THE BEE: OMAHA, SUNDAY, JUNE 19, '1921.
Omaha Fell Into Position As
Midwest's Jobbing Center
By Odd Turns of Fortune
S?ates Seemed Arrayed Against Little' Trading Post
In Early Days When President Lincoln Declared
; ' Council Bluffs Should Be Western Terminus
ofU.'P. Then They Made Strange Shifts.
By A. E. LONG.
Omaha, the mighty jobbing heart
of the middle west, throbbing with
industry, and with every throb forc
ing streams of merchandise from its
wholesaling center alone arteries of
rail tn luintrrv surroundim? em
pire, started on this headlong career
.is a trau i ng; post.
" Wlirt ii'Q tlirr liaft (111 ron
age 60 years ago to say that Omaha
was destined to become a great
jobbing center, feeding millions in a
half dozen or more surrounding
states?
Did not the great Lincoln himself
stand on a spot in Council Bluffs,
dig his heel into the earth ana ae
clare, "This shall be the terminus of
the Union Pacific railway Did
Omaha have a chance at that time
to figure as a great distributing cen
. ter? No, on that day Omaha's
chances were small as the gambler
would have measured it.
Dozen Trading Posts.
At that early date there were a
dozen trading posts along the Mis
souri river that had as good a chance
to becoming .the distributing center
of the middle west as did Omaha.
Bellevue it seemed had a better
chance than Omaha. A shrewd
gambler would probably have not
bet on Bellevue as against Omaha at
that time. A shrewder still would
doubtless have pitted Council Bluffs
against the field, especially after the
great president, who was responsible
for the building of the Union Pacific
had made his choice.
A business man from whatsoever
corner of the globe, scanning the
two hemispheres .for opportunity,
would have said "Council Bluffs has
been made by the president of the
American republic, it must become
the distributing center of the west
ern half of the United States, and
Omaha will always be the 'tail of
the great dog' sticking over on the
Nebraska side of the Missouri river."
Omaha Fools 'Em.
But Omaha was destined to arise
and overthrow the wisest judgment
in this respect. .As for reasons, well,
that is a matter that involves a lot
of tracing back, and even then is a
matter of opinion. History does not
give reasons. It leaves only facts,
and leaves the historians to supply
the conclusions from those facts.
History then leaves us the facts
that in the very early period Coun
v cil Bluffs was the real jobbing cen
ter for the early development of this
empire now tributary to Omaha and
Council Bluffs. From the Council
Bluffs side of the river the business
men looked over, sneered a little and
said, "Oh, that's a little place called
Omaha that you see huddling along
the Nebraska side of the river."
Cross On Ice.
, When they had business in that
"little place" they ferried across the
river in summer and crossed on the
ice in the winter as did also the jack
rabbits and the coyotes.
True the trappers and hunters
from the upper Missouri river coun
try and the Platte valley and its
western tributaries, where beaver
boomed in abundance, used to strag
gle into the Utile village of Omaha
to trade furs for whisky, bacon and
beans. But that wasn't jobbing.
That was retailing in an extreme
crude wav.
Gradually across the river in
Council Bluffs a' distributing center
was growing up. The lands in
Iowa were being settled, and home
ttcaders were taking up claims in
Nebraska. More and" more Ne
braska homesteaders and farmers
were needing supplies. They had to
go to Council Bluffs to get them.
Thus on the Iowa side grew up
early a grocery distributing center
and a great farm implement dis
tributing center. Clothing whole,
wders also were doing business from
there. Farmers in Nebraska needed
overalls, shirts, groceries, plows,
harrows, threshing machines, har
vesters, hay tools and barbed wire.
Pay Heavy Tolls.
As the population of Nebraska
and the territory west of the river
increased its demands on the jobbing
center increased, and yet every trip
necessitated a crossing of the river
and a paying of heavy tolls either
for the ferry services, or later for
the "dummy" service across the
U. P. street bridge. ,
"Many and many a time, ana
often two. three, or four times a day
I have ridden the 'dummy' across
and back at SO cents a fare," said
Frank L Haller, in reminiscing the
other dav.
