Perhaps you remember shopping at Brigham's in Springfield, Mass. This ad is from a 1940 Springfield Daily Republican. I'm not sure when the store closed, but it was a fixture in the first half of the 20th century. Apparently from the number of years it had been in business noted in the ad, it had been present in the latter part of the 19th century as well. Ladies' apparel, hats, and general notions was their business, though I wonder if today we would casually use the term "Mecca" to describe a store as the best place to shop for Christmas.
Been there? Shopped that? Let us know.
Yes, I remember Brigham's. It was in my youth and the store was in its final years. I think they closed in the early 1970's. My last purchase there was a velour mini-dress. In that time, there were still a lot of small locally owned shops downtown. Mondays and Thursdays the stores were open until 9 pm and it was considered safe to be there after dark. Ah, those were the days!
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much, Sojourner, for stopping by and sharing your memory with us. I would have thought Brigham's closed earlier than that, but your velour mini-dress is proof of that store's resiliency to change in fashion.
ReplyDeleteThe small locally owned shops were the life's blood of downtown. Fashion isn't the only thing that changes. I'm so glad to hear about the memories, and I hope others will share their own.
I'm the son of the last owner of Brigham's, Paul F. Fox. He operated the store from about 1948 until it closed in 1970. At that time the store was still somewhat successful, but my father correctly believed that he would have to establish branches in the suburbs as Forbes & Wallace and Stieger's were doing. He did not want to run such a large operation.
ReplyDeletePaul G Fox
pfox500@gmail.com
Welcome, Mr. Fox, and thank you so much for sharing this interesting family background on Brigham's, and for verifying the year the store closed.
ReplyDelete