1919 – Bremer’s Golden Eagle Aeroplane Promotion.

As World War I came to an end (November 11, 1918), America’s economy came booming back. And with that boom, businesses across the country began using the latest technology to lure in new customers. Here in Iowa City, Harry L. Bremer and his team of clothing retailers decided to stir the pot by hiring a Chicago-based army pilot to fly into Iowa City with a load of brand-new “Society Brand Clothes“.

It had been nearly nine years since Captain Thomas S. Baldwin (below) brought his Red Devil aeroplane to Iowa City and the Johnson County Fairgrounds – you can read more here. And now that the United States Post Office was starting to experiment with air mail service, hoping to use Iowa City as one of its primary landing sites, Bremer believed there would be nothing more exciting – and timely – than to sponsor a daring solo aeroplane flight into Iowa City.

So, being the creative promoter that he was, Harry L. Bremer – in early July – published ads in the two local Iowa City newspapers with the big news…

In 1919, Society Brand Clothes in Chicago started delivering some of its merchandise to retailers outside of the city via two dedicated Curtiss Jenny airplanes that had the name “Society Brand Clothes” painted prominently on the fuselage. One of these two planes was scheduled to land at the “Peter Lenz Farm, 1/2 mile south of city on Lower Muscatine Road” and Henry L. Bremer encouraged the public to come to the landing field and witness the aircraft’s arrival, even arranging parking accommodations for 500 cars!

Meet the four Bremer Brothers (from left to right above) – Arnold Bremer of Pontiac, Illinois; Joe Bremer, president of the company, also from Pontiac; Maurice Bremer of Wenona, Illinois, and Harry L. Bremer, manager of the Iowa City store. Also pictured here are Iowa City Mayor Ingalls Swisher, and President of the Iowa City Commercial Club – J.L. Records. **This ad (above & below) – which appeared in the July 10th, 1919 edition of The Iowa City Daily Citizen – promises big savings with “Every Article Guaranteed. Money Refunded If Not Satisfied.”**

Bremers Clothing Store had a successful 90-year run in Iowa City – opening in the fall of 1915 at 120 East Washington Street, and closing in May 2005. Records indicate (see below) that Joe and Harry L. Bremer of Pontiac, Illinois purchased Stern & Willner’s Golden Eagle Clothing Store in October 1915. The Bremer Brothers owned a chain of clothing stores in Illinois – Pontiac, Wenona, and DePue, and with this purchase would now be expanding into Iowa, eventually adding another store in Cedar Rapids.

October 28, 1915 – The Iowa City Daily Press runs its first big ad for Joe and Harry L. Bremer, who had just purchased Stern & Willner’s Golden Eagle Clothing Store in Iowa City.

*After purchasing The Golden Eagle (see above) in October 1915, the Bremers had a big Re-Organization Sale that started on November 4th – selling out $40,000 of “High Grade Merchandise”*. It’s believed that the Willner Brothers opened their first clothing store in Iowa City – on Clinton Street – as early as 1868/1875.

Records indicate that The Golden Eagle – a joint effort of both the Willner Brothers and a Mr. Stern – opened at 111 Clinton Street in 1881 (see above ad from 1882). Over the next thirty-four years, the Stern & Willner Brothers’ Golden Eagle became one of Iowa City’s most popular stores for clothing. Sometime before its sale to the Bremers in 1915, The Golden Eagle moved to 120 East Washington Street.

Finally, on Friday, July 11, 1919, almost four years after purchasing The Golden Eagle, Harry L. Bremer’s big day came. Newspaper reports indicate that hundreds of automobiles trekked to the Peter Lenz farm – located just southwest of the city. One estimate states that over 2,000 people attended the event, while another doubled that estimate to over 4,000 spectators!

The Bremers’ ad (below) in The Iowa City Daily Citizen states that July 11, 1919 was “the Biggest Day in the History of This Large Clothing Firm” and the front page story (below left) gives us all the details…

Scheduled to arrive from Chicago at 12:15 p.m., U.S. Army Lieut. David L. Behncke circled his Society No. 2 – Curtiss Jenny bi-plane – over downtown Iowa City several times before coming to a smooth landing on the grassy field at 1:40 p.m. Apparently, the crowd was so excited to see Behncke and his aeroplane, both Mayor Swisher and Commercial Club President J.L. Records had to scrub their planned speeches!

With Lt. Behncke were three large packages – several hundred pounds of brand-new Society Brand Clothing – all destined to be displayed in the front windows of Bremer’s Golden Eagle later that afternoon.

Behncke’s Curtiss Bi-Plane – also known as a Jenny – had a wing-span of 50 feet, was powered with an 8-cylinder engine, could reach speeds of up to 85 mph, and would fly at an average height of 2,500 feet (one/half of a mile).

The Bremers “Our Appreciation” ad (below) in The Iowa City Daily Press states that July 11, 1919 was “the World’s First Aero-Plane Express to Iowa City” and the page two story (below) gives us even more details…

After dropping off the three packages of Society Brand Clothing in Iowa City, Lt. Behncke took off, heading north with Bremer’s top salesman – Joe Herrick – in tow, for Cedar Rapids (a 7 minute flight), where they would drop off a similar shipment of Society Brand menswear before returning to Chicago on Saturday morning. Ads in local newspapers (see below) kept the big Bremer’s promotion in the public eye through the remainder of July…

Not to be outdone, one month after Bremer’s promotion – in August 1919 – Yetter’s – an Iowa City dry goods store – teamed up with Robinson’s Furniture Exchange to bring yet another biplane to town to perform stunts and give a few lucky passengers rides into “cloudland.” That aviator even flew over the surrounding small towns of Oxford, Wellman, Lone Tree, West Branch, and West Liberty to drop advertising handbills from 2,000 feet. His initial Iowa City landing site had been at “Black’s grove, not far from the Glencoe boat house up the river, on the way to Black’s springs and the city park,” but later in the day the pilot used the city’s fairgrounds.

***Above is a Fred Kent photograph taken in front of Bremers on Washington Street on November 11, 1939*** – as Nile Kinnick and his Ironmen teammates were preparing to play Notre Dame in Iowa Stadium later that day. Below, Bremers is once again featured in a Fred Kent photograph – this time from the 1950’s.

***The Bremer*** ***Brothers sold their Iowa-based stores to Julian Brody in 1941***, and over the next 20 years, Brody expanded the enterprise to include two stores in both Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. In 1962, Brody sold out to Earle Murphy and Lloyd Berger, but in March 1963, disaster hit as fire totally destroyed Bremers largest store – 120 East Washington Street – ***in Iowa City.***

Yet, even the devastating fire of March 1963 – which turned out to be a case of arson – failed to hold Bremers back. The building was soon re-built at the same location – 120 E. Washington – and over the next four decades (1963-2005), Bremers became well-known around eastern Iowa as the place to shop for high-quality menswear.

In 2000, Bremers was sold to Midwest Clothiers LLC of Des Moines, but only five years later – on May 1, 2005, Bremers closed its doors for the very last time.

So, here’s a salute and a tip of the old hat to the Bremer Brothers, Bremer’s Golden Eagle, and 90 years of ‘flying high’ – serving the greater Iowa City area. Gone but not forgotten!