knew that that is where the company lost direction. (Should the store be downscale in order to appease the local area's customers or should the merchandise be more upscale for the same market?) Many loyal employees tried to stick together as a family even while the family was breaking apart. I spoke with dozens of past workers while I was writing the book and have heard from dozens since the book was released. I am sorry that you are disappointed with its outcome. The book is not about the Hutzler family. The purpose of the book was to relive many of the more pleasant memories of such a business. Publishers don't want to print books on businesses that didn't succeed. I tried to overcome that by dwelling on some of the positive memories for many of Hutzler's former customers while still acknowledging struggles that were not obvious to most of the outside. By doing so, I do believe that I covered much more than half of that story. -- ML ------------------------------------------------------- Do you have any information regarding the Hirsch Company department store in Cleveland and its acquisition by the May Company? The Paul Hirsch Company incorporated in Cleveland in 1915 and its department store was located on Euclid Avenue about 4 blocks away from the May Company. May Company bought out the Hirsch Company around 1929 although I have not found any information regarding the acquisition. I am specifically wondering if the P. N. Hirsch subdivision of May Company, which seems to have endured for many years, was related to this acquisition of the Paul Hirsch Company. I haven't found any corporate history of the May Company and am wondering if you have any information or can suggest a source for information on a possible connection between the Paul Hirsch Company and the P. H. Hirsch division of May Company. Paul Hirsch was my great-uncle. Thanks for a wonderful website!! -- May Company came to Cleveland in 1899 by way of the purchase of E.R. Hull & Dutton Co, a clothing and home furnishings store on Public Square. Soon after the purchase, May Company's store slogan became "Watch us grow". Its signature downtown store was largely completed in 1915. Unfortunately, I have no information on the Paul Hirsch store. I have tried through different sources but to no avail. Hopefully somebody can help. In the meantime, "Ohio's Largest Store" continued to offer Plaid Stamps until 1986. The downtown store closed in early 1993 as customers lamented that "it won't seem like Cleveland anymore". The remaining stores were merged with Pittsburgh based- Kaufmann's. -- ML I have also looked in a variety of sources but can find no trace of the store other than a directory listing for 1922 and 1923, at 422 and 426 Euclid, respectively, for "Paul Hirsch & Co., Women's Apparel." This suggests that(a)it was not a department store, and(b)it was acquired by the May Co. after 1923. Department stores sometimes bought small women's clothing shops in this period because mass produced women's clothing was a new industry which was largely unknown to them. The acquisition sometimes involved hiring the owner of the shop to run a department and do the buying. If you can locate Cleveland newspaper archives this will be your best, and maybe only, source. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- For anyone looking for a department store recipe, try this website (Lost Recipes Found). If she doesn't have it, Monica will try to find it for you. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- I am a college student and doing research on how America was influenced by the department store. Aside from your book, do you have any suggestions on other books or articles I could use? -- The best book for this is Land of Desire: Merchants, Power and the Rise of a New American Culture by William Leach. It deals mainly with the 1890s up into the 1920s when the basic framework of modern consumerism was being built. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- I have to share, I am from Western Mass and have eaten my share of Thanksgiving dinners at the Wiggins Tavern, in Hotel North Hampton, as well as going to a few wedding receptions there. When I was a little girl and lived in South Hadley, I would take the bus to Holyoke with my mother and go to Steigers to shop for my Easter dresses and for back-to-school clothes. When I registered for wedding gifts, I registered at Steigers and then, as a right of passage, my mother, my aunt and myself had a "ladies lunch" at the restaurant in the store. -- Great memories -- thanks! -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Do you have any information on Baltimore's Brager-Gutman's? My copy of the Book "What Makes Shopping Centers Tick" mentions they operated six branches in 1960. Thanks JT -- Brager-Gutman's was the result of a merger between Brager-Eisenberg and the Julius Gutman Co. In July 1959, the two firms announced their union and stated that all downtown business would be consolidated at the Gutman's store on Park & Lexington Sts. Brager's was founded in 1882 and Gutman's was founded in 1877. Brager-Gutman's was a large 8-story store that tended to carry merchandise, and serve customers, that the other Baltimore stores didn't. The former Brager's store became part of the home department of Hochschild Kohn. That store, now demolished, was