JOHN W. THOMAS & CO.:

John W. Thomas & Co. was a Minneapolis retailer of dry goods, women's apparel, men's furnishings, fine furniture, rugs and draperies, and interior decorations. The firm was begun as G. W. Hale [or George W. Hale] in 1867, in a small store building located on Washington Avenue near Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. George's brother James M. Hale joined the business in 1872, and the name of the firm became George W. Hale & Co. The store moved to a building located at Nicollet Avenue and Third Street at about that time.

Winona dry goods merchant John W. Thomas joined the firm in 1883, and the business became Hale, Thomas & Co. A new store building known as the Sidle Block was completed in 1884 at Nicollet Avenue and Fifth Street. Thomas eventually bought out the Hale interests, and in 1894 the firm name was changed to John W. Thomas & Co.

The Sidle Block proved inadequate in a few years and in 1900 the firm moved into the new Andrus Building, which was built literally around the Sidle Block at Nicollet Avenue and Fifth Street (this building may also have been briefly known as the "Arlington Building"). The firm constructed a new building for itself at 801 Nicollet in 1907-1908, which it occupied until the mid-1960s. This building was demolished around 1970.

John W. Thomas, Sr. died in July 1916, and his son John W. Thomas, Jr., succeeded him as president of the firm. The company was in receivership in 1922-1923, and was financially reorganized in 1932-1933. New management took charge in 1934. The firm purchased E. E. Atkinson & Co., a competing Minneapolis specialty retailer, in 1936.

In 1952 John W. Thomas & Co. opened a fur shop in St. Paul, located at 63 East Sixth Street. Its manager reported to Benjamin Dranow, who was at that time managing director for all fur operations for John W. Thomas & Co. Dranow was also a long-time associate of and financial advisor to Teamsters president James R. (Jimmy) Hoffa. In 1956 Dranow acquired all of the outstanding stock of the firm. Financial irregularities involving Dranow are outlined in a 1958 report to John W. Thomas & Co. creditors, and Dranow was eventually convicted of mail fraud (1961) and of tax evasion/income tax fraud (1962) and sentenced to prison. The company was in bankruptcy by 1959, when Stanley D. Smith, president of Gift House Stamps, was brought in as president to try to resuscitate it. Smith was apparently successful. It is unclear what became of John W. Thomas & Co., but the firm last appears in the 1964/1965 Minneapolis city directory.

John W. Thomas was born in Steuben, Oneida County, New York on January 14, 1844. He moved with his parents to Bangor, Wisconsin when he was in his teens, and attended Sparta Academy (Sparta, Wis.). Thomas began his business career in Winona, Minnesota in 1865 as manager of the N. H. Wood dry goods store. In 1871 he went into the dry goods business for himself in Winona, where he remained until moving to Minneapolis in 1883 to join George and James Hale in the dry goods business. He was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis, for 25 years, and was for many years an elder in the congregation. Thomas died July 29, 1916, and was buried in Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis. He and his wife Jennett had two daughters, Eleanor (or Nellie) and Alice, and a son, John W. Thomas, Jr. Thomas, Jr. was not associated with the firm after 1921.

The above information was taken from a variety of sources, including Twin Cities Then and Now by Larry Millett (1996), and from newspaper clippings and other materials found within the collection.

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In addition to the corporate record books (1934-1959) and photocopies of newspaper advertising (Aug. 1931-Feb. 1932), there is a bound set of Thomas Tips (June-Dec. 1920), a monthly flyer or catalog featuring women's and children's clothing and accessories, men's clothing, furniture, draperies and curtains, toiletries, children's toys, and other products available at John W. Thomas & Co. and offering "fashion notes and home helps."

There are materials relating to Benjamin Dranow's legal troubles, including a report to creditors (1958), an FBI "wanted" flyer featuring pictures of Dranow and images of his fingerprints, newspaper clippings, letters written by Dranow to Stanley Smith and others, and information about an appeals court denial of Dranow's request for a rehearing (1969).

The scrapbook includes a receipt from the G. W. Hale firm (1867); newspaper clippings about the construction of John W. Thomas & Co.'s new building at 8th and Nicollet (1908), the deaths of John W. Thomas (1916), company official Richard D. Jones (1907), and John W. Thomas, Jr. (1949); exterior and interior photographs of the 1908 building; clippings, photographs, and other materials related to the observance of the 60th anniversary of the firm (1927); clippings about management changes; and a variety of miscellaneous items. Some loose materials found in the scrapbook were placed in file folders that are housed with the scrapbook. Blank scrapbook pages were removed by the cataloger and discarded.

Photographs (about 0.05 cu. ft.) are housed in separate folders, as well as in the appraisal report and in the scrapbook, and include exterior and interior photos of the John W. Thomas & Co. store building at 801 Nicollet Avenue; photos of a 60th anniversary celebration at the company's store (1927); an employee dinner and style show (1947); pictures taken at the company's 81st anniversary celebration (1948); and exterior photos of company-owned store buildings in St. Paul and in Manistique, Michigan. There are photographs taken at a style show held at the Minneapolis Auditorium. There are some small portraits of company executives, one photograph of the Sidle Block, and two exterior photographs of the E. E. Atkinson Store.

An appraisal report (1960) contains data on and photographs of the John W. Thomas & Co. building at 801 Nicollet Avenue, and buildings owned by the company in downtown St. Paul (63 East Sixth Street) and in Manistique, Michigan (the Peoples Store building).

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. John W. Thomas & Co. Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,725

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, June 2003

Catalog ID number: 990017380830104294

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A few printed items produced or distributed by John W. Thomas & Co. are cataloged separately in the Minnesota Historical Society book collection.

Photographs of the Hale, Thomas, and Atkinson store buildings are in the Minnesota Historical Society sound and visual collections.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Business enterprises -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Clothing and dress.

Clothing trade -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Dry-goods -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Fur garments.

Mail fraud.

Merchants -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Retail trade -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Stores, Retail -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Tax evasion.

White collar crimes.

Persons:

Dranow, Benjamin.

Godfrey, Harriet Rezada, 1849-1943.

Hoffa, James R. (James Riddle), 1913-.

Smith, Stanley D., [ca.1912]-.

Thomas, John W., 1844-1916.

Thomas, John W., [ca.1871]-1949.

Organizations:

E. E. Atkinson & Co. (Minneapolis, Minn.).

G. W. Hale (Firm : Minneapolis, Minn.).

George W. Hale & Company (Minneapolis, Minn.).

Gift House Stamp Co.

Hale, Thomas & Co. (Minneapolis, Minn.).

Types of Documents:

Photographs.

Sales catalogs.

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