Macy's - New York City, 1800s

The oldest piece in my collection, this was actually what they used to wrap gloves in at Macy's. This was a gift from my parents that they gave me the year I worked there. I love the message above the logo: "Customers will please report at once any incivility or Inattention on the part of any employee of the house." All I can say is that if the bags had said this when I worked there, the store would have had to shut down as our uncivil days far outnumbered our civil ones. Bloodshed would not have surprised me. (Note that the glove maker notes that the gloves will not "catch on lace". Thank goodness--I so hate it when my gloves catch on my lace. Sort of like when my bitters spill on my petticoat.)

Judging by the address of the store, I'm guessing this would have been used sometime in the mid- to late-1800s.