located at Eutaw and Saratoga Sts. Both Brager's and Gutman's opened small branches across the city in location such as Eastpoint, Westview, Harundale, Mondawmin and Pikesville. The store became known for its wonderful fabric dept and for home merchandise. In many instances, "customers wouldn't think of going anywhere else". As downtown Baltimore declined, so did Brager-Gutman's. By the mid-80s, the store was down to two locations, downtown and Woodlawn. By 1986, East Baltimore-based Epstein's took control of B-G, changed its name, and operated the store until 1991. -- ML ------------------------------------------------------- I have a piece of art with a little sticker on the back of the picture that says The White House Picture dept., San Francisco. I’m looking for more info on it. – Charlie -- The White House department store grew out of a dry goods store est. in SF in the 1850s. A French immigrant named Raphael Weill worked there and eventually took over the store. It was known both as Raphael Weill and Co., and by its “nickname” The White House. Weill, a founding member of the Bohemian Club, died in 1921 at age 83. (A high school is named for him.) The store became publicly owned and stayed in business until about 1964. Its fixtures, displays, and equipment, including 33 handmade chandeliers, were auctioned off in 1965. With its French connections, the store was analogous to another in San Francisco, The City of Paris. It was a high-quality store but did not have the full complement of departments of large department stores such as furniture and utilitarian housewares. In the late 1920s the White House and the City of Paris were considered among the city’s “big five" stores – the other three being The Emporium, Hale Bros., and O’Connor & Moffatt (which became the first West Coast Macy’s). The store moved several times over its history, its last address being 250 Grant Ave. – JW ------------------------------------------------------- I have checked the list of stores, and I do not see the name of a women's specialty store that was in Fresno, California from 1922 until sometime in the 1990's - RODDER'S MADEMOISELLE. I worked for Rodders from September 1973 until August of 1981. During that time, I learned as much as I could about the origins of the company, and its founders. I was the visual merchandising director for the company, which was equivalent to an I. Magnin or Joseph Magnin store. This was my first position in a retail store, doing visual merchandising, and it launched an amazing career for me. From there, I have ended up working for an American retail organization, and work as a visual merchandiser at their location in Naples, Italy. -- Thanks for the info about Rodder's Mademoiselle. The list is mainly focused on full-service, traditional dept stores, but we'd love to know more about RM. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- I have been looking for the fruit salad and poppy seed dressing that was served at Sakowitz Tea Room and in the employee cafeteria. I worked there in 1978 and was sharing memories with my daughter. She suggested asking here.LD ------------------------------------------------------ Okay, a high end department store I think in NYC and in Hempstead NY, most brides would register there. They had Lenox and expensive gifts in that price range. I cannot remember the name. Can you help? -- In addition to branches of Arnold Constable and Abraham & Straus, there were, at various times, branches of cut-price/bargain stores Ohrbach's and S. Klein. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Does anyone have any information, articles or photographs of the Stricklers Department store which was in New Haven, CT and closed in the 1960s? thanks. Richard Kaye -- New Haven was once the home of department stores such as Gamble-Desmond, Edward Malley, and Shartenberg’s. From what little I’ve been able to glean, Strickler’s, Inc. was not a department store but a women’s clothing shop in New Haven (at 785 Chapel Street), with a location in the Bronx also (2945 Third Ave), and at 142 West 125th Street where premises were leased in 1933 for offices and a retail store. I believe the company, perhaps under the direction of Samuel Strickler, also produced women’s clothing. Possibly the Bronx location was for manufacturing and W. 125th for retailing. I don’t know the exact dates of the New Haven or New York operations but, according to New Haven directories, the store was in New Haven by 1934 at the latest, and was one of about 67 women’s clothing shops in the city. In 1934 the New Haven directory lists “Merritt” Strickler as president of Strickler’s, Inc. (perhaps incorrectly), while in 1935 it lists Murray Strickler as president. It may be difficult to find more information. If there are archives of old New Haven newspapers this would probably be your best source, but even then it depends on how much advertising or news the store generated. – JW The New Haven Public Library does have vertical files but I am almost certain that they do not go as far back in time as you need. (I did get some very good articles on Malley's there but the oldest article I saw was from the 1950s.) -- ML --------------------------------------------------------- ML Thank you so much for your response to my question about Department stores in Towson (Baltimore