Lee Jeans Sign at Dearborn Station

[richhotrain]

In the early 1950's, there was a 6 or 7 story yellow painted sign on a brick building facing Dearborn Station in Chicago advertising Lee Work Clothes, Overalls, Shirts and Pants.

I have seen photos of the faded sign from the 1980s and later on Flickr, but does anyone know of a photo of the unfaded sign?

I would like to incorporate that sign on a building on my HO scale layout.

Thanks.

Rich

[Redwards]

There are a few shots (a bit distant) in this thread from another forum.

http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/46660482/m/268100274?r=200101874#200101874

--Reed

[richhotrain]

Here is a pretty good close up of the faded sign.

I need a Photoshop expert to enhance it.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3341/3561322063_1b6e422ebb.jpg?v=0

Rich

[wanswheel]

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2261426

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=221881

[wanswheel]

The Lee website says, "Lee currently employs more than 400 people across the United States."

Wikipedia says, "As of 2005, Lee Jeans have been manufactured ... in a number of small factories in Chamarajanagar, India. 60,000 workers produce 5,000 pairs of jeans a day."

Excerpt from Company History

Lee was founded in 1889 by Henry David Lee and several business associates in Salina, Kansas. As a teenage hotel clerk in a small Ohio town, Lee saved his earnings and, investing them skillfully, was eventually able to take over the Central Oil Company, which distributed kerosene oil for lighting. Stricken with tuberculosis and advised by doctors to relocate to a more hospitable climate, Lee sold his business to John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company in the late 1880s and moved to Kansas, bringing several associates from his oil company with him. In Kansas, Lee and his associates sought out a five-year charter from the state to run a wholesale grocery business that would sell fine food products under several different brand names, including "Mother's Style," "Cadet," and "Summer Girl." The company's start-up financing totaled $100,000, with one quarter of it reportedly contributed by the town of Salina.

Lee's business rapidly prospered, benefiting from its position as the largest food supplier between Denver and Kansas City. The market it served was enjoying a period of rapid growth, as it developed from frontier to a more settled, prosperous area. Within its first ten years, the company had branched out into three additional businesses, the H. D. Lee Flour Mills Company, the Lee Hardware Company, and Kansas Ice and Storage. Soon, the Lee company was also selling sewing materials, furnishings, paper goods, and school supplies. By the turn of the century, Lee's enterprise represented the largest wholesale grocery and dry goods business in the Midwest....

The most important addition to the Lee company's product line came in 1911, when Lee became frustrated by infrequent deliveries of work clothes, such as overalls and dungarees, from a manufacturer in the east. Recognizing the benefits of being able to produce the needed items himself, and encouraged by the continuing growth of the American population and economy, Lee decided to open a garment factory in Salina to produce overalls, jackets, and dungarees.

Two years later, Lee began manufacturing the item that would make the company famous. Legend has it that the idea originated with H. D. Lee himself, who noticed that his chauffeur needed a sturdy one-piece outfit that could easily be pulled over his uniform when he needed to service Lee's car. The Lee Union-All basically consisted of a jacket and a pair of work pants sewn together at the waist, and it proved practical for farm and factory workers who wanted to shield themselves from the dirt of their work, which got between their clothes and skin.

By 1915, the charter of the Lee company had been expanded to account for its new interest in clothing manufacturing, and the company had opened a second factory, designated for the exclusive manufacture of Union-Alls, in Kansas City, Kansas. In 1916, two more factories were opened, in Kansas City, Missouri, and South Bend, Indiana.

The following year, Lee became the first company in the apparel industry to introduce a nationwide advertising campaign, placing a full-page ad in the Saturday Evening Post. The company's business received a further boost during this time as the United States entered World War I, and Lee was asked to manufacture as many Union-Alls as possible for the U.S. Army. The Lee garment became the official fatigue uniform for American soldiers fighting in Europe.

 http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Lee-Apparel-Company-Inc-Company-History.html

[richhotrain]

wanswheel

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2261426

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=221881

Mike,

I had been waiting to hear from you.

That second photo is among the best that I have seen.

Not only the Lee Jeans sign, but also the quality and color of the entire photo, including the Chicago skyline.

What I need now is a Photoshop expert to create a reproduction of that sign for my HO scale layout.

Rich

[richhotrain]

Redwards

There are a few shots (a bit distant) in this thread from another forum.

http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/46660482/m/268100274?r=200101874#200101874

--Reed

Reed,

I neglected to thank you for posting those photos.  They are very cool.

Rich