Savitt Jewelers and the History of a Section of Asylum Street, Hartford CT
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- Savitt Jewelers was a beloved Hartford institution, famous for the slogan P.O.M.G. (Peace of Mind Guaranteed). For half a century the store was located on the south side of Asylum Street. In this video, I talk about Savitt's and some of the earlier businesses that existed in the same section of Asylum Street going back to the nineteenth century. These included a number of clothiers, one whose fame was compared to that of Lord Byron. Another clothing store was run by a former Hartford mayor and yet another was damaged during a major riot caused by the distribution of free suspenders.
#hartford #hartfordct #connecticut #cities #history #lostbuildings #danielsternervideos #historicbuildings #historicbuildingsct #savitt #retailshopping #urban #newengland
Some of the images used in this video are from the collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, including:
Savitt Jewelers POMG, Hartford,:
emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Babe Ruth with Bill Savitt
emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
Intersection of Main Street and Asylum Street:
hdl.handle.net/11134/40002:19890
Weeks Brothers Mourning Goods Store, 23 Asylum Street:
emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
A. L. Foster & Co., 45-53 Asylum Street:
emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
"Self Accusation" Performance, Society for Savings Plaza:
emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/object...
One of the images used in this video is from the collections of the Connecticut State Library:
Asylum Street looking from Main Street, Hartford, late 1800s
hdl.handle.net/11134/30002:720...
As a kid in Connecticut, hearing and seeing the radio and tv commercials with the Bill Savitt singers, were a regular and fun part of my Christmas Season. Another good thing gone.
Great video you do awesome detailed work! Thank you Dan for this historic history of Hartford Ct
Thank you!!!
P.O.M.G.!
I work for an estate sale company and we cleaned out a house in Newington that had two massive jewelry cases from Savitt in his garage
I wished I had room for that - it was great
Thanks for another outstanding video.
Thank you for watching!
Great job Dan!
Thanks!
Another great look back... always appreciated... Thanks, Dan!
2nd comment: I also worked at the other end of upper asylum, on the opposite side, at the Brownstone Restaurant (part of the Brown Thompson group) , in the Brownstone Building. Anyone in the area knows of Jennings Road in Hartford, named for Officer Henry Jennings, the first HPD officer to fall victim to gunshot, on May 25th, 1964, at the old Hartford Hotel. It all started on Asylum Street the previous night. A waiter having a cigarette break (from the Chinese restaurant) reported a break in occuring at Tuckel's Television Store across the street. Officer James Regan investigated and found transient criminal Robert Chapelle attempting to break in. Regan was shot twice by his own service revolver as Chapelle overpowered him. Jennings was sent to wait in the hotel room where Chapelle had checked into, and when Chapelle returned, Jennings was fatally wounded in the brief struggle between the two.
The lead fire truck you showed while describing the fire was known as “The Pride of Hartford” and was housed in Company 4’s quarters on Ann Street (now Ann Ucello Street). The Pride of Hartford is now known as the pride of Windsor. It is in a firehouse in that town. They did an excellent job of rescuing that truck from a farm, and then restoring it. The Horace B. Clark collection of photographs, at the Connecticut Historical Society, has over 5,000 photographs showing Hartford as it survived some of the most destructive fires of its history. “The Pride” is prominently displayed in this collection.
I'll get to that Ann Street firehouse when I do a video on "Ann Street before the XL Center."
Great story ! POMG. Htfd.
Please do a segment on the many beautiful theaters that were in downtown Hartford. As a boy in the 1960s, I remember : Loew's, Loew's Poli, and The Strand. I will never forget the premiere of "A Hard Day's Night" at Loew's, ( I believe). It was chaos...like a live concert !! My older relatives always talked about the State Theater, and how famous drummer Gene Krupa became a family friend who visited them after performing there. I think those theaters were originally used in Vaudeville...they were opulent, with full balconies....their heyday long before TV. Hartford has so much history...JFK's speech that I was at on the Hartford Times portico in 1960...Mark Twain writing his classics on Farmington Avenue and him attending the Major League baseball games at Bulkeley Stadium !! I am glad you mentioned Babe Ruth's final appearance in a uniform which was at Bulkeley Stadium for the Savitt Gems. Ruth later went to Yale and donated his memoirs to the library there, with a ceremony on the Yale ball field. He handed those memoirs to the captain of the Yale baseball team...future President George H.W. Bush !!
I did a video about the theaters about 2 months ago: ruclips.net/video/P-_eurXwGZM/видео.htmlsi=dK2f2zgw6Iltrbi6
My wedding ring came from Savitt. Father worked at Hartford National Bank, I (and my mother before me) worked at Travelers, grandfathers worked at National Typewriter (Cash Register?) and Moran's Menswear, I shopped at GFox, Sage-Allen, BT's, ate at Honisses. Wish I could remember name of Chinese restaurant, 1950's, 2nd floor on Trumbull? Asylum? Ahh, the memories. Thanks for your insight.
Song Hays?
@historywithdansterner263 Dan, thanks for response, name didn't ring bell like I expected, and it's closed now, I see, but some old reviewer had posted that it was worst he ever had misfortune to know, so it must be the place [chuckle]. Memories differ, I was a kid, but I'll always remember the delicious (in my mind) chicken chow mein.
I worked at Regal Shoes in 1985 in the Corning Building. One day I was in the basement and noticed smoke coming from a pipe. I went up the metal spiral stairs and out onto the intersection where there was a cop I knew, Leo, was directing traffic at the intersection; I motioned him into the building and showed him. He radioed in an alarm, and a full high-rise assignment was sent. It was determined that it was peanut shells in the pipe that were being roasted, from the adjoining business, the peanut shop that was there. I'm going to tell a second story in another comment now....
Wow! Interesting story!
Very interesting. I was too young to be buying jewelry, but I certainly knew of him, hearing of him via Bob Steele and WCCC all the time. I sure remember P.O.M.G. I didn't know he was a WCCC founder but that makes sense. Dude knew how to become viral when that wasn't a thing.
what a pleasant surprise to long onto RUclips and see this… where’s my popcorn. Thanks Dan
Thanks for another wonderful look back.
Another great presentation!!! Many thanks
I think my uncle Bill Libman, had a bridal shop on Asylum Street, He opened there after the family clothing store on Main St. , The Smart Shop, closed. His store was called Ann Williams. It was probably in the late 40s or 50s & 60s.
No delay more than a day…
See Savitt and you’ll have it, don’t delay more than a day!
Great stuff!! Any chance you will work on a segment pertaining to Pratt Street?
I want to do a video (or two!) on Pratt Street soon.
@@historywithdansterner263 great - love your work!!
P.S. ...do you remember : " It's such a beautiful sight, when you look to the right going south on the Charter Oak bridge. There's the Travelers tower and a whole lot more...like the Constitution Plaza ,and Bill Savitt's jewelry store..." ??😊