County) MD, especially Franklin Simon. I still miss Montgomery Ward, Hutzler's and miss all of the grand Department stores that were in downtown Baltimore-Hutzler's, Hecht's, etc. Downtown will never be the same without those "grand ladies". Being African-American growing up in Maryland, I also had to endure not being able to shop in Hutzler's (ok if we worked there) and having to travel by street car downtown and being only able to shop at select stores such as Brager Guttman. As a child this reality was really a puzzle. I really enjoy this website. I look forward to reading your book. Thank you BCD -- I can attest that you will enjoy reading ML's book on Hutzler's. I think it's fair to say that few white Americans appreciate how differently African-Americans experienced department stores -- as well as many other aspects of America we whites take for granted. Many probably don't know that black Americans often weren't welcome, or weren't permitted to eat in the restaurant, or to try on or return clothing. Thanks for your comments. -- JW --------------------------------------------------------- History Of Mansmann's Department Store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: I am looking for information on the familial relationship between Herbert C. Mansmann, Sr. (who was a son of the Albert J. (A.J.) Mansmann, the founder of Mansmann's Dept. Store, and Andrew and Mable Mansmann. I understand that Herbert C. Mansmann Sr. bought ladies hand bags, Andrew Mansmann, and Mabel Mansmann, bought girdles, brassieres, corsets, stockings and lingerie. Were Herbert and Andrew brothers or perhaps cousins? I have seen a reference to Herbert the 1960's as the owner of the department store. --Andrew and Mabel were married to each other but I'm not sure what Andrew's relation to Herbert C. Mansmann Sr. was. I suspect Andrew and Herbert may have been cousins, though possibly brothers. Andrew was roughly 13 years older than Herbert. Quite irrelevant, but in 1907 Andrew registered a patent with Frank J. Mansmann for a window shade. -- JW -------------------------------------------------------- ...Thanks so much! Good information and is much admired and appreciated! ...bc --------------------------------------------------------- At Titche-Goettinger in Dallas...a purveyor of fine Oriental Rugs...a Mr. ____ Jeravian? (probably in the 1920-30 range). His wife also gave outstanding Book Reviews in Dallas, I am told. Any information will be appreciated, as our family has some of his recommended-for-purchase Oriental rugs out in West Texas. -- You are thinking of the Rejebians. Vahram Yepram Rejebian was born in Turkey in 1904, lived in Pasadena, then in Dallas. I do not know exactly what years he worked for Titche-Goettinger as buyer of Oriental rugs, but he was definitely employed by the store in the 1940s. In 1928 he was still living in California. His wife, Ermame Rejebian, was also born in Turkey, of Armenian parents (V. Y. was probably Armenian also), and was very well known in Texas for her book reviews and perspectives on world events. She had a news commentary radio show on WFAA for seven years, was chosen an outstanding women of the Southwest in 1951, and gave talks about books to numerous groups. The Rejebians had two children, both born in Texas. Titche-Goettinger was formed in Dallas in 1902 by Edward Titche and Max Goettinger, from a store Edward had taken over from his uncle. It moved to St. Paul Street in 1929, the year it was acquired by the Hahn department store group (whose prime acquisition was Jordan Marsh), later to become Allied Stores. – JW --------------------------------------------------------- To answer the question about Federal's in Detroit. The excellent website, Detroit Yes, has pictures of Federal's in its archives. This website rose to fame as, The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit, and its discussion forums often talk about the past retail glory of Detroit. The current site can be found at www.detroityes.com. KRA --------------------------------------------------------- Does anyone have access to circa 1940s intersection michigan and junction, detroit michigan depicting federals department store? ------------------------------------------------------- Hi Do you know anything how Jordan Marsh(now Macy's) decided to open their free standing branch in Bedford NH in 1966? Their first 3 branches were all in MA (Framingham, Malden, and Peabody) JT -- The 154,000 square-foot Jordan Marsh store in Bedford NH, serving the Manchester-Nashua population area, opened in October 1966 with parking space for 1,500 cars. It was the first Jordan Marsh store built outside MA and was designed so that it could be expanded. Newton Waltzer, of Hollis NH, was Jordan’s VP in charge of branch stores and had reportedly been urging the company to open in NH for about 12 years. Prior to settling on the Bedford site, JM had an option on a 55-acre tract in Manchester on South Willow Street. I don’t know the reason why they dropped that idea for the Bedford site, northwest of the intersection of the Manchester bypass and Everett Turnpike, but it may have had to do with cost, parking, or accessibility. Over the years the NH store furnished proof to JM, which had once opposed repeal of Massachusetts’ blue laws, that Sunday shopping did not diminish sales on the