View Edit

c.1911 1

Fred Bammann Hardware was a hardware store run by Fred R. Bammann c.1907-c.1955, at 4632 East 14th Street (now International Boulevard) for most of those years. His son, Fred R.H. Bammann, worked at the store from at least 1930 to WWII.

There's a minor question regarding the exact location of the first store. The 1912 Sanborn maps do not show a building at 4219 East 14th Street, so it's possible 4219 was just a typo in the 1907 directory. The later addresses are easier to pinpoint. Based on the 1912 Sanborn showing that the addresses across the street from what was 4519 East 14th were being renumbered, it appears that the former 4519 became 4559 at this time. Unfortunately the 1903 Sanborn maps don't cover the blocks in question to confirm the above. 4559 E14th is at the corner of 46th Avenue (formerly Cleveland Avenue), and the building is still standing. 4632 E14th has since been demolished, but appears on the 1961 Sanborn map as a furniture store.

1912 Sanborn map excerpt showing address changes across the street from 4559 E. 14th Street.

1930 ad 1942 ad

c.1927, the store was part of the Winchester Stores hardware chain, which were independently owned. Following WWI growth, in the 1920s the Winchester Company tried expanding into consumer goods.

1927 ad1955 ad

1912 Sanborn excerpt1925 Sanborn excerpt

Photo

c.1911 1

"Fred Bammann, Avon [or Avor] Williams, Freddie Bammann 5 yrs old, about 1911, E. 14th and Cleveland Avenue, Melrose, Oakland, Calif." is written on the reverse of the photo. 1

The clerk's name was Ivor Williams; Williams is listed as a clerk for F.R. Bammann in the 1909 through 1913 directories. By the time of his WWI draft card in 1917, Williams had his own hardware store.

As noted above, 46th Avenue was previously Cleveland Avenue. Freddie (Frederick Richard Henry) Bammann was born August 6, 1906. Those facts correlate with the photo being late 1911 or early 1912.

Links and References

  1. 1997-395-19 History San Jose
Edit tags