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Exquisite products at Economical Prices
Located at 173 & 175, and 181 & 183 Blackstone Street Boston at various points in time, Hardy and Company was a prosperous Door, Sash, Window & Blind Wholesale and Retail Company owned and operated by Mr. William W. Hardy.
Although the company's most popular products included their frequently advertised doors, windows and blinds, the extent of Hardy & Co.'s inventory reached beyond solely these goods.
Indicated by an undated advertisement visible to the left, the phrase "Etc., Etc." after the company's merchandise, emphasizes their extensive range of products and specialty goods.
This wide ranging variety included over four hundred sizes and styles of doors, four hundred different types of unglazed sashes, one hundred fifty types of glazed sashes, and one hundred fifty varieties of blinds: a considerable selection of goods for customers.
hard working Hardy & persistent praise
Owner and overseer of the company William Hardy worked as a glazier, marked in the 1862 Boston City Directory, signifying he was a skilled professional in the cutting and installation of glass.
This profession is fitting considering the industry Hardy's business operated within. It is unclear if Hardy continued his position as a glazier once his business grew more successful or if he relied on employees to produce his high-quality goods.
Based on an 1876 'review' of Hardy & Company attached on the left, a Boston Daily Globe writer referenced the company's inception occurring 20 years prior to the publication of the article, meaning Hardy & Co. opened in 1856.
This author for the Boston Daily Globe also reported on their tour experience in the Hardy facility. The journalist recounted a pleasant greeting and continued to express high praise throughout the piece. There was no inclusion of criticism about the business, building, or workers, which seems suspicious for a non-sponsored 'review'.
The article proclaims that Hardy & Co. goods were in high demand by architects and builders, implying a standard of exceptional quality desired by experts in the fields of carpentry and design. The writer goes on to recommend the business and its goods “wholeheartedly”.
The writer continues to boast of Hardy and Company's perpetual expansion of stock to meet customer demands, yet again projecting positive discourse about the business to the general public in an attempt to attract new customers. The piece includes extensive valuable factual information despite its clearly boosterish bias.
Furthermore, this same article gives confirmation that in the year 1876 the business was housed at 173 and 175 Blackstone Street, verifying its presence on my defined parcel of land prior to the construction of the Central Artery.
Along with information about the company's location, the article mentions a company move as of "last fall". Based on the publication date of March 30th, 1876, this move was assumedly in the fall of 1875.
Because the 1876 article notes the address as 173 & 175 Blackstone, it seems that 181 & 183 Blackstone Street was the original or first documented location of Hardy & Company.
The new shop was only 30 feet from the old store which is logical considering 181 & 183 Blackstone is just up the block from 173 & 175.
At the newer 173 and 175 Blackstone Street location, each level of the building held a particular purpose.
On the basement level, blinds, window frames, stair balusters, framing pins and more were stored in a tightly packed arrangement, allowing the maximum amount of inventory to be accessible at all times.
The first floor housed over one hundred different sized doors as well as a variety of glazed windows and on the second floor, there was a packing room for product shipment.
The third floor housed a large glazing room where windows were crafted and sashes were stored. Sash and other miscellaneous storage extended into the 4th story and attic of the building, again displaying the range of products kept on hand.
William W. Hardy is listed at the top of the above image in the 1862 Boston City Directory for Hardy & Co. blinds and sashes at 181 Blackstone Street. This confirms that the 181 Blackstone location was in operation prior to 1876. Within the same listing in the city directory, it reads that Hardy was a resident of Malden, Massachusetts.
Furthermore, in the bottom listing labeled Hardy, William W., the description marks Hardy as a glazier located at 181 Blackstone Street Boston with a home in Salem.
These two semi-conflicting listings raise questions if Hardy owned multiple homes in Massachusetts located roughly 16 miles apart, if the listings hold inaccurate information about his place of business or residence, or if one listing is for business and the other for personal affairs.
A business card from the initial 181 & 183 Blackstone Street shop holds similar information to the business flyer shown at the very top of this webpage. The back of the card includes product listings and measurements, again showing the variety of offered goods. This primary source continues to display Hardy's great range of products even prior to the business' expansion.
A lengthy purchase receipt from Hardy and Company also acted as an incredible piece of evidence to prove the existence of Hardy & Co.'s 181 & 183 Blackstone Street location.
This bill of sale is consistent with the above business card in style, font, imagery and address.
Reliable Reputation
Hardy & Company's reputation of honesty, fair dealing and high quality goods, allowed Hardy & Co. to remain successful and retain loyal customers for upward of ten to twenty years.
Hardy mentioned that his slowest business months were during the winter while it was cold and unpleasant, yet he claimed that his business never suffered substantially as a result.
A sense of company loyalty and pride was not only displayed through customer retainment, but also through longtime employees including head salesman George B. Hardy who remained with the business for over 20 years, along with Horace F. Gleason a bookkeeper and salesman of 10 years.
Mr. hardy's doppelgängers
While delving into the history of Hardy & Company, I stumbled upon an article titled "Business Troubles," which noted that Hardy & Co. had hit hard times and was no longer massively successful.
The name William W. Hardy appeared in this passage, which is identical to the name of the owner of Hardy & Co. Boston. To my surprise, the name of the business listed was Hardy Brothers and involved a man named Charles G. Hardy, a resident of Beverly in addition to a William W. Hardy. This firm operated out of Salem and filed for bankruptcy January 25, 1903.
The 1862 Boston City Directory listed a William W. Hardy as a resident of Salem, yet I was unable to find any associated information to connect him to Hardy Brothers. Was this was a far fetched coincidence of two men with the same job and name?
I was able to find the location of the Hardy Brothers building from a Salem Sanborn map, included above, to confirm that this company existed at 9 & 11 Washington Street as noted in the Salem Directory. Although it is possible that Hardy Brothers was an extension of Hardy & Company, I was unable to find any information on Charles G. Hardy or confirmation that the two companies were infact related.
To add to my confusion, within a 1869 Boston Commercial Directory I found a small text advertisement for Hardy & Co., directly below a larger ad with a similar business description.
In bold letters, the ad reads "Augustus Hardy, Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Doors, Windows, Blinds".
How are there so many Hardys involved in the wholesale and retail doors, windows, and blinds business?!
While there is potential that these various Hardy figures are linked, related or connected in some fashion, I was unable to find conclusive evidence proving this hypothesis.
Citations
Bibliography
"DOORS, SASHES AHD BLINDS.: THE EXTENSIVE WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE OF BARDY & CO. ON BLACKSTONE STREET--A LONG AND [...] CAREER. [...] THE BUSINESS WAS CARRIED ON THIS STOCK INCLUDES GOODS DIMAND BY ARCHITICTS AND BUILDERS THE BEST GOODS IN HARD WOODS GLASS IS MOSTLY IMPORTED FROM FRANCE, THE FIRM OF HARDY & COMPANY THE GOODS SENT OUT BY THIS FIRM." 1876.Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Mar 30, 5. https://holycross.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=cas&url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/doors-sashes-ahd-blinds/docview/492030874/se-2.
Boston Daily Globe Newspaper Archives. 1876. “Doors, Sashes and Blinds,” March 30, 1876.
Boston Sunday Globe Newspaper Archives. 1903. “Business Troubles,” January 25, 1903.
“Hardy, William.” 1862. In Boston Directory. Boston: Sampson & Murdock Company.
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