J.R. EVANS: Our stories on the closing of James R. Evans men’s
clothing store on Main Street jogged some memories.
George T. Howard of Peachtree City, Ga., writes, “Your recent
article on the James R. Evans Co. brought back some good memories.
As a young man growing up in Bradford in the late ’30s and ’40s I
bought all my suits at J.R. Evans. Their featured line was Botany
500. The cost of a Botany 500 suit was ,55 at that time.”
We also heard from Julian Price of Hewlett, N.Y.: “The closing
of James R. Evans brings back memories of when I was a ‘husky’
child my mother took me there and to Dana’s to buy little boys
suits.”
“That was over 50 years ago before we moved to New York. As an
aside, Jack Shatara played the bass violin in the orchestra and I
played the violin.
“Also, Jack Shatara’s father who had a dry cleaning shop on West
Washington Street bought two houses on the same lot on Forman
Street for the huge amount of ,5,000 which was a lot of money in
1957.”
GO GATORS: LuAnn Gamet of Port Allegany has some input on our
ongoing debate over the school colors of Port and Smethport:
“I disagree with (the) comment about Port Allegany’s school
colors being black and orange. Anyone who attended Port Allegany
High and remembers the alma mater can tell you that ‘Port High
stands defender of the orange and the black’ not black and
orange.”
LuAnn points out our reader had said Smethport didn’t receive
its colors of “black and orange” until 1961 when the high schools
in that area combined, adding “Port Allegany already had the orange
and black at that time along with the alma mater so I do believe
that Port Allegany actually can lay claim to the ‘orange and
black.'”
“I’m not quite sure but I believe they took these colors from
the school flower which is also mentioned in the alma mater as the
lily, which is … orange and black (it is actually a tiger lily
which is what our yearbooks are called and the first one was
established in 1913).”
LuAnn finishes with, “Go, Gators!”
“P.S. I asked my mother who is a member of the class of 1959 if
these colors were used then and she said they were.”
