© Amy Beckerman Zarndt
Haberdashery
Young’s Stetson Hats – Clearance Center – 139 Nassau Street, NYC
© Vincenzo Aiosa
This venue is closed.
Since 1959, this hole-in-the-wall hat shop has been topping the pates of the New York City man. From elderly immigrants stuck in a fashion time warp to the hip-hop entrepreneur looking for that perfect lid, Hat Corner customers are as eclectic as the offerings on display at this quintessential hat shop. Newsboys, ivy leagues, newyorkers, berets, ascots, boaters, westerns, Bogarts, Indiana Jones fedoras, ball caps and visors from a plethora of brands such as Kangol, Capas, and Selentinio sit neatly arranged in veneered, wall-to-wall cubby-holes above an ancient parquet floor. The place feels like it has been around for a hundred years, and it has, in one form or another, since a hat shop called Truly Yours occupied this space circa 1890. The sales staff reflects the polarity of its customer base and knows both its hats and its chapeau history. Bring in your old topper for expert restoration or to find a new hatband to match a suit—or a throwback jersey.
Enlarged – Lost City
Enlarged & rotated – Lost City
Lost City Blog
I found this matchbook the other day. It was remarkable enough in that it was a matchbook for a hat store, not a bar or restaurant. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. But the address, 139 Nassau, corner of Beekman, rang a bell. Seemed to me I remembered a hat store being on that corner. – Lost City – http://lostnewyorkcity.blogspot.com/2012/05/truly-yours-best-hats.html
Weber & Heilbroner Revisited – North of Herald Square – West 35th Street, NYC – 1998
JPEG from Hi-Res TIFF of Original Chrome Scan for Fading Ads of New York City (History Press, 2011) © Frank H. Jump
One of the original 24 images that exhibited at the N-Y Historical Society, August – November 1998 – Fading Ad Campaign
When I took this shot, I wanted to be above it (the sign) to show its scale. The trucks below give it some sense of proportion. I went to the building across the street which had a doorman. I told him I had an appointment with a woman on the thirteenth floor (lucky 13). The gentleman called up and when asked who made the appointment, I said the woman behind the desk. They let me go up.
When I got out of the elevator, I was greeted by the manager (a woman named Sharon) and the front desk manager (an African-American gay man who had a grin). The front desk manager said, “Am I the woman you made the appointment with?” Hand on hip. I laughed. We all had a good laugh. So Sharon asked, “So what do you really want?”
Well, I said, there is this great sign across the street that you probably see out your window. She gasped and said “It’s about time someone photographed this sign. I love that sign!” The company was some sort of garment import or manufacturing firm so Sharon had an interest in habadasher history. Sharon asked if I had eaten lunch yet. I said no. They ordered pizza and soda. As we waited for the food, Sharon cleared off her window sill and opened it up (I don’t think it had been opened in years). I hung out the window as she held me by my belt.
The building where I took the shot has recently been torn down. I shot this image of Atlantic Bank this past summer while walking with my friend, Dr. Andrew Irving.
Featured Fades – Lipton’s – A Place to Shop for Women & Children & Bloomfield’s Best Hatter & Haberdasher – Fischer’s Men’s Shop at the Centre – Bloomfield, NJ – James Curran, 2010
Bloomfield, NJ 2010 © James Curran
BLOOMFIELD — A rare glimpse of Depression-era Bloomfield is on display just steps away from the town center, where two old-time advertisements painted on the brick side of a Washington Street building have been unveiled after being covered up since the 1930s.
Now the advertisements, and the wall they’re painted on at the corner of the corner of Washington Street and Lackawanna Place across from the train station, are slated to be razed too, as part of the town’s redevelopment plan.
