C. Crawford Hollidge was one of those Boston stores that grew from a small seed into a Boston legend. Turn of the last century was ripe for Boston and stores grew and expanded all over the Downtown area. Tremont Street was known for high end clothing stores and C. Crawford Hollidge made its mark and lasted there for almost 60 years.
Like RH Stearns, C. Crawford Hollidge was mainly a women's clothing store with an eye for style and well known customer service.
The entire building on the corner of Tremont and Temple Place would grow to become a significant rival of RH Stears that occupied the opposite corner.
Like so many Boston stores of its time, it managed to make it into the 60's and expand into the suburbs. The Boston location was still the main store when an early morning blaze destroyed the great building in February of 1967. The damage was total and the building needed to be demolished soon after. By the time I came along, the store was a busy construction site and only a sweet memory of the older generations.
The other branches limped along and vanished in time.
Enjoy this look back and these great classic images taken by Dick Harris of the fire back on that bitter cold winter morning in 1967.
I have been asked about C. Crawford Hollidge by my blog visitors and this posting is my answer.
And yes, RH Stearns did have some minor damage to its building and that is reported in some of the news articles I have posted for you to read.
Enjoy......Charles:-)
