Garibaldi and Bruns records

Collection

Identifier: MS0053

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection is comprised primarily of financial information records of a Charlotte jewelry firm, comprised primarily of ledger books (1925-75) showing customer names and purchases. Also includes summary information (1957-62) on the firm's purchases from wholesalers, bank statements (1963-65), and a biographical sketch (1941) of the firm's founder, Joseph Garibaldi.

Dates

1925-1975, 1992-1996
1925 - 1975

Creator

Garibaldi and Bruns (Charlotte, N.C.) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Biographical / Historical

In 1896, Garibaldi and Bruns opened in Charlotte just off the Square on South Tryon Street. This new jewelry firm was formed by Joseph Garibaldi (1864-1939), William L. Bruns (1876-1937), and Harry W. Dixon (1872-1916). Garibaldi, a business and civic leader of the community, was the Charlotte-born son of Italian immigrants. At the age of twelve, he began his career as an apprentice in the jewelry store of P. Lasne in Charlotte and worked for several jewelry concerns prior to forming Garibaldi and Bruns. His civic service included membership on the Charlotte Board of Alderman (1907-09), two terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives (1931, 1933), and foreman of the Mecklenburg County Grand Jury (1938). William L. Bruns was a native of Columbia, S.C., who moved to Charlotte as a young man and trained in the jewelry business before going into partnership with Garibaldi. When they formed their new business in 1896, they took on Harry W. Dixon as their bookkeeper. A native of the Hopewell section of Mecklenburg County, Dixon had also trained in the jewelry business with several Charlotte firms before accepting employment with Garibaldi and Bruns. When he was made a full partner in 1901, the firm took the name Garibaldi, Bruns and Dixon. Following Dixon's death in 1916, the firm reverted to its original name. Garibaldi and Bruns maintained its store on South Tryon Street until 1977. After that, the firm operated exclusively in three Charlotte-area shopping malls, Carolina Place, Eastland, and SouthPark. Later, the company changed its name to Fink's Jewelers and still operates in SouthPark Mall in Charlotte and Birkdale Village in Huntersville. [For more information, see the biographical sketch of Joseph Garibaldi in box 1:10.]