Rosina

Rosina Justina (Walz) McKay was a furrier for Harzfeld’s from at least 1930 until sometime before her early death in 1948.

The daughter of impoverished German immigrants, It was a major life change for her to go from living in poverty to selling furs to wealthy ladies at Harzfeld's.

She also did some comparison shopping for Harzfeld's, scoping out the competition's merchandise and prices, and when she saw something of good quality at a good price, she would snap it up. She never had children of her own, but her nieces were always well-dressed when they were girls, despite the Depression and the World War II war years.

She had a polar bear rug on the floor of her living room, a great draw for all the nieces and nephews when they came to visit. Her husband, a butcher, as family legend recounts, had a sitting room of his own in the basement for when Rosina found him not clean enough to come upstairs in her house.

We thank JoLynne, Rosina's great niece, who sent us her photo and information.