Shopping Saturday: Alexander Smiley's Ready-Made Clothing Store

Nashville Whig, 1 December 1817, page 3

In 1817 Alexander Smiley opened a ready-made clothing shop next to the post office in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. The clothes were reasonably priced. At this time, there was not much variety in ready-made clothing; it mostly consisted of coats, jackets, and undergarments. (National Institute of Standards and Technology Virtual Museum, Short History of Ready-Made Clothing.)

Alexander Smiley planned to start selling shoes as well. Less than a year later, he sold both shoes and boots.

Nashville Whig, 14 November 1818, page 1

Shopping Saturday: Foerstel Bros.

 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 23 December 1927, p. 27

Charles F. Foerstel, the father of my maternal grandmother's first husband William Herbert Foerstel, was a grocer in St. Louis, Missouri.

1930 United States census, St. Louis, Missouri, Ward 15 part 1, population schedule, p.25B, family 542. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.

Charles worked for the Foerstel Bros. Mercantile Co. Charles' brother, Michael J. Foerstel, was president of the company.

Gould's St. Louis City Directory 1931. St. Louis, MO: Polk-Gould Directory Co., 1931. P. 455. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

My grandmother Margaret Ann Schneider married William Herbert Foerstel on  22 September 1931. By 1932, Herbert was working as a grocer.

Gould's St. Louis City Directory 1932. St. Louis, MO: Polk-Gould Directory Co., 1932. P. 397. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

Margaret and Herbert had two children during the early 1930s. My aunt told me that because of the family grocery business, they always had food during the Great Depression.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9 May 1924, p. 19

Shopping Saturday: Wegman & Sons Grocery

My great-grandfather's sister's husband Anthony Leo "Andy" Wegman worked with his father Herman J. Wegman and his brother John P. Wegman in the family grocery business, Wegman & Sons. The store was located at 3326 Shenandoah Ave., St. Louis, Missouri.

Gould's St. Louis City Directory 1914, page 2234. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

One of the products that they sold was India tea. 

 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9 October 1912, page 9

The store also carried Troco Nut Butter.

 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 21 June 1918, page 11

Shopping Saturday: C. J. Dahlquist's Shoe Shop

My 2nd-great-grandfather Carl Johan/Charles John Dahlquist was a shoe dealer. In 1895, he went into business with Axel Swenson. Their shoe shop, called Swenson & Dahlquist, was located at 6031 State Street, Chicago, Illinois. By 1902, the store had moved to 511 W. 63rd Street, Chicago. It was located in the Englewood neighborhood.

Englewood Times, 10 March 1905, page 1

 Englewood Times, 15 September 1905, page 2

 Englewood Times, 29 September 1905, page 1

In 1906,  Axel Swenson sold his share of the business to Swan J. Burkdahl, and the store's name was changed to Burkdahl & Dahlquist.

Englewood Times, 9 March 1906, page 8

A surgical chiropodist was available at the store from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

 Englewood Times, 21 June 1907, page 1

By 1909, the store was called Dahlquist & Son. The store remained at the same location, but after Chicago's streets were renumbered, the address changed to 409 W. 63rd Street. He worked with his older son Carl Frederick Dahlquist until 1917, when Carl Frederick began working as a contractor. His younger son Martin Luther Dahlquist also worked at the shoe store.

 Englewood Times, 13 May 1910, page 1

Chicago Tribune, 29 September 1912, page 6

 Englewood Times, 14 May 1915, page 9

Englewood Times, 18 June 1915, page 11

Englewood Times, 14 April 1916, page 1

 Englewood Times, 8 September 1916, page 1

 Englewood Times, 24 November 1916, page 1

Englewood Times, 15 December 1916, page 1

In 1918, the shop displayed some World War I souvenirs in its window. They were provided by Corporal Walter D. North, who had attended Englewood High School.

Englewood Times, 29 November 1918, page 1

On 30 July 1919, Martin Luther Dahlquist died as a result of a ruptured appendix. Not long afterward, C. J. Dahlquist sold his shoe business.

 Englewood Times, 29 August 1919, page 1

Englewood Times, 12 September 1919, page 8

Peter P. Hokamp purchased the shoe business, and the store reopened on October 4, 1919.

