Seeking Denholms memorabilia

I am asking everyone if the are cleaning out their basements or attics to please consider donating or selling your Denholms memorabilia to me. Over the past 30 years I have been assembling and curating Denholms items to help preserve the history of Worcester's largest store.  The collection will be willed to the Worcester Historical Museum when I pass.

My email is denholms1@yahoo.com

I am interested in;
-old catalogs
-paper items
-store fixtures
-mannequins
-signage
-Denholms labels
-photographs
-shopping bags
etc...
Thank you in advance!
Christopher

The Denholms blog will be ending

Due to difficulty posting, and the switch to Facebook, the Denholms blog will not be updated starting January 1st, 2018.  To see current and vintage news stories regarding the store, please view the posts on Facebook.  https://www.facebook.com/denholms.worcester

I will be leaving all posts up on Blogger that have been previously posted.
Thank you and best wishes to you for the holidays.

Chris

The Early Days of the Denholm and McKay Company

1884

Here are two images showing The Denholm and McKay Company after it had moved to the 484 Main Street location.  The top image shows the original facade with the Jonas Clark lettering affixed on the center tower, as well as all of the advertising signs of the inhabitants of the upper floors.  The building originally housed Becker Junior college, The architectural firm of Earl and Fuller, as well as other various law offices. Denholms at this point only housed product on the Main floor and lower level, and bought up upper floors as they became available.  The second image of an early 1900s ad shows the whole building now converted to the store.  The ad also shows what types of goods were popular at the turn of the century. Notice the original three entrances to the building.

1900

I Dreamed I floated to India on my Perma- Firm

This is a window from 1965 showcasing the "Perma Firm" line of mattresses by Crimson Shield, located on the 4th floor. As a full line department store, Denholms would promote seasonal sales happening throughout the store, but the windows were primarily used to showcase women's apparel and accessories. I have always loved this window, and remember having one of these mattresses as a child.

Denholms goes abroad!

Recently I was contacted by an architectural firm designing a new hotel in London. How shocked and surprised I was to hear that they would like to use vintage Denholms windows to wallpaper the end of the hallways on all 3 floors! It's so nice to know that the legend of Denholms still lives on after all these years.

"Give Cupid a lift with a valentines gift" reads the copy for this 1956 lingerie window. It's a classic example of a window display from that era, for the Valentine's Day holiday. I hope you enjoy!