Gents Furnishing & Misfit Parlor storefront. RPPC. Private Collection.
I love this very quaint and informative picture. And there is another employee looking out from behind the shop’s door; too shy to get in the picture? This looks like it may have been a family business. Most caps in this shop were .39c. Some suits are priced at $4, some cheaper. At the time the median daily wages for average skilled workers was between $1.50 and 3 dollars a day, so it gives you an idea of how expensive clothes were. There were no cheaper options like we have today. After rent, clothes took the largest chunk out of people’s earnings, with food (and tobacco and drinks *cough*).
This shop sold menswear but also cleaned and pressed. I find it humorous they called it the Misfit Parlor. The younger gent to the left with a dog at his feet (probably theirs) is looking a bit bored.
Detail.
Another storefront group RPPC in this collection, this time of tailors.
Bowlers And High Collars 
Leave a Reply