Babbitt & Co. was once one of Albany’s greatest clothiers. When they took out this ad in 1913, the business was 13 years old and their store was located at 451-453 Broadway, just about at the intersection with Maiden Lane. By 1927 they had moved up to 67 North Pearl. Neither of their buildings still stands.
George D. Babbitt, who made his home at 32 South Allen Street, “was one of Albany’s and the State’s most public-spirited and progressive citizens.” In addition to his long history in the fur and clothing business (beginning with Bardy, Babbitt & Co. in Fairhaven, VT, in 1884), he was an early advocate of automobiling (he was president of the Albany Automobile Club) and a supporter of the canals. He organized the Albany Chamber of Commerce. When the First World War came, he served on a YMCA Executive Committee raising funds, on the Mayor’s Advisory Committee, the Executive Committee of the First Liberty Loan, and chairman of the Merchants’ Committee for the War Chest. Born in Vermont around 1855, he died in 1919.
