Crime and Lace

by

Laine Farley

This pair of delicately illustrated and embossed bookmarks advertises the wares of L. Noot, importer and purveyor of laces, French flowers and neck wear. The unusual name, with locations in both Washington, DC and Saratoga Springs, NY, and the suggestion that Mr. Noot catered to the well-to-do, prompted me to investigate his story. The very proper Victorian presentation of his offerings belie the complex history hidden behind this flowery façade.

Louis Noot was born in Amsterdam, Holland in 1838, emigrated to the U.S. in 1842 and was living in New York with his parents and six siblings in 1850. In 1860 they had all moved to Philadelphia where his father was a minister. In fact, he became a noted New York rabbi. Apparently Louis and his younger brother Phillip started some sort of business together because a bankruptcy notice was filed against them doing business as Noot. Bros., on April 30, 1869 in Philadelphia as reported in the New York Herald Tribune on May 8, 1869. In the 1870 Census, they were living together along with Louis’s wife Sarah, and a retired tailor named Myer Pike. Their occupations are difficult to read but almost look like “cigarmaker” which seems unlikely. Sarah was listed as a milliner. Whatever their interim occupation may have been, Louis had established a lace business in time for the 1876 Centennial exhibition where he displayed handmade lace in the Women’s Pavilion.

By 1880 he and Sarah had a son, Simon, and had moved to Washington, DC where he was officially listed as a lace merchant in the Census. The earliest documentation I found was an ad in the National Republican, December 20, 1879  featuring not only lace but also “real French dolls” and enamel work boxes. Another promotion on January 20, 1880 in the same paper touted lace from France, Russia and Ireland as well as French flowers, bonnets, fans and other similar goods. This ad also listed the address of his Washington store at 915 Pennsylvania and another location at No. 10 Rue St. Cecile, Paris. There were daily ads in this paper for the next few months.  In the Washington Sunday Herald, April 4, 1880 a large ad announced a “grand opening” on March 24 featuring the “spring opening of Paris bonnets, all the new real and imitation laces,” and listing all manner of other fancy goods including the latest styles of parasols “made from our own designs,” children’s white nansook (presumably an object of clothing although I could find no definition), lace dresses, ribbon, jet, onyx and gilt jewelry, and Paris novelties  including the popular French flowers, fans, ruchings, pleatings, cashmere fichues and wraps. Clearly Mr. Noot had gone well beyond being just a lace merchant. Either he had branched out too far, creating a hodge podge of a store, or else he had found a niche for appealing to the well heeled with his fancy French goods.

In several business directories for New York and Saratoga Springs between 1884-1889, his business is listed with various labels including laces, fancy goods and gents furnishings with the address of Congress Hall Block; in 1888-1889 he is listed in Brooklyn, NY as a milliner. My bookmarks probably date from this period based on the addresses listed and the style of the designs, both the images of birds and flowers as well as the ornamental typeface.

I have found only one other example of advertising ephemera for L. Noot consisting of two similar trade cards with beautiful Grecian designs embossed with gold, copper and silver ornamentation. One has the Saratoga Springs address while the other lists 48 West 23rd St. New York. According to the seller “the back advertises they sell Paris neck wear, Imported French Flowers, Paris Fans and imported silk, laces” and the cards were removed from an 1880-1890s album. Although the richness of these designs is more in keeping with the upscale nature of his stores, they do not suggest anything about the items themselves or the French themes he cultivated. Perhaps that is simply a reflection of the advertising techniques in use at the time and the fact that these cards as well as my bookmarks are probably stock items, printed in bulk by a lithographer and then overprinted with the business name and address.

Between 1882 and 1899 Louis applied for a passport at least five times, presumably for his trips to Europe to purchase goods for his store.  The applications reveal that he became a naturalized citizen in 1867 in New York. His physical description is detailed, presumably because passport photographs had not yet come into use. He was fairly consistent in describing himself as 5'7" with a high forehead, prominent or Roman nose, oval face, pointed or small chin, brown eyes, dark brown or gray hair, and occasionally a moustache. By 1900, son Simon had added a wife, Goldie, and a daughter Jarnette (or perhaps Jeanette) to the household in Baltimore. All would seem to be going well for the family business but trouble loomed ahead.

On August 22, 1900 Louis and wife Sarah were returning from Belgium on the ship Friesland with three trunks plus regular luggage, a seemingly routine crossing. However, officials from the Treasury department suspected he was trying to bring in goods without declaring them and laid a trap to be sure they could ensnare him.  According to an article in the New York Times, they asked him if he had anything to declare to which he replied he did not. Then they let him leave the docks, signing for his trunks to be delivered to his hotel where they later confronted him. According to several accounts, over 5,000 francs worth of smuggled lace was artistically “secreted in the bosoms of shirts, rolled up in stockings, and stuffed in dresses.” He paid his $1,000 bail in cash from a large bundle of bills. It was all too much for Mrs. Noot who became hysterical and fainted but was revived by the “liberal use of ammonia and much fanning.”

The incident seemed to bring out strong feelings against Noot, almost as if he had been riding too high and got a well deserved downfall. In an article titled “Noot Known in Baltimore:  The Alleged Smuggler Reputed to be a Man of Wealth” in the Washington Times on August 23, 1900, it was noted that he had a store on F St. in DC but had a home in Baltimore. The article explained that the Washington store is closed in summer while he and his wife visit fashionable watering places where they sell “fine fabrics for feminine wear.” In the winter they go south to Florida, where they hobnob with other wealthy vacationers. The article observed that the store was closed for several weeks with a sign that it would open soon with a new line of goods.

