Manuscripts Collection
B. W. Harris, a privately-held, family-owned manufacturer of men's outerwear, was founded in St. Paul by Barney W. Harris (1886-1933) in 1916. The company began as a manufacturer of fur, sheepskin, leather, and textile outerwear, and was also a wholesaler of raw furs. Its Zero King line was established in 1917. In later years the company became a manufacturer of nationally distributed outerwear and sportswear for men, women, and children, much of it under the Zero King label. The main thrust of the business through the years seems to have been men's coats and jackets, primarily marketed to young, affluent urban professionals.
In 1971 the headquarters office was moved from Lowertown, St. Paul, to suburban West St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1978 B. W. Harris was sold to Palm Beach, Inc. (Cincinnati, Ohio), becoming an autonomous division of that firm. The following year B. W. Harris took over management of Powderhorn Mountaineering (Jackson Hole, Wyo.), another Palm Beach unit. In 1983 the Harris family repurchased the company.
By the 1990s B. W. Harris was producing mostly for private labels, and was no longer manufacturing in Minnesota.
The collection is composed mostly of advertising, publicity, promotional, and marketing materials targeted at retailers. There is information about the history of the company; its products, including fur and textile coats, jackets, ski wear, leisure suits, and other apparel for men, women, and children; the company's manufacturing plants; advertising campaigns; and American fashion trends over a 60-year period.
The heart of the collection consists of illustrated product catalogs, and scrapbooks of Zero King advertisements clipped from the pages of nationally circulated magazines. The catalogs feature the Zero King, Aviator, Quest, Michael Richards, and Powderhorn Mountaineering lines of coats and jackets, capes and scarves, ski wear, and other apparel.
A 60th anniversary slide show,
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should
Copyright retained by the donor.
Accession number: 15,235
Processed by: David B. Peterson, September 1997
Catalog ID number: 09-00319520
Clippings include newspaper stories about the construction of a new B. W. Harris plant in Lake City, Minn. (1962), Minnesota Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton modeling a Zero King coat (1965), and a visit by designer Bill Blass to the company's main plant in West St. Paul (1974).
There are some Zero King radio commercials on audio tape (reel and cassette), including re-recordings of a series of 1947 radio spots apparently taken from phonograph records. There are two television commercials on two small reels of 16mm color movie film. The commercials are housed in a small box within the collection container.
1. There's No Place Like Home; 2. Windstorm) 5-in. reel of audio tape.
17 cuts and one local tag announcement; master and user copies 2 audio cassettes.
Includes photographs of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton and B. W. Harris president of J. C. Harris in the company's Zero King "Smuggler" coats (1965); President Richard Nixon (with other American and Chinese dignitaries) touring the Great Wall of China while wearing a Zero King "President" coat (1972); and a photo (1970s?) of newsman Chet Huntley wearing what presumably is another Zero King coat. The Tarkenton photos are accompanied by a press release-type document issued by Daniel J. Edelman & Associates (New York/Chicago).
Two (disassembled) scrapbooks of magazine advertisements include Zero King ads that ran in
Miscellany includes ad copy for the Zero King and Powderhorn Mountaineering product lines, promotional packets for retailers (including fabric samples), and information about B. W. Harris' entry into the leisure suit business (1970s).