Broadway Boulevard

Interview with Betty Brand about her family's history in and her experience with the Kansas City garment industry. Betty was married to Arthur Brand, whose family started the Brand and Puritz factory in 1928, and describes the family's experience in the garment business, the different suit and coat lines they manufactured, and the large number of immigrants among their staff. She also describes their experience in Kansas City's Jewish community, the retail and restaurant landscape of downtown Kansas City, and shares her paintings and photographs of her family and travels.

Interview with Bob Slegman about his life and his family's company Stern-Slegman-Prins. He recounts his family history and their start manufacturing silk blouses, and his paternal Slegman family and maternal Stern family partnering up as "jobbers" who distributed wholesale garments to retailers, later manufacturing ladies' coats and suits, and notes that many other prominent garment industry companies had their roots in Stern-Slegman-Prins. He discusses the high quality of local manufacturing, and the operations, financing, and demographics of the work force, as well as his entry into the family business and his service as an Army Air Corps meteorologist during World War II. He shares photographs and other stories about the company, including their inability to have a company outing at Fairyland Park due to having black employees, and discusses the decline of the local garment industry and changes in fashion and retail in the 1970s. Anne Brownfield appears to show off details of a Stern-Slegman-Prins manufactured "Betty Rose" coat.

Interview with Lou Lesky and Elmer Price about their experiences in the Kansas City garment industry. Lesky recalls his work at Kansas City Custom Garment Company, a men's clothing maker which switched to military uniform manufacturing during World War II, and uniforms for bus drivers, bakers, and other occupations post-war. Price discusses his white goods businesses in downtown Kansas City and later near 39th and Main. The men recall the Garment District of the past, noting other companies and individuals from the area, and talk about how much it has changed. They discuss the operations of their businesses and the decline of the textile and clothing industry in the United States.

Interview with Harvey Fried about his life and about the Kansas City garment industry. Fried describes the early start of the local garment industry in the West Bottoms, with the buildings in the downtown Garment District built between approximately 1898-1915, and notes Kansas City's position as a rail hub in the center of the country as being key to manufacturing and distribution. He also recounts his parents' backgrounds, his father opening the Fried-Siegel Company in 1930 and Style Line Manufacturing Company in 1939, and the companies' role producing a wide assortment of apparel. He discusses the work of garment manufacturing and distribution in detail, the predominance of Jewish ownership in the industry, and the evolution of the Fried-Siegal and Style Line into smaller firms alongside the shrinking of the local and national garment industries. He also discusses the evolution of the Garment District neighborhood to the present and shares photographs.

Interview with Joseph F. Moore about his experience growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, during World War II. Moore discusses being very young when Pearl Harbor was bombed, and seeing his uncles go off to war in various branches of service. He describes civilian practices at home, including stars hanging in the windows of homes; seeing sailors coming home through Union Station; rationbooks, scrap drives, and small coin banks used to support the war effort; and an in-home daycare run by his mother for young mothers working while their husbands were overseas. He also discusses American views toward Japanese and German people, and how (or whether) those views changed after the war, and discusses the difference in public support for wars and leaders in the 1940s vs. present day.

Interview with Steve Hammer about his family's history in Kansas City garment industry. He discusses his family's company, Hammer Brothers, and how it adapted to industry changes by moving from suppliers and manufacturers for the coat and dress business, to promotional clothing and hats, to supplying the patch and athletic wear embroidery industry. He also discusses his Jewish identity, his relationship with the local Jewish community, and also discusses his maternal family's Cake Box Bakeries.