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1889-1924, undated
HGO-02-104-A-A-4 (albums); HGO-01-001-F-T-2 (subject files, Occupational Interiors, Interiors Dry Goods, Whitney's (photograph folder)\n
GUSN-181081
The Whitney's Linen Store Collection consists of one folder of photographs, one photograph album, and two albums of photomechanical prints and advertisements for Whitney's Linen Store at 39 Temple Place in Boston, Massachusetts.
The folder contains 11 5 x 8 inch black-and-white mounted interior views of the showrooms and offices of Whitney's Linen Store on West Street, Boylston Street, and Temple Place, dating from the early 1900s.
The photograph album (album #1) contains 31 5 x 7 inch black-and-white photomechanical prints of store interiors, window displays, and some exterior shots of an unidentified location.
Two additional albums display advertisements with notations on the publication, cost and date of the ads and also additional photomechanical prints. The advertisements date from the 1880s to the early 1920s.
Album #2 contains a clippings journal for the Whitney Linen Store at 39 Temple Place of advertisements with the name of the publication, date and cost of the ads. Most are dated 1889 and 1890.
Album #3 is entitled Lotus Advertising Register and contains an advertisement clippings scrapbook for the Whitney Linen Store and T. D. Whitney Company at 37-39 Temple Place and 25 West Street. The album includes clippings of advertisements with the name of the publication, date and cost of the ads. Most are dated 1920 and 1921. There are also advertisements for sales and help-wanted ads. Some of the ads are organized by month.
Source: Whitney's Linen Store finding aid.
linens (object genre)
retail stores
interior views
showrooms
offices (work spaces)
clerical workers
exterior views
show-windows
sales personnel
commercial buildings
advertisements
business records
black-and-white prints (photographs)
photomechanical prints
advertisements
clippings (information artifacts)
photograph albums
albums
trade cards (advertising)
manuscripts (document genre)
1 album
1 photograph album (31 photomechanical prints : black-and-white ; 5 x 7 inches)
2 albums (ca. 50 items)
An electronic finding aid is available through Historic New England's Collections Access Portal. A paper finding aid is available in the Library & Archives.
Custodial history is unknown.
CC003
Whitney's Linen Store records, 1889-1924, undated
CC003
A collection of photographs and advertisements for Whitney's Linen Store in Boston.
Gift
Gift of Earle Shettleworth, Jr., December 1997.
Boston (Suffolk county, Massachusetts)
Whitney, Theodore D., ca. 1847 (Retailer)
T.D. Whitney & Co. (Retailer)
Whitney's Linen Store (Retailer)
business records
black-and-white prints (photographs)
photomechanical prints
advertisements
clippings (information artifacts)
photograph albums
albums
trade cards (advertising)
manuscripts (document genre)
Whitney, Theodore D., ca. 1847
Whitney's Linen Store
T.D. Whitney & Co.
Temple Place (Boston, Mass.)
West Street (Boston, Mass.)
Architectural photography
This collection is open to research.
Delicate materials may be restricted due to their condition. There are no technical restrictions to this collection.
Collection
HGO-02-104-A-A-4 (albums); HGO-01-001-F-T-2 (subject files, Occupational Interiors, Interiors Dry Goods, Whitney's (photograph folder)
Accruals are not expected.
Materials are entirely in English.
Item identification. Format #. Whitney's Linen Store records (CC003). Historic New England, Library & Archives.
DACS-compliant
Whitney's Linen Store was established in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 1800s. There were several locations, including 39 Temple Place and 25 West Street. The store sold linens of all varieties, including cretonne, embroideries, wash goods, rugs, bedspreads, towels, bed linens, table linens, handkerchiefs, curtains and draperies, and yard goods. They also furnished hotels and institutions.
T. D. Whitney & Co. was located at other addresses, such as 143 Tremont Street.
Source: Whitney's Linen Store finding aid; Boston city directories.
"T.D. Whitney & Co. : importers & dealers in linen goods, housekeeping dry goods, art embroidery goods, lace curtains" (RBB.62 W622), Trade Catalogs - Special Collections, Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
The collection is arranged in the order it was received.
Historic New England is committed to implementing reparative language description for existing collections and creating respectful and inclusive language description for new collections. If you encounter language in Historic England's Collections Access Portal that is harmful or offensive, or you find materials that would benefit from a content warning, please contact [email protected].
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