other six days of the week. – JW ------------------------------------------------------------ I am looking for the history of a women's clothing store called The Grand Leader on E. Federal St. in Youngstown, Ohio. It existed from the early 1900's through at least the end of the 1940's. --It can be difficult to find historical information about smaller retailers from the past. There were many, many US stores called The Grand Leader, many of them department stores. Sometimes this was a nickname for a store as was the case with Stix, Baer & Fuller in St. Louis. I have found references to chains of Grand Leader stores, which were general apparel stores, one chain which existed in Pennsylvania and Ohio in the 1920s, and another of 67 units which operated nationally and was headquarters in NY, but I've found nothing on a women's apparel store in Youngstown by that name. The leading early-to-mid-20th century department stores of Youngstown were Strouss-Hirshberg Co. (discussed below) and G. M. McKelvey Co. Federal Street stores of the mid-20th century included the Central Store, Klines Department Store, and Chas. Livingston & Sons. -- JW ------------------------------------------------------- Listen to Michael Lisicky's great radio interview about Hutzler's departments stores in Baltimore on WYPR. ------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to Erik C. Wagner of Pittsburgh for the following history of stores in that city and beyond: In your Pittsburgh discussion, you forgot Rosenbaum's Dept Store, another large store downtown on Liberty Ave near Horne's. Of all of the large dept stores downtown, it is the only one of them whose building is no longer standing. I had the privilege of knowing one of the founder's sons in his later years, Mr. Stanley Rosenbaum. I found most interesting that he had been a cavalry major in the army. There was also the Autenreith's Five & Ten chain in Pittsburgh, a family owned business. Also G.C. Murphy Co a large Five & Ten chain was headquartered near Pittsburgh in McKeesport. I remember well their private plane hangar at our secondary airport. Speaking of airplanes, Gimbels was selling Aircoupe airplanes out of their Pittsburgh store back in the 40's. I knew a person who was selling them there and I know a person whose father bought one from Gimbel's. I think flying lessons came with the purchase. We also had department stores in nearby Wilkinsburg, Pa and South Side area of Pittsburgh. Caldwell's, I believe, was in Wilkinsburg. Hirshberg's was in McKeesport, Pa. a large steel town nearby. And if you look back far enough, turn of the 20th century, Gusky's in Braddock, another steel town. You mentioned Albert J. Mansmann Co, or Mansmann's. It was located in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh, at one time the largest non-downtown shopping area in the US. Founded in 1888 and closed around 1978 having started as a dry goods store, Mansmann's, it was said, eliminated any need to go downtown. The buyers you mention were Herbert C. Mansmann Sr. who bought ladies hand bags, Andrew Mansmann, and Mabel Mansmann, who bought girdles, brassieres, corsets, stockings and lingerie. Mr. William Weber was the notions buyer. Later, Mr. John Taylor Mansmann, I believe was the men's buyer. Also Mr. A. J. Mansmann's wife, Mrs. Agnes Gloekler Mansmann worked in the store. It was a real family store and Mr. AJ, as the venerated founder was known, promised every relative a job in the store. Everyone in the family, children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, in-laws, etc. worked there at one time or another, whether through school or on college break. At one time, its motto was "The Uptown Daylight Store", a self-promotion upon installing electric replacements for the gas lamps. Hirshbergs in McKeesport, around the same time, was known as "The Live Wire Store", probably for the same reason. To be completely accessible to customers by phone, the store had two separate systems installed and two phone numbers; one for the Bell Telephone System and one for the Keystone Telephone Co. for their respective subscribers, as customers of competing telephone companies could not interconnect. Another innovation was a basket trolley system that ran charge slips and change between the credit department and the clerks. This later would be replaced by a vacuum tube system. Fortunately no such promotions appeared touting "Watch your money go off in a basket at Mansmann's" or "Watch your money be vacuumed away at Mansmann's". Mansmann's serviced the upscale to middle class clientele that lived in the surrounding areas. There were nearby mansions of Thomas Mellon, long-time secretary of the US Treasury Andrew W. Mellon, George Westinghouse, H. J. Heinz, H.C. Frick, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Phipps, and Alcoa's Alfred Hunt. Well into the 60's the carriage trade could be seen arriving in their chauffered cars. It was said that items long since scarce could be obtained at Mansmann's: men's union suits--the one piece underwear with the button flap in the back, detachable collars, white women's kid gloves, sundry drapery hardware, and notions that surpassed any competition. Mr. Mansmann, the founder, got his start in the business working for Joseph Horne Co, the large downtown department store then on Market