Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society

Artifact Of The Month - August 2005

The artifact of the month for August, 2005, is a small silver metal buttonhook with the words “Schwab Bros., Healdsburg.” Buttonhooks were Victorian era tools designed to help pull buttons through stiff leather on shoes and boots, or to fasten buttons on garments. Most found today date from the 1880s to the 1930s, but they were known to exist much earlier. Buttonhooks appear in many shapes and sizes, and materials utilized range from steel to gold, and from early plastic to inlaid gems. This buttonhook was donated to the Healdsburg Museum in 1981 by Major Phillips. It was probably a promotional giveaway distributed by the Schwab Brothers shoe store, opened by brothers F.J. Schwab and F.A. Schwab.

The family-run shoe store was located on the north side of Healdsburg’s Plaza for nearly a century.

Schwab Store Exterior - 1913

Schwab Store Interior - 1910

Brothers Francis “Frank” Joseph Schwab and Francis “Anton” Schwab were born in Bavaria, Germany in 1854 and 1856. The brothers departed for America together while still in their teens. They arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in 1872. Frank then made the trip to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and established a shoe business in Healdsburg in 1877. In 1885 Anton came to California, where he entered a partnership with his brother in the shoe business under the name Schwab Bros. They engaged in the making of custom boots and shoes out of raw leather, and were known for the high quality of their work. About 1893 they began to sell shoes to the general public, and their business steadily grew to be one of the biggest in Sonoma County. After their fathers retired, cousins Louis and Frank Schwab, assisted by other family members, ran the store until about 1970. Today many Healdsburg residents still recall purchasing shoes at Schwab Brothers.

Sources:

“Anton Schwab Died Thursday” Sotoyome Scimitar, 14 Feb. 1935.

“F.A. Schwab Dies at Home on Thursday”, Healdsburg Enterprise, 7 Feb. 1935

“Frank J. Schwab Died Monday”, Sotoyome Scimitar, 27 Feb. 1925.

http://www.buttonhooksociety.com

“Local Merchant Dies Monday Morning”, Healdsburg Tribune, 26 Feb. 1925

“Schwab Bros. Celebrate their 50^th Anniversary by Having Shoe Sale”, Healdsburg. Enterprise, 3 May 1928.

The above was researched and written by Whitney Hopkins

For more information about the Museum's collection of historical artifacts, contact the Museum.