C.M. Smith & Co.
1864-1885
John Condell bought stock in C.M. Smith’s company and became a business partner in 1864, operating under the name C.M. Smith & Co. Clark M. Smith, S.R. Harriman, and John Condell were partners until S.R. Harriman left in 1869. The company expanded their stock into dry goods, clothing, boots and shoes, groceries, and drugs. The store employed twenty people and grossed over $150,000 a year. The store quickly outgrew the original building. Smith had the old building pulled down and built a three-story brick building known as ‘Smith’s Block’ on the same site. The store closed in 1885 upon C.M. Smith’s death. John Condell oversaw the collection of outstanding debts and selling the remaining merchandise on behalf of Smith’s widow Ann M. Smith.
Manufacturing Location
Manufacturing continue to grow in America through the late 1800s. Manufacturing plants and businesses expanded westward specializing in petroleum refining, steel manufacturing, and electrical power. While multiple forms of manufacturing were established in the Midwest, manufacturing of dry goods remained primarily on the eastern coast. Coastal manufacturers had developed technologies, organizations of production and sales channels that could not be reproduced in the Midwest. Goods created on the eastern coast were high in value and could be transported cheaply to the Midwest making it risky for midwestern manufacturing companies to compete.
Merchandise
Ready to wear clothing continued to gain in popularity after the Civil War. Standardizes sizes established for the military and the sewing machine allowed for the factory system of production. After the war the knowledge gathered allowed for the creation of ready-to-wear industry for menswear. Women’s clothing continued to be created mostly at home or by a professional seamstress. C.M. Smith & Co. did carry women’s shawls, sash ribbons, gloves, hosiery, handkerchiefs, lace goods, and fancy articles. It also carried stables goods such as blankets, flannels, cloaking’s, cashmere, table linens, napkins, boots and shoes, and ladies and children’s furs. By the 1880’s factories were creating men’s overcoats, petticoats, shirts, trousers, gloves, hats, and footwear. As the store expanded groceries and pharmaceuticals were added to its stock.
Transportation
By the end of the 1880s, railroads were on their way to moving over 690 million tons of cargo. In the 1870s, with the growing interconnection of railroad lines, a standardized time developed. Instead of each line having its own ‘standard time’ the American Railway Association adopted a ‘standard time’ with four time zones an hour apart. With a uniform system of time established for all railroads, rail schedules and timetables could be created for all stations.
Advertisement
C.M. Smith advertised differently than John Condell. Perhaps the most noticeable difference was that the later advertisements featured images. While still few and far between (the store preferring to focus on words over images), images began to appear with more frequency than at any time while John Condell owned his own business. It appears that it was the influence of C.M. Smith which drove the inclusion of images in newspaper ads. One such ad featured a man in a long jacket and top hat holding a cane. The ad is for fall and winter overcoats in a range of prices. C.M. Smith & Co. would run an ad more often than any of the stores John Condell owned. The previously mentioned ad ran almost every day over several months. A second difference in advertisement was the inclusion of merchandise prices in the ads. Specialty items or items featured by the store have a price mentioned in newspaper ads. This was something never seen before in any of the ads placed by John Condell.