J.S. & M.B. Condell
1859-1863
J.S. & M.B. Condell was run by John Condell and his nephew Moses B Condell. Moses, son of Thomas Condell, received a share of the company from his father. The store operated for a brief time before and during the Civil War, dissolving by mutual consent in 1863. Very little is known about the operation of this store and few newspaper ads are present in The Sangamo Journal. One ad that stands out appeared in November, 1862. It stated that the store would no longer sell goods on credit but would be operating solely as a cash business. Anyone with an outstanding balance was asked to settle their accounts.
It is possible the store was facing financial problems during the Civil War. Previously, advertisements for Condell’s stores appeared weekly. During this time advertisements all but disappeared. Any ads that can be found are small. An ad informing Springfield residents that the Condell family was selling of a piece of land located adjacent to their home appeared in 1863. The same year a notice was placed in the newspaper stating that the building J.S. & M.B. Condell operated out of had been sold to John Williams and would be the future home of the First National Bank of Springfield. One possibility for the Condell’s trouble is the specialty goods the store sold were not in high demand during the war. Patrons to the store may not have been able to afford the specialty items the store carried.
Despite the Condell store difficulties many other stores operated in the area throughout the war. Yates & Smith and Grover Ayer were two stores in Springfield that advertised heavily during the Civil War. One difference between the two stores and the Condell store is the diversity of items Yates & Smith and Grover Ayers stocked. Condell specialized in dry goods while Yates & Smith and Grover Ayers stocked both dry goods and groceries.
Manufacturing Location
The 1860s census shows an increase of manufacturing along the eastern cost, centralized in New England. In Massachusetts, shoe manufactures developed specialized tools and components to increase productivity. A wholesale market and distribution complex in Boston pushed the growing volume of shoes into sale channels that spanned the nation. Connecticut was a second state that manufactured shoes, but it also specialized in cotton textiles. Around 85% of the nation’s manufacturing was in the Northeast. Manufactured goods such as boots, women’s ready to wear garments, millinery goods, creation of silk threads, linen and hemp, ropes and cordage were but a few of the goods created on the east coast.
Merchandise
During the war, men’s read-to-wear clothing industry received a big boost. To clothe the soldiers a standardized clothing system needed to be developed. Around 1000 soldiers were measured, and standardized sizes were created. With the sewing machine and the development of factories, men’s clothing could be created quickly. Due to the lack of advertisements by J.S. & M.B Condell inferences must be drawn from stores with a similar custom. S.B. Fisher offered a stock of Black and Fancy Silks, French Merinoes, Muslin De Laines, French Cassimere, Heavy Cotton Fabrics, English Corduroy, Moleskins, and Bleached Muslins. Walter Ordway, located close to J.S. & M.B. Condell on the North Side of the square, carried an assortment of boots for men, women and children, hat and caps, gloves and mittens, and men’s hosiery. Many of the other stores also carried groceries, medicines, and a variety of other goods that were never advertised by any of the previous Condell stores.
Transportation
By the 1860, goods delivered by stagecoach had dwindled. The railway entered Springfield and allowed for faster transportation of goods. Where it had once taken six or more weeks to reach Illinois from the east coast, the train could make the trip in only a few days. The introduction of the telegraph to the railway system allowed for virtually instant communication between stations. The telegraph allowed for train dispatchers to know the exact location of trains and allow for the direction of train movement if one train was behind schedule. This created more efficient operation along railroad lines.
Advertisment
Due to the lack of appearances in The Sangamo Journal, it is impossible to determine what form J.S. & M.B. Condell advertisements would have taken. The few ads for the store that did appear were small and did not actively advertise the store or the merchandise the store carried. These ads were notifications about store business rather than ads trying to attract customers. Grover Ayers and Smith & Yates were stores in operation during the same period as Condell, Jones & Co. and they placed advertisements that were similar to the ads previously placed by the Condell’s store. They were designed to draw the eye and encourage customers to visit the store.