Page 12

(1) 59 El Dorado St. (1898) - Bloom's Second-Hand Clothing
59 Post St. (2000) - Now an Annex to WAVES Smokehouse & Saloon

Leo Sullivan remembers Bloom's Second Hand Clothing with some poignancy: "Bloom's Second-Hand Clothing was next to Bernhardt's, it featured "Choice Bargains." I can see portly Mr. Bloom sunning himself on the sidewalk, seated on a platform rocker, a skull cap protecting his bald pate from the onslaught of flies. (At this point let me tell, that the present day generation knows nothing of the pests, flies are simply not in style any more.)"

"Bloom's pint-sized Rachael with her sling-like hair net ever hovered, protecting her spouse from the winged hordes. Besides old clothing, the couple carried a large assortment of masquerade costumes that they rented. Masquerade balls just then held popular fancy. Masquers went to big expense and weeks of preparation to impress the judges. To win, and be awarded first prize, was a distinction of moment and eagerly sought."

"The shabby, uninviting costumery was almost a carbon-copy of the storied, "Old Curiosity Shoppe." Musty and dark, the murky ceiling was draped with patterns of giant cobwebs. The gloomy interior with its frayed, bizarre hangings was an unending source of strange fancies to me. Even today, after some sixty odd years, I still feel a bit squeamish at the possibility of having to wear a "Costume by Bloom" of El Dorado Street."

Where Blooms once was . . . WAVES customers sit and sip, enveloped by a retinue of ghosts.

Page 12