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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1958)
10 MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Oregon, Thursday, April 10, 1958 Penney's Observes 56th Anniversary as Largest artment Chain Retail Stores Continue To Follow Policy Set By Founder Penney stores in every state in the Union form the largest chain of retail department stores in the world. This month they celebrate the 56th anniversary of the founding of the Penney Company. Each Penney store Is a "hometown" store, with the same neighborly spirit and de pendable values that started the first Penney store on its way to success more than half a century ago. In 1902, James Cash Penney opened a cash-and-carry store in a little frame building in the frontier coal mining town of Kemmerer, Wyo. He in vested his entire savings $500 plus $1500 he borrow ed to buy a one-third interest in the 25 by 40 foot store. Population of Kemmerer was 1.000. Golden Rule Philosophy Penney called his store the 'Golden Rule Store." His idea was to apply the Golden Rule philosophy to business. He knew it meant pioneering a new merchandising idea, radical in the cut-throat com petition of the early 1900s. -He determined to sell mer chandise at prices as low as possible and introduced the then novel idea of one price to all. Penney's first custom ers soon learned they benefit ted from his idea. Key to the. company's phen omenal groifrth has been its basic policies and operating methods. These are substan tially the same now as they were in Mr. . Penney's first store in- Kemmerer. The Pen ney Company used all its know-how to pack the custom er's dollar full of value, quality and satisfaction; asks a fair profit and not all the traffic will bear. The company continues to reward its men and women who are called "associates" rather than em ployees through participa tion in the profits of the busi ness. Buyers Everywhere Penney merchandise comes from all markets of the world. Wherever good merchandise is found, Penney buyers, are found, too. In addition to a staff of approximately 250 buyers in New York, the com pany has regional buying oi fices on the west coast, in Los Angeles, in the south in Dallas, Texas, and in Europe. The Penney Company ranks as the nation's number one supplier of many items in cluding women's hose, blank ets and work clothes. In it's price range, Penney's sells more women's cotton dresses that any other large retailer. Years ago Penney's was the first to have work clothes Sanforized and "graduated" according to size. Penney's was instrumental in develop ing women's plastic hand bags. - As it was in Penney's store in Kemmerer, it is today in Penney stores all over Amer ica nothing is added to price for time payments, charge ac counts or costly deliveries. It s strictly cash and carry. The dollar across a Penney count er buys a full dollar's worth of quality. Penney Clerks To Dress Up In Observance of Anniversary Clerks at the J.C. Penney company store, located at Sixth st. and Central ave. will go back to the early 1 9 0 0s in observance of the company's 56th anniversary, which starts today. Ray Baker, manager of the local branch, said clerks will wear costumes for the event and bargains with old-time prices will be featured. "The women are making their costumes dresses with like authentic cookies dust- long skirts and fitted bodices with high necklines and leg o' mutton sleeves like grand ma used to wear," Baker said. "The fellows will look like members of an old-fashioned barber shop quartet when they dress up in high button jackets, tapered slacks, derby hats, arm bands and big black handlebar mustaches. They're made of nylon but they look ers," the manager . declared, Salespeople in the other nearly 1,700 Penney stores throughout the country will be dressed in the same way during the anniversary cele bration. "We are looking forward to having an old-fashioned good time," Baker said, "and we hope all our friends and customers will join us in the celebration." m&r!z , ...... i ,V x N ' x AT SUNRISE ON MONDAY, April 14, 1902, in Kemmerer, Wyoming, the first Penney store opened for business. It was nearly midnight of the same day when the last customer departed. Spilling out pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars, silver dollars and a few paper bills from a paper bag, J. C. Penney, present chairman of the board of J. C. Penney Company, sat count ing while his wife checked the pile of coins and thumbed through the paper money. The first day's sales amounted to $466.59. In the 56 years since that memorable April day in Kemmerer the Penney Company has grown from one sJtore to nearly 1700 stores, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast and doing more than $1,300,000,000 in sales yearly. Music Helpful To Create Scientists Chicago OPI The formula for producing a better sci entist should include a heavy dose of musical education, ac cording to Dr. Hobart H. Som m e r s, assistant superintend ent of Chicago public schools. If a person knows how to make music, he has invari ably had the ability to con- rpntrate. to discipline him self mentally, and to develop mathematical precision instil led in him by the musical training. "These qualities borne out of .musical education in a youngster cannot help but make him or her better sci entists should