Tiffany & Co.

Founded in 1837 by childhood friends Charles Lewis Tiffany (1812–1902) and John Burnett Young (1815–1859), Tiffany & Co. began as a small fancy goods store at 259 Broadway in lower Manhattan, where the partners imported and sold French, German, and Asian novelties. In 1842, the firm began selling gold jewelry, adding diamonds, precious gemstones, and silverware to their inventory in 1848. In 1853, Tiffany moved uptown to 550 Broadway and, in 1860, when Charles Tiffany obtained full ownership of the firm, it expanded to encompass the adjacent storefront at 552 Broadway.

It was at this Broadway location that Tiffany held its first public exhibitions, focused primarily on military and sporting ephemera. In 1870, the store moved once again, when Charles Tiffany built a larger shopping emporium on Union Square, in the heart of the retail district known as “Ladies’ Mile.” With three floors devoted to diamonds, jewelry, silver, glass, pottery, and fancy novelties, the firm catered to the growing New York City elite. Once settled at Union Square, Tiffany began expanding the types and frequency of its exhibitions.

For the purposes of this article, exhibitions are defined as ephemeral displays shown both on Tiffany's main sales floor or second-floor sales room at Union Square and occasionally in the store's windows. The exhibitions were most commonly on view for just a few days, with a small minority remaining for up to two weeks. Local newspapers heavily covered these exhibitions, encouraging readers to visit, documenting their turn-out rates, and detailing the objects on display.