- Fashion - Janesville Sesquicentennial
-
- Janesville may have had first Dollar Days in U.S.
- It is believed that the idea of Dollar Days originated in
Janesville in 1913, as one of the first city-
- wide, if not nationwide, merchandising events.
- The Aug. 4, 1937, Janesville Daily Gazette, reported the
first Dollar Day was held here Feb. 26,
- 1913.
- "The idea of Dollar Day was conceived by the Gazette
advertising department and carried out with
- the enthusiastic support of the advertisers," the story
said.
- Because Janesville did not receive national recognition as
the originator - of the idea and the name -
- there was considerable discussion on the subject. Janesville,
however, was credited for hosting the first "Dollar Day"
in this area.
- Janesville businessman Sid WEBER wrote a letter to
Frederic J. HASKIN, Gazette information
- bureau chief at Washington, D.C., asking him to confirm information
about Dollar Days in Janesville. HASKIN replied in an
Aug. 22, 1934 letter: "The Dollar Day idea was generally
ascribed to the Chamber of Commerce at Richmond, Va. They are
unable to furnish a date of the first such event held there."
- Later, efforts were made by Janesville people to reach Richmond
businessmen about their first
- Dollar Day event. Records show that n o further information
was received, so Janesville claims to be the originator of the
idea.
- All Janesville merchants participated in the first big Dollar
Day movement. Hundreds of out-of-
- town residents came for the city-wide bargains by train,
bobsleds, buggies, farm wagons and automobiles.
- At the time of the 1913 Dollar Days, umbrellas, corsets,
muslin underwear and petticoats were
- among the specials being advertised.
- Individual stores sales and bargain days were common in Janesville
before Dollar Days. Every
- Saturday, local merchants would offer special bargains.
- Dollar Days in 1917 were considered the best in history by
businessmen when there was much
- talk about the high cost of living and war hysteria was in
the air.
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