199. G. Fox and Company Department Store and the Holidays

 

In the mid-20th century, Hartford's G. Fox and Co. was one of the most successful family-owned department stores in the United States. Today, many Connecticans have fond memories of visiting G. Fox at the holiday season -- marvelling at the Christmas Village atop the marquee and meeting Santa in Toyland. In this episode, Natalie Belanger and Jen Busa of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History talk about the history of the store, owner Beatrice Fox Auerbach's commitment to customer service, and the holiday traditions that so many customers still remember. 

 

You'll hear snippets from oral histories conducted in the 2000s by the Stave Group for the Connecticut Museum. Transcripts and audio files of these oral histories are available at the CT Digital Archive, a collaborative member organization that supports digital preservation and access for all Connecticut's people. The voices you heard today were those of Ann Uccello,  Bruce Blawie, Ruth Blawie, Betty Jane Ladd, Bruce Stave, and Fanny Raptopolous.

 

Want to try making the Date Nut Bread that Jen and Natalie made for this episode? Here's the recipe, as published in the Hartford Courant February 26, 2009.

 

G. FOX & CO.’S DATE NUT BREAD RECIPE

1 cup dates, pitted and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces

1 cup sugar

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs, well beaten

2 cups flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla

Grease a 9-by-5-inch pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Place dates and sugar in a large mixing bowl. In a saucepan, combine the water and shortening and simmer until shortening is melted. Pour over dates and sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cool slightly.

Stir mix ingredients with a wooden spoon, not an electric mixer. Add eggs, beating well. Combine dry ingredients. Stir into date mixture until well blended. Batter may be slightly lumpy. Add walnuts and vanilla.

Turn batter into greased loaf pan and bake one hour until center of loaf springs back when touched. Cool thoroughly before removing from pan.

 

Image credit: G. Fox 1969 holiday catalogue, CMCH collection 2020.57.25

 

Hear more about how G. Fox intergrated their workforce on Grating the Nutmeg episode 73 Dept Stores, G. Fox and the Black Freedom Movement. Listen here:

https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/73-dept-stores-gfox-and-the-black-freedom-movement

 

 

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This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Natalie Belanger and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at ww