Swatch
Object number2012.122.145
Manufacturer
Bellcraft Manufacturing Company
Date1987
OriginHartwell, GA
MediumPaper/Polyester/Cotton/Ink
Credit LineGift of Joan and Steve Isack
DescriptionFabric sample consisting of three rectangular fabric swatches adhered to a rounded rectangular white paper sheet.Dimensions10.375 x 6.75 in., 0.063 in. (26.4 x 17.1 cm, 0.2 cm)MarksPaper sheet has brown text across top: "Bellcraft Manufacturing Co." and above swatch from left to right: "PHONE / AC 404-376-4731"; "[Bellcraft logo] / Lot 654-D"; and "HOME OFFICE / AND / FACTORY / HARTWELL, GA. 30643." Brown text below swatch features a "DRESS SHIRT SIZE CHART" for Neck and Sleeve and below that from left to right there is text: "Permanent Press - 60% Cot- / ton/40% Polyester - Dress / Shirt Make - Neckband Col- / lar - Placket Front - 1 Pkt. - / Long Tail - Tapered - 7 Btn. / Front - Boxed 4/12 Asst'd. Col- / ors - Solid Neck Sizes & Sleeve / Lengths - Cello Bagged."; "Bellcraft / FALL - 1987 / Long Sleeves"; and "Men's _____ Per Dozen".
Historical NotesContents of the Ilkuvitz Clothing Store in Clairton, PA. Edward J. Ilkuvitz was an Orthodox Jew who immigrated to the United States from Hungary in the early 1900s. He started out peddling to the mill community of Clairton, PA before finally opening a store in the 1920s. The store was located on Miller Ave and Edward Ilkuvitz built the store and the apartment above it, which still bears the name on the building. Edward's son Norman took over the store and operated into the 1990s. The last 10 to 20 years that the store operated Norman did not order much inventory and it was mainly a social spot for some of the older residents in Clairton. Norman kept merchandise from the 1940s on the shelves and it remained a time capsule of a typical 1940s/50s general store in a mill community. This collection is a sampling of records and inventory to represent the kinds of things people were purchasing and much of the records show who Edward and Norman were ordering from, stretching back to the early 1900s when Jewish wholesalers on 5th Avenue were providing much of the merchandise to outlying general stores. A small sampling of items from the family's apartments above the store represent their Jewish heritage.
Related institution
Ilkuvitz Clothing Store
Related person
Edward J. Ilkuvitz
Related person
Norman Ilkuvitz
On View
Not on view
