Good evening.

Welcome to Inside the Cover.

I am your happy and privileged host Ted Ayres.

And I want to welcome you to another edition of our show here on PBS Kansas.

Tonight's book is J.C. Penney The Man, The Store and American Agriculture by David Delbert Kruger.

This was a special read for me, as you shall soon learn.

Please come along as we go inside the cover over the years.

When asked where I was from, I would answer Hamilton, Missouri.

On occasion, I will supplement my response with it's the birthplace and hometown of J.C. Penney.

There was a time when 99% of those I was in conversation with at least knew J.C. Penney the store.

If they did not actually know there was J.C. Penney, The man.

In this book, Kruger, does an excellent job of providing a comprehensive and balanced perspective of the life and times of Mr. James Cash Penney and the importance and influence of those early years in Hamilton.

Kruger writes that Penney genuinely saw himself as akin to rural America and its people with whom he had long identified.

His daughter, Mary Frances reflected in 2010.

“I believe the reason for this is that he really liked, respected and enjoyed all sorts of people except those who put on airs.

” He never forgot his roots as a poor boy in Hamilton.

Well, I have at least one thing in common with Mr. Penney.

I also graduated from J.C. Penney High School.

Penney was born on September 16, 1875, a time when agriculture was emerging as a viable way of life for numerous Americans.

After suffering a massive heart attack in his sleep, Penney died at age 95 on February 12, 1971, a time when life in small town America was undergoing drastic change with dramatic impact on Main Street stores.

On the morning of his funeral on February 16, 1971, 1,660 J.C. Penney stores across all 50 states shut down in remembrance of their founder.

Penney's father taught him a great deal about farming, livestock and even certain aspects of range conservation, and he consistently incorporated applications of the Golden Rule into those lessons.

In 1895, Penney's father set up a retailing apprenticeship for his son with John M Hale, the proprietor of a local department store in Hamilton, which, by the way, ultimately became the 500th store in the Penney chain of stores.

After a two year stint with Mr. Hale, Penney was forced to move to Longmont, Colorado, because of the risk of tuberculosis.

There he was hired by Thomas Callahan, a chain store merchant whose philosophy was essentially selling only quality merchandise on a cash basis with a comparatively low merchandise markup.

Kruger's book tells us a great deal about J.C. Penney, the man.

He was a devout Christian.

He did not partake in alcoholic beverages.

The father of five children.

Penney's first two wives died in their thirties because of medical complications.

Penney fully endorsed and believed in the Golden Rule philosophy in business and in life.

He had a lifelong interest in agriculture, small town America, and he was a creative and thoughtful philanthropist of significance.

In fact, his philanthropy and the Great Depression caused the loss of his $40 million fortune in the early thirties, which he ultimately recovered.

Mr. Penney was also a lover of livestock.

During his lifetime, he was involved in the development and breeding of Grand Champion Guernsey dairy cattle, Percheron draft horses, mules, black Angus cattle and Herford cattle.

Penney simply loved being connected with agriculture.

Quite a gentleman and quite a story.

That's our show.

Please join us next week as we share another book with you.

Goodnight.

And keep a book in your hands and on your mind.