POTW: A.I. Namm & Son Department Store

Tess Colwell

[Namm Store interior], 1898, V1972.1.743; Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection, ARC.201; Brooklyn Historical Society. [Namm Store interior], 1898, V1972.1.743; Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection, ARC.201; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The photo of the week depicts the A.I. Namm & Son department store interior, located at 450 - 458 Fulton Street in the Downtown Brooklyn neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1898. Adolph I. Namm was a Polish immigrant with an embroidery and upholstery business in Manhattan. In 1885, he moved his business in Brooklyn, and by 1891 he opened a new store at 452 Fulton. At the time, that stretch of Fulton Street was emerging as a popular commercial shopping destination. His son, Benjamin Harrison Namm, eventually took over the business. During its heyday, the store was enormously successful. It was also one of the largest cash-only enterprises in Brooklyn, competing with other large department stores like Abraham & Straus.

The A.I. Namm & Son flagship store was closed in 1957, and the business moved to the suburbs. The building has since been sold and purchased several times. The store once covered an entire city block, but the 450-458 is the last remaining portion today. Fulton Street is still a commercial district today. To learn more about the history of Fulton Street, check out My Brooklyn, a documentary film by Kelly Anderson.

This photograph comes from the Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection. This collection comprises roughly 1,400 black-and-white photographs taken by various photographers between 1860 and 1920. The majority of the photographs in this collection depict views of Brooklyn and Suffolk County. To view more photographs from this collection, check out this gallery.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org

 

This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.

 

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