Hammacher Schlemmer moves to its present location at 147 East 57th Street, a twelve-story building designed and built specifically for us. With a new clientele clamoring for luxury items, the store begins stocking esoteric gadgetry and gizmos and ushers in an era of Hammacher Schlemmer elegance.
American novelist Harper Lee, whose sole novel, To Kill a Mockingbird earned her a Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, is born in Monroeville, Alabama.
This ad for giant matches and a lighter imported from France is a fine example of our evolution from a hardware store to "The House of Fine Housewares". The 12-inch matches, mounted on a giant enameled tray and housed in a leather case, are intended for lighting a hearth. The lighter is adorned with gold-plated trimming and is available in two-tone mother of pearl, various shades of leather, or natural tanned lizard skin.
This advertisement in The New York Times invites the public to visit our landmark store "New in everything but the unfailing policy of generous dealing and strict standards or quality first." Located on 57th Street at Lexington Avenue near some of Manhattan's most elegant residential neighborhoods, the Schlemmer Building stocks over 100,000 items.
This catalog shows Hammacher Schlemmer at the crossroads of its hardware store roots and its new direction as a purveyor of unique gifts. Illustrations of both old and new locations flank our promise that "You will find that nearly everything illustrated and described is unusual and individual-a factor which makes gifts doubly appreciated. You will find things selected purely for their usefulness, for their decorative value-and others for sheer fun. The interior of the catalog reflects our evolving product mix, with a crystal caviar bowl followed several pages later by a combination cabinet bench.
