Missoula business

If you’ve been in Missoula for a very long time, you’ll may remember the store on North Higgins, next to Woolworth’s, before it went out of business in the 1950s. Back in 1912, the Barnhill brothers, Garnett and Hyatt, bought Joe Fitzgerald’s menswear store, closed briefly for remodeling, then opened “Barney’s” for business at 222 North Higgins on August 1 with “new stock.”

In the 20 years between 1880 and 1900, the number of shop girls exploded. By the dawn of the 20th century, female sales clerks outnumbered male clerks. The Historical Society noted that “working as a shop girl was considered one of the best jobs. It was a respectable position in a clean, safe working environment.” There was a dark side, though. Shop girls tended to make less than female factory workers, they worked incredibly long hours and faced harassment from male managers and customers alike.