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| Name |
Shaffer's Ltd Dept. Store [2] |
| Gender |
Unknown |
| Occupation |
1930 |
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada  [2] |
| Ladies & Misses Ready-to-Wear Clothing |
Address:
143-147½ Rideau Street |
 City Directories |
1949 |
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada [1] |
Address:
141-147 Rideau Street |
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| Person ID |
I19653 |
Lowertown |
| Last Modified |
27 May 2021 |
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| Photos |
| Shaffer's Dept Store
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/histoires_de_chez_nous-community_memories/pm_v2.php?id=search_record_detail&fl=0&lg=English&ex=00000787&rd=225678&sy=cat&st=&ci=8 |
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| Notes |
Abraham Shaffer's father Samuel was born in Russia and settled in Albany, New York. He was married to Mushah. Samuel became an agent for a soda water manufacturer and travelled to Ottawa a couple of summers. He boarded with Jewish people while here and eventually moved to Gigues Street with his family, including Abraham who was born in Albany in 1885. As a young man, Abraham Shaffer went to Brooklyn to work for an uncle in the book binding business. There, he met Mary Baslaw and they married in 1907. Mary's family operated a small grocery business where Mary worked. Abraham and Mary had four sons, Irving, Harold (born in Brooklyn), Milton and Sheldon. Beatrice was the only girl in the family. Because of Samuel being in Ottawa, they moved north and spent a winter in Buckingham, Quebec where Samuel became a country peddler. In February 1911, they opened a small clothing shop on Dalhousie Street. Mary Shaffer noticed that Rideau Street had much more business than Dalhousie so they moved the business to Rideau Street. Eventually, they expanded their premises to include 143 to 147 Rideau. The Shaffers lived over the store where Abraham played classical piano. In 1961, Shaffer's celebrated a Golden Jubilee. It was always a family business with both Mary and Abraham Shaffer working together in the store. In 1967, when shopping malls were taking business away from independant retailers, Sheldon and Milton Shaffer sold the family business to Caplan's "long time family friends and neighbours on Rideau Street for more than fifty years".
Credit 1: Ottawa Jewish Archives
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| Sources |
- [S247] page 193, Pink Street Guide.
- [S224] 1930, pages 57-61 (Reliability: 3).
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