Violet May Reg’d

The hat shop known as “Violet May Reg’d. From Bond Street, London” opened in Montreal in 1913.¹ Its founder was Violet May Sullivan (England, about 1888-?), who married Charles John Davies in England in 1912.² The couple came to Canada early in 1913.³

Violet May recalled that she felt lonely when she arrived in Montreal and wanted to have something to do.

She had experience in millinery shops in London designing hats for English women “of distinction and taste,” and soon found there was a demand in Canada for hats of similar quality.⁴

Her husband initially objected to the idea of opening a shop but eventually gave his approval.⁵

In a 1922 article in the Dry Goods Review, the couple attributed their success to their novel and profitable merchandising methods.⁶ The dramatic window displays in their 848 St. Catherine Street West shop were complemented by an archway with gilded Ionic columns.

Each window featured a reproduction of a Gainsborough painting of a woman in a spectacular hat.

Clouds of draped tulle set off hats displayed on stands.⁷ The interior of the store had carpet and walls in soft shades of buff yellow, providing a backdrop for the colourful sports and garden-party hats displayed around the room. Curtained-off recesses revealed dressing tables with mirrors where staff could fit hats to customers.⁸

After a decade in business, the shop had a following of regular customers that came four times a year for new hats. The owners recognized the appeal of their guarantee of individuality, ensuring that no two women made the same purchase.⁹ They priced many models between $18 and $25, and their higher end hats at $75.¹⁰ The store carried its own creations but also imported hats from Paris, London and New York.¹¹ They frequently advertised Violet May’s return from buying trips abroad.

The store catered to two groups of customers, distinguished by age: matrons and flappers. The flapper of the early 1920s was particularly difficult to please. She needed somewhat smaller hats to accommodate her bobbed hair. The proprietors noted that a younger woman took considerably more time to choose a hat, because of her inexperience in recognizing what was flattering, and the inevitable complications that arose from the number of people she typically brought along to advise her.¹² However, the store appeared to make special efforts to acquire younger customers.

One of the owners’ unique marketing strategy was the sending of personal handwritten letters to clients, along with photographs of specific hats on live models, on which they claimed the return was 100%.

They also telephoned regular customers to tell them about end-of-season markdowns, which brought back women who believed they had already completed their shopping for the season but were enticed by a further bargain. If any hats remained at the end of the season, the shop preferred to donate them to a church that would see that they reached women in need, rather than lower prices to a level that could diminish the prestige of the whole business.¹³ The owners thereby started each new season with no previous models in stock. In addition, if a client could not find something to suit her, they had no compunction about recommending she try elsewhere; the practice did not lose them a single sale.¹⁴

Violet May advertised for employees in both French and English newspapers in Montreal, often requiring that they speak both languages. However, the shop itself was advertised only in the English papers. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the shop provided the Montreal Gazette with sketches and photographs and was mentioned regularly in articles about hat trends.

During the years of the Second World War, women relied on hats to provide a stylish counterpoint to an otherwise stagnating wardrobe, so it is not surprising that the shop continued to operate. In the early 1940s, it did decrease its advertising considerably, however. In 1943, the store’s ads featured its custom-made hats and the fact it was an agent for Christy’s, London. By 1947, it was advertising New York imports again.

The couple kept the shop at the 848 St. Catherine Street West location until 1949, although the building was renumbered ‘1810’ in 1928. From 1949 until its closure in 1952, the shop was located at 1551 Bishop Street. Shortly before the closure, Violet May attributed the store’s success to “a determination to make good, patience, and a willingness to please the customer.”¹⁵

She felt the true measure of her success was not the clientele of prominent Montrealers and Canadians, but rather the clients who had stuck with the shop since the very beginning.¹⁶

She noted that she would never sell a client a hat that was not flattering, because she wanted to keep their business.¹⁷