Street. Mr. Horne took a liking to young AJ, and helped him learn the business. Into his senior years, Mr. Mansmann cherished the memory of Mr. Joseph Horne, and would reminisce that after a particularly good job he had done, Mr. Horne saying that there would be a little something more in his pay envelope. When he picked it up, Mr. AJ found an extra coin. If you asked Mr. Mansmann which retail merchant he admired most, he would tell you his friend John Wanamaker in Philadelphia. Wanamaker's, he always said, was the epitome of what a department should look like. There were always stories of the goings-on at the store. The day the fire sprinklers went off, the tragedy of the shoe buyer killed in the famous 1956 mid-air plane collision over grand canyon, the porter who fell down the elevator shaft and lived, the rug clerk who kept coming in even after retirement because she had no other family, the latest on the two old spinsters who had been hired as young girls. And there were the highly anticipated annual employee picnics at the county park. The store closed and the picnic was free for employees and their families. It made the neighborhood paper every year. Today, the records and proceedings of Albert J. Mansmann Co are reposited in the local Heinz Historical Center. A bronze store name plaque "Mansmann's Department Store", hangs prominently at the center's elevator. And the names of Albert J. Mansmann, Joseph Horne, Kaufmann, Frank & Sedar, and Rosenbaum are memorialized in the History Center as a tribute to the era of Pittsburgh's merchant princes. – ----------------------------------------------------------- I saw the question about the soft serve ice cream in A&S in downtown Brooklyn. I too have been thinking about that ice cream--it was not in A&S, but in Woolworth's or Kresge's CLOSE to A&S. It was a vanilla soft serve and you could get chocolate or strawberry sauce on top. It came in a tall glass and was absolutely wonderful. Anyone still sell this stuff? --------------------------------------------------------- I grew up in Towson (Baltimore County) Maryland. In the 1960's, the now Towson Town Center was Towson Plaza. There was also Eudowood Plaze, which is now Towson Commons. I was trying to recall the Department stores that were in both of these shopping centers. Do you know them and if Franklin and Simon was one of them? Thank you. BCD -- Not only was Towson the home of the landmark 1952 Hutzler's store, it was also home to numerous other shopping centers. Eudowood Plaza opened on September 1957 and housed the area's first suburban Montgomery Ward store. The Ward's store remained at the center until the chain's closure in 2001. Eudowood was also home to James Wine's famous Best Products "Tilt Showroom", which opened in 1978. Towson Plaza lived in the shadow of the Hutzler store but was still an important center. Besides being home to a Food Fair grocery store, Towson Plaza was also home to Franklin Simon. This location, in addition to other Franklin Simon stores at Mondawmin Mall and Security Square Mall, remained in operation until the chain's demise in 1980. -- ML --------------------------------------------------------- A missing store is Strouss-Hirshberg in Youngstown, Ohio. They had the main store downtown and 7 branches. In 1947 they became part of the May Company but still operated under Strouss. In 1986 they were absorbed with Kaufmann's in Pittsburgh, closed the huge downtown store (I have photos of the flagship building as it appears now) and several branches. Remaining stores are now Macy's. --Strouss-Hirshberg opened its 7-story flagship store on Youngstown's Federal Plaza West in 1926. Founded in 1875, Strouss originally operated as the "Little Woolen Store" before becoming a seven store chain. The company opened early branch stores in smaller communities such as Warren and New Castle but then grew even larger in 1948 when it officially became part of the May Department Stores Co. By the early 1970s, rumors began to swirl that Strouss was interested in pulling its 415,000 square foot store out of downtown. (Higbee's did close its downtown store in October 1982.) In 1984, Strouss announced that it had no intention of leaving downtown, which was the division's third highest grossing store. However out of May's 11 department store divisions, only Jacksonville's May Cohens stores were bringing in less sales than Strouss. On January 31, 1986, May merged the Strouss stores with its larger Pittsburgh-based Kaufmann's stores. This move erased 400 office jobs from downtown and the stores began to operate as Strouss-Kaufmann's. May's plans for Strouss grew even more doubtful when two months later it was announced that the downtown Youngstown and New Castle stores would close their doors. Despite desperate pleas from the city, Strouss "began its final journey to oblivion" with a 50% off sale that began on June 9, 1986. -- ML ----------------------------------------------------------- Hi: I am looking for information regarding a store in Chicago, Illinois called First Distributors- I think it was located on Lawrence Ave. I worked there part-time while in college and had a great group of friends there. If you can find anything out- please let me know. Thanks! -- I discovered that First Distributors opened an "automated retail center" at 4810 N. Pulaski Road in 