Courtesy Lauren Leonard via Leonard's Museum
Well over 2,000 items from the historic Leonard’s Department Store soon will adorn a new display at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History this year.
If you lived in or around Tarrant County between the 1940s and 1970s, chances are good that Leonard’s Department Store left an indelible mark on your psyche.
From its elaborate window displays to its miniature monorail (“Santa’s Rocket Express”), Leonard’s was the place to be on the weekends long before society ever knew what a suburban mall was.
This iconic and innovative Fort Worth retail giant once spanned seven city blocks which stretched out over Houston, Throckmorton, Weatherford, and W. First streets. Leonard’s also had its own subway system to ferry shoppers to the parking lots near what is Panther Island Pavilion today.
Anyone who grew up in Fort Worth after the 1979 demolition of the store has only had the Leonard’s Museum at 220 Carroll St. to fill them in on the goings-on at this once sprawling kingdom of commerce.
Courtesy Lauren Leonard via Leonard's Museum
Marvin Leonard is on the left with is hand resting on hip in a photo showing the very earliest days of the store. Behind him is his brother Green Leonard.
And just like the store, the museum also will soon be entering into a new phase.
Marty Leonard, founder of the Leonard’s Museum and daughter of Leonard’s Department Store co-founder Marvin Leonard says the more than 2,000 items curated by the museum are being moved before the end of the month for a display at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.
Marty Leonard started the collection for what would become the museum in the mid-1980s. She received a wagon with the name “Leonard’s Speedster” painted on the side of it as a gift.
“This was so neat because I didn't have a lot of Leonard's items and none of the family had really saved things through the years,” she says.
For her next gathering, Marty says she asked anyone who might be interested in keeping the Leonard’s legacy alive to bring a store item.
“That's what started the collection really. And then for a long time I had it in my house. And, of course, that didn't work. You can't invite the world into your house. So that's when we decided to move everything to a neutral location,” she says.
After being stationed in a basement spot in downtown Fort Worth for several years, Marty moved the museum to Carroll Street.
“Our staff has been working with [Marty] over a period of several months already to assess how things will be moved,” says Regina Faden, CEO of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. “There’s about 2,400 items in the collection, so it’s going to take awhile.”
A large display case in the atrium where the large dinosaur skeleton is located will display items from the store as soon as Jan. 25. With the amount of items, the displays will change out occasionally throughout the year, Faden says.
“I actually had a chance to view how Miss Leonard had the museum set up on Carroll Street, which was enlightening,” Faden says. “Leonard’s was really community-minded and had a lot of things that helped not just promote the store but also welcomed the people who frequented the store.”
Marvin Leonard opened the store with his brother Green Thomas — G.T. — in 1918, a humble 25-by-60-foot space. Soon after, G.T. left to form his own business, and younger brother Obie joined Marvin. “Mr. Marvin” and “Mr. Obie” became staples in Fort Worth retail. By the late 1920s, Leonard Brothers was ever expanding, not just in size but also in promotional offerings.
Courtesy Lauren Leonard via Leonard's Museum
One such offering was “Santa’s Rocket Express,” which ushered kids around Toyland from a view above the toy store.
By the 1940s, Leonard’s was the very first store in the Southwest to have an escalator, according to Marty.
“This escalator was built in-house,” Marty says. “We didn’t get it from a manufacturer, we built it ourselves.”
The M&O Subway was a one-of-a-kind DFW innovation, offering patrons free parking and a subway ride downtown from a lot off the Trinity River. It has been called the world’s only privately-owned subway at the time.
Leonard’s also had huge social impact.
During the Great Depression, it offered its own scrip, a provisional certificate of money that could be exchanged for goods after FDR closed banks. Local merchants accepted the currency and redeemed it at Leonard’s.
The brothers also were the first in town to order designations "white" and "colored" removed from all restrooms and drinking fountains. This being a few years before the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act dealing with public accommodations.
Leonard’s sold to the Tandy Corporation in the late 1960s. It sold again to Dillard’s in the mid-70s. The seven-block structure was demolished in May of 1979.
“Leonard's was definitely part of the history of Fort Worth for a lot of years,” Marty says. “It is very, very gratifying to me, mainly because people have told me how important they think [the museum] is and that they're so thrilled that it's going to be preserved for the future. I know that it'll be well taken care of and be there for a long time even after I’m gone. I know I can't last forever, so I wanted to make sure that it did.”