That 50-cent fare for each trip
across the river grew tiresome to
the Nebraskans and they began more
and more to cry for distribution ar
rangements on the Nebraska side so
that they might not be compelled to
go to Iowa every time they wanted
c,,nnlc nf anv conseauence.
Soon a few distributors began to
spring up in Nebraska.
Grocery Jobbers Early.
Groceries were among the first
and prime necessities, and it may
safely be said that the grocery dis
tributing business was among the
first to spring into existence on the
Nebraska side. Of the present day
survivors of the early jobbing houses
in this line, McCord & Brady and
Paxton & Gallagher company were
.among the earliest.
T1 . . . n i CllftinW til.
A UC 11131 SUI1 ww...-. ,
,ening gun of the great civil war,
rAd not yet boomed when Nave-Mc-Cord
& Co. first established a busi
ness on Farnam street. The western
en were glad to welcome a distrib
uting house of this kind and the
company prospered until it built a
building at the southeast corner of
Twelfth and Farnam streets, where
the business was conducted for sev
eral years. Later, upon the death
of one of the partners, the business
was sold to William R. King and the
firm became William R. King & Co.
In 1879 the business was again re
newed as Nave-McCord in the build
in which is the resent headquar
ters of the C B. & Q. on Tenth and
Farnam streets. It was 1890 when
the firm was incorporated and be
came McCord-Brady company.
Other wholesale grocery houses
t re conducting business. 1 wly ?
1 1860 also. Some have long sine?
vanished from the scene, but others
I have grown into magnificent insti
tutions. Among the latter is Paxton
; & Gallagher company. This is one
J of the early Omaha distributors of
groceries which has enjoyed such a
steady march of progress that it has
spread through new ' addition after
addition until it is one of the really
large grocery houses of the country
and known from sea to sea.
Implement Business Develops.
But while the grcTcery and dry
goods jobbing began to develop
early in Omaha the farm machinery
business for some years continued
to center in Council Bluffs. Here
again the 50-cent fare for a ride
across on the "dummy" line began
to. tell. Farmers and dealers from
west of the river did not like to
stand this continual drain when they
came to Omaha to get to the jobbing
center. But that was not all. Again,
it may be repeated that history
does not record the cause for Oma
ha's development as an implement
jobbing center, but does record
some facts from which historians
may draw their own conclusions.
Two outstanding - facts then, there
were one, the 50-cent "dummy"
fare, and the other, an 8-cent per
hundredweight discrimination on the
interstate freight rate, which started
a great migration of implement
jobbers from the Council Bluffs side
to the Nebraska side.
Partners Dissolve Relations. ,
It is doubtful whether any house
now tin existence led the march
".head of the Lininger concern. In
the early 70's this was Shugert,
Lininger & Wies of Council Bluffs.
Always a pioneer by nature G. W.
Lininger wanted to push westward
across the river, but his partner,
Mr. Shugert, wished to remain in
Council Bluffs. There came a part
ing of the ways and the partners
dissolved relations, Mr. Shugert re
maining in Council Bluffs and after
ward developing what is today
Empkie-Shugert-Hill company and
Mr. Lininger coming to Omaha and
developing what is today the
Lininger Implement company. For
a time it was Lininger & Metcalf
with not only a jobbing house in
Umaha. but a strinar of retail im
plement houses throughout the state,
but in comparatively recent vears
the Metcalf name has droooed out
of the. firm, which is todav the
Lininger Implement company.
it this concern was not the first
to start the movement to the Ne
braska side of the river and thus to
plant the seed for a great farm im
plement distributing center here, it
was at least one of The very first of
any importance to start the move
ment. Followed then Deere. Wells & Co..
which soon on the Nebraska side be
came the John Deere Plow Co., a
subsidiary of Deere & Co., Mohne,
III., one of the two largest imple
ment concerns in America.
On Old Church Site.
This concern occupied various
buildings in Omaha until it finally
bought the old St. Philomena Cath
olic church, tore it down and built
the magnificent structure which is
now the home of the John Deere
Plow Co., in Omaha, said to have the
largest sample floor of anv imple
ment house in America.
