Montgomery Ward War Department Checks

Things seem a little slow so I will show one of the more esoteric items in the collection . . .



When a strike threatened to shut down Montgomery Ward and its delivery of material essential for the war, President Roosevelt issued emergency orders removing the company chairman from office and putting the operation of certain parts of the company in the hands of the War Department. Below is a picture of the chairman Sewell Avery being removed from his office by the Army. Refund checks from the War Department were printed and issued from January to October 1945. I have identified 16 different types of checks including variations based on paper type, signatures and letter codes.

 

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Interesting.

 

I'd like to know more about these checks as well as the MW story.

 

Ask older folks that remember that company and not many will have a favourable opinion of them. Ca. the early 1980s just before they went poof they started selling franchises and I know people that lost all their investment when the company folded. I even knew people that worked for them back in the 1940s and 50s and said they were awful even then.

That is a pretty cool cheque what with the war connection and the story behind it. Says volumes about the management too.

 

There was a Montgomery Wards in Jackson, MI until maybe 1999 or 2000? Maybe even later. I seem to remember it existing until I was just starting high school.

 

Very Cool!

 

I remember that store, used to shop there. It was remodled into a Super Wall-Mart.

 

Yeah I know, I'm still in town 2 or 3 times a month to see people. Glad the east end Walmart didn't end up happening.

 

It could have been one of the franchises that survived post corporation. On the same note there was a Howard Johnson's restaurant here until about a dozen years ago - long after the corporation went belly up. I think there are less than half a dozen HoJo's still doing business as such nowadays.

 

The checks were used for refunds on catalog orders. It was cheaper to use pre-printed bearer checks. Refund checks from the company can be found from the 1920-60s. The War Department checks were only issued in 1945 and were not used in all locations as there are regular Montgomery Wards refund checks from the same period.

Here is one that someone tried to cash in 1971 but was refused because the account was closed.

 

A $0.01 check! That's pretty funny. I can't imagine a 1 cent check being issued even in the great depression.

 

Montgomery Wards was one of the first mass merchandisers in the US. What the government did in 1945 was Unconstitutional, but they used the war as cover.

The real downfall to Montgomery Wards, (at the time the largest chain in America), was the president was convinced there would be a massive depression after WWII. As such, he hoarded his cash, and Sears was able to use this time to position themselves in the the new shopping malls and quickly become the largest retailer in the US. Montgomery Wards never really recovered from that blunder.

Interesting historical pieces.

 

Really? I got a cheque for 1 cent from the eBay class action lawsuit back in 2007 or so. I think I still have it. It cost more to process it, and mail it than the value of the cheque.

 

I'm with the Michigan folks, Montgomery Ward was a staple in my life!

 

Montgomery Wards really didn't start the move out of standalone stores and into malls until too late in the game. I have only ever seen one Wards in a mall - maybe the only Wards I have ever seen in fact. Another chain that you don't see many if any of is Woolworths and in my lifetime I have only seen them in Germany and I think those are long gone now.

 

The one I mentioned earlier was in a mall. Sears at one end, Wards at the other end.

Oh and I forgot to say that those are pretty interesting pieces. Thanks for posting.

 

Interesting, but I would guess that you have both seen and shopped at Woolworth's, although they have changed significantly. I did not realize this;

 

Yeah, that is what I said.

Btw, Wards was more common in malls in the midwest at least. When I was a kid in Des Moines, three of the malls there had Wards in them. But, the point was that they moved too slow, were beaten by Sears, and never recovered really.

 

Who can say how long Sears will last? If I want tools or home appliances, I think Home Depot or Lowes. For electronics I think Wal-Mart or Best Buy; and for clothes I think of about 20 other places. Sears seems to have lost it's edge just like Montgomery Ward.

 

I don't disagree. Most retailers who start out as discounters lose their edge by trying to "omprove margins" and lose their low price reputation. After that, they are in a bad place.

I keep watching Walmart when they will jump the shark. They have come close a couple of times, but luckily for them reversed course. One of these days some idiot CEO will want to "increase shareholder value" and will permanently lose Walmart's key advantage.