Most old-time Lorainites remember Smith & Gerhart, a popular Downtown store that's been the subject of many posts on this blog.
As you can see in the photo above, sixty years ago the store was still expanding, with an addition over the alley. The photo appeared in the Journal on Feb. 11, 1961.
I asked my mother about Smith & Gerhart, since I know that she had shopped there over the years. How did it compare with Kline’s?
“Smith & Gerhart was much classier than Kline's,” she pointed out. “The store even had an elevator.”
“I bought all my material there,” she added. Like many other students, Mom made all of her own clothes that she wore to Lorain High School.
Mom said she bought jewelry at Smith & Gerhart from time to time. She remembered that she bought her first ring there. She still has that ring.
Smith & Gerhart closed in 1980.
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2 comments:
My Mom called it Smith & G's. Mostly what I do remember was the elevator. That there was an elevator operator. A Job that disappeared altogether not long after. Rae
I remember that the store used pneumatic tubes for sending sale slips up to who-knew-where and receipts returning to the sales counter. I am not sure if money and change was also transported via "The Tubes."
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