W. S. Cass, present advertisine
manager of the John Deere Plow
Co., c W. benift, former manager
for the Sterling Manufacturing Co.,
Omaha branch, and some of the
other old timers on implement row
remember well when the old church
stood on the present John Deere
site, and when the horse cars hauled
passengers to and from the old Coz
zens hotel which stood where the
Carpenter Paper Co. house now
stands.
The Grand Detour Plow Co.
sought better quarters, better accom
modations; and a more advantageous
freight rate m Omaha. David Brad
ley & Co. followed. The Rock Island
Plow Co. came and the South Bend
Chilled Plow Co. In rapid succes
sion they abandoned the Iowa gide of
the river and hastened to get lo
cated in Omaha, as the experience Of
the leader in this movement showed
nstantly that the farm machinery
jobber on the Nebraska side of the
river was going to get the Nebraska
and western business.
Other implement manufacturers
throughout the United States cast
their eyes on Omaha, saw the suc
cess of their competitors and made
a headlong rush to get here. Branch
after branch and jobbing house after
jobbing house sprung into existence,
until Omaha came to take third place
in the United States as an imple
ment distributing center, and dis
tributed in 1919 some $25,000,000
worth of farm machinery. -
Dryoods Jobbing Moves West.
The history of the drygoods job
bing in some degree followed the
path of the farm machinery jobbing.
An example of this is found in 'the
early maneuvers of what is todav M.
E. Smith & Co., Inc.,' the large
wholesale drygoods house of Omaha.
M. E. Smith and A. J. Crittenden
came to Council Bluffs in 1868 and
established a retail and wholesale
drygoods business. A little later the
firm disposed of its retail business
and went into jobbing alone. Their
first store was located at what is
now 410 Broadway in Council Bluffs
when that city was little more than
a hamlet. Omaha was now forging
to the front, and after one more
move in Council Bluffs the big step
across the river was made. It was
in. 1886 that they moved across and
used the building now occupied by
the Marshall Paper compang, Elev
enth and Douglas streets.
Becomes M. E. Smith & Co.
It was at this time that Mr. Crit
tenden disposed of hfs interest and
the firm became M. E. Smith & Co.
Not content with jobbing alone,
this form shortly after coming to
Omaha began the manufacture of
shirts, overalls and other work
clothing in the small building at Fif
teenth ana Leavenworth streets.
Four years later the firm moved to
the five-story building at Eleventh
and Howard streets, now occupied
by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass com
pany Soon a part of the Mercer
building just across the street to the i
Liquor Was Still Plentiful In Those Days
I fe ill
north had to be occupied to cive suf
ficient room, and not long afterward
the six-story buildincr at the north
west corner of Eleventh and Doug
las streets was leased for factory
purposes.
In August, 1897, M. E. Smith
passed away and the firm of M. E.
Smith & Co. was incorporated witli
Arthur C. Smith as president, F. M.
Smith, secretary, and Ward M. Bur
gess, vice president. Twin build
ings were built in 1906, 132 feet
square, eight stories high on Ninth
and Farnam streets to accommodate
the business. '
It was predicted at the time that
these buildings would be large
enough to house the firm for a quar
ter of a century, but so rapidly was
the growth ot the business that in
1920 it was found necessary to have
more room and the third building
was erected at the southeast corner
of Tenth and Douglas streets, the
company having bought all of the
land between Farnam and Douglas
facing on Tenth, thus giving them
control over the entire block
bounded by Ninth, Tenth, Douglas
and Farnam. The firm's business
has grown steadily and rapidly ever
since its location in Omaha, and to
day its activities cover the entire
country, especially on its manu
factured lines, the Mina Taylor
house dress and Beau Brummel
shirts being sold practically in every
state in the union. The company
owns and operates large lactones
not only in Omaha, but in Lincoln,
Nebraska City, Plattsmouth ?nd In
dianapolis, and a small army of sales
men travel in every state in the
union. '
Specific Illustration.
