Social Structure and Social Mobility by Neil L. Shumsky

Author:Neil L. Shumsky [Shumsky, Neil L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781135604455
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2020-10-26T00:00:00+00:00

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Initially the venture suffered from debts inherited from the previous firm, and it struggled to maintain a good standing in business circles. The expanding markets of the early 1860’s were conducive to growth, however, and by the time William Wells retired in 1864, the firm had a solid reputation. The more favorable economic conditions of the Civil War years were not solely responsible for this strengthening. The prestige and financial assets of Daniel Wells, Jr., eventually provided means for enlarging business operations, and the manufacturing expertise of Brooke and the retailing experience of Simonds added those practical dimensions needed for increased activity. By the late 1860’s the firm was estimated to be worth $100,000.42

42. Buck, Pioneer History of Milwaukee, 2: 130; [Flower], History of Milwaukee, 1247; Dun and Bradstreet, 36: 314, 337; 37: 92; Manuscript Census, 1870; Milwaukee City Directories, 1863 and 1865.

The retirement of Daniel Wells, Jr., in 1871 did not impair the smooth running of the operation. Simonds and Brooke, though not personally wealthy, were able to command sufficient capital to continue doing an excellent business. The new firm did not reach the top of the ladder in terms of financial standing, being worth only $60,000 by the late 1870’s and having a value of product of $63,800 in 1880, but it did command a noteworthy reputation locally in both the retail and wholesale trades.43

43. Buck, Pioneer History of Milwaukee, 2: 130; [Flower], History of Milwaukee, 1247; Dun and Bradstreet, 37: 92, 93, 98, 101, 193; Manuscript Census, 1880.

THE critical features which emerge from observing the behavior of the leading “American” clothing firm in Milwaukee’s first generation of settlement, as well as from examining the leading German-Jewish establishments, were primarily the need to have substantial capital and credit, and then also to gain some retail experience before setting up in business. European immigrants might often start with less, accumulate experience and capital, and then begin modest manufacturing enterprises which sometimes grew larger. But at the point of becoming manufacturers, both Americans and immigrants required a good credit standing and had learned the advisability of having considerable retail knowledge. To enter the ranks of the industrial elite through the clothing branch, capital was essential. Financial vicissitudes struck both William Wells and Wells, Simonds and Co., and it took the respectability of Daniel Wells, Jr., to provide the foundation for the practical expertise of Chauncey Simonds and William Brooke before stability could be achieved. Familiarity with the retail trade in dry goods and clothing was very helpful in establishing channels of distribution and in obtaining supplies of goods and cloth from jobbers and manufacturers in large eastern cities, but by itself this training could only ensure a modest degree of success.

The experience of two other non-German-Jewish clothing manufacturers—the Mullen brothers and Jonathan Magie—substantiates the importance of capital. Andrew Mullen emigrated from Ireland as a child and went to Albany, New York, where he received his elementary education. He moved to Wisconsin in 1842 and settled in Milwaukee in 1849.

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