Hide Article Text (OCR)
2-A Big Spring (Texas) Herald, Sunday, AAay 7, 1972i'T. , ; vlt; • I Wf^/ ■ r’l-«r ;' »*/-r- ... ...■*-*lt;*1'/*■Ca**te-'4-*-'lt;.••*.MfctiMT*rfc?*-m-zx*;lt;tIA'^■#5■A-■J' -W¥./* Vi?■•ylt;-*-yr- r M..t's /*; V, X£lt;-•y?“V..7r■ ■*j £yV«' «'.:r ••. - ./.£ «r • - *✓ • * • . » • - * .*/ ✓ . • .,*f/^*^./- '••. .v V'Ti! '•£/*. • '/ . « ' /•*- V r' ^.' ••' *A ' • • ;* '•*• -. .//••'? J•;:?s4£$y*/Jk ■,., ....... .; • r ■ • * -:lt;-;J#» . .# . . . •.;' , • ;.«.. _ ■ : V , \sy '/yy ’■' . . #*?s,' ..v/^’v• v-■ • i.»AVK-.-+iVZ-riL-!■:'•..'•• ^'-. ... •’T:./; • -.../.■ v •» '$ '%sv-' ■ ^•’* * ''r'' /1, ;. '.;' •• '“ ■ '• \ ■/'* ’■I uV-.. •. . .c • \. ;, ./'.*.-'•^/l. ’ *•’ ,C ■ .. *. -.' ' * '/v\w-i'y-ifAw w.;' w', ;• .’’,V;:' '• ............. ■ . . v . . .• , . 1 -..-•. ■■ypr v'»lt;■lt;■ ■ .••» vKiiiiW'+y^-i I ,SAM MELLINGER CARRIES ON THE OLDEST TRADITIONFather, Victor Mellinger, started business 55 years agoBUSINESS BROWSINGSisthchEipeFamily Traditions BeingContinuedBusinessmenfilltiobucirbuve:By MYRNA MeFADINBig Spring is home for many second generation businessmen — merchants who followed in their father’s footsteps.Included in the list who are carrying on the family tradition are Sam Mellinger, RichardAtkins, A. J. Prager, Seth Lacy, Cecil Peurifoy, John Currie, Eddy Cole, Jack Coojk:, Don Newsom, John Taylor, Malcolm Patterson, E. P, Driver, John Stanley, Jimmy D. Jones, George Thomas, Harvey Hooser, Hartman Hooser, John Richard Coffee and Walton Morrison.OLDEST MERCHANTIt is believed that Sam Mellinger is upholding the oldest tradition. His father, Victor Mellinger, an itinerant peddler,, came to Big Spring 55 years ago from Blanco looking for a new, growing, bustling town,He came first to look the town over, He opened for business in September, 1917. It was a general store, The Grand Leader, and was located where the old First National Bank building used to be, at Main Street and Second.The store enlarged in 1919 and moved across the street, intothe building now occupied byGood Housekeeping Furniture. After the fire of 1929, the store moved into the building now occupied by Gibbs and Weeks, and changed to a men’s apparel store. Mellinger also had a ladies’ apparel store in another location.CATERED TO MEN The ladies’ store was dosed in 1935, and Mellinger began catering exclusively to men. Sam Mellinger and his brother took over joint proprietorship of the store upon their father's 1959 death.The stop, remained at its 3rd and Main location until 1967. At that time Sam moved his own operation, Slantin’ Sam’s Men’s Wear, to 112 JE. 3rd, its present location.today in men’s clothing. When I started there was only one kind of suit — blue serge. You could get it in two styles, double or single breasted,” saidMellinger.“AH suits came with two pairs of pants, one pleated and the other plain. It did make the suit look entirely different. There was one style shoe, French toed. There was no suchthing as a sport shirt — just while dress shirts.Solon TellsLie To f oilTwo BanditsHeldWASHINGTEN (AP) -up by two men who threatened to “blow my head off,” Sen. William Proxmire, D-Wis., said he escaped by telling a lie— that he had terminal cancer and only two weeks to live.Proxmire said he was walking home Thursday night after talking to children at Washington’s Cathedral School when two men approached him, and one said:“Give me your money or I’ll blow your head off.”According to police, Proxmire told the men: “Go ahead and shoot because I have terminal cancer and will be dead in two weeks anyway.”Then he hegan to shout and the men ran away.Proxmire says he is not ill.The attempted holdup was the second time in six months that Proxmire has been a victim of crime. His home in northwest Washington was burglarized earlier.He told both crime stories in a speech to the Senate Friday.Mellinger says there is definitely a much more casual look today. The fit is different, too. “Things I wore as a young man are prehistoric today.”DIFFERENT IDEASThere was a different sales approach in days gone by. “Itwas more of a friend-to-friend approach. When the town was smaller, the men came by the store to talk and chew tobacco. Nowadays you almost have to grab customers in off the streets,” said Mellinger.“They don’t even make one-piece union suits anymore,” he observed. They do still make long handle underwear, but he hasn’t carried any in years. “What they do make is a new style garment. Men are really fashion-conscious now. I used to wouldn’t think, of working in an open-necked shirt.”HIS CHILDRENMellinger has two sons, Victor and David, ages nine and five. “By the time they’re grown, there’s no telling what they’ll want.” He would be pleased if they continue in the familytradition.Ni:fortcorLEARNED ALL FROM DAD“I learned everything from my father,” said Mellinger. “He was a very fine gentleman and a brilliant businessman.” Victor Mellinger never went to school a day in his life, yet he could read and write seven languages. He was a former Big Spring city commissioner.Mellinger started working in his father’s store at the age of 12. “‘I d i d everything, working after school andSaturdays. The only time I have been away from the store was during World War II. I spent four years in the middle of China. Naturally I was anxious to get back to the store.”He started back to work in the store the day he got home. MERCHANDISING METHODS “There’s far more fashionVisit AnthonyBIG NICKLiSHOE SALEOVER LOGO PAIR!! LadiesOxfords, Dress Shoes, Flatto $12.99.R111/fthap
Newspaper Details
Big Spring Herald
Big Spring, Texas, US
Sun, May 07, 1972
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 15 Jan 2023
Other Publications Near Big Spring, Texas
Big Spring Stanton Herald
Big Spring Sunday Herald
Big Spring Weekly Herald
Big Spring Daily Herald
Big Spring Herald
