One of the more notable shoe and boot makers and dealers in Holyoke during the last half of the 19th century was Charles Azrea Corser. Much of his personal and business life story was shared in the preceding installment. Today, we visit his long-running shoe store, which was the predecessor to Thomas S. Childs.

Charles Corser was a bootmaker by trade, having spent several years working his craft in Charlestown, New Hampshire. He arrived in Holyoke in 1863 to acquire the George Ewing shoe and boot shop located on High Street in the Exchange Hall Block, built in 1850 and dedicated in January 1851. This was quite a large building, which was occupied by clothing dealers, a boot and shoe shop, a grocery store, a dry goods dealer, a druggist, several physicians, a dentist, a lawyer and a dressmaker. Exchange Hall had a guest capacity of 1,000-1,200 people.

In January 1870, a stove fire in the Miller & Co. clothing store ignited a major fire that destroyed the building and the neighboring Hutchins block, which was located at the northwest corner of High and Hampden Streets.

The Exchange block was owned by R.P. Crafts (25%), A.B. Howe (16.7%) of Holyoke, and J & G Ellsworth (33.3%) and Frank Bartlett (25%) of Northampton. The fire loss was $40,000, with insurance coverage of $12,000.

In February, R. P. Crafts owned a 42% interest and had plans to build a 3-story block on the 41 feet of High Street frontage. He envisioned having 2 store fronts, with furnished apartments and offices above. A month later, Charles Corser purchased J & G Ellsworth's 25% interest.

The neighboring Hutchins block also would be rebuilt to include a hall. L. P. Bosworth would perform the brickwork for both the Crafts and Hutchins buildings.

It appears that Charles Corser would purchase the Crafts building in its entirety. Further analysis of the Registry of Deeds is necessary to confirm this. His store was located at 149 High Street. In 1872, P. A. Underwood purchased a 50% interest in the Corser shoe-and-boot store. It does not appear that this partnership, Corser & Underwood, continued for any length of time.

The success of Mr. Corser in his shoe business was, in part, spurred by his attention to creative advertising. While many others produced short informational ads, Mr. Corser's ads often ran from the top to the bottom of a page in a double column, using effective spacing with a captivating message. At times, he would use poetry to attract readers or conduct his own question-and-answer interview segment.

As a politician, having served as a selectman, alderman and state senator, he would detail carrying shoes for various occupations or political positions. For its day, his ads were eye-catching.

In 1886, Mr. Corser sold his home at the northeast corner of Elm and Essex Streets to Joseph A Skinner, who planned to have one of his sons reside there. The house on a 130-foot-by-130-foot lot was built for Mr. Corser in 1870, and he intended to relocate to his farm on Northampton Street. The house on the Northampton Street property would be moved farther back from the street.

In 1887, Mr. Corser built a 20-foot archway connecting the shoe shop at 149 High Street with the space formerly occupied by Ferguson & Logan at 153 High Street. Charles Corser opened his dry goods business at 153 High Street, and customers had the convenience of shopping both stores while remaining inside the building.

In February 1859, the space at 153 High Street was made available to a new tenant. Mr. Corser removed himself from the dry goods business and sold his entire stock to Connolly, McAuslan & Forbes, retailers on the ground floor of the Windsor Hotel at Dwight and Front Streets.

On June 12, 1889, Charles Corser relocated his business to what was 85 Dwight Street, opposite City Hall. He resumed selling shoes, boots, trunks and valises. His signage included a silver boot. Six months later, at the end of the year, he sold his business to Thomas S. Childs, who took ownership in January 1890. The store was named the Corser Shoe Store, with Thomas S. Childs as proprietor. The name was permanently changed to Thomas S. Childs in 1896.

Citations:

Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; publication dates and pages are shown.

Ancestry.com (paid subscription): Price & Lee, Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directories