The Growth of G. Fox & Company, Hartford, CT from 1917 to the 1960s

Video about how G. Fox & Co. department store rebuilt after the fire of 1917 and continued to expand from the 1930s to 1960.
#hartford #hartfordct #gfox #connecticut #historicbuilding
Check out my video about the early days of G. Fox, from 1847 to 1917:
• The Early History of G...
*****************************************
Many images used in this video are from the collections of Connecticut Historical Society and from the Hartford History Center at the Hartford Public Library, including:
Flood of 1936: pumping water on Talcott Street, Hartford: hdl.handle.net/11134/40002:14850
Storefronts, 92 Pratt Street, Hartford: hdl.handle.net/11134/40002:17626
Goodwill Club: hdl.handle.net/11134/40002:19962
G. Fox & Co. construction site, Hartford: hdl.handle.net/11134/40002:14302
Hartford department stores, Main Street: hdl.handle.net/11134/40002:9887
G. Fox & Co. Cafeteria, Hartford: hdl.handle.net/11134/40002:14299
Exterior view of G. Fox Department Store, 956-986 Main Street, Hartford: hdl.handle.net/11134/40002:18680
Photograph Album of G. Fox & Co. Fire: hdl.handle.net/11134/40002:TMS...
G. Fox & Co. Building, Main Street, Hartford: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
G. Fox Elevator Crew: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
G. Fox & Co. Store After Fire: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
G. Fox and Co. 1917 Fire, Main Street, Hartford: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Exterior Views of G. Fox and Co. Building, Main Street, Hartford: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Exterior Views of G. Fox & Co., Main Street, Hartford: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Aerial View of G. Fox & Co.: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
G. Fox & Co. Building, Main Street, Hartford: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Exterior Views of G. Fox and Co. Building, Main Street, Hartford: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Beatrice Fox Auerbach Public Appearances: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Photograph Album of G. Fox and Co. Garage Addition: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Interior Views of G. Fox and Co., Hartford: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Photograph Album of Additions to G. Fox and Co. Department Store,
Hartford: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Photograph Album of G. Fox and Co. Building, Harford: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Photograph Album of New G. Fox & Co. Building After 1917 Fire: emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Christmas display, G. Fox, Hartford, 1959: hdl.handle.net/11134/50002:878
Chase Going Woodhouse and Beatrice Fox Auerbach, 1956: hdl.handle.net/11134/50002:838
*************************************************
Check out my links on Linktree:
linktr.ee/danielsterner
Please visit Historic Buildings of Connecticut:
historicbuildingsct.com/
Please visit my personal website:
danielsterner.com/
Follow me on Facebook:
/ historic-buildings-of-...
Follow me on Instagram:
/ ctbuildings
Follow me on Twitter:
/ historicbldct
Buy me a coffee:
ko-fi.com/danielsterner

[@helenmiller3255]

My family had close ties to Mrs. Auerbach, and my uncle worked in the marketing dept. for over 30 years until the store was sold. A few years ago, I posted my memories of shopping G. Fox as a child with my mother and grandmother on Facebook. It unleashed a few hundred responses from folks near and far with their own memories.

[@sparkletclown]

This was wonderful Dan. It brought back so many memories. I used to love riding up the escalators, up and up and up. I also remember the elevators with it's operator to run it. And of course the Christmas Village where so many children got to visit Santa!

[@bobkstanley8844]

Dan, I wish there was a KZbin when I was a Hartford Police Officer in the 80’s. I only went inside there once when I was a cop. It was stunning. I also wish I knew more history if the city when I worked there. It would be a great idea if you were contracted to teach at the police academies in the future there. Names of streets and buildings do make a difference and makes the thankless job more rewarding knowing how it came to be. Thanks for your very informative and interesting videos!

[@shanedraney7667]

I grew up in East Hartford and South Windsor in the 60's. My grandparents used to take us there to see Santa and get pics. They regularly shopped there as well. It was a beautiful store.

[@DS-yo7op]

Dan - So many great memories. I spent so much time in that Beautiful Downtown Hartford store shopping with my Mother, grandmother and friends when I was able to drive. I worked in the Enfield Square G. Fox during college - there are too few of these Grand Dames of retail remaining, Getting amazon boxes is just not the same as having a beautiful lunch in the Connecticut Room or at "Stop and Go" on the lower level mezzanine in the budget store. My Mom worked in the downtown store, and my grandmother always bought us candy on the first floor. Bought a lot of fun things on the mezzanine overlooking the main floor when I started having my own money also. I can't help but wish this G. Fox was still there - along with Sage Allen that had the best "hermit" cookies, and Luettgens Limited......Thanks for the warm moments watching this....

