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Rector’s Boy’s & Men’s Shop

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

This shop opened here in 1955. To attract business Harold Rector sponsored portraits of the Franklin High School football team and posted them in the window. “The girlfriends came to see the pictures - I had lipstick all over the glass!” Rector’s quickly became the premier men’s clothing store in Rainier Valley, selling Levi’s, dress clothes, and everything in between. When Rector’s introduced leather jackets from Europe in 1957, people came from as far as Portland to buy them.

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Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The building before you was originally built in 1912 for $4,000, or about $100,000 dollars today! A two story building with housing on the second floor, the first floor has been home to many different companies. A mortuary, grocery, and the name of the building to day, Rector's Menswear. The building itself was designed by the Thompson and Thompson architectural firm and were well known in the Seattle area, operating from around 1898 all the way into 1936. Unfortunately, much of the original designs on this building have been remodeled, and as such not much of the ornamentation is visible anymore. However, in form and function this building remains as it did over 100 years ago.

Sources

Elliot Day on behalf of Rainier Valley Historical Society. "Rainier Valley Investment Company." Clio: Your Guide to History. September 23, 2020. Accessed September 29, 2020. https://wwwElliot Day on behalf of Rainier Valley Historical Society. "Rainier Valley Investment Company." Clio: Your Guide to History. September 23, 2020. Accessed September 29, 2020. https://www.theclio.com/tour/1539/1.theclio.com/tour/1539/1

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