The brief article accompanying this week’s column appeared in the Florence Times (now the Times-Daily) in February, 1934. A new haberdashery at 218 North Court Street was holding its grand opening, with James H. and G.W. Mcintosh, together with Julian Nance, as the proprietors. So, what is a haberdashery? It’s a term that was used at least as early as the eighteenth century until the first few decades of the twentieth century to denote a menswear shop. Such a shop offered all types of suits, shoes, ties, shirts and hats for men, along with other necessities such as cufflinks, tie tacks, shaving equipment, handkerchiefs, etc. – everything, in fact, for the well-groomed gentleman. By the 1950’s, the term “haberdashery” had been replaced in the everyday vocabulary by the very straightforward term, “menswear shop.” Florentines of a certain age will remember, among others, Kinzer’s Menswear, Kreisman’s Menswear, Otto Speake Menswear (all three on North Court Street) and Poe’s Menswear on North Seminary Street. Other terms that were in vogue earlier but met the same fate as “haberdashery” are these: “soda fountain” (and its accompanying term, “soda jerk”), “ice cream parlor” and “millinery shop.” More about those, perhaps, in future articles.

--Billy Warren, City Historian

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