Gift Ideas – Delaware Digital Newspaper Project

by David Cardillo, DDNP Staff

Today’s post is part of the #ChronAmParty for December, #GiftIdeas. And there is a full page advertisement by The Ross Store in Wilmington, Delaware in the Friday, December 10, 1915 edition of the Evening Journal.

Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.), 10 Dec. 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.

The Ross Store mentioned in the article is not a precursor to the current chain, and the name is coincidental. While there are several Ross clothing stores in Delaware and many more throughout the country, the chain didn’t exist until 1982, with the first store being founded in 1950. However, the store mentioned in the article did sell clothing.

Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.), 10 Dec. 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.

In both sub-advertisements, there’s a mention of holiday boxes. Apparently, this was a big deal in 1915.

Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.), 10 Dec. 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.

In the “Some Things Never Change” category, the suggestion of gloves and handbags as gifts to women seems to remain prevalent to advertisers even in 2019.

Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.), 10 Dec. 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.

The hosiery ad stands out for the simple reason that while working on this particular blog, another local library, The Hagley Library, tweeted that local company DuPont began the world’s first nylon production in Seaford, Delaware 80 years ago on December 13th. Thus, the hosiery mentioned here is silk, not nylon.