Figure 1.--This is the cover of Franklin Simon's Spring Summer 1911 catalog. it was not as extensice of the Sears and Wards catalogs, but was just offering clothing. We note these catalogs in the 1910s and 20s. We are not sure about other decades. We have archived some of the pages in the 1911 catalog section.

Frannklin Simon (FS) opened in 1902 and was an important New York City deparment store until 1948, but continued for 4 more years under new management. It primarily focused on women's fashions, with an emphasis on European fashion. The described its concept as 'to import much of his merchandise with a view to selling the imported goods as cheaply, if possible, as the domestic.' Atthe time, imprted clothing came oprimarily from Europe. The store was very different than other department stores. The foundrs created it as an aggregation of specialty shops rather than a standard single store. Each of the FS shops offered a specialty line, in many cases more variety than a traditional department store. While the focus was on women's wear, there was also a good range of children clothes which made sence becuse women generally purchased the children's clothes, of course for girls and younger boys. There was also some men's wear. This was a New York City Fifth Avenue department store which operated from about 1905-52. The flagship store was opened at 414 Fifth Avenue at 38th Street, a former Astor-family mansion. At the time it was the first important Fifth Avenue store above 34th Street. Many stres like Tifany;s were to follow. It published a well-illustrated catalog as far as we can tell in the 1910s and 20s. FS began opening branch stores (1932). A rare retailer expanding during the Depession. There were branch stores opened mostly in the Northeast, but one in Ohio, another in Tennesse, and a beach focused store in Palm Beach Florida. Beginning in the 1950s, FS began to decline weith complicated, mergers, merchandise shifts, and name changes. There were 42 stores in 1979 when it closed. By that time it had evolved into primarily a furniture store.

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