“One Need Be Neither a Shopper Nor a Purchaser to Enjoy:” Ephemeral Exhibitions at Tiffany & Co., 1870–1905

Abstract

Tiffany & Co. has been a shopping destination since its founding in 1837. It is much less well-known for the exhibitions that it staged in the nineteenth century. Accounts of these exhibitions abound in documents preserved in Tiffany’s archive. They range in subject from patriotic displays, to the pyramid atop the Washington Monument set on the floor so that visitors could step over it, to the hide of the circus elephant Forepaugh pinned in the store’s windows. Many reviews indicate that Tiffany’s staff encouraged idling through the shows with no expectation of purchases. This chapter explores how the flagship was simultaneously designed for shopping but also provided exposure to high jewelry and fancy goods, educational opportunities, and nineteenth-century popular culture.