The brief sketch of the history of
M. E. Smith & Co. serves merely
as a specific illustration of the
progress the drygoods jobbing busi
ness has made. Such substantial and
progressive firms as the Byrne
Hammer Dry Goods company have
an equally interesting history, but it
is not the purpose here to give de
tailed history of each individual firm,
but rather to pick out and hold up
the progress of a few individual job
bing houses as representatives of the
mighty march of jobbing progress
recorded here in the past half cen
tury. The various drygoods houses in
Omaha distributed in 1920 nearly
$27,000,000 worth of drygoods out
of Omaha. This alone represents an
increase of nearly 200 per cent in
the lasflO years, to say nothing of
the increase over the business of the
early years of the city's history.
Lumber distribution also grew in
to importance in Omaha. Never a
timber state, Nebraska always had
to depend upon lumber shipped in
from the yellow pine fields of the
south and from the fir forests of the
Pacific coast, but it was necessary
that these shipments have some
central point of destination in Ne
braska from which distribution over
the state and territory could readilv
be made afterward. The early lum
ber yards were called upon to sup
ply lumber for the immediately sur
rounding neighborhood and soon
called upon to supply lumber for
smaller jowns out in the territory.
Thus those earliest in the lumber
business- here quite naturally ue
veloped into wholesalers, or were al
most made wholesalers before they
realized it.
Railroads Developed.
Coal and coke also found distri
bution from Omaha, as the railroads
developed, and ramified in all direc
tions from the city. In 1920 the
coal and coke distribution out of
Omaha amounted to $19,000,000.
Even cigars and tobacco" grew to
be a powerful item in Omaha's job
bing. This development, might be
said to have come within only the
past 10 or 15 years. Even in 1910
Omaha was distributing only $1,930,
000 in tobacco and cigars, while in
1920 this phase of the jobbing busi
ness had grown to the volume of
$13,199,115.
WJth the advancement of inven
tion in electrical appliances, Omaha
grew to be a jobbing center for
electrical supplies, so that while in
1910 it distributed $1,400,000 in elec
trical supplies, 1920 recorded a dis
tribution of $7,500,000 in this line.
In the distribution of fruits and
vegetables also Omaha has doubled
its volume in the past 10 years,
reaching a total of $11,000,000.
Vast Amount of Business.
Grocery jobbing has reached the
hug- total of $60,800,000 per year.
Hardware jobbing out of Omaha has
reached the total of $9,000,000. Oils
and burninsr devices have touched
the figures of $28,599,000 as against'
$2,800,000 10 years ago, showing the
great strides that have been made in
the jobbing of these products from
this center in the last 10 years.
Paint and glass soon became an
important item for jobbing out of
Omaha, and this business has
reached a total of $4,800,000 annually.
Even paper and stationery to the
volume of $7,679,000 is distributed
over the territory in a year, and this
item also has shown an increase of
10 per cent in the last 10 years.
With the advance ot building
throughout the territory, came nat
urally along with a lumber demand,
also a big demand for heating and
plumbing supplier. This pushed the
heating and plumbing jobbing busi
ness in Omaha up to the handsome
figures., of 11.625.000 in 1920. This,
too, showed an increase of something
like 75 per cent in the last 10 years
alone.
As new inventions came into -the
field and took their places in Ameri
can industry, Omaha readily became
the jobbing center for any such
articles which would be in demand
in the tributary territory. The last
10 or 15 years have seen many such
inventions forge to the front, and
consequently have seen Omaha swjll
its jobbing figures to that extent.
Thus, for example, 10 years ago there
wer not enough automobile tires
and accessories distributed out of
Omaha to be worthy of considera
tion. Statisticians did not even take
account of the figures at that time,
in listing Omaha's jobbing activities.
In 1920, however, this item had
mounted to $19,493,000.
Auto Industry Booms.
Ten years ago so few automobiles
and trucks were distributed out of
Omaha, that no one knew the fig
ures or cared. The figures are not
on record today. Then this industry
began to assume more and more im
portance and Omaha grew more and
more into a jobbing center for auto
mobiles and trucks until in 1920 this
item reached the enormous total of
$67,000,000. .
Ten years ago tractors were un
known except as some few large
wheat farms in the Dakotas were
using heavy steam threshing en
gines to pull their plows. The trac
tors sprung into the harness with
such vigor that Omaha, being in the
center of a great agricultural region,
wa3 again chosen as the logical dis
tributing center, and distributed in
1920 the total of $3,967,480 worth of
farm tractors.
