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CLOTHING AND MEN'S
FURNISHINGS
SAM CINCOTTA'S PRODUCE Sam Cincotta started his business in a makeshift temporary awning-covered fruit and produce stand on West Potomac Street on the Leonard House property, which was located on the North side of the first block of West Potomac Street. He had a truck and went to Baltimore market regularly for produce. He wholesaled to various grocery stores in Brunswick. Sam built his business over the years and became a very prestigious businessman and property owner.
An i896 directory lists the following in this category: Victor Kaplan & Bro. Charles R. Gregory, General Store William L. Gross, General Store C. P. Herring, Gents Furnishings and Groceries
Hewitt & Rockwell, General Store Kaplons John Martin & Co. General Store
W - BLC
J. D. Oglesby, General Store COAL DEALERS AND HAULERS In the Maryland State Gazetteer for 1909-10-11, Brunswick is listed as having several haberdashers: Victor Kaplan, "Clothier and Outfitter to Men and Women."
Today it's oil or electricity, but in the heyday of the railroad in Brunswick, homes were heated with coal. Three coal dealers are remembered by the older generation of Brunswickians: The Mill, The Brunswick Cooperative, and Harry Y. George. The Mill was located behind the site of the nowrazed eastbound station, just west of it, along the C&O Canal. Brunswick Cooperative's early home began at the foot of Fifth Avenue, midway of the road just south of Potomac Street. Dutch Bums remembers it there around 1919. Pete Chaney, a private dealer in coal, states that the Brunswick "Co-op" had a chute and siding at the bottom of Fifth Avenue near the tracks. Harry Y. George, hardware dealer, used a railroad siding on B&O property when he was a partner of Wenner, Swank, and George. Their business was located south of the westbound track on the west side of Virginia Avenue. By the time both Wenner and Swank bowed out of the business, Mr. George had moved to the southwest corner of Delaware Avenue and West Potomac Street, where Brunswick Hardware now operates. At this time, Mr. George rented a coal bin from the B&O at the alley across the tracks behind his earlier store. A spur track accommodated them, but coal was unloaded with a shovel. After this, George's coal yard was located near the canning factory behind Litten's, on the south side of West Potomac Street at the intersection of Florida Avenue. The railroad extended a sidetrack to these coalyard bins also. Both the dealers and the railroad benefited, as the freight trains brought coal to the dealer's doors, so to speak. All Harry George or the Mill manager had to do was pick up the phone, call the mine, and place an order. Upon arrival, the coal ordered went right to the truck for
Jones and Robinson, "The Leading Store for Ladies' and Gents' Furnishings, Dry Goods, Shoes and Ha ts our Specialties. It's the Talk of the Town- 'Our Values' up to date in Style and Quality. Nierenburg and Schulman, "Dealers in Clothing and Men's Furnishing Goods." Jacob M. and Nathan Ephraim, 24 and 8 West Potomac Street. Schulman and Deders Stream, Brady and Co. The advertisement in this same directory for Myer Sachs, Tailor, is interesting: "There is more truth than poetry in the saying that the cut of a man's clothes is a guide to his calibre. Sachs' clothes have calibre stitched into them. They are priced in reason and absolutely made by ME alone. Myer Sachs, Merchant Tailor, Brunswick, Md." Others who offered men's clothes for sale were Abie Ellin on East Potomac Street and H. N. Werntz, the former in the 1920'sand30's, and the latter until his death in 1961. (See articles on The Lace Store and The V. Kaplon Co.) W-WHH
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