The watercolor shows 231 South 12th Street just after V. Clad & Sons vacated the premises. The sign above the door reads: |
* This sign reveals several restrictions of the site as a commercial venue. Size: At less than 1100 square feet, there is little room for growth. The building is three stories and, as assessed in the 1917 Philadelphia Real Estate directory, is a store only on the first floor, and a residence above. Such a site seems inappropriate for a manufacturer of commercial cooking apparatus. Market: It is also logical that a manufacturer of business supplies would be located in a business or tourism district in order to more effectively market to its hotel clients. Vacancy: Note that at the time of the watercolor, the building is vacant. If this were a viable piece of commercial property, real estate market forces would not allow it to sit idle. Vacancy indicates that the block was in the midst of a transformation within the context of the neighborhood and/or the city. |
V.Clad & Sons Inc In 1900, the company was located at 119 South 11th Street. As indicated by city directories, by 1905 they had moved to 245 South 12th Street, just down the street from the corner site in the watercolor. They moved again by the time the watercolor was drawn in 1914. As indicated above, V. Clad & Sons was a manufacturer of hotel cooking supplies. The company is represented by the following employees in 1915**: Clarence B Kugler Junior - President The fact that there is no V. Clad listed probably indicates that the company has been in business for many years and the owner or founder has retired. It is at first surprising that a well-established business would change locations so frequently. However, this serves to further illustrate the shift that must be occuring in the neighborhood at this time; it indicates that an established business is having to strategically reposition itself to changing commercial conditions.
While cooking apparatus manufacturing appears to have been misplaced at this site, by the 1920's a Cleaners and Dyers had moved in, indicating that business made the necessary shift to meet neighborhood market demand. |
| *This is an electronic replication of the sign in the watercolor.
It does not bear exact resemblance. **Boyd's Philadelphia City Directory, 1915 |