Images(3)

Brush, Clothes

Object number2016.107.3

Manufacturer OXCO

OriginUnited States

MediumWood; Animal hair; Varnish; Metal

Credit LineGift of Nancy Del Bianco

DescriptionClothes brush with wooden handle and animal hair bristles.DimensionsLength x Width x Depth: 7.25 × 2.625 × 1.75 in. (18.4 × 6.7 × 4.4 cm)
InscriptionsBack of the handle has handwritten text in blue ink "TAN".
MarksBack of the handle has red imprinted text at center "OXCO / MADE [logo] U.S.A. / REG. / STERILIZED".
Historical NotesPart of a collection from the Charlie the Tailor business related to the pressing and tailoring process. The donor’s father Charles Telesko was born in the Pittsburgh area, but when he was 4 or 5 the family returned to their native Czechoslovakia. He learned the tailoring trade growing up in Czechoslovakia. When WWII started, the family returned to Pittsburgh because they were citizens of the United States and they wanted to escape the war. After Pearl Harbor, Charlie was drafted and sent overseas. He was a tailor in the army during the war. When he returned he opened up a shop in Homestead for a few years before moving to Oakland. The shop in Oakland was on the site of The Original Hot Dog Shop in the Bouquet Cleaners shop near Forbes Field and Roberto Clemente was a client. He moved to the corner of Fifth Avenue and named the shop Charlie the Tailor where he specialized in men’s suits and cleanings. Their building was sold in 1974, so he moved onto Penn Avenue in Bloomfield across from what was St. Francis and is now Children’s Hospital. After his sudden death in 1978, his wife took over the business for the next twenty years.

Previous owner Charles Telesko (died 1978)

Related institution Charlie the Tailor

Related institution United States Army

Subjects

Terms