The Story of the Ugly Green Vase

The little green vase was rather ugly. Bought on EBay a few years ago by a patron who then donated it to the Bridgeport Public Library Historical Collections, the unattractive tiny vase was not much to look at.

We would have passed it over but the person who donated it was clever enough to notice something. The bottom of the vase gave us a little clue.

Engraved on the bottom were the words: “Souvenir 1903 D.M. Read Fair Week.”

We in the Historical Collections knew that D.M. Read was an old Department Store that was a popular department store in Bridgeport, and that it closed down in 1987. However, what the big question was, what was the “Fair Week” that occurred in Bridgeport in 1903?

A look at an old souvenir booklet of Bridgeport from 1903 gave us a another idea. Bridgeport had a week long celebration called “Old Home Week,” that was held from August 30 through September 7, 1903. A look through the booklet shows that every business in Bridgeport was involved. The D.M. Read store took a prominent place in the booklet.

Researching through the newspapers for the same dates showed the extent of “Old Home Week.” The booklet showed there were committees of citizens for everything, including a “souvenir committee.” Every business in town came up with ideas to attract customers to their stores. Even the new fangled "automobiles" got into the celebration. Automobiles dealers from throughout the area, planned by Bridgeport’s own Locomobile Company, drove their automobiles right down the center of town. The parade went down Bridgeport’s Main Street.

One goal of Old Home Week was to foster good feelings between old and new residents of Bridgeport, and to invite them back, of course to shop. However, the week turned out to be a great amount of work for the organizers, grumbling and fighting ensued, and consequently, there was no “Old Home Week” in the years to follow.

Here is a photograph of a parade on Main Street shows the "Old Home Week" celebration, with the parade going past the old Bridgeport Public Library. Copyright Bridgeport Public Library Historical Collections A closer look at the little green vase shows something else. The tiny vase that measures 2 ½ inches tall and 2 ½ inches wide is made of brass.

We feel pretty confident that the vase was a souvenir vase for the “Old Home Week,” of 1903, but another question occurs to us. Was the little vase made by one of our local companies such as Bridgeport Brass or Smith and Egge?

While we are relatively sure that this little vase was from the "Old Home Week" celebration, there still continues to be a mystery as to what company made it. This mystery remains to be solved.

If anyone has any ideas regarding this little vase, contact us at mwitkowski@bridgeportpubliclibrary.org