Edith Adele Buck

Edith A. Buck, Clothing, Fancy Goods, Post cards & Souvenirs, Main Street, opposite the Bank. Miss Edith Adele Buck, born Nov. 22, 1856 in Dover, ME. Came to Concord in 1882. In 1884, she opened a "parlor millinery" in the store now occupied by H.S. Howe, jeweler. She was in business on the Milldam for 55 years. After four years at the original site she moved across the street to the store now (notation dated 1946) occupied by the Concord Flower Shoppe. In another four years she moved to a store in the new Friend's Block, expanded her store to include women's wear and notions. In April 1939 the business was sold to Mrs. Annie Chick and Miss Nellie Reed and called the Nell-Ann Shop. Miss Buck died at the Collicutt Rest Home, West Concord, Oct. 9, 1948, buried in Rural Grove Cometary, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. In the 1890s, Edith Buck sold Concord souvenirs out of a small booth at the foot of the drive at The Old Manse by the North Bridge. This is a very early instance of the marketing of Thoreau's legacy. Buck also produced fans with views of the North Bridge, Emerson House, etc., which were printed in Boston and decorated and assembled in Japan. In 1897, Thoreau souvenirs out-sold those of Emerson and Hawthorne.