B. Altman & Co. , the genteel department store on Fifth Avenue between 34th and 35th Street, advertised a gold watch on a 14 k gold wishbone bracelet for $300 and silk print dresses at $125. The store had branches in East Orange and White Plains and went after the same conservative clientele as Lord & Taylor, a few blocks away. East Orange was mostly an affluent suburb in 1946 with upscale department stores and a sizable Jewish community.
Alfred Dunhill on 5th at 50th St offered a "rollalite" lighter in heavy ribbed sterling silver for $42 and the Denicotea cigarette holder that removed 77%-80% of the tar and nicotine. Apparently even then tar and nicotine were of a concern to some. It came in sterling silver for $6. or aluminum for $2. The ad noted "We have few, very few, Dunhill pipes, richly grained" for $15. Pipe smoking was common then, the sign of gentleman at his leisure. Lord Oxford had the up draft lighter that worked like a lamp with a chimney. The ad said it always worked. It was $4.50 at leading stores. Lighters were popular gifts.
Stern's, a more moderately priced department store at 41 West 42nd Street, had women's tropical suits of rayon at $39.95 for the warm weather ahead, a rayon shantung with calf leather belt for 29.95 and a braided straw breton topped with a bright splash of poppies.
You could pick up "handsome" monogrammed sheets at Albert George at 870 Fifth Avenue.
Bloomingdale's pitched accessories made from an exclusive scarf print with a "charming street-scene" print adapted from an old woodcut then turned into a bustle for a straw turban, a blouse, a kerchief, a belt with leather facing and worked into flowers on a straw sailor. Rosenfeld calf bags were also in stock to "add drama to you costume."They went from $32.50 to $49.50. Women apparently wore "costumes" for Easter. This ad was a very different than the ones run for their bargain basement merchandise offered to readers of the Sunday News.
Same went for Macy's who took a full page not for cheap print bargain basement dresses but to announce that "No other store in town has such a collection of Fromm silver fox jackets at any price!" The ad featured photos of models swathed in fur. The sale price for these jackets at Macy's on Herald Square and Parkchester was $279 to $579. Diamond and platinum Lussena watches were $139 to $1139.
Some ads from Lord & Taylor, Arnold Constable, A&S, Saks 34th Street, Lane Bryant and McCreery's.