Past and Present: Fraas & Miller Furniture, Bushwick

A look at Brooklyn, then and now.

Our “before and after” today is inspired by a postcard for the opening of the Fraas & Miller Furniture Center, on the corner of Broadway and Linden Street in Bushwick. I find Bushwick’s shopping district to be a fascinating place, with lots of great old store buildings that once housed businesses like Fraas & Miller that are long gone, quite forgotten, and now only points of interest for those who collect Brooklyn ephemera. Still, if you can see past the looming El tracks, and the modern signage, there are a lot of great old buildings left, many of which probably have quite a story to tell.

After a bit of research, I found out that Fraas & Miller was a prominent furniture dealership, here in the Eastern District. The first reference I found for them was in 1902. At that time, they were located at Broadway and Grove Street. In 1906, they bought the lot on the corner of Broadway and Linden and had the existing building torn down. They enlisted the architect Arthur R. Koch to design a new store for their growing furniture and carpet business. In April of 1907, they opened their new emporium, nicknamed “The Furniture Center” to great fanfare.

According to the Brooklyn Eagle, opening day was mobbed, with over 15,000 people showing up for the festivities. At one point, the police had to close the doors, as there were too many people inside the store. The local 47th Regiment band was set up on the mezzanine, and they played popular tunes all afternoon and evening, as people toured the store, and had snacks and punch. Everyone got a souvenir whisk in a decorative holder, and was encouraged to tour all four floors, where furniture and carpeting were on sale.

Ferdinand Fraas and Charles W. Miller were both on hand to receive well-wishers. Dozens of flower arrangements and congratulatory wreaths had been sent to the store from their vendors, local businessmen, employees and friends, and all of them were displayed prominently on the main floor. All in all, a great time was had by all at this successful store opening.

Charles W. Miller was a local man, he had been born on Bushwick Avenue, and lived there most of his life. He had been in the furniture business a long time, even before his partnership with Fraas, and had been the first president of the Furniture and Carpet Employees Early Closing Association. He also got into the banking business, and was one of the founders of the People’s National Bank, and its first vice president. He was very much interested in education, and was a member of the Board of Education for many years, was the president of his local School Board # 35, and had been very instrumental in getting the Bushwick High School built.

Miller’s partner, Ferdinand Fraas was also a Brooklynite. While he had the store on Broadway, he and his family lived at 376 Himrod Street in Bushwick. He was also interested in education, and much later, in 1917, was a member of his local school board. Fraas was also a part time banker, and was one of the founding members, and a director of the Ridgewood National Bank. He was also a member of the Aurora Singing Society, and was an officer in that group, as well.

Fraas and Miller seemed to have a great relationship with their workers, from what little information I dug up suggests. The employees belonged to the Fraas & Miller Mutual Benefit Association, a profit sharing group, and the owners were so well regarded that when Fraas went on vacation, his employees had flowers sent to the ship he and his wife were taking to Europe. They also had Association dances and social events, some of which were recorded in furniture trade papers.

The postcard shows the store in full regalia, but is rather deceiving, as the Broadway El ran right down the street, and this unobstructed view just wasn’t possible. The El had been there since 1885, and this postcard dates from about 1907, when the new store opened. It’s still great advertising. Unfortunately, for unstated reasons, this partnership did not last, and in 1918, Ferdinand Fraas opened a new furniture store with a new partner; K. Charles Vonhof, who had been a sales associate in the old Fraas & Miller Store. Fraas & Vonhof went public, offering stock, with Ferdinand Fraas as president of the company, his son Ferdinand Fraas Jr was vice president, and K. Charles Vonhof was the secretary/treasurer. It’s not noted how long that company stayed in business, but Ferdinand Fraas died relatively young, at the age of 58, in 1927.

Charles Miller seems to have gotten out of the furniture business after the breakup. He became very invested in his job on the Board of Education, and appears in the newspapers often, on committees, panels, and as a press liaison. He also remained on the board of the bank, and was president and founder of both the Ridgewood Board of Trade and the Broadway Board of Trade. He enjoyed himself by being a member of the local Eastern District Turn Verein Club, The Union League Club, the Elks, the Bushwick Club and the Bayview Yacht Club. He died in 1937, at the age of 72.

Today, the Fraas & Miller building is gone. Bushwick was the scene of some of New York’s worst civil unrest during the blackout of 1977, when rioters and looters went crazy, burning down and looting many of Broadway’s stores. The riots went on for days, and when they were over, the shopping district that was most of Broadway was damaged beyond repair. Many store owners just walked away, even those who were not physically touched. It’s taken the last thirty years for Bushwick and Broadway to recover. Today, the site where thousands of eager shoppers thronged into a grand new furniture store is a community garden, waiting for the next cycle of building. GMAP