[@markrichards6863]

G Fox was a great store. Shopping in Downtown Hartford rivaled larger cities. Those were good times. Suburban shopping centers and the middle class moving to the suburbs really killed Hartford.

[@grantman1148]

Thanks for the history lesson and the memories. My friends and I would take the bus from Bishop's Corner to Downtown and would so often make it to the toy department on the 11th floor. (At least I think it was the 11th). What a great store and a great time in Hartford's history. Mrs. Auerbach was a great lady and did much for the area.

[@christopherwebb7778]

That was great, I worked in that building, both at the Insurance Department and at the haunted house they ran in the early 90's (1990's), it's a lovely building.

[@goodun2974]

A history of drugstores in the Hartford and West Hartford area seems in order. I miss the independently-owned drugstores of my youth, many of which had a lunch counter, a sode jerk serving soda/ice cream, and so on.

[@mareerogers364]

Thank you for such incredible memories. I wish you'd cover the amazing history of The State Theatre (larger than Radio City) and the great movies palaces in the city of hartford and downtown. Movie theatre's were located on Albany Avenue and main street. The Star theatre, nicknamed "The Scratch House" was across from Barnard Brown school. The Hartford Times newspaper building has a great history as well.

[@philipcone357]

As usual, Dan, an outstanding history. I seem to recall a wooden wall inside Fox’s on the first floor that supposedly was from the first store.

[@Trinitylover]

Thank you so much! Such great memories. Even though we moved away from West Hartford when I was in seventh grade, my aunt was in Manchester and we always went to G. Fox! Some of my favorite books as a child came from the book department at Fox’s.

[@use100ame]

'Love these local and intimate histories brought to life with such wonder, awe and personal memories for so many. 🙂

[@goodun2974]

My parents moved from the North end of Hartford to the suburbs south of the city when I was 5, but I had a spinster aunt who lived in Hartford, worked downtown (Morgan St court building) and often took me downtown for lunch and shopping at G Fox and Sage Allen. G Fox used to have a Myna bird mascot of sorts in the lobby that learned words easily, but some workmen in the building taught it profanity, and so the bird was removed from the store. I was always a good eater, and my wonderful aunt would let me order anything I wanted from the adult menu. I also remember JJ Newberry on Main and Asylum (they had a lunch counter and a small but well-stocked record store in the 70's), and I think there was a Woolworths' and perhaps a Macy's on Main St as well.

[@louisekaczmarek2100]

Hi - great video! In the snapshots of Talcott Street during the 1930 G Fox warehouse construction (at the video's 23 minute point) there is a smaller building/storefront in the foreground. The left hand side of the store was Cohen Brothers Confectioners. The right hand side was a grocery store that was actually owned from about 1925 through 1928 by my great grandfather, Louis Patitucci. It looks like it has a sign above, but it's hard to read. Dan, do you know what the name of the store was? We never knew what it was officially called. It's really cool to see a photo of it!

[@williamyelenak1388]

Dan, love your amazing work. I’m sure you’re tired of getting suggestions for new videos, but my wife and I both lived in Hartford (students at Trinity) and driving through the other day we were talking about what Hartford and its neighborhoods looked like before 84 split it in two. I know Wallace Stevens, the Pulitzer Prize winning poet, would often walk from his office at the Hartford on Asylum Hill to a bookstore on Lewis Street. Today we don’t even consider Asylum Hill as part of downtown Hartford. Anyway, one of 1 million suggestions. Always very much look forward to watching your videos.

[@shmucc]

Hi Dan, I was always interested in G Fox and the role it played in Commerce in the 1900's (Big shopping centers) Do You have any suggestions for books/videos/articles explaining it's importance within the retail history?

[@jaynichols7932]

Great video - Thank you for taking the time to post. I grew up outside of nearby Springfield, MA in the 60's & 70's before moving to the Hartford area in 1982 after college. My father worked at an insurance company that provided the workers compensation for Pratt & Whitney so he spend much of his time across the river at the P & W facility (Great subject for a future video). Once or twice a year (1965-1969) we would travel down to Hartford to shop at G Fox before going to dinner at a cafeteria style restaurant on Constitution Plaza (the name I cannot remember - any ideas?). Of course the best part of the trip for us kids was the expansive toy department - As I recall it was located on the top floor. I shopped at G Fox until the early 90's just before moving back to Massachusetts. Your narrative seems to stop in the mid 60's after the store was sold. Just curious about any developments since then. Thanks!

[@michael19157]

Why is it that I cannot find a single photo of the Santa sitting on the top of

[@bigdaddysantos]

In the 60s the creation of the 84-91 interchange took a long time, and even longer was the 84 east - 91 north connection. (Eventually the “flyover”). The scuttlebutt during those years was that there was some friction between highway designers and