NO xBOX?: What items were on Santa’s “to buy” lists in Bradford
100 years ago? According to ads in the Era from December 1905, some
of the more popular gifts included the following.
From Ike Simons’ Big Double Clothing House at 52-54 Main St.,
the usual clothing items were in demand, including sweaters,
jackets and gloves – but this was no outpost either.
Under neckwear, Ike advertised “4-in-hands,” a formal black tie,
ascots and “imperials,” another formal style from the early 19th
century. “Grips and suitcases” came in different “hides” –
alligator, walrus, seal, “zebu” grain, English Oxford and even
cases “fitted with toilet.”
Opera hats were available for “him,” and jeweled scarf pins were
on sale for “her.” Proprietor Ike invited shoppers to bring their
Christmas troubles to his place to be solved “and find your
difficulties melt into insignificance.”
W.D. Hart & Bros., druggists at 13 Public Square, offered a
good line of cigars – Gatos, Key West, Rotos, Portuondos and
Steber’s. The L. Emery Jr. & Co. Christmas Store offered dinner
sets from $8 to $100. Denton, Cottier & Daniels at 269-71 Main
St. offered a new Steinway piano for $500. Silk petticoats trimmed
with five inches of tucked ruffle silk and a three-inch dust ruffle
were only $4.50 at The Johnston Store on Main Street.
Another Johnston, this one a jeweler on Main Street, was selling
solid gold watches from $15. The Talking Machine at 63 Main St.
offered $20 Graphophones on sale for $15. What to play on them? How
about 10-inch disc records for only 60 cents.
Bradford National Bank claimed “the most appreciated gift” would
be a bank account “for your wife. “It is a gift of the most
substantial character and will bring greatest joy to the home,” the
ad reads.
A large ad for Beecham’s Pills was alongside the Christmas ads.
These pills, sold everywhere in Bradford, promised to relieve the
sudden attacks of stomach pain, nausea, indigestion, colic and
biliousness. “They are a natural medicine,” the ad says, but
doesn’t list the ingredients. We can only guess, back in a time
when even opium was in cough syrups!
