George Watts & Son is a Luxury Tabletop & Gift Emporium Located in the Historic Easttown Neighborhood of Downtown Milwaukee. We’ve been selling the finest in tabletop products since 1870. Family owned and managed for 5 generations, we are proud to be official authorized dealers for all of the brands we carry. Rest assured that we will stand behind all of the products we sell. We are the purveyors
of fine, rare serving and home decor accessories. TRADITIONS OF BEAUTY AND HANDICRAFT
Waxing philosophic, my father Howard Watts used to say that every home should have at least one piece of art that family and friends could gather around and talk about. It made the home a place of energy and learning; about how to be civil, how to place art at the center of our lives, enriching our children, passing on the traditions of beauty and handicraft. This business is really so much more than selling “pretty things” We sell the world’s rarest goods, each with a glorious story of history and artistry and pride. Setting a table weaves all of these stories together to create a mood of cheer in celebrating all of Life’s special occasions both the magnificent and the simple. We are often told, by our very well-traveled friends, that Watts is like no other store on the planet. Our emporium, (still thriving after 133 years!) Boasts the very rare mix of a family-owned entrepreneurial spirit with an exceptional historic edifice, one of Milwaukee’s treasures. We have simply the smartest salespeople and staff in our industry and objects that inspire you with their diversity and beauty. The results, which we’ve tried to convey in these pages, are temptations of every sort for living graciously.
- George Watts 2002
THE GINGKO STORY
Watts store trademark, the bifurcated gingko leaf, is one of Nature’s most exquisitely shaped leaves. Aside from being the oldest tree species on the planet, the gingko is also known to be disease resistant and tolerant of dirt and congestion, therefore often planted in urban areas. In the late 1940’s, when Milwaukee’s city fathers insisted on widespread planting of Dutch Elm trees throughout the city, George Watts stood firmly by his principles and planted gingkoes instead. When Dutch Elm disease was at the Ohio border, the City Forester was heard to remark, “We’ll meet it at the state line with a cloud of DDT!” A knowledgeable botanist in his own right, George planted four ginkgos on Jefferson Street, at his own expense, where they stand today. As a symbol of the integrity of the individual especially in the face of authoritative opposition, we proudly display the gingko leaf on our gleaming gold box gift wrap.
