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The Omaha
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FOR ALL THE NLW5 THE
OMAHA DEE
CtST IN THE WF.3I
VOL. XXXIX-XO. 37.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 27, 1910.
S1N0LK COfY FIVE CENTS.
BEGINNING AND GROWTH OF BRANDEIS FAMILY IN OMAHA
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'faith of Jonas L. Brandeis and the Works that Accompanied It Exemplified in Beautiful Buildings of Solid Construction and a Mercantile Institution Whose Magnitude is Increasing Every Day
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JOWAS L
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FAITH, accompanied by
works, la tho corner
stone of success. It
begets confidence and
brings achievement,
And endows its possessor with
the ability to go forth and do
till greater things. And this
was the sort of faith that im
bued the late Jonas L. Bran-
dels, who came to Omaha a lit-
Off more than twenty-six years ago and established himself In retail
trkde oh lower Farnam street. Mr. Brandeis had carried on business '
in a small way In a small town in Wisconsin, but he did not there
find the room to grow. In Omaha he sought an outlet for his ambi
tious energy, and here he founded a house that has grown far beyond
even his hope for success. It was not cheer luck that led Mr. Bran
deis to Omaha at the time he came, nor mere chance that aided in the
development of his small business Into the immense mercantile estab
lishment that now bears his name under the management of his sons.
He had faith In Omaha, just as he had faith In himself, and he ac
companied this faith by such perseverance in works as finally
achieved hts determined purpose.-
But more than mere faith is eeaentlal to success in business.
Something else is needful to accomplishment. Many firms have
come and gone in the years since the name of Brandeis f.rst appeared
on the business record of the growing city. Character is one qual
ification needed for business success, and Integrity of character, as
well as purpose, Is most of all required. Then foresight and pru
dence and the ability to see and seize an opportunity and to turn to
good uses the chances that come in the ordinary course of business.
All these qualifications were embodied in Jonas L. Brandeis. They
are generally summed up In the vocabulary of business In the single
word "Enterprise." He was enterprising, and he has left his name
and his business In the hands of his sons, who are also enterprising.
It vii in a small room on Farnam street, between Twelfth and
Thirteenth, that J. L. Brandeis &. Bon began business in December,
1S83. The family came from Wisconsin, where the father had come
up from a most humble beginning to the position of owner of a small
store. It modestly but persistently pushed Its business, until the
store on Farnam street was outgrown and new quarters were found
at Thirteenth and Howard. Here "The Fair" was established, and
another son was added to the firm. The new business soon ex
panded beyond the original corner room, and then another was
kidded, until The Fair occupied half a dozen small rooms on Thir
teenth street, extending south from the corner of Howard. In the
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early '90s The Fair outgrew its quarters entirely and noth
ing was left for the firm of J. L. Brandeis & Sons but to
build. The corner at Sixteenth and Douglas streets, then
occupied by the Donaghue hot house, was purchased and the
Boston Store was born, to flourish in a handsome four-story
building, occupying the south end of two lots. Here the
general character of the business began to develop even
more rapidly than when The Fair was making Its greatest
strides. The Boston Store was soon one of the busiest cen
ters in Omaha and the name of Brandeis was beginning to
loom large on the business map. Thon came the first great
calamity.
On Saturday evening, February 3, 1894, to be enact, at
6:45, the firm of J. L. Brandeis & Sons got its literal bap
tism of fire. It was during a bury selling season, and Just
about such weather as has been served out to Omaha during
the present month. The store was crowded with customers
and a steady stream of people was pouring in and out of the
big doors on the corner, when a spark from a defective elec
tric light wire in one of the Sixteenth street show windows
caught the drapery of the window and almost instantly
communicated with the goods hung on display In the store
room. No one who did not see it can form any Idea of the
Incredible speed with which the flames rushed through the
building. The greatest marvel in connection with the affair
was that no one wns burned to death. So furious was the
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A Tribute to Good Citizenship
HIS tribute to the members of an
Omaha family is inspired, not be
cause they are the most extensive
advertisers in Omaha; not because
they are good neighbors; not because of a
friendship extending over many years, but
because this family has done more than any
other in the substantial improvement of this
city. It is because it is due them to. know
that their good citizenship is appreciated by
their fellow citizens in Omaha, that this tri
bute from The Omaha Bee is offered.
It is a far cry from the little two-story
store on South Thirteenth Street, to the great
mercantile establishment, occupying more
than two-thirds of a city block. Yet it is less
than thirty years ago, that a father and three
sons, with a very limited capital and a meager
stock, opened a little store in a very unat
tractive part of town. "While the cash capital
was small, there was an unlimited fund of
resource in the enterprise and energy of the
father and his three boys. Thus the steady
growth of their business is easily accounted
for.
It is not the intention to tell the story of
how they grew from a small beginning, or to
point out what can be accomplished within
comparatively a few years, by hard work, lib
eral use of printers' ink, rigid economy and
strict honest', nor will we do more than men
tion that they are responsible for the build
ings, the pictures of which are here displayed.
Many of our citizens have grown pros
perous from small beginnings; many of our
citizens have achieved success, many of our
citizens have amassed fortunes, but few, who
have grown prosperous in our midst, have
paid the debt they owe the community in
which they have developed their fortunes, by
paying it back in the substantial up-building
of the city. It is so much easier, when a man
has reached the point where he has obtained
all in a material way that he desires, to sit
back and refuse to take part in the further
up-building of a city.
Good citizenship, is not rare in Omaha.
None the less it is a virtue which should not
be passed by without cordial approval and
applause. The flowers in praise of the virtue
of good citizensibp are too often withheld
until the obituary is written. Therefore this
wreath of appreciation is offered as a tribute
to Emil, Arthur and Hugo Brandeis, even
before their heads have been frosted by the
fullness of yeara-
flre that the customers and employes of the firm
had to literally flee for their lives, and within ; .
in hour from the time the spark leaped from the
defective wire to the goods In the window the store was
a heap of ashes. Several other building were burned, the
total loss being set down at ? 2 2 5,000. None of the employes nor
any of the customers wtre.lajurod. But here waa where the charac
ter of Jona.s L. Brandeis shone. Before the bricl;a were cool he was
planning for a new building: Within ten days the llrm had rented
a building at Fifteenth and Dodge soon to be torn down to make
way for the Union Pacific headquarters and business was resumed.
As soon as possible the ruins of the burned building were cleared
away, the debris removed and work of erecting a newer and hand
somer structure was under way.
The new Boston Store was on a scale just double the size of the
one that burned. The north half of the lot was secured by purchase
and the new building was made 152 feet cn the ground by four stories
high, and was most substantially built. It was at the time of its
erection the moot pretentious home of a retail store in Omaha. For
that matter, It still 6tands one of the city's really substantial business
blocks and Is BttU occupied by the firm of J. L. Brandeis & Sons.
Within a year from the time of the Are tho new store was opened
and the firm was fairly launched on a career of enterprise and pros
perity that seems now to have no limit. The same methods that
made the success of The Fair and the first Boston Store contributed
to the success of the second Boston Store, and before the decade was
out the question of larger quarters was presented In a serious wuy.
Efforts were made to purchase the let to the west of the building,
occupied by St. Mary Magdelene's Catholic church, but theae were
without avail, although the lot west of the church had been secured.
Unable to secure the entire half block on the north side of Douglas
street, the firm turned to the south side and bought from the several
owners, Including the Young Men's Christian association, the prop
erty now occupied by the handsome Brandeis building. Early in the
(Continued on Page Two.)
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