Printed signature of Arthur Beerman. The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp. was a chain of department stores founded in 1883 and whose last stores closed in 2018. The chain, based primarily in the Midwestern United States, was composed of 31 stores in eight states at the time of its liquidation in 2018, and peaked around 2003 with 68 stores and $670 million in annual sales. In 1883, Elder-Beerman history began when the Boston Dry Goods Store was opened on East Third Street in downtown Dayton, Ohio by Thomas Elder, William Hunter, Jr. and Russell Johnston, selling textiles, clothing and groceries. In 1896, the store moved to a new 11-story skyscraper, the Reibold Building, at the corner of Fourth and Main streets; it operated there as the Elder & Johnston Company department store for over 60 years. For most of its later history, its headquarters was located at 3155 El-Bee Road, Moraine, OH 45439 and from 1976 to 2015 it operated a flagship 6-floor location in Downtown Dayton, located at Courthouse Plaza, 40 N. Ludlow St., Dayton, OH 45402. In 1930, after a short career with Elder & Johnston, Arthur Beerman, founder of the Elder-Beerman Stores Corp., branched out on his own and by 1945, Beerman Stores was incorporated. In 1950, he opened "Beermans for Bargains" junior department stores in the McCook Shopping Center in north Dayton and in the Northtown Shopping Center just north of Dayton in Harrison Township, Montgomery County. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder-Beerman Item ordered may not be exact piece shown. All original and authentic.