When thinking about the businesses that were prominent on Main Street during the latter half of the 20th century, Becker's Army-Navy Store is one of several that come to mind.
In 1932, Isadore and Katie Becker operated Becker's General Store at 30 Bridge Street in South Hadley, Massachusetts. On December 1, 1934, they relocated to 299 Main Street in Holyoke and celebrated the grand opening of Becker's Army-Navy Store. Their opening advertisement featured menswear from head to toe, as well as boys' shoes. Interestingly, Camel, Chesterfield, and Lucky Strike cigarettes were available for sale.
Isadore Becker died within one year of the new store's opening. His wife, Katie, continued to operate the store into the 1950s. Becker's Army-Navy Store was run in this manner until 1958, when Katie Becker's son, Harold, and his wife, Rosemarie, took over the business. The business was renamed Becker's Men's Wear, commonly referred to as simply Becker's.
Rosemarie Becker was a graduate student in zoology at Mount Holyoke College in 1961 when she married Harold C. Becker. Although she was not formally trained in design, she had the ideas and converted them to salable items. In the 1960s, she designed the long denim skirt, which was sold in the thousands.
She designed and produced a denim cover for a notebook, complete with stitched pockets on the inside, which was sent to President Jimmy Carter.
The army-navy concept of clothing wear was phasing out in the mid-1960s, as military bases were closing or reducing personnel. Becker's not only designed their line of clothing, but also sewed the products in the back of their store. This included flared pants, painter's pants, overalls, corduroy fatigues, and vests. Harold Becker was the company's salesman.
The company's label was evident in stores in Springfield and Greenfield, Massachusetts, Hartford, Connecticut, and New York. There were overseas customers in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.
In June 1964, the store relocated to 267 Main Street, and in November 1965, it was moved to 323 Main Street, next to Haberman's Hardware.
Rosemarie "Ruth" (DiMinno) Becker died in 1995. In addition to her work at Becker's, she also served as a biology instructor at Springfield Technical Community College. Before that, she taught zoology at the University of Massachusetts.
The store continued to operate as Becker's Factory Outlet until closing in 2008. At the time, Harold Becker was 88 years old.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; publication dates and pages are shown.
Price & Lee, City of Holyoke (Massachusetts) City Directories
MACRIS: Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System, Boston, Massachusetts
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