Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire
The name "Schepps" on the window got me wondering if there was a connection between "Formerly Schepps & Harris" and a well-known store here in NY, if not so much to tourists, who of course prefer initials and name recognition. Turns out there is a connection...
From https://www.freemansauction.com/news...seaman-schepps
"Born in New York City in 1881, Seaman Schepps created an eponymous jewelry house, becoming known as “America’s Court Jeweler” for his unique, bold designs, worn by the country’s most prominent society families.
The son of immigrants, his humble beginnings led him to sit outside of the boutique of quintessential New York jeweler David Webb and sketch drawings for his own designs. Schepps left the Lower East Side of Manhattan around the turn of the century, finding work as a traveling salesman in Los Angeles and San Francisco. It was in California that he opened his first jewelry store, “The Virginia Studios,” named for his eldest daughter.
After returning to New York in 1921 with his wife and two children, Schepps opened a store on 6th Avenue, near the storied Algonquin Hotel. He expanded a few years later to a second location, but the stock market crash of 1929 forced Schepps to shutter both shops. The sudden forced closure lasted five years, during which time here focused his business strategy, and when Schepps reopened in 1934at a new location on Madison Avenue, he had developed his own exclusive jewelry designs."
http://seamanschepps.com/
 GSV
But back to Los Angeles. Schepps appears to have first had a store, one without Harris in the name, at 621 S. Broadway, as early as 1909. Here is news from the LAT of Oct 3, 1920, on Schepps's Virginia Studios:
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It seems in keeping with Noirishness to look a moment into the demise of Mr. John T. Harris, "Successor to Schepps & Harris" (but not for very long . . . ):
both images from L.A. Times (dates as given in the images) via ProQuest via CSULB Library. Layout of articles rearranged for your viewing pleasure.
Does it strike me as interesting that "a young man, who works as an accountant at the club, was at work in Harris' room from 8 o'clock until 11 yesterday morning. He says he heard Harris snore. Manager Witt says that he does not know the name of this young man"? Nope, nothing odd at all about any of that. Company accountants in social clubs frequently do their best work in the rooms of guests of the establishment; and how can managers be expected to know the names of office employees? And I'm certain that the fact that this was the night before Valentine's Day is a mere happenstance. Fie on anyone who would see anything out of the ordinary in any of this!
Kidding aside, sorry, Mr. Harris, you had to live a life of personal and social challenges, with such an end.