Woolworth's didn't open until 1879, while Macy's, which had started out as a simple dry goods store had expanded into having "departments" by 1860s. When I started research on this mystery I discovered that decades ago I'd found this old 1950s business history of Macy's at a used bookstore and bought it--actually not something I did very often, but it was a gold mine of information!
Interesting! Your piece reminded me that Lizzie Borden was also a shoplifter. Until the murders, her well-connected father apparently paid for the things she was suspected of stealing. After her acquittal she was on her own.
Such a sad state of affairs though I did know about th kleptomania stuff I did no realize it was so far back in history....though it makes sense for folks who had nothing, it never made sense for women who seemed to have everything. Thank you for doing the research for us1
Fascinating history. I thought Woolworth’s was the first department store.
Woolworth's didn't open until 1879, while Macy's, which had started out as a simple dry goods store had expanded into having "departments" by 1860s. When I started research on this mystery I discovered that decades ago I'd found this old 1950s business history of Macy's at a used bookstore and bought it--actually not something I did very often, but it was a gold mine of information!
Fascinating. I love historical trivia.
This was wonderful! Thank you so much!
Interesting! Your piece reminded me that Lizzie Borden was also a shoplifter. Until the murders, her well-connected father apparently paid for the things she was suspected of stealing. After her acquittal she was on her own.
I had never heard that about Lizzie Borden, that is fascinating! And lovely to hear from you.
Such a sad state of affairs though I did know about th kleptomania stuff I did no realize it was so far back in history....though it makes sense for folks who had nothing, it never made sense for women who seemed to have everything. Thank you for doing the research for us1