Smith, Gray & Company (Famous New York Building) - New York 1894

Beautiful engraved RARE specimen certificate from the Smith, Gray & Company dated in 1894. This historic document was printed by American Bank Note Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of the company's founders and their famous building. This item is over 113 years old. This is the only example of this company's certificate we have seen.


Certificate Vignette


Certificate Vignette

LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION DESIGNATES CAST-IRON BUILDING IN WILLIAMSBURG “This is a rare cast-iron building in Williamsburg that is remarkably intact,” said Robert B. Tierney, Chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. “It is a treasure to add to our collection of landmarked buildings in Brooklyn.” Smith, Gray & Company Building (103 Broadway, Brooklyn)

The Smith, Gray & Co. Building is an early, significantly intact, cast-iron-fronted store-and-loft building in Brooklyn. The firm was founded by tailor Edward Smith, who began his business in 1833 in lower Manhattan and pioneered in the profitable manufacture of ready-made clothes for children. In 1864, he transferred the business to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in partnership with Allen Gray, his brother-in-law. This was their first new structure, constructed in 1870, at 95 (later 103) Broadway, on Williamsburg’s then most important commercial street. Henry R. Stiles’ History of Brooklyn (1884) said of Smith, Gray & Co. “in their specialty of boys’ and children’s clothing, this house is the largest, as it was the first, in the United States” and that it was one of the largest manufacturers of any kind in Brooklyn.

Designed by prominent Brooklyn architect, William H. Gaylor, the building is five stories high and 25 feet wide. Typical of cast iron designs in the Second Empire style, the building’s main facade features tiered upper stories with segmental-arched fenestration framed by Corinthian columns and pilasters. The building’s historic wooden storefront still survives.

Today, 103 Broadway remains an important reminder of Williamsburg’s commercial emergence after the Civil War and of the nationally-important clothing manufacturer that was one of Brooklyn’s preeminent 19th century commercial firms.

FINDINGS AND DESIGNATION On the basis of a careful consideration of the history, the architecture, and other features of this building, the Landmarks Preservation Commission finds that the Smith, Gray & Co. Building has a special character and a special historical and aesthetic interest and value as part of the development, heritage, and cultural characteristics of New York City. The Commission further finds that, among its important qualities, the Smith, Gray & Co. Building was constructed in 1870 on Broadway, then Williamsburg’s most important commercial street, for Edward Smith, who had begun a tailoring business in 1833 in lower Manhattan that pioneered in the profitable manufacture of ready-made clothes for children, which he transferred in 1864 to Brooklyn in partnership with his brother-in-law Allen Gray; that the design of this 5-story, 25-foot-wide, cast-iron-fronted store-and-loft building is attributed to William H. Gaylor, a prominent Brooklyn architect who designed three other cast-iron-fronted structures for Smith between 1873 and 1884, that the iron front was fabricated by George R. Jackson & Sons, and that the builders were probably Thomas and William Lamb who, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, built all of Smith, Gray’s stores; that, typical of cast iron designs in the Second Empire style, the building’s main facade features tiered upper stories with segmental-arched fenestration framed by Corinthian columns and pilasters, and that other historic elements include a wooden storefront, a modillioned cornice with an ornamental frieze that replaced the original one (c. 1895-1913), and the articulated red-brick-clad rear facade with molded cast-iron lintels and corbeled sills and a cast-iron storefront; that Henry R. Stiles’ history of Brooklyn (1884) noted of Smith, Gray & Co. “in their specialty of boys’ and children’s clothing, this house is the largest, as it was the first, in the United States” and that it was one of the largest manufacturers of any kind in Brooklyn; that Smith, Gray & Co. used this facility until the mid-1880s, it remained in the Smith family until 1895, was then owned until 1920 by Brooklyn sugar refiner Claus Doscher and his daughter, and from 1938 to 1978 was owned and used by Joseph I. Blanck, chemicals dealer, and his heirs; and that today it remains an early, significantly intact cast-iron-fronted Brooklyn building, as well as an important reminder of Williamsburg’s commercial emergence after the Civil War and of Smith, Gray & Co., a nationally-important clothing manufacturer that was one of Brooklyn’s preeminent commercial firms in the 19th century.

Accordingly, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 74, Section 3020 of the Charter of the City of New York and Chapter 3 of Title 25 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designates as a Landmark the Smith, Gray & Co. Building, 103 Broadway (aka 96 South 6th Street), Brooklyn, and designates Brooklyn Tax Map Block 2471, Lot 8, as its Landmark Site. Robert B. Tierney, Chair Stephen Byrns, Joan Gerner, Roberta Brandes Gratz, Christopher Moore, Richard Olcott, Jan Pokorny, Elizabeth Ryan, Vicki Match Suna, Commissioners

History from the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission.

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About Specimens

Specimen Certificates are actual certificates that have never been issued. They were usually kept by the printers in their permanent archives as their only example of a particular certificate. Sometimes you will see a hand stamp on the certificate that says "Do not remove from file".

Specimens were also used to show prospective clients different types of certificate designs that were available. Specimen certificates are usually much scarcer than issued certificates. In fact, many times they are the only way to get a certificate for a particular company because the issued certificates were redeemed and destroyed. In a few instances, Specimen certificates we made for a company but were never used because a different design was chosen by the company.

These certificates are normally stamped "Specimen" or they have small holes spelling the word specimen. Most of the time they don't have a serial number, or they have a serial number of 00000. This is an exciting sector of the hobby that grown in popularity over the past several years.