Department Store, Fulton Mall/Downtown Brooklyn, Ghost Sign, Retail

Russeks

This old faded ad is for Russeks—located at 493-495 Fulton St. at the corner of Bridge St. in the Downtown Brooklyn/Fulton Mall area. Russeks had stores in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Brooklyn and most importantly 5th Ave. in Manhattan. I first spotted the ad in January 2019-photo 1. This past summer I noticed a much more faded Russeks sign on the Bridge St. side of the building. 

Russeks started in business in 1886 specializing in furs. By the 1920s they were a high-end department store. But some of you may be familiar with the Russeks department store as the store that photographer Diane Arbus grandparents’ founded. The chain of stores made them filthy rich!

A New York Times article from July 31, 1937 describes the opening of the Brooklyn store. It mentions the design of the building in a modernistic style as well as the latest modern conveniences—air conditioning plus three high-speed elevators! A main selling point was the refrigerated storage plant on the premises for the accommodation of 20,000 fur coats. Fur was their main business after all!

The 1940s NYC Tax Photo of Russeks Brooklyn, 493-495 Fulton St. at the corner of Bridge St.
The steel viaducts you see are for the Fulton Street Line elevated train.

Speaking of fur—I found a couple examples of their furs in The New York Times from 1942 and 1950.

Was opossum a desirable fur to wear back then or maybe something that was more easily available during WW II? 

A photo shown below is from Vogue from 1939. Photographed by Horst P. Horst, it has the following description: “Model in a leopard fur jacket, belted with blue-dyed antelope fur, and wearing matching leopard fur hat and antelope fur gloves trimmed with leopard fur; all from Russeks.”

The look is fantastic but the use of fur to a modern person, me, is very wrong. 

Although they started and specialized in furs they grew into an upscale department store selling women’s fashion and accessories. A couple ads from the mid 1950s showcase “the perette silhouette”. Suzy Perette being a dress manufacturer based in Manhattan that created affordable versions of Parisian designs. They did this through a special arrangement between the owner of the Suzy Perette label, and the house of Christian Dior. Thus “the coveted Parisienne designs that were once daydreams, became available to American women under name Suzy Perette.” BTW-Suzy Perette has their own great ghost sign in the Garment District on 37th St.

“the perette silhouette”- fitted waist and flared skirt

You can find vintage Russeks furs for sale on ebay and etsy as well as LiveAuctioneers.