that be the occupational c h o i c e," Som mers said. He said that music training as a younghter "or any time" also produces persev erance and the ability to co operate. ' "The carryover of music training into other studies is shown," Sommers said,"by a recent survey of 200 colleges in which officials of 196 de clared that musicaly trained students were far superior to others." CLOTHING THE AMERICAN WOMAN is a big job at Pen ney's. Nearly 100 men and women associates are directly engaged in buying women's apparel including dresses, coats, suits, sportswear, sweaters, and bathing suits. The Penney buyers deal with about 1,000 top apparel suppliers in all sections of the country, help women dress smartly and well anywhere in America. Above are some associates dressed in the original chemise styled dresses about 1920; which also is tha latest in women's fashions today. EAST EVANS CREEK-MEADOWS Repair Telephone Lines By NELLIE BERGMAN day. Their grandchildren East Evans Creek-Meadows were on vacation from a Riv erside, Calif., school. A three man crew from the State Forestry department was repairing the telephone line on East Evans creek dur ing the last few days. The line leads from the de partment's headquarters on Table Rock road, Medford, to Buck rock and Burnt peak lookouts, Prospect guard sta tion and other points in the higher country. The mainten ance work on the low-altitude lines was only recently begun and repair of lines in the higher mountains will be started as soon as the snow melts, according to Assistant District Warden Doyle Stockton.. Maintenance work on all telephone lines and roads to various stations in the area will be completed by May 20, Stockton said. Mr. and Mrs. Emery Sting ley visited at Crescent City, Calif., for several days, recently. Mr. and Mrs. Amos Maples den and son, Sidney, are spending several days in Yreka, Calif. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson visited Charles Nelson of the Mea dows recently. Parents Ordered To Whip Six Boys Martinsville, Va. (IP) Hen ry County Circuit Judge John D. Hooker ordered the par ents of six teen-age boys to give them a "good, sound, old fashioned whipping" for "cruel, atrocious, deliberate" beatings of a mule named Jane. The boys were convicted of beating the mule, kept pri marily as a pet by Buster Thacker, a farmer, on several occasions in January j Hooker, acting on a charge brought by Deputy Sheriff Raymond B. Smart, specified that the boys must be whipped by their parents in the pres ence of Smart and Miss Betty Jo Wright, county welfare director. The boys, ranging in age from 13 to 16. had appealed an earlier conviction and re form school sentence handed down by Henry County Court only to run into Hooker's "old- fashioned" punishment. The judge also reprimand ed the vouth's parents for their "irresponsibility and fined them $25 each. He re leased the boys in their par ents' custody and placed them on the "strictest probation' until they are 18. Smart testified that the boys on at least one occasion tore up a corn crib and a fence for planks to beat the animal. Don Terry has left for train ing in the Navy. Recent visitors at the Lloyd Beers home were Ellen and Donna Archer of Loleta, Calif., Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Magerle and family of Cres cent City, Calif., and Charlie Magerle of Sacramento, Calif. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mattis,on and Carolyn were visiting with friends in the Meadows recently. They are from Grants Pass. Mr. and Mrs. William Har ruff, Mrs. Harry Douney and Mrs. Virgil McNeese of Drew spent Friday, March 28, at the home of Mrs. Carl Bergman. The occasion was Mrs. Berg man's birthday. ESCAPES DOUBLE FATE Glasgow, Scotland (ID Henry Murdoch, 25, was treated for headed injuries and "internal pains today after he fell from a speeding ex press train in a two-mile tun nel and narrowly missed be ing run over by another train as he crawled out to get help. Mr. and Mrs. Bob McAl lister and family spent' the recent school vacation in California. Easter Sunday sunrise service was held at the Mead ows church and was well attended. Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Teeters had as guests their daughter and family over Easter Sun- Youngsters Enter Boating Field The younger generation is well on its way to taking over the field of boating. It has been estimated that 2,500, 000 of the Americans who went boating last year were young people from 10 to 19 years of age. In another three years this number is expected to increase by 40 per cent. Young people love speed and skimming along close to the water. Although the boat may not be moving over 20 miles an hour, the closeness to the water gives more thrill than driving over a highway at 60 miles an hour. Boys' clubs, YMCA, Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts, and other similar organizations often offer supervised boating instruction for youngsters with the help of adult boat ing enthusiasts. Many young sters can be trusted to handle boats on uncrowded rivers and lakes much earlier than they could be trusted with high-powered cars on our: highways. Moreover, the $200 to $500 required to buy a 12 foot boat and 7.5 horsepower motor is much less than the typical teen-ager's second hand car. Lane Drifting Highway Hazard Boston 0P1 Are you a lane drifter? Lane