BUTTE FIRM ENTERS WINDOW DISPLAY CONTEST

The Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, 1920-10-24, p.32

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Summary

Half-tone photograph (large) of the Murphy-Softley window display at 22 West Park street, Butte. An exclusive Printzess garment display, entered in this season's window display contest run by the Printz-Niederman company of Cleveland. First prize $100, total prizes $450, open to all ready-to- wear shops handling Printzess garments. The display: dress forms with women's coats arranged against a background of autumn foliage and ferns. Three mannequins visible in the photograph; the centre of the window has a mirror or doorway with another full-length coat. A "pleasing combination" per the caption. ARCHIVE SIGNIFICANCE. (a) Within seven months of opening, Murphy-Softley is being held up by an Anaconda paper as a representative Butte firm in a national window-display contest — the Printz-Niederman national network. Confirms Softley's window-dressing reputation translated immediately to the new store. (b) The photograph itself is a primary visual document of the store's interior — for the book's Butte chapter. **First known photograph of the Murphy- Softley shop in operation.**

In its time

Narrative

The Murphy-Softley company at 22 West Park street, Butte, enters an exclusive Printzess garment window display in the seasonal contest run by the Printz-Niederman company of Cleveland, which offers $450 in total prizes, the first being $100. The garments are arranged against a background of autumn foliage and ferns, a display said to have drawn unusual comment during Printzess week. A half-tone photograph of the window accompanies the account.

  • “The garments were arranged against a background of autumn foliage and ferns, which made an extremely pleasing combination.”
  • “The windows of the Murphy-Softley apparel shop are always attractive”

AI-generated (claude-opus-5). Verify against the transcription before quoting.

People

  • role: store co proprietor · family confidence: 75 strong

    Family confidence aligned with identity confidence 90 on 4 Oct 2026; the reason is in identity_basis.

  • Edward Softley(as printed: Murphy-Softley)
    role: store co proprietor and window dresser · family confidence: 0 not family

    Softley is the window-dressing reputation that justifies the contest entry; though not named individually in this ad, his presence is what the article is celebrating.

Also mentioned

  • Printz-Niederman company of Cleveland · contest_sponsor

    National women's-coat manufacturer headquartered in Cleveland. Brand name 'Printzess' (with the z) was a major US ready-to-wear coat label of the 1910s–20s. Murphy-Softley as a Printzess retailer puts them in the national mid-tier department-store network.

Places

Themes

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Tags

Source type

news_item, business_notice

Related sources

Transcription
transcription: complete · confidence high
# BUTTE FIRM ENTERS WINDOW DISPLAY CONTEST *The Anaconda Standard, Sunday, October 24, 1920, p. 32. Large half-tone photograph of the Murphy-Softley window display, with caption below.* [*Photograph of the storefront window. Three mannequin forms display women's coats; the centre of the window opens onto a mirror or doorway with an additional full-length coat visible at the back. Background: autumn foliage and ferns. Below the window are several framed prints or photographs propped along the floor.*] An exclusive Printzess garment display in the windows of the Murphy-Softley company, at 22 West Park street, entered in this season's window display contest, for which the first prize is $100. This contest is open to all ready-to-wear shops handling Printzess garments. The windows of the Murphy-Softley apparel shop are always attractive, but this particular display, arranged especially for Printzess week, caused an unusual amount of comment. The garments were arranged against a background of autumn foliage and ferns, which made an extremely pleasing combination. Each season the Printz-Niederman company of Cleveland conducts a window display contest for which a total of $450 in cash prizes is offered. This is the Murphy-Softley entry.

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Open questions

  • Extract the photograph as a portrait/scene asset for the timeline UI on the back-pass. The store interior view at seven months old is a first-of-kind document.