Neat 1879 Macy's Receipt I picked up recently...
NumisOxide
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Picked this up on the bay as a curiosity. Thought it was pretty cool as my my 103 year old Grandma used to work as a bookkeeper at the 34th street Macys in the late 60's and I work part-time at Macy's while going to college.
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<< <i>Very nice! I love this type of ephemera >>
+1
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Ohh, and neat piece!
Did they mean they rounded it to $7?
No clue on the actual item.
<< <i>Does it say "grace 16"?
Did they mean they rounded it to $7?
No clue on the actual item. >>
Not an actual transcription, but with some additional words for clarity...
George J. Evans
5 Albums @ $1.21 = 6.05
Postage Bill = 1.11
Total = 7.16
7.00 [in the paid column]
Due 16 cents
Please remit
He who knows he has enough is rich.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
Albums for what?
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
Must have been something bulky if shipping was $1.11. Postage was cheap back then.
But was it for a coin in their coin & stamp department?!?
Nope...like many old-line NYC department stores they usually moved around Manhattan several times...usually uptown as the wealthy moved north/uptown back in the day. Generally speaking, they usually started on Broadway and made their way progressively north from 14th Street, to 23rd Street to 34th Street and beyond.
And I actually speak from some experience on this particular topic...as I'm sitting in my office right now...looking out the window at Macy's Herald Square directly across the street!!!
<< <i>Photo albums given as Christmas gifts? The date is shortly after Christmas.
Must have been something bulky if shipping was $1.11. Postage was cheap back then. >>
Your right I think it does say albums... Nice work!
Heres some info from wikipedia:"Macy's was founded by Rowland Hussey Macy, who between 1843 and 1855 opened four retail dry goods stores, including the original Macy's store in downtown Haverhill, Massachusetts, established in 1851 to serve the mill industry employees of the area. They all failed, but he learned from his mistakes. Macy moved to New York City in 1858 and established a new store named "R. H. Macy & Co." on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, which was far north of where other dry goods stores were at the time.[5] On the company's first day of business on October 28, 1858 sales totaled US$11.08, equal to $297.09 today. From the very beginning, Macy's logo has included a star in one form or another, which comes from a tattoo that Macy got as a teenager when he worked on a Nantucket whaling ship, the Emily Morgan.[6][7]
As the business grew, Macy's expanded into neighboring buildings, opening more and more departments, and used publicity devices such as a store Santa Claus, themed exhibits, and illuminated window displays to draw in customers.[8] It also offered a money back guarantee, although it only accepted cash into the 1950s. The store also produced its own made-to-measure clothing for both men and women, assembled in an on-site factory.[5] The store later moved to 18th Street and Broadway, on the "Ladies' Mile", the elite shopping district of the time, where it remained for nearly forty years.
In 1875, Macy took on two partners, Robert M. Valentine (1850–1879), a nephew; and Abiel T. La Forge (1842–1878) of Wisconsin, who was the husband of a cousin.[9][10] Macy died just two years later in 1877 from Bright's disease[11] The following year La Forge died, and Valentine died in 1879.[9][10] Ownership of the company was passed down through the Macy family until 1895, when the company, now called "R. H. Macy & Co.", was acquired by Isidor Straus and his brother Nathan Straus, who had previously held a license to sell china and other goods in the Macy's store.
In 1902, the flagship store moved uptown to Herald Square at 34th Street and Broadway, so far north of the other main dry goods emporia that it had to offer a steam wagonette to transport customers from 14th Street to 34th Street.[5] Although the Herald Square store initially consisted of just one building, it expanded through new construction, eventually occupying almost the entire block bounded by Seventh Avenue on the west, Broadway on the east, 34th Street on the south and 35th Street on the north, with the exception of a small pre-existing building on the corner of 35th Street and Seventh Avenue and another on the corner of 34th Street and Broadway. This latter 5-story building was purchased by Robert H. Smith in 1900 for $375,000 – an incredible sum at the time – with the idea of getting in the way of Macy's becoming the largest store in the world: it is largely supposed that Smith, who was a neighbor of the Macy's store on 14th Street, was acting on behalf of Siegel-Cooper, which had built what they thought was the world's largest store on Sixth Avenue in 1896. Macy's ignored the tactic, and simply built around the building, which now carries Macy's "shopping bag" sign by lease arrangement.[12]
And speaking of poor Isidor Straus, who also founded Abraham & Strauss (A&S)...if anyone also remembers that department store...he and his wife went down with the Titanic.
In fact, every telling of the Titanic tale always includes a loving elderly couple who give up their seats on a lifeboat and go back to their cabin to be together at the end...that would be Isidor and his wife of something like 55 years.
Imagine a wealthy CEO doing that today?!? Instead, he'd probably toss a handicapped woman or child out of the boat and take their place!!!
2003-present
1997-present
A few examples from my collection:
1/2 Cents
U.S. Revenue Stamps
Even Macy's for $7.16 probably represented a couple of week's pay (or even more) for many people back then!