Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Wordless Wednesday - Doors to Vandever's, Tulsa


The Vandever's Dry Goods later Vandever's Department Store was the first big department store in Tulsa.  Established in 1912 sold in 1970, and closed several years later.  The last surviving Vandever brother "Bill" died January 2, 2010.  See the article in the Tulsa World.

Photo courtesy of the Beryl Ford Collection/Rotary Club of Tulsa, Tulsa City-County Library and Tulsa Historical Society.


6 comments:

caite said... [Reply to comment]

Like the old sign, but it is still a handsome building, isn't it.

Snowcatcher said... [Reply to comment]

Sharing both the old photo and the more recent one really adds to this. I enjoyed comparing the two pictures. Sad, though, that a piece of the past has been lost to a degree.

DrillerAA09 said... [Reply to comment]

I do hate to see the original, decorative covering over the entrances missing. I have spent a few hours in that building as a kid. Vandiver's was the upscale store, to J.C. Penny, of it's day. There was another store in the original Southroads mall as well.

Yogi♪♪♪ said... [Reply to comment]

I really wish that I had seen downtown Tulsa in its prime. When i started working downtown in 1992, there was still a MedX pharmacy and Renbergs and lots more restaurants plus my doctor's office was downtown.

The restaurants are making a resurgence but there are still not any retail options.

Great pic!

Unknown said... [Reply to comment]

I really miss the downtown retail stores. We always did all our shopping at the stores there. I would definitely shop downtown if they had more retail stores in the iconic bulidings from Boston to Main along 5th St. Bring back the old shopping district!

Anonymous said... [Reply to comment]

Wonderful seeing these photos and a bit of history about Vandever's. When I was a kid (1960s), I thought downtown was kind of a scary place. Now, I love the old buildings and wish the old stores were still there.

The only Vandever's I knew was the one at Southroad's Mall, and I loved it. It was such a beautiful store.