1963, but that's the extent of what I know. I have the impression that FD was an early discount (big box) store rather than a department store in the traditional sense. -- JW ---------------------------------------------------------- From a reader: I have started a new blog about the Denholm and McKay co. Also known as "Denholms" in Worcester Ma. This was Worcesters largest and most modern department store. www.denholms.blogspot.com Enjoy! ---------------------------------------------------------- G. Fox and Company in Hartford Connecticut ranks right up there among the nation's finest department stores of yesteryear. While many of its branch stores remain today as Macy's locations, its art-deco flagship store in downtown Hartford closed in 1993 when the G. Fox chain was merged into the Boston-based Filene's chain. The Connecticut Historical Society has a website dedicated to the legacy of G. Fox and Company, and the Auerbach family. Click here. -- KRA --------------------------------------------------------- Anyone know the name of the soft-serve icecream sold in the basement of Schuster's Department Store in Milwaukee in the-40's and 50's? -- Schuster's was a major store in Milwaukee for many decades. It was founded in 1885 but had just a handful of employees then. By 1919, when it became part of a combination owned by a suit manufacturer, there were three stores. Later there were also some stores in malls. Schuster's sponsored a popular annual Reindeer Parade from 1927 until 1955 which was held at night, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In 1960 Schuster's merged with Gimbels. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find anything about the soft-serve ice cream sold in the store, but I do know it was a product which became widely available after WWII in drive-in restaurants. -- JW ----------------------------------------------------------- I can't find my favorites. John A. Brown in Oklahoma City and Neiman Marcus of Dallas. ---------------------------------------------------------- In the mid-1980's, many department stores went "bear-crazy", and featured specially created, and named teddy bears for the Christmas Season. Some of then included, Felix (from Filene's), Santa Bear (Hudson's), Kringle Bear (Woodward and Lothrop), Rudi (John Wanamaker), and the already mentioned Abearham and Straus The Mouse (A & S). Some were featured on an annual basis and others went away with a year or two. Abearham came with a story booklet, as did Rudi, and Rudi had the honor of being featured in Wanamakers Christmas Light Shoe starting in 1986. In fact in 1986 the entire Center City store was decked out in all things Rudi including the shopping bags. It was a more recent example of how department stores could put on the charm in a big way. If you are looking for xamples of these cuddly creatures, or other department store holiday season artifacts check out your local thrift stores, big and small. I was able to find a mint condition Rudi, complete with story book, and a coffee mug from Breakfast With Santa at Crowley's at a local Salvation Army, and that store is in Riverhead, NY. So you never know what may turn up where. KRA --------------------------------------------------------- Is there any information on what it was like to be a typical department store model in the women's department of a big department store chain like Macy's during the 1930s? -- The closest thing that I can come up with as far as models who worked for a major department store, is the excellent documentary, "Hollywood On Hamilton". In this very moving tribute to Hess's of Allentown, Pa., a number of former employees are interviewed including several who worked as in-store models. The Hess's models often strolled the aisles of the famed Patio Restaurant, and often wore clothing from the stores fabled French Room. Here is the You Tube link. -- KRA ---------------------------------------------------------- Unfortunately Gottschalk's based in Fresno, California bit the dust earlier this year. I think that means that Macy's, Sears and JCPenney are all that is left in California? ---------------------------------------------------------- Do you have any idea if anyone still makes the candy that was sold by Gimbels Department stores in the Milwaukee area? -- The candy departments at all Gimbel's stores was run by Price's Chocolates. This included all of Gimbel's operating divisions, with some regional favorites added to the mix in certain markets. Price's is still in business, and here is their website. -- KRA -------------------------------------------------------- Hi. I am trying to find an Abraham & Straus christmas ornaments that were a bear and a mouse. A friend stated he had them as a child and have been subsequently lost. if anyone knows where i may find them if they still exist i would appreciate the information. Thanks! --You are speaking of Brooklyn's Abraham & Straus Christmas dolls, A-Bear-ham and Straus the mouse. The two dolls were sold together with the intention that you keep the big bear and you give the mouse to charity. You didn't have to. I purchased mine from the A&S store in Woodbridge, NJ probably in 1994. Just keep checking eBay, but they are extremely rare. I wouldn't know where to send you. Perhaps a plea on |
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