Recreating CF&I’s ‘Company Store’
In a new exhibit, the Steelworks Center of the West highlights the steel mill’s impact on the community beyond employment, at Pueblo’s “complete department store.”
Outside of work, Colorado Fuel and Iron was much more than an employer. The company provided newspapers, education and a company-owned store in many of the mining branches that offered groceries, clothes, hardware, pharmaceuticals.
The one-stop shop was “everything for everybody.” That was their motto.
A new exhibit at the Steelworks Museum showcases The Colorado Supply Company Store. It’s appropriately titled “Everything for Everybody: The Colorado Supply Company Store” and features items like the ones that would have been sold in the store during the 20s and 30s.
The staff of the Steelworks Museum was approached by volunteers of the Pueblo County Historical Society about the current “Everything for Everybody” exhibit last spring.
“We had been considering a project like this for some time, so we decided to go ahead and combine some pieces from our collections with those from the Pueblo County Historical Society, along with a few pieces from local private collectors, to come up with the final exhibit,” said Christopher Schreck, the archives manager at the Steelworks Center of the West.
Schreck said the museum has had a rotating exhibit space since 2014. The museum featured a different exhibit relevant to CF&I every four to six months. Steelworks Center of the West has featured everything from CF&I’s administrative personnel to industrial items from the Black Hills Energy 5 and 6 power plant, to exhibits highlighting the diverse immigrant population of steelworkers in Pueblo.
But the purpose of this exhibit is to help people see a softer side of CF&I — parts of life influenced by the mill that were off-duty.
The Colorado Supply Company Store was luxurious, Pueblo’s “complete department store.” For the turn of the century it was rare for a building as big as it was to have ceiling fans, central heating and a pneumatic tube system.
“It is our hope that visitors will begin to understand the significance of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company to the people of Southern Colorado, aside from its role as a steel producer,” Schreck said. “The company wasn’t just an employer, it provided recreation, healthcare, education (and) social programs.”
It’s speculated that at least 20,000 people attended the 1902 opening of the store, according to the museum.
The archivist also says that the company’s involvement in every aspect of life is a part of Pueblo and steel mill history that most people today have forgotten and is one of the things that makes Pueblo’s history unique.
Museum staff hope to feature more exhibits similar to “Everything for Everybody” in the future. They want to continue providing exhibits highlighting the people who lived and worked in Pueblo.
Schreck said this exhibit in particular helped the museum highlight what it was really like for people living in Pueblo who depended on the mill for their livelihood beyond a day of work.
“This project was fun because it allowed us to take a closer look at how the company interacted with their workforce as consumers rather than employees, and their attempts to appeal to their wives and children,” Schreck said.
The exhibit features mannequins dressed in period clothing, toys and everyday items one might find in a grocery superstore today. The Colorado Supply Company Store operated up until January 15, 1953, when the building was engulfed with flames in an early-morning fire. The store never reopened.
The exhibit is on display at the Steelworks Center of the West, located at 215 Canal Street in Pueblo.