Only a few lines of jobbing ac
tivity are mentioned in this article
bv wav of giving representative lines
and illustrating the rapidity of the
growth of Omaha as a jobbing cen
ter, from the little trading post on
the west side of the river, across
from Council Bluffs, to the throb
bing metropolis of the middle west.
Nine trunk lines of railroad and 23
branch lines now carry produce into
Omaha and draw the finished pro
ducts out. Leaving aside the manu
facturing of the city, which is alone
$433,000,000 a year, these lines of
railroad carry from the jobbing dis
trict of Omaha annually $458,000,000
worth of goods, which represents an
increase in only the past 10 years of
244 per cent.
New Ideas Introduced.
As the jobbing business swelled
in Omaha year after year, live busi
The Rees, Printing Co.
TENTH "AND HARNEl STREETS
Telephone
Douglas
0253
ness men in this line conceived ways
to accellerate the forward movement
of this line of business. If Omaha
was to be a big jobbing center they
were determined to do everything
to make it as big as possible. Realiz
ing that the territory supplied by
Omaha is a vast one, and well served
by a ramification of good railroads,
these jobbers decided to comb this
great region even more carefully for
more and more business."
"If there are any merchants in
this great area tributary to Omaha
who do not yet understand that
Umalia is their logical trading point
from which to get their stocks of
goods," these jobbers argued "then
we want to do something to con
vince them." .
"Extensive advertising was done
and this was followed up by well
organized trade excursions out into
the territory. For many years now
a half dozen big trade excursions
every summer have been made by
the jobbers out into the fertile belt
which Omaha serves.
Meet Customers. 1
Realizing that many of . the mer
chants who buy their stocks from
Omaha year after year, seldom see
any representative of the jobbing
house except the one traveling man
who calls upon them, they believed
too it would be an excellent move
as a good-will builder to let the
executives of the firms go out once
or twice a year and meet some of
their dealer customers on their own
ground. Thus these trade excur
sions are made up of executives,
and salesmanagers of the various
jobbing houses, and the cordial re
ception they have met on these trips
lias proven that their reason for
making the trips was good and their
judgment was sound. Thus for
years these occasional swings into
the territory by the executives have
been popular both with the execu
tives and with the dealers upon
whom they call. ...
Visit Jobbing Houses.
Dealers in all lines throughout the
territory, recognizing Omaha as
their jobbing point, have more and
more selected Omaha as the loca
tion for their Various trade conven
tions. In this way they are able to
combine their convention activities
with visits to their jobbing houses,
and do their buying while attending
convention to a large extent. ,
The Bureau of Publicity 'of the
Omaha Chamber of Commerce, sup
ported liberally by the local jobbers,
organized a convention bureau to
encourage these dealers conventions
to come to Omaha. This movement
was so successful that approximately
100 conventions of one kind or an
t
ITILL operating as an
Open Shop ; because:
11 guarantees a fair deal
to the workman; assures
co h operation between
workmen and firm;
and creates a more
efficient organization,
, resultinginbetterseruice
" to the user of printing.
other, mostly trade conventions, are
held in Omaha each year, averaging
approximately two a week the year
round.
Still anothcr,trade idea grew up in
the minds of ' jobbers several years
ago. This was the idea of organiz
ing Merchants' Market week. Two
of thesW events are now held an
nually, one rin the spring and an
other in the fall. Here the jobbers
create a joint fund to provide special
entertainment for one week for the
visiting dealers who are invited and
encouraged to come in at a given
time and do the spring and fall
buying of their stocks. From the
very outset this was a successful en
terprise. Merchants from all over
the. trade territory who wanted to
make a buying trip to Omaha at
least once or twice a year were only
too glad to learn that special .prep
aration had been made to receive
them at a given time in the spring
and fall, and consequently came in
in strong numbers from the first. So
successful was this plan of the job
bers that Merchants' Market week
in Omaha is regarded over the ter
ritory as a real outing, and many
other jobbing centers in the country
have written to leading jobbers in
Omaha repeatedly to learn the de
tails of this plan, which outside of
Omaha is known as -the Omaha plan.
