Newtown Historical Society will host a presentation on one of Connecticut’s flagship retailers, G. Fox Company, on Monday, November 18, at 7:30 pm, in the community room of C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street. The program is entitled “From Hula Hoops to High Fashion: G Fox in the 1950s,” and will be presented by Elizabeth Abbe.

 For most Connecticut residents, the name G. Fox holds powerful associations. The name evokes images of a beautifully decorated, tall department store on Hartford’s Main Street filled with every imaginable garment, home furnishing or domestic necessity dreamed of, and warm memories of sharing time with family and friends.

From the marquee decorated for Christmas to shopping trips for back-to-school clothes, G Fox was filled with wonder. For a treat, nothing was better than cream cheese on date-nut bread in the Connecticut Room.

Elizabeth Abbe, director of public outreach at The Connecticut Historical Society, will lead program attendees down memory lane, with a look at the state’s favorite department store. She will take guests back, floor by floor, to the days when Fox was the largest privately owned department store in the US, and offer her own memories of how special it was to take the bus “uptown” to spend the day shopping with her mother at the department store.

Ms Abbe will share insight into the woman who made the shopping experience such a joy: Beatrice Fox Auerbach. In addition to a substantial collection of business papers, clothing, furniture and photographs tied to the Fox story, Connecticut Historical Society houses some of Mrs Auerbach’s personal records, including her correspondence with Eleanor Roosevelt.

There will be tables displaying Fox treasures and time for all to share a favorite Fox story. Guests will also have the opportunity to go home with a booklet that gives a brief history of the store for a small donation. This program is part of the Connecticut Historical Society’s outreach program; to learn more about CHS and its programs, visit www.CHS.org.

This month’s program will be one week later than usual due to Veterans Day.

All Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the presentation.

For further details visit www.newtownhistory.org or call 203-426-5937.