1913 - 1914 Fall & Winter: Harry Mitchell Company of Minneapolis, Fashion Broadside
DESCRIPTION
This is a large-format illustrated fashion broadside issued by the Harry Mitchell Company of Minneapolis for the Fall & Winter 1913–1914 season. Printed in color, the sheet presents a comprehensive visual catalog of men’s tailored clothing offered by the firm on the eve of World War I.
The composition is organized around a central standing figure in a three-piece suit, surrounded by dozens of smaller, finely rendered figures modeling overcoats, sack suits, frock coats, and formal attire. Each garment is numbered, corresponding to keyed style listings printed along the lower margin, effectively functioning as both an advertising poster and an in-store reference chart. Accessories and details, including hats, gloves, canes, and waistcoats, are also illustrated, reflecting contemporary standards of men’s dress and social presentation.
Rendered in a refined commercial illustration style typical of the period, the print documents early twentieth-century American menswear at a moment when tailoring emphasized structure, formality, and seasonal layering. This broadside offers clear insight into regional retail fashion, marketing practices, and the visual language used by Midwestern clothiers during the early 1910s.
Harry Mitchell Company was a Minneapolis-based men’s clothing firm active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, operating as merchant tailors and outfitters during a period when American menswear was transitioning from bespoke tailoring to ready-to-wear production. The company specialized in custom and made-to-measure suits, overcoats, and formal wear, marketing its offerings through illustrated seasonal style charts and large-format advertising sheets such as this Fall & Winter 1913–1914 broadside.
CONDITION
1200 W. 35th Street #425 Chicago, IL 60609 | P: (312) 496 - 3622