The SPECIAL W&D STORY: The Wolf & Dessauer Department Store was founded by Sam Wolf and Myron E. Dessauer in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1896. They sold their interest to Mr. G. Irving Latz where the store thrived and soon became a major downtown destination.
More than a Department Store, Wolf & Dessauer was a Christmas Spectacular with elaborate window displays and breathtaking lights. It was a store where shoppers could buy fashion clothing after being modeled, purses and accessories, buy car parts, take a book home from their library, and eat lunch in their cafeteria or in the formal tearoom. Wolf & Dessauer became a major part of life in Fort Wayne, Indiana and made lasting treasured memories for so many people. It was the place to go to meet after work after taking the trolley cars.
Plus this huge retail center was the epitome of the model corporate citizen that valued its customers and its employees. It was said that during the depression when people’s salaries had to be cut, G. Irving Latz cut his first. When things started to get better again, then he made up for the money they would have had for that time and paid those wages back.
This Store had Heart!
In February of 1962, the Washington Street building caught fire which was known as the “Great W&D Fire”.
The Wolf & Dessauer Department Store was sold in 1969.
If a Vintage Purse could tell a Story…
It could tell you all about the wonderful experiences in the Wolf & Dessauer Department Store!
One-Of-A-Kind Nostalgia and Vintage Fashion Eveningwear by the Famous Wolf & Dessauer!
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Yearsafter's Blog 
I am so glad that I found this!
As a modern day child of the fort, I am curious about the history of this place… I get tired of people saying how boring and horrible this town is… it holds lots of history, and even though the society of today has turned most of it into parking lots, I have strong feelings for the history that remains, and that it needs to be restored and preserved.
Plus I’ve always been curious about W&D =)
Awe Jguy365, So glad this story was meaningful to you. It was heartful to me too as I was researching the W&D handbag and found out the history behind it. Thank you for sharing your sentiments with me.
Sharon
http://www.YearsAfter.com
I grew up with W&D’s
Nice to see this little article. I have a slim box that holds an elegant hair comb from Wolf & Dessauer. It belonged to a family friend who was from Fort Wayne; she probably got it sometime before WW2, when she left Indiana for California. I was hoping to post pix of the box and comb here for you, but don’t have that option. My mom was a Hoosier, too, from Crawfordsville.