Found this unusual and wonderful item...

bycinbyhand

bycinbyhand

VFG Member
I am looking for more info to flush out what I have research so far. It's a truly lovely piece, original artwork (for store arcade window display or advertising printing purposes?) from the Harry Fink & Co. shop in Los Angeles.

I've learned that he worked in the retail biz for 5 years before opening his own store. It was in operation and growing then he died a couple years after that. I've not yet been able to find much more about it, surviving relatives or business partner which there must've been because the store - judging by this ad - survived a few more years after his passing in 1919. Shoe experts... yes?

Would anyone have access to LA Herald ads from this period? I've exhausted my resources. Found 1.

It's original pen and ink. Signed by the artist, Jarmie, about whom I have found NOTHING. So there's a mystery there too.

2017217inkdrawing1.jpg
 
cmpollack said:
How wonderful! :wub:

Harry Fink took his first lease at 636-637 South Broadway, in 1917 (they seem to have expanded the building along the way). Period ads refer to the business as a specialty dress shop.

Here's a 1923 ad:

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A 1936 ad:

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And the liquidation auction notice, from Jan 1938:

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Thank you so very much for those! A friend helped me also find a shoe ad with VERY similar shoes, dated mid 1920s.

I wonder who ran the store after he died in 1919... I found an obit in an industry paper of the day. He really was considered a rising star of the day. Great eye from what I can see from my research and the ads you post here now. Thanks so much!!
 
Oh and before he took over the building originally, there was a combined tea shop and mercantile kind of shop for Japanese items.
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Yes, the business' name was "The New Yamato Inc", and they billed themselves as "The Largest Retail Japanese Store in America" (though they sold many Chinese items too--ie Chinese kimonos, Mandarin skirts, Canton baskets etc...). They went out of business when their lease expired in 1917, and then Harry Fink remodelled t he building and moved in.

As to Harry's fate, the Aug 18 1919 LA Times reports that "Harry Fink, a well known Broadway merchant, who broke down from overwork, died after a few days illness. Last tribute was paid to a pioneer merchant who was in business in this section for fifty years".

His office manager (one R.J.Hopper) had petitioned for a legal guardian to take over the shop 4 days earlier, due to Harry's breakdown, but there is no mention of who was appointed.

A beautiful Sept 21 1919 ad shows the shop's fall fashions, with no mention of the new management. A 1923 ad lists William Karasik as the "Proprietor of the Millinery Department of Harry Fink & Co.", and a Nov 1930 ad says Irving Storch was just appointed manager.
 
cmpollack said:
Yes, the business' name was "The New Yamato Inc", and they billed themselves as "The Largest Retail Japanese Store in America" (though they sold many Chinese items too--ie Chinese kimonos, Mandarin skirts, Canton baskets etc...). They went out of business when their lease expired in 1917, and then Harry Fink remodelled t he building and moved in.

As to Harry's fate, the Aug 18 1919 LA Times reports that "Harry Fink, a well known Broadway merchant, who broke down from overwork, died after a few days illness. Last tribute was paid to a pioneer merchant who was in business in this section for fifty years".

His office manager (one R.J.Hopper) had petitioned for a legal guardian to take over the shop 4 days earlier, due to Harry's breakdown, but there is no mention of who was appointed.

A beautiful Sept 21 1919 ad shows the shop's fall fashions, with no mention of the new management. A 1923 ad lists William Karasik as the "Proprietor of the Millinery Department of Harry Fink & Co.", and a Nov 1930 ad says Irving Storch was just appointed manager.
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I found mention of the Yamato as a place where a noted female impersonator went for tea. Couldn't find anything more about her in my research. There were many theaters (stage and vaudeville at the time) popping up nearby.

Reason why I learned about it was because I found that he had pulled a permit for construction on facade.

I guess there was no family. I've been poring over what I can and have found no mention of family. Pre SSI research is harder, huh? A trade journal mentioned nothing just that his was a great loss for the retail world.

The most helpful (and interesting to me) research was about the neighborhood and its growth and changes as well as the architecture. A bunch of stuff available there.
 
cmpollack said:
Actually, the LA Times notice of petition for guardianship mentions that Harry was 35 and had a 9 year old son (so the claim that he was in business for fifty years is clearly wrong!)

Love the photo of the store--that must have been a fabulous place to shop!
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Well, well, well... any mention of the son's name? I would LOVE to find his kids. I found a nephew of another item's owner and we conversed a bit about some of items. It was VERY interesting. When I first contacted him I saw in his Facebook page a photo of her and her husband with JFK! I had seen the same photo in their home on the wall of his office.
 
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