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