1918 R. M. Bruchman Indian Trading Post Stationary Winslow Arizona Navajo & Hopi

Description

Here is a rare authentic vintage antique sheet of stationary from my 50 year collection of Native American and Southwestern history archive. It is a mint sheet of Indian Trader 8 1/2"  by  11"  stationary. If looking for other Indian Trader material please feel free to ask ....  I may have something of interest.
R. M. BRUCHMAN
~~  INDIAN TRADER  ~~
NAVAJO INDIAN RUGS
HOPI INDIAN CURIOS
ESTABLISHED   1903
113 WEST SECOND STREET
WINSLOW  ARIZONA
R
ichard Max Bruchman was born on November 29, 1882 in London, England. His parents, Otto and Louise Bruchman, were German immigrants. When Richard Bruchman was only ten days old his family immigrated to the United States through Baltimore, Maryland. They settled down permanently in a German community in Ripon, Wisconsin. His brother Oscar was born in London and his brothers Arthur and William were born in Ripon. Bruchman’s parents insisted they attend a local parochial school where only German was spoken. The children begged to be allowed to attend public school in order to learn to speak English. When he was in sixth grade, Bruchman was allowed to attend public school. He started in the first grade but within two months was enrolled in the fourth grade. He finished his education in public school after the sixth grade as a young teen.
In 1899 a businessman from the Becker Mercantile Company came to Ripon on a hiring trip. Bruchman became excited about going out West and took a train to Magdalena, New Mexico, where he worked as a clerk at Becker’s Mercantile. He worked here for a year and a half and it was during this time he became fluent in Spanish. He then moved to the small mining community at Clarkville near Gallup, New Mexico. It was here that he met Corrine Bocklett, commonly referred to as Cora. However, Bruchman soon became homesick and moved back to Wisconsin. Only two days after returning to Ripon he received a telegram from Babbitt Brothers offering him a job as a clerk at their store in Winslow, Arizona. Bruchman accepted the offer and arrived in Winslow in 1902 where he worked for Babbitt Brothers Mercantile at their store on the corner of First and Kinsley Street. In 1903 Bruchman bought the “old” George McAdams Trading Post, located near the old Hopi Crossing of the Little Colorado River about ten miles northwest of Winslow.
In 1906 Bruchman travelled back to Gallup and married Cora. They had six children, but four of them did not survive infancy. Their son George lived for only two hours, William for ten days, Ann Louise for six months, and Robert Richard died of pneumonia before his second birthday. Bruchman and Cora moved to Winslow in 1921, most likely due to these severe losses they had experienced living at the Trading Post. Cora died in 1924 of pneumonia and their son Clark died in 1927 when a horse he was riding fell and crushed him. Bruchman devoted the majority of his time after this to running his business and to his one remaining son, Donald. Donald helped him with the business and was working the cash register when he finished high school. Donald married Hazel Carmack in 1938 and continued to help his father with the curio shop and with building the Bruchman Building on Williamson. Donald passed away at the age of 45 in 1962 in a car crash. One of the few close friends Bruchman had after his immediate family had passed away was his brother-in-law, Tracy Clark. When Bruchman went on vacation for the first time at age 80, Tracy accompanied him on his travels to Hawaii and Europe.
Bruchman ran the trading post northwest of Winslow for about 18 years. Every day he would ride to Winslow in a horse drawn wagon in order to get supplies from the railroad. He would then ride across the reservation to Navajo camps to trade the supplies he had picked up. It was during these frequent trips that Bruchman became well acquainted with the Navajo. He held a great deal of respect for their culture and art and learned to speak Navajo. The Navajo respected Bruchman as well because he could speak Spanish and Navajo and because he provided them with essential goods and supplies, such as Pendleton blankets starting in 1910. The Navajo called Bruchman ‘Nakai Yazhi’, which means ‘Little Mexican’ in the Navajo language. When Bruchman moved to Winslow in 1921 he opened a curio shop, a new type of store at the time. The store was known for the hand-woven Navajo blankets and handmade Navajo jewelry it sold. His curio shop even had customers from the eastern United States through advertisements in national magazines. Bruchman was active in the Winslow community, serving on the town council from 1922 to 1924, serving as town police judge for seven years during prohibition, and serving as the Winslow Rotary Club president in 1930. Bruchman continued to run his curio shop for over 50 years, making it the longest running business in Winslow. Richard Bruchman passed away at the age of 104 in 1986.
Shipping is .99 with multiple layers of cardboard protection ... Ebay is driving up shipping costs for all of us. They now extract a % of each seller's shipping charge plus the additional paypal charges as well. I offer combined shipping for multiple purchases, but I will need to send an invoice because ebay automatically generates one at the closing of the auction and a 99 Cent shipping if you want that..... just ask.  Enjoy and good hunting..... Please feel free to ask any questions you like