On the West Banks.
Omaha has won its spurs as a job
bing center. Its growth has been
natural and inevitable. Searching
for the reason for this development
one cannot say that it is the result
of anything but natural advantages,
location and the enterprise of its
citizens.
There is an old theory in America
that the town situated on the west
bank of an important river becomes
the important city, while the one on
the east bank does not especially
thrive. Those who have studied this
will tell you that this is almost uni
versally true up and down the Mis
sissippi and Missouri rivers. Those
who hold to this theory, while they
cannot explain it, will dismiss the
question- of why Omaha became
great as a jobbing center with the
words:
"Well, it's on the west side of ,the
river."
i
. Woman Gets High Degree.
Atlanta City, June 18. An honor
ary degree of doctor of literature, as
"an author, essayist and revealer of
life s beauty, has been presented
Mrs. Cora Harris by Oglethorpe uni
versity. Mrs. Harris is the first wo
man to receive such a distinction
from an educational institution in
Georgia.
Big Stride Made
By Ice Machine
Finn in 18 Years
Baker Company Started With
Factory Force of Four; Now
Has Plants All Over
World. '"'
Just 18 years ago, J. L. Baker,
president aud "general manager of
the present Baker Ice Machine com
pany, engaged in manufacture of ice
machinery and parts. At that tin.c,
the factory force consisted of four
men, and the office force of one
man. Its production capacity was
not more than 20 machines and its
sales practically nothing.
Today, the company cannot keep
up with the demand made upon it
for ice and refrigerating machines.
It's factory force is over 200 men
while the sale force numbers over
100 men, including its different
branch offices and agencies which
are located in the most important
cities in the United States and in
fqreign countries. It has been forced
to work day and night to supply
the demand.
The Baker Ice Machine company
has plants in practically every
state in the union, as well as in
Spain, India, South America, Mex
ico, Hawaii and other countries. It
has over 4,000 plants in successful
operation in the United States alone.
The company manufactures ma
chines for every user of ice, large or
small.
In order to meet the present de
mand for these machines, to fill
present orders- and to take care of
Every Dot Represents a Baker Plant
In Actual Operation
We Manufacture Ice and Refrigerating
Plants Especially Adapted for
Grocers
Meat Markets
Confectioners
Creameries
Ice Cream Manu
facturers Fish and Oyster
Dealers -
Baker Machines Are Built in Omaha
z Buy Direct From the Manufacturer
Baker Ice Machine Co. Inc.
Omaha, - - - - Nebraska
171 CPTDIP AT Manufacturers
LLLLIKILAL Repairers
"Since 1898"
Wonderful Cut in Prices on New Motors
1-6 H. P., 110 Volt, A. C Motor $19.00
1-4 H. P., 110 Volt, A. C. Motor $20.00
LeBron Electrical Works
318-320 South 12th Street
0:
Lis;
Manufacturers of
Structural and
Ornamental
Iron and Steel
,-
Phone DO uglas 0676
Paxton & Vierling Iron Works
Office and Works, South 17th Street and U. P. R. R.
OMAHA
future demands, the company is
erecting a new factory and office
building on Grand avenue, between
Evans and Tratt streets. The plant
will cost in the neighborhood of
$250,000 and will he the last word
in modern 'construction. The fac
tory building will cover nearly two
blocks.
Officers of the company are J. L.
Baker, president and general man
ager; Charles Kno., vice president
and erection manager; R. L, Baker,
treasurer; F. L. Vctte, secretary u. d
office manager; C. A. Baker, pur
chasing agent; II. G. Veneman, sales
manager, and J. C. Vaught, manager
drafting department.
Omaha
Sanitary
Supply Co.
The Omaha Company
Wholesale
Plumbing and
Heating Supplies
Installed by any contractor.
Make your selection at our
UPTOWN SHOWROOM
15th and Jackson
Produce and Fruit
Storage
Hotels
Cafes
Bottlers
Ice Making
Water Cooling
Omaha, Neb.
V V r II I
K
0
A
wta
' - .