eBay Tuesday: W.T. Grant Skylights

A little bit of New London's downtown history is encompassed in the rooftop photo featured as this week's auction item.

The postcard, dated November 1937, depicts roof work (four "20 oz. copper trimmed Bradley puttyless patented truss bar sky lights") done by the Oneco Ave. company Union Sheet-Metal Works. It is offered by the eBay store Cartophilians. 

The caption of the postcard says the work was done at the W.T. Grant building. William Thomas Grant founded the first of his namesake variety stores in Lynn, Mass., in 1906. At its peak, the chain would include about 1,200 stores across the nation. New London had one on State Street for more than 30 years, closing at the end of 1966.

This closing came as the company was trying to expand its offerings. One author credited this effort as the cause of its downfall, as the chain moved away from its variety store roots and made an uneven attempt to offer things such as furniture and appliances. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1976, four years after Grant's death.

Grant is now known more for a philanthropic venture that has survived well beyond the store chain's lifespan. The William T. Grant Foundation, established in 1936, continues to this day with the mission of supporting "high-quality empirical research, with the ultimate aim of improving the lives of youth ages 8 to 25 in the United States."

Visible over the store's roofline is another store from a bygone era, S.S. Kresge. This was also named for the chain's founder, Samuel Spering Kresge, who established a five-and-dime store in Detroit in 1899. The company eventually evolved into the Kmart Corporation, with the last Kresge stores disappearing in 1987. New London had two Kresge stores: a State Street location that closed in 1976 and one in the New London Shopping Plaza that survived until the final stores were sold off in the Kmart transition.

Recognize the Kresge store facade? It's the building now occupied by Sarge's Comics and Copperwood Grill. 

One last New London connection comes from the photographer that took the photo. This is credited to Bishop Studio, a photography and music shop founded in 1922 by George Bishop and formerly located on Bank Street next to the Capitol Theater.

The postcard is three and a half by five and a half inches and described as in very good to near excellent condition. The asking prices is $24.95 plus $2 for shipping. The auction ends at about 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

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