John Leslie Brown, Sr. was born in Meridian, Mississippi in 1921, the son of a typewriter mechanic. He enlisted in the army in June 1941 and served with the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment of the 28th Quartermasters Battalion in Africa, Italy, France, and Germany during World War II. Upon his discharge in July 1945, John Brown chose to pursue a career similar to that of his father, whose advice to “Own your own business – it’s the only way to achieve success and respect,” helped to shape his future.
“Raising the capital outlay [for my own business] was rough. Back then people were not really conscious of the Black people around here,” said John, pointing out that the White financial community controlled money for small business loans. With the help of his wife, Daisy Beale Brown, he began his business. While bartending at the Minnesota Club, he met Alex Tankenoff, owner of Hillcrest Development. Mr. Tankenoff’s $50 loan allowed Brown, Sr. to start what would become one of the oldest Black businesses in St. Paul. Brown’s Typewriter Sales and Service, the forerunner of the more recognized Brown’s Office Machines, started on September 1, 1951 in the basement of the Brown residence on the 500 block of Iglehart Avenue. John spent his time out in the field, making door-to-door service calls while his wife handled the phone calls. Later, the office moved to a storefront, and eventually to 1051 Selby Avenue in St. Paul.
His first important contract came three years later – servicing machines for a government office. He remembered that, even with the contract, “it was tough, because when I’d go to pick up the machines for repair, they’d look and ask, ‘Are you the delivery boy?’” John’s confidence in his ability to do the job allowed him to rise above such comments and win the trust of his customers. Discrimination affected another aspect of John Brown’s business; it wasn’t until 1955 that he was able to land distribution contracts for his first product lines. “I felt a certain prestige…when I got the Adler line. Until then…no one in this business was Black and I felt I had accomplished something that might open things up a little.” In 1963 John bought out Gopher Ribbon and Carbon Company and formed Brown’s Office Machines, Inc. By the late 1960s, John Brown’s company had expanded to handle eight equipment lines, including Addo-X, Inc.; Adler; Clary; Commodore Business Machines, Inc.; Copy-Rite Corp.; National Cash Register; SCM; and Toshiba America. The firm’s accounts eventually included 3M Company, St. Paul Companies, and Northwest Airlines. The company had grown to a staff of 11 employees, including six African Americans and five Whites. Mr. Brown’s oldest son, John, Jr., joined the firm in 1968.
When it came to selling office machines to both White and Black customers, John’s sales philosophy boiled down to simply offering the best service possible to all: “If they need your product or service, that’s the important thing. It is up to the dealer to make himself known and available to cope with the needs of the community, regardless of the clientele’s color.” He became the first African American to join the Knights of Columbus Council 397 (St. Paul) in 1956, and was a member of the St. Paul Rotary Club from 1977 until his death. He served as a director of the St. Paul Chapter of the American Red Cross, was a board member of the St. Paul Salvation Army, and of the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce. An active member of St. Peter Claver Church on Oxford Avenue in St. Paul, Mr. Brown also found time to manage the church bowling alley in the evenings after work.
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I think this goes to that old “Green Cycle” notion that if you remember money is GREEN and it doesn’t matter who it comes from “regardless of the clientele’s color” like Mr. Brown did you’ll make a killing at your hustle by having the best product/service and you can take your earnings and build something for yourself, family and bringing money back into your community to make it better as Mr. Brown still found and made time to service his community.
What is also great about this bio is that Mr. Brown’s wife understood his hustle and was there with and for him at ground zero level helping him reduce his overhead expenses and cost by pitching in where needed and answering the phones as he did the door-to-door leg work.
One last thing that jumps out at me about this story is that Mr. Brown’s mind stayed determined and expansive. He keep growing and while growing he saw when to buy out other companys to make his company stronger!
Wow you really liked this one. I was respecting the fact that the cat took a 50 dollar loan to build his company. i know 50 at that time was a good chunk of money but it was still a small startup amount for him to flip it to what it was before his death.
That’s the kind of cat to bet on if he can turn 50 into a business!
That was impressive flipping 50 dollars into Independence and Ownership!
It doesn’t take that much money but 50 bucks back in 1951 might be like a G today. Either way he took his shot and it paid off and that’s the moral of the story.
Thanks for this post. It drives home the fact we been on ours for over 100 years and people in 2009 still want to make excuses and be fearful.
If cats wasn’t fearful back in 1950 to go for theirs, why are cats all fearful in 2009?!
Every Thursday I’m putting out another Black Business from the past until we have enough examples to know this ain’t NEW! Those drugs kicked our ass because we have a whole gap in history that has to be relearned!