1942-70's Town and Country Shoes Main Street Warrensburg Missouri

Research and writing from Peggy Nuckles, featured contributor! Peggy has had the very interesting Accidental History blog. http://accidentalhistory.blogspot.com

Monday, February 20, 2017

Town and Country Shoes

I came across a negative from the Simmons Studio collection of this United Shoe Workers of America Charter. It's dated 1945 which is baffling. The only local factory to which it could apply is Town and Country Shoes.

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March 1, 1948 Application for United Shoe Workers of America. Town and Country shoes Warrensburg, MO. Lloyd Norma, Opal Sullivan, Pearl Norman, Ruby E. Burke, Jaines R. Parsons, Nannie R. Barnes, John L. Harding, Iva L. Cecil, Robert C. Clear.

However Buddy Baker worked there in the early 1950s and he says it wasn't a union shop back then.

Here's Buddy running a pullover machine at Town and Country Shoes in the early 50s. 

The factory started out in the basement of the old National Guard Armory (Holden Street at North Street - Trails Regional Library Location today) and then moved to its permanant location on North Main Street. (Later was owned by Harmon Electronics).

It's closed now, and they've put a fence up around it.


Town and Country Shoes Organized by Vergil Lipscomb and C. W. Mathieson in 1942. Warrensburg factory started in 1944.
Ruth Holtz wrote a very interesting article about it back in 1967. Three Hundred and Twenty Five employees at $100,000 a month. That comes to an average wage of about $307 a month. That's the same as making $2,258 a month 2017.

Here's some of the people who worked there in 1967.
Don Arfmann, Warrensburg, MO. 1967



Mrs. Goldie Green, 209 West Pine Street. 1967. Warrensburg, MO

Karen Loza, Knob Noster, MO. 1967

Sometime in the early 1970s, the factory closed.
They had a reunion for former employees in 1986.

1986 Town and Country Reunion, Warrensburg, MO published in the Leeton Shield

From Warrensburg - Carlene Davis, Neomia Taraba, Frances Howard, Florence Bird, Adam and Rachel Chrisman, Fay Cook, Juanita Peterson, Effie Higgins, Bertha Fox, Rosaline Steele, Iva Skidmore, Chester and Helen Badger, Ora and Crhistine Anderson, Ralph Hodges, Esther Robbins, Harry and Esther Iseminger, Mary Copas and Birdie Clark.

From Leeton – Eddie and Donna Todd. From Chilhowee – Freddie and Margie Todd and from Holden – Bill and Nadine Moore.