The Collections at the Connecticut Historical Society
G. Fox & Co. Tonka toy truck.
Manufactured by Mound Metalcraft, Inc., 1954.
CHS 2006.12.0.
As a fixture on Hartford's Main Street for 146 years, the G. Fox & Co. store is an important part of both Hartford and Connecticut history. Thanks to generous donations from G. Fox & Co., members of the Koopman and Schiro families, and former employees and customers, the Connecticut Historical Society has extensive holdings documenting the department store and the Fox family. We invite you to visit the Connecticut Historical Society to explore these valuable resources.
Overview of the Collections
Women's shoes sold by G. Fox & Co., ca. 1934.
Originally owned by Marie Mitchell Bosworth of Hartford.
CHS 1974.15.3a,b.
Materials on G. Fox & Co. and the Fox family include employee newsletters and training manuals; programs and records of the Moses Fox Club; family correspondence, travel journals, scrapbooks, legal documents, and guest books; extensive photographs of the store, its employees, and the Fox and Auerbach families; advertising materials and retail bags and boxes; and merchandise ranging from wedding dresses and men's ties to shoes and hats, from commemorative china and Hitchcock chairs to eyeglasses and pharmacy bottles, from golf clubs to hair nets.
Beatrice Fox Auerbach and Eleanor Roosevelt with Mrs. Auerbach's chauffeur, Harry Ronan.
Lester Friedland, 1949.
CHS 2007.24.87.13.
Collection highlights include Gerson Fox's early account book, correspondence between Beatrice Fox Auerbach and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, photographs of the G. Fox & Co. building and store interiors, Moses Fox Club pins and other gifts, photographs of the Fox and Auerbach families, books published by G. Fox & Co., a rare G. Fox & Co. Tonka toy truck, birthday presents given to Mrs. Auerbach from her employees, portraits of Gerson, Hannah, and Moses Fox, the gown former G. Fox employee Antonina P. Uccello wore to her inauguration as Hartford's mayor in 1967, and transcripts of interviews with former employees.
Accessing the Materials
Lamp sold by G. Fox & Co., ca. 1950.
Originally owned by Hazel and Rocco Martino of East Hartford.
CHS 2003.27.69a,b.
Visitors to the Connecticut Historical Society can access these materials through our Research Center. A finding aid to archival materials in the Koopman Family Collection, donated in 2007 by the children of Georgette and Richard Koopman, is available online. Other book and manuscript materials can be located through the Research Center's online catalog (keyword search: "G. Fox"). Photographs and examples of store merchandise can be located through our collections database, currently available for use in the Research Center. For further information, please contact us at research_center@chs.org.