love to see that/ could you share that? thanks
There should be some kind of “Lionel hall of fame” for hobby trains and I’d vote for “Madison Hardware” to be inducted. YEAA!! lol.
Reuben
I was looking at some archived TCA articles and came across this photo. Thought some of you would enjoy…
I was a stock boy there in1967-1968 They sold Keys which Harry Usually handeled.
Lou shur told me on the first day “well Bobby have you ever seen so many trains in your Life”
Having been born and raised in Manhattan was great, especially around the holidays.
There, were so many places to shop at and Madison Hardware was the special place to go to.
Though, there were many stores that sold Lionel trains, Madison Hardware was kind of a “Lionel Central,” because they had a large inventory of Lionel trains and had sort of a relation with Lionel.
The building that Madison Hardware was located at, was owned by Madison Hardware and as a result, they were able to store their large stock of Lionel trains.
Ralph
Living in Seattle during my younger years a visit to Madison Hardware was never an option. Every spring I would get a sales flyer from Madison Hardware of items they were discounting to reduce stock after Christmas. I still have one of those discount sheets, very interesting prices. One item I did order was the #59 Minuteman Vulcan switcher for $5.95, that took mowing 3 lawns at $2.00 per lawn. Still have that little guy and it runs and growls just like it did 50 years ago.
Polk’s is a family operation now based across the river in Irvington NJ and run by Nat’s son Louis. "Polk’s Model Craft Hobbies"is one of the largest “G Gauge” manufacturer under the name “Aristo-Craft”. They also make advanced radio control setups for the hobby industry under the name of “Crest”.
Don,
That is something to know about Polk’s.
Years ago, I’ve been to Polk’s store in Mann. and I knew they moved out of Mann, but I did not know that they reestablished in N.J.
Probably, because of the beautifully, outrages rent and taxes, of both N.Y.C. and N.Y.S., is what drove them and many other businesses out of N.Y.!!!
Ralph
I never had the pleasure of going to Madison Hardware but ordered parts from them for repairing my post war trains. I remember getting things like original Hiawatha engine wheels from them and other hard to find items. I still save those little Madison Hardware parts boxes with their label on it for a souvenir. They were an institution.
Ray
Sorry, but this statement is incorrect.
From the mouth of Lou Shur: they had a long term lease on the store. It was up for renewal, and the building owners wanted a very significant increase in rent.
A lot of factors went into their decision to sell the store, the lease only being a small part.
cwburfle,
Thank you,
I stand corrected, I was told they owned the building.
Then, as usual, high rent prices drove them out, being one of the determining factors!
Ralph
I never visited Madison Hardware, though I often wished I could have. I got my #53 Rio Grande snowplow (mint in box, unused, and with the correct “a”) by mail order from them in about 1972. I saw it in one of those MR ads that everyone mentions.
There are many rumors circulating about Madison, as one would expect, given Madison Hardware’s position in the world of Lionel. However, there were no better sources than Carl and Lou. Of course, what is posted here is second hand.
Let me restate: the owner’s terms for a new lease was a minor factor. I wouldn’t use the term “determining factor”.
cwburfle,
Was, the closing of a Legend and era. due to age?
Ralph
Dad took me to Madison one time. Had to have been '55 or '56. My recollection is that of a poorly organized warehouse, not a retail shop by a long shot. It was like an auto parts store managed by a crazy person. From what I’ve been reading it was probably a gold mine for Lionel enthusiasts who knew exactly what they wanted, but I was not impressed.
Pete
Walls of small drawers, maybe 4" by 6", unmarked. Ask one of the brothers for a part, describe it, they would go right to the proper drawer. Price was good and fare.
Pete and Don,
You’re both right.
I don’t know how those guys knew where things were, as there were items all over the place, but I found out that most places, like that, function very well.
Ralph
I realize that this thread is quite dated, but I just came across it, and the subject is very interesting to me, also that you guys all have interest in the old store. Here’s some answers/corrections that I hope may still be helpful.
Postwar Man07
You asked when the store was opened. As purely a hardware store it was opened in the late twenties, by Wm. A. Morrison, brother in law to Louis Shur. Morrison lost the enterprise during the great depression, and Lois took it over with the financial help of his mother, Esther Anastacia Shur, also William’s mother in law. I don’t know exactly when, but early in thirties Louis befreinded Lionel Cowan, and out of that friendship he was made a preferred distributor for the Lionel product line.
1688torpedo
You said that when the inventory moved to Michigan it was sold mail order. Bears mentioning that through almost its entire history MH in New York also sold mail order.
Also, the surname Shaw was an affectation, and never legalized. Carl was originally in show business (he was a drummer and worked in several big bands in the 20s-30s, when semitic names were bad business). His birth name was Carl Shur, and he was Louis’s brother.
SotaPop
Here’s a photo of a loco that Louis had brass plated and put on display in the store. Some of you oldtimers may remember seeing it. After his death his nephew Larry Morrison put it up for auction. I don’t recall which auction house, but it’s a prominent one for this kind of stuff, and the $69K that it brought was the highest price ever paid for this class of artifact.
Train Memories & msacco
See my response to Postwar Man07 above.
Train-0
They didn’t own the building, they occupied it, for many years, on a lease. At one time (at least) Louis negotiated to buy it, bu
Wow, I sure wish I could have seen it. I grew up in Pittsburgh and there sure was something to be said about those old long time stores. I was always just fascinated by hardware stores but to have trains to, wow that must have been something.
I’ve fantasized about having my own hardware store all my life from when I was a kid and I always knew that if it were ever to be, I would also sell trains and a large layout in the store all year long.
It’s kind of funny because I was just talking about this a few weeks ago with some friends as I was putting together my Christmas layout. It’s so big for an average house that I wish I had a place to show it off and someone mentioned maybe renting it to a store front someplace, but there aren’t many places like that anymore.
You’re welcome Johnny. It may be of interest to know that until at least the early 60s the store also sold hardware: lamps, nuts & bolts, keys, what have you. Of course that was just an afterthought activity, quite casually managed, but it was there.