S.S. Pierce
Encyclopedia
Samuel Stillman Pierce was a grocer in Boston
, Massachusetts
, who established the S.S. Pierce company in 1831.
The grocery business thrived, due in part to "celebrity customers ... John Quincy Adams
, Daniel Webster
," and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
who said: "I was brought up on S.S. Pierce's groceries and I don't dare change."
The 1886 catalog for S.S. Pierce & Co., Importers and Grocers lists myriad items for sale in its Grocery, Wine, Cigar, and Perfumery Departments: gelatine; isinglass
; chutneys; French vegetables in glass jars; Alghieri's soups; Wiebaden goods; wines; Russian cigarettes; Egyptian cigarettes; quadruple essences; tooth brushes; soaps assorted; inexhaustible salts; and much more.
In 1887 the company moved from the corner of Tremont
and Court Streets to Copley Square
, into a new building designed by architect S. Edwin Tobey. Architecture critic Robert Campbell
has observed of the building: "It's no masterpiece of architecture, but it's great urban design. A heap of dark Romanesque masonry, it anchored a corner of Copley Square as solidly as a mountain." The building was demolished in 1958.
Another shop opened in 1898 in Coolidge Corner
, Brookline
.
In addition to a wide variety of goods for sale, the company provided notable customer service.
In 1972, the S.S. Pierce company was sold to Seneca Foods
Corp., of New York.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, who established the S.S. Pierce company in 1831.
Biography
Samuel Stillman Pierce was born in Cedar Grove, Dorchester, in 1807. In 1836, he married Ellen Maria Wallis. They had 8 children. The family lived in the South End and Dorchester.S.S. Pierce & Co.
In 1831 Pierce and his partner, Eldad Worcester, "started out by wholesaling provisions to the ships that crowded what was then a very busy Boston Harbor, but soon enough Pierce was bartering with ship captains, often exchanging his provisions for the delicacies they would bring to Boston from faraway ports.' Pierce said, "I may not make money, but I shall make a reputation."The grocery business thrived, due in part to "celebrity customers ... John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
, Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
," and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was an American physician, professor, lecturer, and author. Regarded by his peers as one of the best writers of the 19th century, he is considered a member of the Fireside Poets. His most famous prose works are the "Breakfast-Table" series, which began with The Autocrat...
who said: "I was brought up on S.S. Pierce's groceries and I don't dare change."
The 1886 catalog for S.S. Pierce & Co., Importers and Grocers lists myriad items for sale in its Grocery, Wine, Cigar, and Perfumery Departments: gelatine; isinglass
Isinglass
Isinglass is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer. It can also be cooked into a paste for specialized gluing purposes....
; chutneys; French vegetables in glass jars; Alghieri's soups; Wiebaden goods; wines; Russian cigarettes; Egyptian cigarettes; quadruple essences; tooth brushes; soaps assorted; inexhaustible salts; and much more.
In 1887 the company moved from the corner of Tremont
Tremont Street
Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts.-Etymology:The name is a variation of one of the original appellations of the city, "Trimountaine," a reference to a hill that formerly had three peaks. Beacon Hill, with its single peak, is all that remains of the Trimountain...
and Court Streets to Copley Square
Copley Square
Copley Square is a public square located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, named for the donor of the land on which it was developed. The square is named for John Singleton Copley, a famous portrait painter of the late 18th century and native of Boston. A bronze statue of...
, into a new building designed by architect S. Edwin Tobey. Architecture critic Robert Campbell
Robert Campbell (journalist)
Robert Campbell is a writer and architect. He is currently the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic for the Boston Globe. He lives and works in Cambridge, Massachusetts.-Education:...
has observed of the building: "It's no masterpiece of architecture, but it's great urban design. A heap of dark Romanesque masonry, it anchored a corner of Copley Square as solidly as a mountain." The building was demolished in 1958.
Another shop opened in 1898 in Coolidge Corner
Coolidge Corner
Coolidge Corner is a neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts, centered around the intersection of Beacon Street and Harvard Street. The neighborhood takes its name from the Coolidge brothers' general store that opened in 1857 at that intersection on the location of today's S.S...
, Brookline
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
.
In addition to a wide variety of goods for sale, the company provided notable customer service.
"The company hired horse-drawn sleighs to deliver groceries when snowstorms closed roads to auto traffic, and maintained a well-drilled corps of salesmen who would phone housewives at appointed hours. They not only suggested menus but answered such arcane questions as how to cook an ostrich egg (boil it) or how to extract the flavor from a 6-in. vanilla bean (bury a 1-in. cutting from the bean for a month in a pound of sugar). Once when a hostess in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., complained that a case of turtle soup had not arrived, a Pierce salesman took an overnight train to deliver it in person — just in time for her party."
In 1972, the S.S. Pierce company was sold to Seneca Foods
Seneca Foods
Seneca Foods Corporation is a leading low-cost food processor and distributor headquartered in Marion, New York, USA. The company primarily produces canned, frozen, and bottled produce under private label as well as national and regional brands that the company owns or licenses, including Seneca,...
Corp., of New York.
Further reading
- Copper served with peas; a Boston firm fined for selling adulterated goods. New York Times. Aug 4, 1891. p. 2.
External links
- http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HBS.BAKER:416729
- http://www.dorchesteratheneum.org/image.php?id=4970
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/2388385912/
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/mit-libraries/3365643592/
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/mit-libraries/3389963077/