Englewood Times, 3 October 1919, page 8

Although he had sold his shoe business, C. J. Dahlquist continued working at the store.

Englewood Times, 24 June, 1921, page 1

Shopping Saturday: Lakeport Grocery

My first cousin twice removed Louise Margaret Gray owned Lakeport Grocery in Lakeport, New York. I am not sure when she purchased the store, but I know that she owned it while she was married to her third husband Leonard D. Smith. The store was later known as Fox's Lakeport Grocery after she married her fourth husband Maurice Otis Fox.

The store was a grocery and a service station. A 6-room house was attached to the store.

Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), 2 August 1968

Milk was available in disposable containers.

Mexico Independent (Mexico, NY), 29 August 1955

Beer was also available for purchase.

Madison County Times (Chittenango, NY), 1 July 1960

S&H Green Stamps were given to the store's customers.

Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), 16 February 1950

When Louise was in the process of retiring, a grocery store auction was held. The ad for the sale included a list of the store's contents.

Daily Sentinel (Rome, NY), 11 August 1971

Louise owned the store until at least 1973.

Shopping Saturday: Christmas Shopping in 1918

In 1918, Americans were encouraged to do their Christmas shopping early. The Council of National Defense placed notices in publications and announced that due to the war, the stores would not have extended shopping hours or additional employees, and would not make extra deliveries.

Nashville Tennessean, 22 November 1918, page 8

Shopping Saturday: Shopping in Gary, Indiana

Vidette-Messenger, 9 August 1929,  page 5

My 2nd-great-grandmother's sister Anna Christina (Borg) Greandahl and her daughter Lillian (Greandahl) Nelson, residents of Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana, went shopping in Gary, Lake County, Indiana on Wednesday, 7 August 1929.

Several other residents of Chesterton also went shopping in Gary that day: Frances Sherman, Mrs. Austin Brooks, and Mrs. Brook's daughter Mrs. William Vaughn.

Gary was the fifth largest city in Indiana by 1930. It was only about 17 miles away from Chesterton.

Shopping Saturday: National Garage Sale Day

Garage sale sign claiming to advertise higher quality merchandise, in Texas. 17 August 2013. Photo by Pete unseth (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

The second Saturday in August is National Garage Sale Day. In 2001, C. Daniel Rhodes of Hoover, Alabama came up with the idea for National Garage Sale Day and submitted it to Chase's Calendar of Events. He saw that his neighbors were having garage sales on different weekends, and he thought that it would be more convenient if they were held on the same day.

My maternal grandmother Margaret Ann (Schneider) Boe would have enjoyed this holiday. She frequently went to garage sales and liked finding bargains there. My aunts enjoyed going with her when they visited.

My cousin Jenny and her friend have a yard sale blog, Yard Sale Bloodbath.

Garage sale. Photo by en:User:Smm650. Public domain. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

References
Mark Your Calendar
National Garage Sale Day

Shopping Saturday: Sealfons

When I was a child, my mother took me shopping at Sealfons in Ridgewood. My mother had moved to Ridgewood when she was in high school, and my family had shopped at Sealfons for a long time. I remember the penny candy counter that the store had; I liked being able to get some candy after shopping.

Sealfons, a clothing store for women and girls, was founded by Samuel I. Sealfon. There were stores in Ridgewood, Wayne, Caldwell, Summit, Westfield, Princeton, and Shrewsbury. The closing of the last Sealfons outside of a mall, the Summit store, was announced on 15 October 2005. The last Sealfons, at the Grove at Shrewsbury, closed in 2006.

Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Midland Park, Fair Lawn, Ho-Ho-Kus Directory 1960. Newark, NJ: Price & Lee Co. Page 695. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Midland Park, Fair Lawn, Ho-Ho-Kus Directory 1960. Newark, NJ: Price & Lee Co. Page 48. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

Trenton Evening Times, 14 February 1990, page A5

Shopping Saturday: Grocery Shopping with Grandma Boe

Photo from OldTimeCandy.com

Over the holidays, we were talking and reminiscing about Grandma Boe (my mother's mother Margaret Ann (Schneider) Boe). Sometimes my brother and I would go shopping with her. My brother said that he had loved grocery shopping with Grandma Boe, because she let us get whatever we wanted. If my brother wanted Scooter Pies, she would buy them.

 Trenton Times, 12 September 1979