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10-A Big Spring (Texas) Herald, Sun., April 3, 1977Prager’s becomes 50 years oldImmigrantJdreamMorris Prager was sent to America, land of opportunity, as a boy of about 10 years old by his EasternDREAM COMES TRI E - Morris Prager, founder of Prager s. hoped to someday have the largest men’s store in Big Spring. Pictured*above is his son, A J , and A J s wife, Janice, in the 3rd Street location which made the founder’s dream a reality.heavy physical work, and hecomes trueterwards Prager said that his wife, ' Janice, had worked besideEuropean parents in 1910 He arrived in Big Spring in 1927 with practically nothing but a little credit and the dream of someday having the biggest men and boys’ clothing store in town This week, Prager’s Men Boys Wear at 102 E. 3rd will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the store MorrisPragerfounded.A J Prager. son of Morris and owner of what now is the biggest men’s and boys’ store in Big Spring, says the store is probably the oldest retail establishment here operated under continuous ownership “This community, ” Prager said, “has been awful good to us all this time And he said the firm has tried to contribute to the community in every way it couldPrager said his father “knew from the first’ that Big Spring was going to be a good place for his store. “He just felt it.Morris Prager had already come a long way by the time he reached West Texas His parents in Lithuania had scraped together every cent they could to send him to the U.S., both for opportunity and to allow him to advance free of the persecution of the Jewish race which was occuring in Europe at thetime.Morris was to have been met bv his older brother who had been sent ahead to New York, but they had no way to know that he had died.So the young boy was taken to Ellis Island, and a New Jersey grocer offered to board him and teach him English in return for his workMorris ate with the grocer’s family and slept in the store for two years before striking out on his own in New York as a bakery delivery wagon driver This required that he rise at 4 am, hitch up his horse and make his rounds in the cold.The young man heard that Texas was w arm, so w hen he ould saveenough train fare, he traveled to Dallas.Morris was a slight man, not able to do too muchended up as a “butcher bov selling candy and cigarettes on the train.“It didn t take much for him to live on, Prager said, “and whenever he was able to save a little, he sent the money to the folks inSS reps spend more time in C CityCOLORADO CITY —Social Security recipients in Colorado City will continue to consult with Social Security representatives without interruption as the result of a new arrangementThe service now has headquarters at Wallace Center In addition, there will be more time with therepresentative to be at the center four hours each Wednesday morning.Europe .’’With the money he saved, he was able to bring three brothers, two sisters and his mother to the U.S.Morns began a small cleaning business in Fort W’orth with a cousin and, through the arrangement of an uncle, married A J.’s mother, Netta, who was from New York.After serving in the Army in World War I, Morris heard of the opportunity in West Texas oil tow ns, and he tried his hand at a store in Breckenridge in the early 1920s.But Brekenridge was on the decline at that point, and he was barely able to pay the billsSo in 1927 Morris came to Big Spring and founded what he named The Army Store, though it did not sell Army goods. It was located at 113 Main where Anderson Music Co. is presently.The counters were woodencrates, and the shelves were wood made from crates, Prager said. “Those were pretty' tough times It was a poor-boy type of operation“He was successful mostly because he was a fine type of individual who liked people,” Prager said. “He was a soft touch for anybody who needed something. He did a lot of swapping, clothing for milk or eggsIn the 1940s, the store moved next to First National Bank at 204 Main Street (now an empty lot). A few years later it moved one store south to 206 MainA.J. grew up in the store, but his father, who had only a fourth-grade education, believed in his children getting a formal education. He sent two sons and a daughter through school during the tough 1930s. A.J. went to Texas AM, became a petroleum engineer, served in the European theater in World War II, and was working with Pan American Production Co. as a wildcat drilling engineer in the Houston area when his father retired from active management of the store in 1946Joe Clark, a son-in-law, was operating the store, and A.J. came back to help. He was ready to give up the oil business, having moved eight times in three years.Clark is now manager of the men’s department for Neiman Marcus at its Pompano Beach, Fla., store.In 1958, his father’s dream of having the largest men’s store was realized when Prager’s moved to its present 3rd Street location. His father died shortly af-him every day for the last 12 years and been his guiding iight. The couple has a son, Bill, who is with Commercial Metals Corp in Dallas.Houston cop vindicated?• HOUSTON (AP) -Houston police officer Wayne M. Jones, 33, accused in 1974 with another officer of beating and sexually abusing a woman, has been promoted to the rank of detective.Jones and Jack Heard Jr., were cleared by a grand jury of the charges and reinstated as officers after they had been suspended for 60 days. Heard, son of Harris County Sheriff Jack Heard Sr., quit the department shortly after the reinstatement.At the promotion ceremonies Thursday,Jones’ wife, Freda, said the promotion vindicated her husband’s decision to stay on the force and proved that the accusation against him was falseCapital murderindictmentHOUSTON (AP) — A Harris County grand jury has indicted John Charles Zimmerman. 30. on a charge of capital murder in the slaying of his wife’s 10-year old nieceZimmerman was charged last week after the body of the girl, Ramona Abner, was found at a construction site in southwest Houston. Police said she had been killed with a butcher knifeThous4ihave askedco
Newspaper Details
Big Spring Herald
Big Spring, Texas, US
Sun, Apr 03, 1977
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Texas S.
TX, USA 17 Aug 2018
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