In 1900, an 18-year-old Joe Davidson left the bleak prospects of his native Lithuania in search of a more promising life. As the business he started in 1910 celebrates its 100th anniversary – "A Century of Style" – join us in looking back on the history of the company (as recounted by Joe’s children Sig Davidson and Mimi Davidson Leeds and compiled by his great-grandson Douglas Davidson). We hope you’ll join in the story. Please use the comment section below to share some old (or new) memories and perspectives on the Davidsons story.
Davidsons—both the store and the family—saw huge change between the two World Wars. Joseph expanded his investments of time and money in the Roanoke community, becoming a 32° Mason
and fostering a strong spirit of civic responsibility that would eventually be carried on in his three young children: Anita, Mimi and Sig. The store, meanwhile, expanded into a larger location at 303 South Jefferson Street, allowing Joe to bring a greater variety of fashions and a more refined shopping experience to his growing clientele.
Joe’s children, of course, could not be expected to stray far from the retail trade. In fact, Sig (who had cut his entrepreneurial teeth buying sodas for a nickel and selling them for a dime at a local watering hole) made his first sale at Davidsons at the tender age of ten. Such early promise belied a rakish nature; this Davidson scion was almost as likely to spend a shift playing pool across the street from the store as actually working in it. His parents, though, envisioned a role of more responsibility for the boy, insisting on his having the formal education Joseph never saw. Sig spent two years at Roanoke College and was just finishing his first semester at the Wharton School of Business when the impact of the December, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor compelled him to move back to the area to help in the family business. Though he he was proud of the choice, the sense of responsibility and commitment in which he was steeped pushed him toward more meaningful action; he soon enlisted in the service.
Before he could report for duty, though, Sig had a lot to do. In the space of one short year, he finally secured a date with the young Harriet Cohen (whose picture he had seen two years prior and whom he had then and there determined to wed), he followed through quickly on his aim of marrying his sweetheart (to the shock of her parents), and he graduated from Roanoke College. A scant two weeks later, he left for training and, in the fall of 1944, joined the Allies in combat in Germany. It was, in fact, as he lay recovering from a wound received in battle that he heard word of the birth of his first child—a daughter Bonnie.
While Siggie (as his close friends and family called him) was overseas seeing all this action (more action, he’ll admit, than he really would have cared for), his father Joe still had a store to run in Roanoke.
These were dark years for the American retailer. The Great Depression and the Second World War had in their turn strangled commerce in the country’s businesses and hit them with crippling supply shortages. It was at this time more than any other—with stores across America fighting over the scraps of merchandise that were available—that Joe’s philosophy of cultivating meaningful personal relationships bore him greatest fruit. While everybody was struggling, the respect with which Joe treated suppliers ensured that he always had someone who would make the effort to furnish him with product. The respect with which he treated his clients and friends ensured that when a gentleman found himself with a need he would invariably fill it with Joe.
It was thus that Sig had a place to return after the Allied victory and the end of the war. His triumphant homecoming, he soon realized, only marked the beginning of a whole new era of responsibility, duty and success. Sig would soon take the reins of the business and—as he expanded both his family and his company—would eventually become the patriarch of Davidsons.
To be continued…
Davidsons—both the store and the family—saw huge change between the two World Wars. Joseph expanded his investments of time and money in the Roanoke community, becoming a 32° Mason
and fostering a strong spirit of civic responsibility that would eventually be carried on in his three young children: Anita, Mimi and Sig. The store, meanwhile, expanded into a larger location at 303 South Jefferson Street, allowing Joe to bring a greater variety of fashions and a more refined shopping experience to his growing clientele.
Joe’s children, of course, could not be expected to stray far from the retail trade. In fact, Sig (who had cut his entrepreneurial teeth buying sodas for a nickel and selling them for a dime at a local watering hole) made his first sale at Davidsons at the tender age of ten. Such early promise belied a rakish nature; this Davidson scion was almost as likely to spend a shift playing pool across the street from the store as actually working in it. His parents, though, envisioned a role of more responsibility for the boy, insisting on his having the formal education Joseph never saw. Sig spent two years at Roanoke College and was just finishing his first semester at the Wharton School of Business when the impact of the December, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor compelled him to move back to the area to help in the family business. Though he he was proud of the choice, the sense of responsibility and commitment in which he was steeped pushed him toward more meaningful action; he soon enlisted in the service.
Before he could report for duty, though, Sig had a lot to do. In the space of one short year, he finally secured a date with the young Harriet Cohen (whose picture he had seen two years prior and whom he had then and there determined to wed), he followed through quickly on his aim of marrying his sweetheart (to the shock of her parents), and he graduated from Roanoke College. A scant two weeks later, he left for training and, in the fall of 1944, joined the Allies in combat in Germany. It was, in fact, as he lay recovering from a wound received in battle that he heard word of the birth of his first child—a daughter Bonnie.
While Siggie (as his close friends and family called him) was overseas seeing all this action (more action, he’ll admit, than he really would have cared for), his father Joe still had a store to run in Roanoke.
These were dark years for the American retailer. The Great Depression and the Second World War had in their turn strangled commerce in the country’s businesses and hit them with crippling supply shortages. It was at this time more than any other—with stores across America fighting over the scraps of merchandise that were available—that Joe’s philosophy of cultivating meaningful personal relationships bore him greatest fruit. While everybody was struggling, the respect with which Joe treated suppliers ensured that he always had someone who would make the effort to furnish him with product. The respect with which he treated his clients and friends ensured that when a gentleman found himself with a need he would invariably fill it with Joe.
It was thus that Sig had a place to return after the Allied victory and the end of the war. His triumphant homecoming, he soon realized, only marked the beginning of a whole new era of responsibility, duty and success. Sig would soon take the reins of the business and—as he expanded both his family and his company—would eventually become the patriarch of Davidsons.
To be continued…
