This post was written by Lynn Weinstein, a Business Reference Librarian in the Science, Technology, and Business Division.
During the pandemic, I was saddened that so many of my favorite department stores failed. In the late 19th and early 20th century, department stores, featuring collections of a variety of retail shops located under one roof, first began taking root in the United States. Garfinckel’s, a prominent department store chain that catered to elite consumers, including government leaders and their wives, carved out a high-end retail niche in Washington, DC for 85 years. Its founder Julius Garfinckel (1874-1936) was a philanthropist and a savvy businessman. Born Julius Garfinkle, an American of Jewish descent, he changed his and the store’s names to Garfinckel in the early 1920s.
The flagship store, located on 14th and F Streets is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as an example of a 1920s department store that anchored a downtown historic retail corridor, and contributed to a city’s commerce and economic development. The store closed in 1990 following the company’s bankruptcy.
Julius Garfinckel became a distinguished fashion arbiter in D.C. by selling sophisticated and quality, classic and trendy clothing, with a high level of personalized customer service. His reputation and acumen were such that he was brought on to serve on the board other Washington businesses and organizations such as Riggs Bank, Emergency Hospital, and Potomac Power Company; a member of the Washington Board of Trade and the United States Chamber of Commerce; and a Trustee for George Washington University and Gallaudet College.
Julius Garfinckel left the majority of his estate, after his death in 1936, to his employees and to a number of charities, including the Boy Scouts and the All Souls Unitarian Church, where he was a member. The bulk of his estate established the YMCA’s Hannah Harrison School of Industrial Arts, named after his mother, to provide career training and housing to displaced D.C. area homemakers. He collected James Abbott McNeill Whistler etchings and paintings, which were on display at the Corcoran Gallery of Art at the time of his death. Garfinckel was a private person who did not attend D.C. social events. Unusual for his era, he was a vegan who mostly ate salads, and did not drink alcohol.
Garfinckel & Co.’s clothing advertisements featured models photographed against famous D.C. backgrounds, including the U.S. Capitol, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Tidal Basin. The store specialized in lady’s clothing for Washington’s elite, including suits, cocktail dresses, and evening gowns. The Library of Congress has a collection of fashion images for Garfinckel & Co. advertisements by Vogue photojournalist Toni Frissell.
The 100-seat Greenbrier Garden Restaurant, located on the fifth floor inside the flagship store, was where women would meet to have tea and see fashion shows. According to Historic Restaurants of Washington, D.C., it was designed by the New York firm of William and Harrell, and opened in 1940. Architectural drawings and photographs of some of Garfinkel & Co.’s stores and the downtown tea room are retained by the Library of Congress’ Prints and Photographs Reading Room.
Like other Washington, DC retailers, their focus on Washington’s elite excluded individuals of color, and early on the store, despite Julius Garfinckel’s origins, did not hire Jews. It was not until the civil rights movement that Garfinckel’s and other DC area department stores employed and served minorities. Prior to the civil rights movement, many prominent retail institutions were white and often gentile only establishments.
If you want to learn more about Garfinckel, his store, department stores generally, here are a few resources to get you started.
- The Library of Congress has Garfinckel’s Department Store records, 1919-1981. Explore the finding aid to find records including correspondence, press releases, newspaper clippings, and photographs documenting the store’s officers, personnel, organization, expansion, and advertising. The material includes items relating to the public sale of stock in 1939, the acquisition of Brooks Brothers in 1946, and the attempted takeover of the company by Allied Stores Corporation in 1981.
- For more information on Jewish storekeeping families, see Leon Harris’ Merchant Princes: An Intimate History of Jewish Families Who Built Great Department Stores. While it covers the Filenes, Strauses, Gimbels, Kaufmanns, Goldsmiths, Rosenwalds, and more, the author notes there are many families, such as the Garfinckels, that were not included in the book.
- Discover research sources and methods for searching historical company information by viewing our Doing Historical Company Research, which includes a recording of our Historical Company Research webinar. You can find this class and other upcoming instructional classes and our Business Research Orientation in the Library of Congress events page under Courses and Workshops.
- For more information on the history of department stores, read the blog Victor Gruen’s Shopping Towns U.S.A.
- To explore the movement to racially integrate white-collar work and consumption in American department stores in the mid-twentieth century, examine Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement: Workers, Consumers, and Civil Rights from the 1930s to the 1980s
- To better understand consumer preferences and behavior, review our Doing Consumer Research: A Resource Guide and Marketing Industry: A Resource Guide.
