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Q: History of hardware stores ( No Answer,   3 Comments )
Question  
Subject: History of hardware stores
Category: Business and Money > Small Businesses
Asked by: aceguy-ga
List Price: $14.50
Posted: 02 Mar 2006 15:04 PST
Expires: 01 Apr 2006 15:04 PST
Question ID: 703026
I am trying to find out the history of Hardware stores. When did they
start and especially what did they originally sell. What were the
earliest years of store fronts? Over the years they have changed alot
in the direction they serve consumers.

Request for Question Clarification by tlspiegel-ga on 03 Mar 2006 09:08 PST
Hi aceguy,

The earliest record I found was the following:
http://www.hammacher.com/about_us/history.asp

Please let me know if this information is satisfactory.  If it is I'll
be happy to repost this information as your official answer.

Best regards,
tlspiegel

Clarification of Question by aceguy-ga on 03 Mar 2006 15:20 PST
That is fine information, I was hoping for a little more history on
Hardware stores. I appreciate the other persons information on Iron
Mongers also.

If this is all there is that OK also.

Regards
Bill

Clarification of Question by aceguy-ga on 07 Mar 2006 11:54 PST
Thanks for the answers all OK.
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: History of hardware stores
From: myoarin-ga on 03 Mar 2006 14:35 PST
 
This is a free comment and not an "answer" to your question, which
only a G-A Researcher with a blue name like TLSpiegel can post.

I understood your question a little more broadly.
The history of hardware stores predates that name for them, going back
to medieval England, where they were (and still are) called
ironmongers, sellers of iron.
This site gives the history of Ironmongers Lane in London.  If you
click on Ironmongers Company at the bottom right on the page, you will
see that the trade and guild are of long standing.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=3198

As the name suggests, ironmongers were predominantly dealers, though
another site explains that those in Ironmongers Lane made pots and
pans for the nearby poultry market, and a further one also mentions
that they made small things.

So they dealt in hard goods, versus soft goods, i.e., cloth.  As more
different types of metal fittings were prefabricated (rather than
being made to order) in 18th and 19th centuries, their range of goods
expanded, as they have since.  In a good oldfashioned ironmongers in
England or a hardware store in the States, one used to be able to buy
a single screw, bolt, nails by weight and much else, maybe get a small
part repaired.

How did they look in the 19th and early 20th century?  In England,
like the picture on the cover of this book:
http://www.mjdtools.com/books/140919.htm

And they still do, maybe with plastic laundry baskets, etc. in front
of the store instead of metal buckets and tubs.

I hope this helps.
Subject: Re: History of hardware stores
From: aceguy-ga on 03 Mar 2006 15:21 PST
 
This is great information. Thanks for taking the time as I am not real
sure how this all works on Google..

Regards
Bill
Subject: Re: History of hardware stores
From: myoarin-ga on 03 Mar 2006 16:15 PST
 
Aceguy,
Glad to help, and I appreciate your thanks.  That is all a commenter can get.
Myoarin

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