Joseph Caplan
Joe’s Variety Shop
32 Witherspoon Street
Closed in the 1930s
Smalley’s Stagecoach sits in front of Joe’s Variety Shop on Witherspoon Street. Historical Society of Princeton.
Advertisement, Joe’s Variety Shop on Witherspoon Street. Princeton Directory, 1927
In 1912, Joseph and Ruth Caplan opened a clothing store on Witherspoon Street. Like many other Jewish businesses in town, the family’s in-laws, Joseph and Stella, lived in the second-floor apartment. The business evolved into a second-hand clothing store, and into a clothing-variety store, carrying notions (sewing tools), hats, and caps by 1926. The Variety Shop closed its doors during the Great Depression.