Reinventing the J.C. Penney Museum

by John Deis, President of Caldwell County Business Association

The Missouri Transportation Department has designated US Route 36 as the “The Way of American Genius” to provide leverage for developing tourism in the small rural towns that are within a 36 mile zone on north and south sides. Notable innovations and innovators along the route include Samuel Clemens, Walt Disney, General Blackjack Pershing, sliced bread, the Pony Express and Hamilton’s James Cash Penney.

J.C. Penney revolutionized the retail industry in the United States and contributed to the way we shop today. That we typically don’t haggle over prices in stores can be attributed to J.C. Penney’s firm belief that prices should be low, set and marked. The typical practice when Penney started in retail was to bargain for items; the initial price was determined by the clerk based upon the customer’s appearance. J.C. Penney also set many other standards in early retail that provided the foundation for contemporary retail practices.

JC Penny MuseumJ.C. Penney was born in 1875 on a farm just outside of Hamilton. His father, a minister, along with his devout mother, influenced Penney’s lifetime ethics. Penney lived by the Golden Rule. He started in retail in Hamilton as a clerk and later moved to Colorado, where he worked for and eventually owned the Golden Rule Stores. While ironic in itself, these are the stores that became the foundation for the JC Penney Stores.

The reinvention of the J.C. Penney Museum can be attributed to the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum on Main Street program. The museum was the recipient of Journey Stories and the team took the Missouri Humanities Council’s offer most seriously. That offer: We want to make a permanent impact in your community. How to respond to this generous offer was the team’s challenge.

JC Penny MuseumThe museum floor space is quite limited. Taking a lesson from being the recipient of a traveling exhibit, the team decided to create a traveling exhibit of its own that would be used to increase the general awareness of the region’s history in schools and other venues. The traveling exhibit consists of two components – more than twenty “pop-up banners” like those used in trade shows and videos in digital frames on stands. This traveling exhibit stands up in an hour and is easy to transport. The development of the exhibit was funded by the MHC, local fundraising, and many hours of donated time.

Bricks and mortar capital projects take years to establish, and a long-range goal is to preserve the history of the region and to expand the J.C. Penney story. The traveling exhibit will engage the younger generation and contribute to the development of local pride. This will serve to mainstream the general notion that “something must be done.” The traveling exhibit will also provide the basic graphics and content for the development of a J.C. Penney Museum website. As of today, the only website that provides coverage for the museum is “Roadside Oddities,” hardly a strategic choice for economic development.

The Missouri Humanities Council offered to make a permanent impact; Hamilton leveraged the opportunity to develop a springboard to become a serious partner in the Route 36 project. We sincerely thank the Missouri Humanities Council for that opportunity.

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