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Help please from vintage sleuth experts

Discussion in 'PUBLIC Vintage Fashion - Ask Questions Get Answers' started by amandainvermont, Jan 18, 2023.

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  1. amandainvermont

    amandainvermont VFG Member

    I know some of you have a wonderful technique for garnering vintage clothing historical information which I lack. This label is on a nice silk velvet opera coat. It has the NRA blue eagle label, which dates it from 1933-1935, but I wonder if anyone can find anything about this label.

    stecker.jpg
     
    amandainvermont, Jan 18, 2023
    #1
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  2. Vintagiality

    Vintagiality VFG Treasurer Staff Member

    It was a Philadelphia department store that subsequently opened another location in Camden, NJ
    I see lots of ads from the 20s and 30s. Will get you more tonight after work
     
    Vintagiality, Jan 18, 2023
    #2
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  3. lkranieri

    lkranieri VFG Member

    Until I am done feeding cats...

    SteckerNameChange1919.jpg

    And also from 1919...
    SteckerWithAKWWDDec1919.jpg
     
    lkranieri, Jan 18, 2023
    #3
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  4. amandainvermont

    amandainvermont VFG Member

    lovecript bow down wave Lynne and Victoria
     
    amandainvermont, Jan 18, 2023
    #4
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  5. Vintagiality

    Vintagiality VFG Treasurer Staff Member

    One more tidbit during lunch break :)
    ACAF23D8-36A5-4D54-9F9E-667C0314E82A.jpeg
     
    Vintagiality, Jan 18, 2023
    #5
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  6. lkranieri

    lkranieri VFG Member

    I can't offer too much information about your label, but I will post here a few chronologically arranged posts with a bit of information about the label, to help you cobble together a history of the business, starting with the two 1919 blurbs posted earlier:

    -- This is a 1920 article and the cover of the publication in which it was found
    SteckerToRemodelDryGoodsEcon1920.jpg
    SteckerDryGoodsEconCover1920.jpg

    -- Just a small blurb about sale prices on items at Steckers, from 1920
    SteckerPhilaRef1920Clip.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2023
    lkranieri, Jan 18, 2023
    #6
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  7. lkranieri

    lkranieri VFG Member

    And from 1921...

    -- An advertisement for Steckers, with their Philadelphia address:
    SteckerLouisAd1921.jpg

    -- A 1921 article about remodeling the Steckers building:
    SteckerSonsRemodelBldg1921.jpg
     
    lkranieri, Jan 18, 2023
    #7
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  8. lkranieri

    lkranieri VFG Member

    And two articles about the new Stecker shop in 1922...
    SteckersNewShop1922.jpg
    SteckersNewShop1922B.jpg
     
    lkranieri, Jan 18, 2023
    #8
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  9. lkranieri

    lkranieri VFG Member

    1939 article noted Stecker's had to close temporarily...
    SteckersToReopen1939.jpg

    and in 1940 they added a lingerie department to the store...
    SteckersAddsLingerie1940.jpg
     
    lkranieri, Jan 18, 2023
    #9
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  10. lkranieri

    lkranieri VFG Member

    Founder Louis Stecker died in 1945...
    SteckerLouisObit1945.jpg

    and I did not find any mention of that Philadelphia store after his death.
     
    lkranieri, Jan 18, 2023
    #10
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  11. Vintagiality

    Vintagiality VFG Treasurer Staff Member

    I have some suspicion that it was acquired by JC Penny based on the change in owners of the building in Camden but I couldn’t find proof of that

    @Ranch Queen Vintage maybe a good label to add for the department store project
     
    Vintagiality, Jan 18, 2023
    #11
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  12. Ranch Queen Vintage

    Ranch Queen Vintage Administrator

    Yes, definitely! What wonderful research!
    Thank you, Lynne and Victoria!
     
    Ranch Queen Vintage, Jan 18, 2023
    #12
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  13. Vintagiality

    Vintagiality VFG Treasurer Staff Member

    Oh I found it! It did sell to JC Penny but I don’t know the date because it’s from some woman’s obit
    24475AF2-C1FE-4A30-A246-AE705F5AA8DC.jpeg
     
    Vintagiality, Jan 18, 2023
    #13
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  14. Vintagiality

    Vintagiality VFG Treasurer Staff Member

    What is strange is that I also found this from 1930
    FBB0B8FE-E277-4ABD-9C65-90E2AC3E9E9B.jpeg
     
    Vintagiality, Jan 18, 2023
    #14
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  15. lkranieri

    lkranieri VFG Member

    Good find! That was a 1942 obit for Elizabeth S Young.
     
    lkranieri, Jan 18, 2023
    #15
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  16. Vintagiality

    Vintagiality VFG Treasurer Staff Member

    Right but I don’t know when she stopped working there relative to when she died.

    What I also found is that Stecker’s son Robert bought his father out of the Camden store in 1928 so I suspect the two stores had different history after that
    F24DDCC1-62E3-4F08-A235-526FB660AD78.jpeg
    CA33EE63-6301-4A1E-BD1B-84C83BC7F5F1.jpeg
     
    Vintagiality, Jan 18, 2023
    #16
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  17. lkranieri

    lkranieri VFG Member

    ...and I found this 1934 article about Robert and the Camden store...
    SteckerRobertFormerHeadSteckerInc.jpg
     
    lkranieri, Jan 18, 2023
    #17
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  18. Vintagiality

    Vintagiality VFG Treasurer Staff Member

    That’s an interesting connection. I had found a reference to a woman named Rose Gimbel Stecker so I was thinking that members of one and the other retailing families married
     
    Vintagiality, Jan 18, 2023
    #18
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  19. Vintagiality

    Vintagiality VFG Treasurer Staff Member

    Yes it looks like Rose Gimbel was Robert’s wife. Here is their divorce info
    0756767D-830C-474B-8F2E-81877ECDCDA4.jpeg
    DA5F93EC-619D-4D6D-A671-89EA5F6E4D25.jpeg
     
    Vintagiality, Jan 18, 2023
    #19
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  20. poppysvintageclothing

    poppysvintageclothing VFG Member Staff Member VFG Past President

    What a wealth of info!!!
     
    poppysvintageclothing, Jan 18, 2023
    #20
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