Finlay Straus describes itself as a jeweler/optician in this Depression-era New York Daily News ad from December 19, 1934.
But based on the merchandise they’re pushing as part of a Christmas sale (and their locations, like Fordham Road and Fulton Street), the store is more like a Macy’s or a Target—selling the “practical” gifts that make good presents for people you don’t know very well or are easy to please.
Seventy-eight years to the day after this ad ran, some of these gifts still pass as okay, such as appliances like mixers and juicers as well as tableware.
Of course, the typewriter, radio, and cigarette case/lighter have been relegated to the dustbin of Christmas presents past.
Tags: Christmas 1934, Christmas presents 1930s, Depression Era Christmas ads, Finlay Strauss stores NYC, New York City department store ads, New York Daily News 1930s, newspaper ads from the 1930s, old ads NYC, Vintage store ads
December 19, 2012 at 1:53 am |
Of course, the Straus flagship store lives on as the “new” Macy’s in downtown Brooklyn. There is a plaque on the building commemorating its history.
December 19, 2012 at 1:57 am |
D’oh! I wrote too soon — this is Finlay Straus, not Abraham & Straus. Sorry about that last comment!
December 19, 2012 at 2:28 am |
I assumed there was a connection too. But I haven’t found evidence of one.
December 19, 2012 at 3:06 am |
I don’t think so either. But there is a little tidbit on this vintage watch website: http://www.michaelpitzer.com/newlook/2011/11/28/kent-watch-early-1950s/
Its seems they sold their chain to Kay Jewelers in 1954. There is some info out there about A.S. Hirshberg, their president. Evidently he was a major diamond trader, with offices in New York, Boston and Amsterdam before he got involved in retail.
December 19, 2012 at 6:05 am
Cool link, thanks!
December 19, 2012 at 3:12 pm |
I must have had 10-15 portable typewriters much like the Remington Portable on which I used to type out my stories while traveling around the USA. In the 1980s-90s I felt like a real writer, like a Hemingway or Faulkner, which I can’t get out of my computers, they seem so unreal. No wonder bookstores are closing shop, where are the real writers anyway?
December 19, 2012 at 5:17 pm |
[...] down and run for mayor [NYT] · Williamsburg Cinemas opens its doors today [BK Paper] · Christmas ads in the Daily News from 1934 [Ephemeral] · Trapeze center coming to Hamilton Fish Park in LES [DNAinfo] · Phew! JFK [...]
December 19, 2012 at 5:40 pm |
Forget about the pony I want the cigarette case! Thank you!
December 19, 2012 at 6:14 pm |
The cigarette case is way cool, but I want the Midget Radio. “Long and short waves.” Police signals! Aeroplane stations! Amateur signals! For a quarter a week! (It certainly speaks to the Depression that one might be paying for a radio for more than half the year.)
December 19, 2012 at 6:48 pm |
They may be relegated to presents past but some of these “practical gifts,” like the toaster/tray, radio and typewriter, are now collectible to the right person. Interesting how the value of things change over the course of decades.
December 19, 2012 at 7:15 pm |
I’m partial to the midget radio. I can imagine a kid sitting in front of it enjoying the Shadow or the Lone Ranger.
December 19, 2012 at 7:25 pm |
Ah, the Amazing Midget Radio makes an illustrious appearance in Michael Chabon’s “Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” in which it is the flagship product of a struggling novelty company, and later the sponsor of the comic book produced by the novel’s protagonists. Chabon’s attention to period detail is impeccable.