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Biography/History
Herzfeld Family
The Herzfeld family was prominent in Milwaukee during the first half of the twentieth
century. Carl Herzfeld (d. 1930) was a founder of the Herzfeld-Phillipson Corporation
which bought and managed the Boston Store from 1906 to 1948. In 1895, Carl Herzfeld
married Helena Phillipson, the sister of his business partner, Richard I. Phillipson. As
head of the Air Service Committee of the Association of Commerce in Milwaukee, Carl
Herzfeld aided in developing airports and air travel around Milwaukee, including
establishing the first air freight of goods into Wisconsin in 1911.
Carl Herzfeld's son, Richard Phillip Herzfeld (1898-1980) was a civic leader. Born and
raised in Milwaukee, he served in World War One before he graduated with a B.A. from the
University of Wisconsin in 1920. Richard Herzfeld was a member of the Greater Milwaukee
Committee for Community Development, a founder of the Better Business Bureau of Milwaukee,
vice president and director of Federated Department Stores, Inc., and a campaign manager
for the Community Fund (now the United Way), among other organizations. As a member of the
Greater Milwaukee Committee for Community Development, Richard Herzfeld helped to develop
plans for the Milwaukee Public Museum, the Milwaukee County Stadium, the Milwaukee County
Zoo, and the Expressway.
Richard Herzfeld began working at Boston Store in 1920 as a stock boy, then worked in the
Advertising Department, as buyer for the Notions Department, and as the Merchandise
Manager of Linens, Domestics and Yards Goods. In 1928, Herzfeld was elected to the Board
of Directors. He became vice president in 1931 and president in 1940. After selling Boston
Store to Federated Department Stores, Inc. in 1948, Herzfeld soon became vice president
and director of Federated Department Store, Inc. until his retirement in 1953.
Ethel Ann Davis Herzfeld (b. 1896), Richard Herzfeld's wife, was born in Chicago and
attended Milwaukee-Downer College. She received her B.A. degree from Wellesley College in
1920. Her mother, Emma J. Davis, resided on Marietta Avenue in Milwaukee.
Carol Ann Herzfeld (1924-1972), the daughter of Richard and Ethel, was born April 9,
1924. She graduated from Milwaukee-Downer Seminary in June 1942. Carol died November 29,
1972.
Boston Store
Julius Simon opened Julius Simon's Notions in Milwaukee in 1897. The store's name was
changed to Boston Store in 1899. "Boston" was used to epitomize high style in clothing. In
1903, Carl Herzfeld, Richard I. Phillipson, and Nathan (Nat) Stone founded the
Herzfeld-Phillipson Corporation and took over the management of several of Julius Simon's
departments. Simon sold the leases to the Herzfeld-Phillipson Corporation in 1906.
Boston Store had the first air shipment of goods into Wisconsin in 1911 and in 1927
became the first Wisconsin store to receive transcontinental shipment by air. The 1934
Clerks' Strike was the result of retail clerks demanding the right to unionize to
negotiate fair wages and hours.
In 1948, the Herzfeld-Phillipson Corporation sold Boston Store for a sum of $8,000,000 to
Federated Department Stores, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio, managed by Fred Lazarus, Jr. P.A.
Bergner & Co. of Peoria, Illinois bought Boston Store from Federated Department
Stores, Inc. in 1985. Most recently, in 2005 Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. bought out Saks, Inc.'s
Northern department store group, which included Boston Store.
Richard I. Phillipson (1870-1949) was born in Germany and moved with his family to
Milwaukee at age 16. Phillipson and his father, Martin, established the Phillipson Company
in 1894 and ran a small dry goods store on the west side of Milwaukee. Phillipson was
secretary and merchandising manager of the Herzfeld-Phillipson Corporation from 1906
to1935 and was president when Federated Department Store, Inc. bought Boston Store in
1948.
Nat Stone (1866-1931) served as president of Herzfeld-Phillipson. Stone's son, Medford
Stone, became assistant secretary of the Herzfeld-Phillipson Corporation when Richard
Herzfeld became president in 1940.
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