Whitman's Army Navy Store

By Diego Garcia III | editor of The Brownsville Beacon

A front view of Whitman's on East 11th Street in the mid 1980's courtesy of our
friends over at Brownsville Station

Among the many things I collect are medals, insignia, ribbons, and uniforms of the United States military. I have always been fascinated by them. I am a member of several militaria collecting pages on Facebook. Recently, one of the members of one of the pages made a YouTube video about the death of the surplus store. Almost all militaria sales have moved online to sites like eBay and the like. The surplus store, or the army/navy store, is slowly beginning to fade into extinction. What follows are the memories of a young boy walking around Downtown Brownsville wishing he could afford all the things he saw in the shop windows of Whitman's.

During World War II, Americans were hamstrung by the government in regards to what they could buy. Rationing was the order of the day. After the Axis powers were defeated, the government no longer needed the tons of supplies it had hoarded in anticipation of a long, drawn out military engagement. As a result, these supplies were unleashed on the general public. Would-be entrepreneurs quickly realized they could capitalize on all these military supplies by opening up what would eventually be known as the surplus store.

One of these would-be entrepreneurs was a New Yorker by the name of Bernie Whitman. Whitman opened his first store at the intersection of East 10th and Elizabeth Streets. Whitman's rapidly growing surplus inventory quickly outgrew the store. He would find a larger space on 11th Street, across from Market Square. Whitman was a World War II veteran, serving in the European Theater. He would be captured and was a prisoner of war for eight months. He would eventually find his way to Brownsville to settle in his wife, Mildred's, hometown.

Surplus goods weren't the only things sold at Whitman's. Eventually, Whitman's would sell everything from army surplus, guns and ammunition, pet supplies, records, glasses, hardware, and paint. Whitman's was an army surplus store, Walmart, Home Depot, and Bass Pro Shops all rolled into one.

In addition to selling everything including the kitchen sink, Whitman was Brownsville's first licensed and bonded pawn broker. Eventually, the pawn side of the business would bring in the majority of the clientele. Whitman would regularly hold sales and would auction off unclaimed pawned items to the highest bidder.

Even if you didn't go in wanting to buy anything, you were still in for a treat. There were suits of armor, WWII-era German uniforms along the wall, stuffed animals (no doubt hunted and killed by Bernie himself), and thousands of items you probably couldn't find anywhere else. There was also a live bobcat roaming around the store — probably the closest thing to a security guard Whitman's had.

I remember going in several times as a child. My grandfather worked for the city and his office was in Market Square. I spent several summers going through boxes full of military patches and ribbon bars. I remember finally having enough money to buy the pair of four-star general insignia that was in the display window. My love of militaria was definitely heavily influenced by Whitman's.

Sign at the rear of a building on the corner of East Adams and 11th Street

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Whitman's wasn't going to be around forever. Whitman's closed in the mid 80's, I can only assume around the time when Mr. Whitman passed away. The facade of the building still stands today. The only remnant of the old Whitman's are the three steel spheres hanging from one of the top story windows. The three spheres indicating the building was once a pawn shop. Most recently, a used clothing store occupied the space that was once Whitman's. 

Twelve years ago, Bernie Whitman's daughter wrote in to The Brownsville Herald and gave us a sad story on what could have been an awesome attraction to Brownsville. According to the article, Mr. Whitman's final wish was to donate his multi-million dollar firearm collection to the city where it would be housed in his pawn shop. It is my understanding money was set aside for this purpose.  According to Miss Miriam Whitman Zuzak, the new owner of the building had told her Mr. Whitman's widow sold them the building and it was turned into a secondhand store. Miss Whitman Zuzak ends her letter to the Herald with this quote: "So Sad to see the wishes of my parents were not carried out. It was a gift from our parents that were rejected for some strange reason."

Just another one of Brownsville's old downtown businesses that only exists in our minds.