3. Saks Fifth Avenue’s First Delivered Package Was Sent to President Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge. Photo from Library of Congress. 

On September 15, 1924, Saks Fifth Avenue officially opened its doors at 9am, becoming the first large retail operation to exist in what was then primarily a residential district. In light of the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties, wealthy folks were eager to spend their money, and “shoppers in fur coats and pearls mobbed the sales floors” of Saks during its opening, reports The New Yorker.

The first package sent out that day was a silk top hat, which was delivered to President Calvin Coolidge at the White House; whether it was a purchase or a gift remains unknown. In addition, the first item to sell out was a silver pocket flask. (It was the Prohibition after all).