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Eastern Store Fixtures Corporation soda fountains and store interiors photographs

Creation: circa 1957
 Collection
Accession: 2006-215

Abstract

The Eastern Store Fixtures Corporation was a manufacturer, supplier, and designer of fixtures and interiors for commercial establishments. The company was founded in or around 1953 by Louis Deitz (1919-2007) and was located at 19-21 South Orange Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. This collection consists of fifty one photographic prints showing soda fountains and store interiors presumably installed or supplied by the corporation.

Dates

  • Creation: circa 1957

Creator

Extent

51 item(s)

Physical Description

51 photographic prints : b&w ; 8 x 10 in.

Historical Note

The Eastern Store Fixtures Corporation was a manufacturer, supplier, and designer of fixtures and interiors for commercial establishments. The company was founded in or around 1953 by Louis Deitz (1919-2007), and operated out of a storefront located at 19-21 South Orange Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. The Eastern Store Fixtures Corporation was, at some point, made a subsidiary of Eastern Food Service Equipment, Inc., a Brooklyn, New York based importer of food service equipment that was founded in 1952.

Prior to establishing the Eastern Store Fixtures Corporation, Louis Deitz worked for M. Deitz & Sons, Inc., a restaurant equipment and furniture manufacturer and supplier established in 1921 at 5-7 South Orange Avenue in Newark, New Jersey by Deitz's father. Deitz's parents, Michael Deitz (1887-1946) and Tillie Bender Deitz (cicra 1893-1981), were Jewish-Russian immigrants who moved to the United States in 1905 and 1909, respectively. The couple had six children in addition to Louis Deitz; Reuben Deitz (1911-1944), Sadie Deitz (1914-1935), Nathan Deitz (1924-2013), Paul Deitz (1926-1994), Kenneth Deitz (1931-1955), and Irwin "Irving" Deitz (1931-1977).

Both the Eastern Store Fixtures Corporation and M. Deitz & Sons, Inc. continued to operate in Newark, New Jersey through the 1960s. By the 1980s, both companies had relocated to Hillside, New Jersey, and at one point shared a corporate address of 490 Hillside Ave. M. Deitz and Sons is still in operation as a restaurant furniture supply company as of March 2020, and continues to be run by members of the Deitz family.

Scope and Contents

Unidentified photographs showing soda fountain and store interiors, all with printed-in credit to "Eastern Store Fixtures Corp., Newark, N.J." Pictures show many details, including menus and price lists, point of sale displays, notions, magazine racks, clothing racks, tobacco products, juke boxes, and displays of books, games, and toys. Some pictures show people in the stores. None of the pictures have captions that would identify them, but some contain internal evidence that shows the store name, etc. The estimated date of ca. 1957 is based on a newspaper headline shown in 2006.215.19 that reads "Ike prepares to use troops in Little Rock."

Physical Location

2006 GL Box 1

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Language of Materials

English

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
Eastern Store Fixtures Corporation soda fountains and store interiors photographs
Author:
Skylar Harris
Date:
2020
Description rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description:
English
Script of description:
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Audiovisual Collections Repository

Contact:
PO Box 3630
Wilmington Delaware 19807 USA
302-658-2400