Early in the Civil War, a severe coin shortage in New York City made it nearly impossible for retailers to make change for their customers.

In response to this shortage, the United States government allowed merchants to mint their own coins, known as "rebellion tokens" or "copperheads".

As a result, the company changed its name to Hammacher & Co. William Schlemmer had been actively involved with the business since 1853, when he had moved to New York City from Germany at age twelve and worked at the storefront.

Hammacher Schlemmer was also the first retailer to offer a number of products, such as the "Tourist Autokit," the pop-up toaster (1930), the electric toothbrush (1955), and the telephone answering machine (1968), in the United States.

Invento evolved into a clearinghouse for novel products, sourcing items from around the world and selling them under its own brand to retailers including Hammacher Schlemmer, Sears, and Neiman Marcus, generating annual sales of nearly $2.5 million.

[6]In 1983, J. Roderick MacArthur created the Hammacher Schlemmer Institute as an independent but affiliated branch of the company, whose purpose is to comparatively test leading products.

In 1988, Hammacher Schlemmer became one of the first retailers to sell products over the Internet with CompuServe, the first major commercial online service in the United States.

[7] From 1991 to 2001, Hammacher Schlemmer offered products through SkyMall, a specialty catalog that was available in the seat back pocket of many airline until the company's bankruptcy in 2015.

Under Steinhafel's leadership, the acquisition is seen as a key step in preserving the legacy of Hammacher Schlemmer while driving its future growth in an evolving retail landscape.

The yellow fever plague of 1822, ascribed to impure water, desolated lower Manhattan and caused business and terrified inhabitants to move out of town to Greenwich Village.

Located on the site of the Huntington Stables and near Park Avenue, the modern twelve-story building has housed hardware, gifts, housewares, bath, dressing room and closet furnishings, kitchen and fireplace equipment, furniture and a variety of categories of consumer products.

In a fanciful account of a transatlantic voyage with his father on the Andrea Doria, Chris Elliott lists among an assortment of oddball luggage items, "a two-man submarine from Hammacher Schlemmer, complete with forty-amp thrusters and an air-supply system capable of maintaining up to one hundred cubic feet of oxygen.

"[12] In the 2006 film Beerfest, the two muscle-bound characters of the German Drinking Team are named Hammacher and Schlemmer (played by Ralf Moeller and Günter Schlierkamp, respectively).

In 1881, Hammacher Schlemmer produced its first illustrated catalogue and price list which showcased products with the same care received as in the mahogany cases of the New York store.

Spanning 1,112 pages and taking a total of four years to compile, the catalog confirmed Hammacher as the most complete hardware source on the East Coast.

Hammacher Schlemmer's 125th anniversary edition in 1973 featured an assortment of unique kitchen and entertaining products from a "provision cabinet" with clear plastic containers to a gourmet serving cart with an integrated wine rack.

In a full-page letter on the opening spread, it reaffirmed its commitment to customer service, pledging to continue "loyal, dedicated, trained: bent upon serving you.

In a departure from its traditional cover presentation, the 2003 Holiday Preview catalog featured a cartoon that playfully acknowledged the retailer's reputation for offering unusual, and-on occasion-outlandish items.

Users had to scan specially marked catalog pages with their iPad to overlay a three-dimensional image of a product, spin the item 360 degrees, play videos, and more.