When Tiffany & Co. moved “uptown”

This is the time of year when Tiffany & Co. gets lots of traffic; Valentine’s Day is a prime day to get engaged. It probably was in February 1905 as well. That month, Tiffany & Co. ran this full-page ad in the general interest magazine The Cosmopolitan. 

 Besides pushing their famed “Blue Book” catalog (still published in 2009!), the ad probably served to let readers know about  Tiffany’s new uptown digs.

Earlier that year, the store had moved out of its longtime location on 15th Street and Union Square West—a cast-iron beauty now serving as a condo. With Union Square on its way to becoming a low-rent theater district, Tiffany’s joined Lord & Taylor, B. Altman’s, and other shops in fashionable midtown.

Tiffany’s started out in 1837 downtown opposite City Hall Park. The store did a stint on Broadway and Prince Street (see photo below) in the last years of the 19th century. They moved into their current Fifth Avenue and 57th Street building in 1940.

 

Tags: The Cosmopolitan, Tiffany & Co., Tiffany's, Tiffany's Blue Book catalog, Union Square, Valentine's Day engagements