Fedco Superstores



Fedco Superstores, Inc. Collection, Special
Collections and Archives, JFK Memorial Libry, CSULA

        

Fedco Superstores, Inc. Collection, Special Collections and Archives,
JFK Memorial Library, CSULA

  Before membership stores like Costco and Sam’s Club, there was Fedco. In fact, Fedco was founded in 1949 before most of the big superstores we have today like Target and Wal-Mart. The Fedco Superstores, Inc. Collection in Special Collections and Archives is not only a record of Fedco’s history, it is also a record of American culture in the last half of the 20^th century.

          Fedco was started as the Federal Employee’s Distribution Company by approximately 600 Los Angeles Area postal workers who were suffering from a post WWII wage freeze. With prices for everyday goods rising, the workers sought to save money by buying from wholesalers rather than from traditional retail stores with higher prices. By 1955, Fedco expanded to a solid, physical location in Los Angeles. By 1984, Fedco was a chain store with 9 locations and a recognizable name in Southern California. In 1996, Fedco became Fedco Superstores to compete with other big box retailers, but the end was already near. With Costco and others taking away more and more of its business, Fedco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1999. Dayton Hudson Corporation, now Target, bought Fedco’s real estate.

Fedco Superstores, Inc. Collection, Special Collections
and Archives, JFK Memorial Library, CSULA

Fedco Superstores, Inc. Collection, Special Collections
 and Archives, JFK Memorial Library, CSULA

          The Fedco Reporter, the store’s magazine and catalog, contains a vast number of vintage advertisements ranging from the early 1950s to 1999. Through these, the passing of the decades is evident. In 1967, a pair of boy’s jeans at Fedco was only $1.74 and a women’s capri set, complete with crop top, was $8.49. In 1984, Rainbow Brite was featured on the membership application page, floppy discs were hi-tech, and the Atari 2600 was popular. The pages of the Fedco Reporter's issues contain articles as well. They’re a useful resources for nostalgists and researchers alike.

          The collection also includes sales awards that reflect American consumer history. One such award was featured as a CSULA Library Facebook Page Item of the Day, a Mario statue awarded to Fedco by Nintendo in 1993. Pictured is an award from Paramount Interactive celebrating a partnership with Fedco for the 1994 Summer Consumer Electronics Show.

Fedco Superstores, Inc. Collection, Special Collections and Archives, JFK Memorial Library, CSULA

First Student on Campus

          A new quarter has started here at Cal State LA, just as a newly graduated class has left us. Since CSULA was established as Los Angeles State College in 1947, it has gone through a variety of changes. This includes numerous name changes, a campus change in 1955, a mascot change from a Diablo to a Golden Eagle in 1981, and the inauguration of our 7^th University President, William A. Covino, in 2013. But there are many people that were here before our university had any history, the students that helped make it.



Pictures of Our Past, Special Collections and Archives, John F. Kennedy
Memorial Library, California State University, Los Angeles

 From Peking Man, College Times, Special Collections and Archives, John
F. Kennedy Memorial Library, California State University, Los Angeles

Hesson in 1967, Pictures of Our Past, Special
Collections and Archives, John F. Kennedy Memorial
Library, California State University, Los Angeles
 

          Many of those students and Cal State LA milestones have been documented in photographs that are stored in Special Collections and Archives as part of the Pictures of Our Past Collection. Pictured is William N. Hesson, the first student to enroll at Los Angeles State College. This photograph was taken at his Commencement in 1950. His name appears frequently in issues of the College Times from 1948-1950, also housed in Special Collections. Hesson was an accomplished actor during his time here, starring in productions of such plays as Ibsen’s Ghosts, Antigone, and Life with Father. He also directed and starred in the first western production of Peking Man by Cao Yu.  

          While Hesson was the first student to enroll, he was not the first student to graduate. The photograph below was taken at our first Commencement in 1948. Only seven students made up the graduating class. Our University has come a long way since our humble beginnings 68 years ago. Earlier this month, over 6,000 students received their degrees.

Left to Right: Raynolds Johnson, Donald G. Douglas, Donald C. Eugster, Richard J. Hoffman, Charles H. Maher, Marie L. Montoya, and Ohma A. Taylor
Pictures of Our Past, Special Collections and Archives, John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, California State University, Los Angeles

 

Item of the Day: Fight Fascism...Students for a Democratic Society's Educational Packet - u.d.

          

Peace and Freedom, Special Collections and Archives,
John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, California State
 University, Los Angeles

         Today's item of the day comes from the Peace and Freedom Collection, kept in Special Collections and Archives. The collection is named for an activist organization from Long Beach, CA that was active in the 1960s and 1970s. The group was in solidarity with Chicano movements and the Black Panthers. The rest of the collection includes documents on the Black Movement, newspaper articles, and other civil rights materials.

Peace and Freedom, Special Collections and Archives,
John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, California State
University, Los Angeles

Peace and Freedom, Special Collections and Archives, John F.
Kennedy Memorial Library, California State University, Los Angeles

          A large part of the collection is made of materials produced by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) including today’s item of the day. The SDS was a radical student activist group that fought against racism and protested against the Vietnam War. The organization has disbanded, but an organization called the New SDS exists today.

Peace and Freedom, Special Collections and Archives, John F. Kennedy
Memorial Library, California State University, Los Angeles

          The publication is strongly against the Vietnam War, utilizing headlines like “Bring the War Home!” and “War at Kent State.” It lists specific information about Kent State student activism and the arrests and violence that accompanied it. The last page is a call to action, telling people to protest the Vietnam War by protesting in Chicago. The article focuses on the events of the 1968 Democratic National Convention that took place more than a year before the planned protest in the article. The article stresses that, despite the violence that the media highlighted, the SDS and other protesters made a strong showing. The publication is a useful resource for anyone interested in the political climate of the 60s and 70s.

          If you want to learn more about the Peace and Freedom Collection, check out our previous item of the day on the CSULA Library Facebook Page. Our last item, BANG! BANG! You’re Dead, an Anti-Draft flyer dated 1967, was featured on June 24.