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Comments (12)
I well remember that beautiful store where I was not allowed to dine. But my Godmother, who was “Negro” but extremely fair, not only shopped and dined there, she also used the beauty shoppe. Many Blacks would not shop there after the civil rights bill was signed because of their being denied for so many years. Washington had a large, upper class, well to do Black community that continued to use The Hecht Co. and other downtown stores. I really was sad to see it close.
By the time I moved to Washington, DC from my small town in NC; Garfinkel’s Department Store had been forced to change its policy relative to segregation. This was one of my cousin’s favorite stores because she loved beautiful, high end clothes. She introduced me to this store. I recall the first time she took me to lunch here. I was so impressed with the finery and the service. I had never eaten at a fancier restaurant. I think that set the standard for me from then on…I enjoy to this day, beautiful resturants. I did learn subsequently of the poor treatment people of color were subjected to by this store and it took a great bit of the “glamour” from my perception of it. Of course it also negatively influenced my desire to spend my money there regularly. Though I had a credit card that allowed me to make purchases there, I found I shopped at other stores in the area more frequently. I felt more welcomed. I was surprised when it closed but not terribly sad. I suppose its discriminatory policies of the past, finally caught up with its owners and their heirs.
I was 8 years old when we moved to D.C./Anacostia in 1939. Downtown “F Street” NW was like a Fairyland to me ! Garfinkle Dept. Store was only a dream to me for the next two years! At that particular time Garfinkle’s seemed to be the only store where I could find my narrow size shoes (loafers !) that were so popular!
I enjoyed shopping there until I left the area with my Air Force husband in 1953.
I came to Washington in 1964 from Georgia. I wanted to explore the North (!) and my roommate came with me. We did not have much money so we shopped sales at Woodies. She bought her wedding dress there in 1965 and allowed me to alter and use it for my wedding in 1966. I went into Garfinckels to look for a “going-away” dress. Although I am white, I felt I did not belong there with the elite. I did purchase a dress, spending more than I had ever spent, but I was so proud that I had a dress from Garfinckels!
I vividly remember an occasion in 1953 when a “colored lady” asked my mother to put a hat on her head so the lady could see what it looked like on. When we got into the car to go home, I asked my mother why the lady didn’t just put the hat on her own head and look in the mirror. My little 3-year-old self was astonished to learn that colored people could not try on hats. I later worked at that Garfinckels, where I had both black coworkers and black customers.
While working for the Department of the Navy and going to school in 1960 I lived on the second floor of a row house with my roommate on Park Road in Washington DC. The house was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Jaroslav Nemec. IHevhad been a prominent attorney in Prague before coming to the US. Mrs. Nemec was so lovely and very elegant. She worked on the Designer Floor at Garfinckel’s. When I became engaged she invited me to come to the store for a private consultation to select my china and silver. There was a handsome dining room table set with several place settings of different china and silver patterns. I felt as though I was in a dream. I was also allowed to sketch some of the wedding gowns. I was studying to become a fashion illustrator. From those sketches I designed my own gown and had it made in NC by the seamstress who had made my school dresses when I was growing up. It was gorgeous.
I use to shop there on f st. N
W when i was a teen ager at duke ellington he was a part of the harlem renisaunce in the 1930s in nyc thankyou.
I attended American University from 1970 to 1974. I worked at the Garfinckel’s business office at night on the top floor of the 14th Street flagship store. When we left at night the store was closed and we had to be ushered to the 1st floor front door by security. Even though the lights were off, the 1st floor of Garfinckel’s was the most ELEGANT department store I have ever been in (and I have been to Harrod’s in London). That beautiful blue square luxurious carpet I will never forget. Similar to the blue color on those shopping bags. And those shiny mahogany display cases were absolutely original. Faded elegance that will never be seen again.
With regret I have read the other comments on this blog. I am deeply saddened that Garfinckel’s was a place of discrimination with a long standing policy of not serving African Americans. Another regretful part of Washington DC history. Hopefully something positive can come from it.
I lived in Washington in the heyday of Garfinkel’s and remember it well, especially their blue and white gift boxes. I venture to say that I used it in the most unusual, creative way. I had a pet squirrel monkey,
and when he died, I buried him in a Garfinkel’s box.
I have an original women suit that I inheritaded. What is the value? Where can I find out?
Hi Carita, It can be tough to get vintage clothing items appraised and marketed, particularly since the market does depend a lot on supply and demand. You may want to discuss this with a local shop that sells vintage clothing. You may also want to contact professional organizations such as the Appraisers Association of America or the American Society of Appraisers or look at their websites for leads on professionals that may be able to assist you.
I shop there before for a nice shirt when I was in high school at Duke ellingtonton school of the performing art in the 1980 lorenzo alpheaus .