Details
Creator Rease, W. H., artist.
Contributor Kuhl, Frederick, printer.
Title Bennett & Co. Tower Hall, clothing bazaar No. 182 Market St, between Fifth & Sixth. Philadelphia. [graphic] : Wholesale & retail. J.M. Bennett. J. C. Umberger. Executed, by, W. H. Rease No. 17 So. 5th. St.
Publisher Philadelphia: Printed by F. Kuhl
Date [ca. 1853]
Physical Description 1 print: lithograph, tinted with one stone; 77 x 60 cm. (30.5 x 24 in.)
Description Advertisement showing the four-story, tower-shaped clothing store adorned with signage at 182, i.e., 518 Market Street. Statuary and a flag reading "Tower Hall" embellish the building and signs advertise "Quick Sales" and "Small Profits." A store clerk consults with a patron near one of the four open entryways to the establishment. Clothing adorns the entries and hangs from racks inside the store in which another clerk assists a patron at a display table. Coats and other piles of clothing are visible in the upper floor windows. In front of the store, several crates line the sidewalk. A laborer nails one shut as other workers load a horse-drawn dray. A few of the crates are marked with addresses, including Independence, Mo., Nashville, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga. The three-and-one-half story "Clothing Ware Rooms" stands adjacent to the "Tower Hall." Signage advertising "Shirts, Collars, Bosoms, Cravats, Wrappers, Hosiery, Handkerchiefs &c. &c. &c. and [Edward] "Allman Hatter" and [Robert] "Winchester Grocer" adorns the facade. Patrons exit and enter the doorways of the building in front of which a laborer loads a "Bennet & Co. Tower Hall Clothing Bazaar" wagon. On the sidewalk, near the delivery worker, a woman strolls near two boys in conversation and a man carrying a large package. Partial views of the outerlying, neighboring businesses complete the scene. Signage reading "...T Toland," (i.e., George Toland, accountant, 180 Market), and "Robert..." adorn the buildings. Also contains a trompe l'oeil wood frame border around the image.
Col. Joseph M. Bennett (1816-1898) established his business, which he named Tower Hall in 1853, at the address in 1849. He was a successful businessman who used his wealth for philanthropic pursuits including the establishment of a Methodist orphanage and the bequest of West Philadelphia properties to the University of Pennsylvania in support of women's education.
Is referenced by Wainwright 23
Notes Philadelphia on Stone
POS 35
Wainwright retrospective conversion project, edited.
Subject Joseph M. Bennett & Co.
Clothing stores -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Laborers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Clerks -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Carts & wagons -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Genre Lithographs -- Tinted -- 1850-1860.
Advertisements -- 1850-1860.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| **W23 [P.2016]
Accession number P.2016