On Her Majesty's Customer Service
The Queen Mother shops at Hammacher, 1954
Our royal patrons… haven’t just been limited to English rock ‘n’ roll royalty. We’ve outfitted the odd bonafide English aristocrat over the years, too. Most prominent among them was Queen Mother Elizabeth, who swung by Hammacher Schlemmer’s flagship Manhattan store on October 29, 1954, two years after her daughter Elizabeth ascended to the throne.
Her Majesty’s whirlwind New York shopping spree drew the attention of Time Magazine and the New York Times, along with slackjawed locals gobsmacked by her unexpected royal presence. Our then-president Henry Broido squired her around the sales floor on this rainy Friday morning. While the Queen Mum also dropped a few bob at FAO Schwarz and Saks Fifth Avenue, it was her visit to Hammacher that prompted her to remark to Broido that it was “incredible you could get so many new and unusual things.”
And precisely what new and unusual things did the former Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon lug back to the Royal Lodge? In perhaps a glimpse into the leisure-time preferences of the House of Windsor, her selection skewed strongly toward barware, or as the Times put it, “Drinking Gadgets for the Men”. Various other odds and ends brought the total bill to $300 (about $3700 today).
News accounts are full of such intriguing references as “a ‘miraculous’ ice tapper”, “a star-engraved cocktail mixer,” and “a whisky decanter with an automatic pourer”, none of which we’ve been able to track down more details about. (As always, if you’re in possession of further information, kindly contact me forthwith.) But we did manage to locate original catalogue listings and ads for a handful of the items in Her Majesty’s trolley.
Our Apple Ice Tub ($16.95, about $211 today) was a boldly futuristic design for its time, and would still be striking today. The Windsors aren’t exactly known for their love of modern design, so it’s funny to think how alien this red chrome orb must have looked gleaming amid the fussy, fusty palace decor.
Mustn’t have rogue bottlecaps snagging on the royal carpets. This magnetized Bottle Opener ($3.50, about $43 today) keeps a good grip on the pried-off stopper, “to save tempers”, as our catalogue copy put it. Hmm, another sleek wave of futuristic chrome… was the Queen Mum the modernist in the family?
We can’t be sure these are the “several plastic trays” mentioned in news reports of the Queen Mother’s visit. But the time - and, we see now, the style - is right. Again, the Server Table Tray ($9.95, about $124 today) would feel contemporary even now, cantilevered on its clever two-legged folding stand. Maybe we should bring this one back.
Finally, the lads back home weren’t the only ones who were going to have any fun. The Queen Mum treated herself to a copy of Deluxe Scrabble ($10, also about $124 today). “I am just learning to play,” the 54-year-old novice told Hammacher sales clerk Georgette Aurora, no doubt keenly anticipating vigorous Scrabble sessions during England’s long winter nights.
For her part, Aurora told the Times that the Queen Mother was “terribly enthusiastic about American gadgets. She said she was glad to see so many of them here, because men are so difficult to buy for.”
It just goes to show that not even the full might and fortune of the British Crown is enough to solve that eternal gift-giving quandary - at least, not without an assist from Hammacher Schlemmer. Speaking of which, you have gotten dear old Dad something from our Father’s Day Gadgets Gift Guide, right? Right?
These posts are fun