drifting is a -newly-discovered highway hazard that afflicts certain motorists who become bored while driv ing ' on the modern express roads. Said Chairman William F. Callahan of the Massachuset ts Turnpike Authority: "Toll road drivers have developed new symptoms for tiredness, carelessless or in caution that is called "lane drifting." When an operator drifts from one lane to an other it is a sure sign that he has lost his awareness as a driver. "Motorists who find that that they are having trouble staying within the 12 - foot white lined lanes of an ex press highway should stop and try to diagnose why. It can be driver hypnosis, carelessness, or sloppy driving. Smith Replaced As Shell Representative S. D. Mullin, of Eugene, will replace C. A. Smith as wholesale representative in the Medford, Grants Pass and Glendale areas for the Shell Oil company. Mullin has worked for the company since his graduation from the University of Ore gon in 1951. He has worked for the firm in several other Southern Oregon cities dur ing the past seven years. EAGERLY AWAITING the opening of a "Golden Rule" store (as the first Pennev stores were called) are customers attracted by the business principles of the then small chain of Penney stores. T lien , els no w , people were interested in buying the best quality merchandise at the lowest possible prices. Penney's believed in selling for cash, avoiding such overhead expenses as charge accounts and delivery costs and passing the savings along to customers in the form of lower prices. Charging a fair profit and giving . customers intelligent, courteous service were two more reasons why Pen ney's rapidly grew through the-years until today there are nearly 1700 stores in the 48 states. Loan Associations Distribute Dividends Chicago (IP) A record 650-million-dollar semi-annual dividend has just been distrib uted to 22 million American savers by the nation's 6,100 savings and loan associations, the U. S. Savings and Loan League reported. The league said "the divi dend payment raised to $1,265,000,000 the total paid to savers in L957. It was the largest annual dividend paid in the history of the savings and loan business, the league said. The 1957 dividend total ex ceeded the slightly more than one billion dollars paid out in 1956 by 17 per cent. Savings associations last year realized a gain of two million savers and boosted their savings total 13 per cent, the league noted. GI HAIRCUTS IN FILM Lexington, Va. (1PI Singer Pat Boone, Tommy Sands and Gary Crosby will get GI hair cuits here in the next few days for their roles in the film "Mardi Gras," which deals with the romance of a Virginia Military Institute cadet. Multnomah Tax Setup Changed fortland IIP) The 1958 assessment rolls for Multno mah county have been con verted from 40 per cent to 100 per cent of true cash value. County Assessor Wiley Smith, who is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, announced at a news conference here that his move will about treble the assessed value of property in the county. He declared that "this ac tion will in turn reduce tax rates to about one-third of what they were in 1957, which would leave approxi-" mately the same number of tax dollars on the individual properties as last year." The assessor added that his controversial move would "end the confusion now sur rounding assessment ratios." Smith said he had given no thought to the effect his action would have on the state's bonding limit which would be increased by any increase in assessed valuation. X BARBECUED CHICKEN DINNER. Broil frozen chicken parts, basting generously with a tangy barbecue sauce. Glaze canned onions, season up frozen peas. This party dish calls for Coca-Cola the drink so well loved it is enjoyed over 58 million times each day. DEVILLED CRAB MEAT. Combine canned cralj meat with soft bread crumbs, dry mustard. Season, moisten with milk sprinkle with buttered bread crumbs, bake. Serve with ice-cold Coca-Cola the drink with such universal acceptance it is acclaimed in over 100 countries. With COKE and these quick-fix foods you're ready to give " H --s M - - Dim vdf a xaxfpy irom your jfaj See the display at your grocer's now A well-stocked pantry is a good wife's pride and joy. From it she can produce a family meal ... a company dish ... a midnight treat. So, stock up on these "come-in-handy" foods. You'll find all kinds of interesting foods at your grocer's from which you can whip up im promptu meals. Pile your shopping basket high, and lay in plenty of Coke your best friend on so many occasions. Coke will welcome guests . . . brighten meals . . . brighten you when you want refreshment. 0 spy j FRUIT SALAD LUNCHEON. Chill canned fruits. For a "dressy dressing" stir whipped evaporated milk into mayonnaise, add diced maraschino cherries and slivered almonds. Serve hot muffins and ice-cold Coca-Cola. You show your own good taste in serving Coke favorite of the world. GLAZED HAM AND YAMS. Spread canned ham with orange marmalade, stud with cloves, bake until glazed. Put canned yams in same pan, baste with drippings. With this "thirsty" dish you'll , want ice-cold Coca-Cola. Coke has the clean spar kling taste that livens up every bite of food! I family SIGN OF GOOD TASTE Bottled under authority of The Coca-Cola Company by THE COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY OF MEDFORD