The ads for Lipton’s department store and Fischer’s, a men’s clothing and hat shop, are relics of a bygone era in Bloomfield and evoke a certain nostalgia among some of the town’s older residents, said Jean Kuras, president of the Bloomfield Historical Society. – Aliza Appelbaum – The Star-Ledger
Lipton’s – A Place to Shop for Women & Children
13 Broad Street at the Centre © James Curran
Courtesy of Bloomfield History dot org
Bloomfield’s Best Hatter & Haberdasher – Fischer’s Men’s Shop at the Centre
Stetson Hats - Manhattan Shirts © James Curran
Courtesy of Bloomfield History dot org
Elsewhere on the Internet:
- John Lee’s Photostream – Flickr
- Bloomfield History dot org
- Bloomfield redevelopment reveals glimpse of Depression-era town – Sunday, November 07, 2010 – The Star-Ledger
Images of ‘Gents Furnishings’ on the Internet
Seigman & Wherleys Gents Furnishings – Glen Rock, Pennsylvania – kyfireenginephoto’s Flickr
circa 1903 – Chronicling America – Library of Congress (CLICK FOR PDF)
Ben Freedman – 137 Orchard Street NYC
Chronicling America – Library of Congress (CLICK FOR PDF)
May 23, 1887 The first CPR passenger train arrived in Vancouver from Montreal. Locomotive 374, attached to the train at Port Moody, brought it in with Peter Righter at the throttle. (It is often thought #374 pulled the train right across the country. Nope, just from Port Moody.) The choice of Vancouver as the Pacific terminus for the CPR ensured the town’s dominant role in southwestern B.C. – The History of Metropolitan Vancouver
The Daily Star – Fredricksburg, VA – Google News
Lansing 1897 – H. Kositchek & Bros. – Michigan Historical Museum
Sellers of men’s clothing included gents’ furnishings stores and merchant tailors. Dressmakers made custom frocks for women (many worked out of their homes). Sewers might purchase fabric and notions—or ready-to-wear clothing—at a dry goods store. General clothing stores and department stores sold clothing items for men, women, and/or children.
Gent’s Furnishings- H. Kositchek & Bros. Henry Kositchek came to the United States from his native Bohemia while still in his teens. He settled in the growing mill town of Eaton Rapids, where he opened a store selling dry goods and millinery. Three brothers—Max, Jacob and Adolph—followed Kositchek to Michigan and joined him in business.
Gents’ Furnishings Display In 1889 Henry opened a men’s clothing store, H. Kositchek & Bros., in Lansing. The business operates today at the same address as in 1897: 113 N. Washington Avenue. – Michigan Historical Museum
Noun 1. gent’s (men’s) furnishings – the drygoods sold by a haberdasher – haberdashery drygoods, soft goods – textiles or clothing and related merchandise – The Free Dictionary
Weber & Heilbroner – North of Herald Square – West 35th Street, NYC – 1998
© Frank H. Jump
One of the original 24 images that exhibited at the N-Y Historical Society, August – November 1998 – Fading Ad Campaign
When I took this shot, I wanted to be above it (the sign) to show its scale. The trucks below give it some sense of proportion. I went to the building across the street which had a doorman. I told him I had an appointment with a woman on the thirteenth floor (lucky 13). The gentleman called up and when asked who made the appointment, I said the woman behind the desk. They let me go up.
When I got out of the elevator, I was greeted by the manager (a woman named Sharon) and the front desk manager (an African-American gay man who had a grin). The front desk manager said, “Am I the woman you made the appointment with?” Hand on hip. I laughed. We all had a good laugh. So Sharon asked, “So what do you really want?”
Well, I said, there is this great sign across the street that you probably see out your window. She gasped and said “It’s about time someone photographed this sign. I love that sign!” The company was some sort of garment import or manufacturing firm so Sharon had an interest in habadasher history. Sharon asked if I had eaten lunch yet. I said no. They ordered pizza and soda. As we waited for the food, Sharon cleared off her window sill and opened it up (I don’t think it had been opened in years). I hung out the window as she held me by my belt.
The building where I took the shot has recently been torn down. I shot this image of Atlantic Bank this past summer while walking with my friend, Dr. Andrew Irving.