In an even more scathing article in the Auburn Weekly Bulletin, August 28, 1900, the same sign is described: “In the window of L. Noot & Son, importers of laces and other frumpery from lands afar, there is a sign which belies itself.” The promise of the store reopening to exhibit a new line of finery was considered unlikely since the goods had been confiscated. The article reveals that Mrs. McKinley, the first lady, was one of Noot’s best customers, influencing the wives, daughters and other female relatives of Cabinet members to patronize the store “rich in Parisian novelties” whose “importations were talked of as quite the mode.” Noot even sent an employee three times a week to show Mrs. McKinley the latest from Paris in the comfort of the official residence. When the news broke about the smuggling arrest, it caused “several persons of distinction to wonder if they were not wearing goods which escaped the customs man by the underground route.” While the “spectacle of the wife of the President of the United States wearing a dress which had been smuggled into the country is anything but pleasant to contemplate,” the author assumed the dresses would not be discarded since they cost thousands of dollars.

I could locate no further information about the smuggling incident. Whether Noot benefitted from friends in high places and the charges were dropped or he met whatever penalty was doled out, he managed to stay in business. He applied for yet another passport in 1901, this time saying he planned to return to the U.S. in two years. He was listed in Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia in 1906 with a store at 736 7th St. NW under the category of cloaks, and his son Simon was listed in Baltimore.

On April 19, 1906, a small notice in the Washington Post announced his death, saying that his body would be transported to his son’s home in Baltimore. Then on May 30, 1906 there was an announcement in the Washington Times that the L. Noot store would be retiring from business and on June 1 a “sacrifice sale” was advertised that continued through the end of the month. On July 17 a large ad by Goldenberg’s announced that it had bought the entire remaining stock and would offer it at greatly discounted prices. The ad noted that the stock was in good condition since L. Noot & Son had been in business only a year. It’s not clear whether he had only just reopened the business after the smuggling incident or perhaps had changed the name and/or type of merchandise. In any case, the goods were not of the same type as in earlier ads, being mostly men’s and women’s clothing. There were some luxury items such as furs, white linen jackets, and silk skirts but no mention of lace or his trademark Parisian novelties.

Son Simon went into the real estate business in Baltimore but was not successful. On February 25, 1910 he was found dead in a hotel room in Frederick, Maryland. A story in the Washington Post implied he was depressed over real estate matters and there was evidence he took his own life.

There was one other twist to this story. While researching Louis, I came across a curious article in the New York Times on November 13, 1909 titled “Columbia Student Accused in Divorce” about Midge Fannie Noot, the wife of Louis C. Noot. She had taken up with a student who lived nearby with his parents, prompting her husband to file for divorce. The student had introduced her as his cousin, “Miss Noot” when she accompanied him to Columbia without her wedding ring. Louis took offense at this situation and at finding a Columbia gold watch fob and photos of the student in her possession. The article describes further details of their encounters and an account of the trial, “Airship Flirtation Ends in Big Divorce Suit” (probably should be “airshaft”) appeared in the Oakland Tribune, February 4, 1910. This article quoted testimony from Mrs. Noot’s maid about how their flirtation began. Mrs. Noot, age 25, said she considered the student “a mere boy” (he was a senior in college) who ran errands for her. Later I suspected this wasn’t the same Louis Noot once I found his wife’s name was Sarah, and it was confirmed when I found his death date in 1906.

I wondered, however, if there was any relation and looked further to discover that indeed, Louis Cowan Noot was Louis Noot’s nephew, the son of his brother Isaac. The younger Louis appeared frequently in passenger lists and passport applications which revealed he traveled for business—as a lace buyer. In the 1910 Census, he was listed as divorced, living with his sister and brother-in-law along with his father, brother and son, Isaac Chester. There is no direct evidence that he ever worked for his uncle Louis, but perhaps he was at least influenced to go into the same trade. He was still buying lace as of 1930 when he was living only with his sister in New York, never having remarried. In 1942, he completed a draft registration card for World War II and listed J. K. Stiefel & Co. as his employer, which was a lace merchant. He died on July 31, 1950 and was survived by his brother George, and a wife, Francine, although I could find no record of their marriage. There was also a notice from J. K. Stiefel “deplor[ing] the loss of our friend and associate.” It is remarkable that he worked in the same trade for at least forty years; perhaps he was trying to compensate for his uncle’s transgression in some way by being a loyal and honest employee of the lace trade.

Bookmark specifications: L. Noot [pink flower]
Dimensions: 2 3/4" x 6"
Material: Paper
Manufacturer: Unknown
Date: 1880s?
Acquired: eBay

Bookmark specifications: L. Noot [blue flower]
Dimensions: 2 3/4" x 6"
Material: Paper
Manufacturer: Unknown
Date: 1880s?
Acquired: eBay

Laine Farley is a digital librarian who misses being around the look, feel and smell of real books.  Her collection of over 3,000 bookmarks began with a serendipitous find while reviewing books donated to the library. Fortunately, her complementary collection of articles and books about bookmarks provides an excuse for her to get back to libraries and try her hand at writing about bookmarks. Contact Laine.