Clothing & Retail

  San Francisco — There are often complaints about stubborn
preservationists who want to save every ramshackle building and battered
historical artifact. (And yes, I’m often among the complainers.) But every
once in a while they have a point.
  Monday’s discovery of an old sign, circa 1921, advertising “Boss of the
Road” overalls on a wall in the Bayview, rated a note in the paper. But it
also marks the beginning of a San Francisco story that became an
international phenomenon.
  When the paint went on that wall, Boss of the Road was only one of several
burgeoning work clothing companies looking to serve a market of laborers.
One competitor was Levi Strauss & Co., which was promoting its innovation
in denim pants – rivets to anchor the seams.
  An ad from the July 24, 1898, issue of The Chronicle touts the company’s
“copper riveted overalls” and “spring bottom pants.” (The spring bottom
apparently didn’t take off, although it sounds intriguing.) Levi’s claims
those rivet-studded pants, created in 1873, were the world’s first blue
jeans.
  Lynn Downey, historian for Levi’s, says there was a good reason for that
ferocious bulldog on the Boss of the Road ads. It was for the same reason
that the Levi’s logo featured a pair of jeans in the middle of a
tug-of-war between two powerful horses.
  “At that time, not everyone spoke English,” Downey said. “So you ended up
navigating through symbols. The reason you made your logo look so rough
and tough is to demonstrate how tough the product is.”
  I got in touch with Downey to get a little background on Boss of the Road,
but when you’ve been a denim historian for 22 years, the stories pour out.
Eventually, Downey made an offer I couldn’t refuse, a chance to see the
oldest pair of jeans in the world.
  The Levi’s building, just off the Embarcadero, has a nice little museum
that is open to the public. But don’t look for the world’s oldest jeans
there. They are kept behind a locked door in a fireproof vault.
  “And I have a Bowie knife at my desk,” Downey warned.
  No wonder, the pants – which frankly don’t look much worse for wear than
what I wore in college – are valued at $150,000. It turns out there’s a
large and thriving vintage denim market. True “denim heads” search old
buildings for old jeans that they can sell to someone like Downey.
  In this case, the jeans were acquired from a dealer who knew he had a
vintage item, but didn’t know how vintage.
  “He didn’t know he had the oldest jeans in the world and we didn’t tell
him,” said Downey, who was able to date the pants by the style of rivet
and the type of leather patch on the belt line. “The jeans were made
between 1873 and 1890.”
  Downey says Boss of the Road went out of business around World War II,
which was a shame because jeans were about to enter their golden age. It
was partly triggered, oddly enough, by the market in Japan.
  “Young Japanese men with lots of discretionary income went through World
War II seeing American servicemen with jeans, bomber jackets and Zippo
lighters,” she said. “They wanted those for themselves.”
  Speculators from Japan came to the United States and bought up jeans in
bulk, driving up demand. That coincided with a youth boom in jeans, which
eventually made them so mainstream that versions now sell for hundreds of
dollars.
  And the old jeans are more popular than ever. Among the Levi’s collection,
valued at over half a million dollars, is a pair of jeans from the 1880s.
  “We won them on eBay for $46,532,” Downey said. “And I know for a fact
that I outbid Ralph Lauren, who is a big denim fan.”
  There you have it. From the world’s oldest copper-riveted overalls to the
most famous pants in the world. And it all began about the time that
fading sign was painted on the wall. C.W. Nevius’ column appears on
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Wilkes-Barre Clothier – DeMun Sign Co – Boscov’s Boston Store – A Christmas Carol – Fowler, Dick & Walker – Marguerite Dick Obit – April 17, 2011

Apr 20th, 2011

by fadingad.

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Courtesy of Captain Clint – Northeast Rails

Boston Store ad – Flicker

The Boston Store is on South Main Street, just off Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Now Boscov’s, it originally opened in 1879, but sold to Boscov after millions of dollars of renovation destroyed by Hurricane Agnes flood in the early seventies.

WILKES-BARRE BOSCOV’S TIMELINE

1879: Fowler, Dick and Walker, three Scottish immigrants, establish a department store in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

1911: Solomon Boscov arrives in Reading and begins peddling merchandise in Berks and Lancaster counties. He later opens a store in downtown Reading.

1954: Solomon’s son, Albert Boscov, and son-in-law, Edwin Lakin, join the company and quickly raise sales. They open a second store in 1962.

1950s: The Fowler, Dick & Walker store undergoes a $5 million renovation project that takes nearly 10 years. It includes an expansion to South Franklin Street, the installation of escalators and more floors, and a 1,000-vehicle parking facility.

1972: The store sustains extensive damage when Tropical Storm Agnes causes flooding. The same year, Boscov’s Department Store opens its first store outside of its hometown of Reading.

1980: Boscov’s Department Store expands to Wilkes-Barre, purchasing what is now known as Fowler, Dick & Walker The Boston Store, as well as another store in the Laurel Mall, Hazle Township. The Wilkes-Barre store remains open during the conversion and holds a grand opening the following year – Times Leader

Wilkes-Barre Retail – Wyoming Valley Photos
Fowler, Dick & Walker – Wyoming Valley Photos

Christmas Carol – Fowler Dick & Walker

Marguerite Dick | Visit Guest Book

April 17, 2011

Marguerite Dick, 76, of Tunkhannock, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, died Sunday, April 17, 2011, in Mercy Special Care Hospital, Nanticoke. Born in New York City, N.Y., Marguerite was a daughter of the late James H. and Margaret Pezneker Wilson. She grew up in New York City, but resided for most of her adult life in Wilkes-Barre. Marguerite had resided in the Tunkhannock area for the past nine months. She had been employed by TWA, New York, N.Y., for several years. She worked as clerk for Fowler, Dick & Walker, The Boston Store, Wilkes-Barre. She had also been employed by First Eastern Bank, and PNC Bank, Wilkes-Barre branches, American Red Cross, Wilkes-Barre, and Greenwald & Berk Insurance Company, Kingston. Marguerite was an avid bowler. She was an active volunteer for numerous area cancer groups, and was a member of First Church of Christ, Wilkes-Barre. Preceding her in death, in addition to her parents, were husband, Robert Hale Dick; and brother, James Wilson Jr. Surviving are her children, Christopher R. Dick, Brigantine, N.J.; Patricia Ann Wardell and husband John, Tunkhannock, Pa., with whom she resided; Douglas Dick, Mehoopany, Pa.; grandson, Kyle J. Wardell; and brother, Woodrow Wilson, Edwardsville. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday from the Harold C. Snowdon Funeral Home Inc., 140 N. Main Street, Shavertown. Pastor Larry Reed, of the Harvest Assembly Church, Harveys Lake, will officiate. Interment will be made in the Forty Fort Cemetery. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society , 190 Welles St., Suite 118, Forty Fort, PA 18704, or American Lung Association of PA, 71 N. Franklin St., Suite 207, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701. – Times Leader