Finding Aids

 

Using these Materials

Please contact the Center of Southwest Studies Archives Manager at archives@fortlewis.edu for more information about reproductions and accessing the collection.

 

Access Restrictions: There are no access restrictions on the use of this collection. The collection is non-circulating but open to the public for use in the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center of Southwest Studies.

 

Reproduction and Copyright: Materials held by the Center may be protected under U.S. and international copyright laws. Reproduction does not constitute a transfer of copyright or publication rights. Researchers are solely responsible for complying with copyright law and for obtaining any necessary permissions for reproduction or publication. The Center assumes no liability for unauthorized use of materials.

 

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Collection Title], [Collection Number], Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado.

 

 

Collection Description

Historical/Biographical Note: Gordon Stores was a department store chain which in the early nineteen fifties had over 1,500 stores throughout the southwest.  There were stores in Durango, Center, Leadville, Montrose, Grand Junction and Denver, as well as in the states of Texas, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho.  Gordon Stores was a department store retailer specializing in the area of clothing. 

 

Scope & Contents: This collection contains a sampling of records kept by the Gordon Store of Durango, Colorado.  They are clothing store sales records, mostly from the 1950s.  The collection mostly consists of a sampling of customer invoices for individual purchases/ sales of clothing to customers; it includes few items from a higher administrative level.  The invoice samples provide a useful source of research for identifying what brands of clothing and novelty items were purchased and used in the Durango area during the early- to mid-twentieth century.   The purchasing records also indicate what stores were in the Durango area and the names of some of the entities with whom the Gordon Store did business.

 

Arrangement: Materials in this collection are arranged in a single series.  Because we do not expect to add to this collection, the boxes are numbered in one single numbering scheme starting with 1.  Folder numbers start with 1 in each box.  Items within each series (e.g., correspondence, reports) and within each folder are arranged chronologically, unless noted otherwise.

 

Processing Information: Fort Lewis College student archival assistant Paul Beckler arranged and described this collection at the Center of Southwest Studies in September of 2000.  This inventory was prepared by student archival assistant Debra Lehl and edited by Todd Ellison, December 19, 2000 (last updated by him in October 2005).

 

Subjects:

Clothing trade--Colorado--Durango
Business records--Colorado--Durango

 

 

Detailed Description of the Collection

Series Description

Series 1.    Receipts, carbon copies, ledgers, shipping and invoice duplicates pertaining to Gordon Stores of Durango.  The bulk of this information is from the years 1951-1953.  The ledgers range from 1947-1952.  3.3 linear shelf feet (in 3 document cases and 1 oversized box). 

Container Description

Box 1:    18 folders:

       Folder 1      Department sales ledger, 1937-1944.

       Folder 2      Gordon Store correspondence, 1951-1953.

       Folder 3      Samples of Gordon’s freight and order invoices, 1951-1952.

       Folder 4      Shipping label, Gordon Stores (Durango, Colo.), circa 1952.

       Folder 5      Invoice samples, 1951-1953 [A-B].

       Folder 6      Invoice samples, 1951-1953 [C-D].

       Folder 7      Invoice samples, 1951-1953 [E-F].

       Folder 8      Invoice samples, 1951-1953 [G-I].

       Folder 9      Invoice samples, 1951-1953 [K-L].

       Folder 10     Invoice samples, 1951-1953 [M-N].

       Folder 11     Invoice samples, 1951-1953 [O-R].

       Folder 12     Invoice samples, 1951-1953 [S].

       Folder 13     Invoice samples, 1951-1953 [T-Z].

       Folder 14     Purchasing records, 1954 Jan. 20-Apr. 27.

       Folder 15     Purchasing records, 1954 Apr. 27-July 30.

       Folder 16     Purchasing records, 1954 July 31-Nov. 10.

       Folder 17     Purchasing records, 1954 Nov. 12-1955 Mar. 1.

       Folder 18     Purchasing records, 1955 June 9-Sept. 13.

 

Box 2: 13 folders:

       Folder 1      Daily sales receipts, 1954 Jan. 19-Feb. 13.

       Folder 2      Daily sales receipts, 1954 Feb. 13-Mar. 8.

       Folder 3      Daily sales receipts, 1954 Apr. 10-26.

       Folder 4      Daily sales receipts, 1955 Oct. 10-19.

       Folder 5      Daily receipts, 1958 Apr. 11.

       Folder 6      Daily receipts, 1958 Apr. 14.

       Folder 7      Daily receipts, layaway or charged items, 1951 July 25.

       Folder 8      Daily receipts, layaway or charged items, 1951 Aug. 25.

       Folder 9      Daily receipts, layaway or charged items, 1952 Dec. 25.

       Folder 10     Merchandise return slips, 1954 Apr.-May.

       Folder 11     Merchandise return slips, 1954 June.

       Folder 12     Merchandise return slips, 1954 July-Aug.

       Folder 13     Merchandise return slips, 1954 Sept.-Oct.

 

Box 3: 1 folder:

       Folder 1      Personal credit accounts, 1950.

 

Box 4: 3 folders:

       Folder 1      Department sales ledger, 1947.

       Folder 2      Department sales ledger, 1948.

       Folder 3      Department sales ledger, 1949.

       Folder 4      Department sales ledger, 1950.

       Folder 5      Department sales ledger, 1951.

       Folder 6      Department sales ledger, 1952.