Posted by MoparNorm on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 at 8:55AM :
In Reply to: Re: Jerry Can 7 Holder, Good Price? posted by Kurt Hirte on Sunday, November 07, 2004 at 10:42PM :
Moe Strauss' trip to California around 1923 brought about the official name of "The Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack." Moe noticed that many successful businesses there used first names. One of the dress shops he noticed in particular was called Minnie, Maude and Mabel's. "When I came back from California, I had a friend, Harry Moscovitz, create the three big caricatures of Manny, Moe and Jack," Strauss said.
The change to the name Pep Boys came from a Philadelphia policeman who worked near the first store on 63rd and Market Streets. Every time he stopped a car at night for not having an oil wick burning, he would tell the driver to go see the "boys" at Pep for a replacement. Common usage gave rise to the name Pep Boys.
By the early 1930s, Pep Boys had grown to 40 stores in Philadelphia. By then, Moe Strauss had returned to California, and in 1933 The Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack became a west-coast chain.
They have been out here in SoCal for a LONG time!
MN