Tag: Bell Fur Company

This Week in Chester History…

In 1937, U.S. Rep. Charles A. Eaton asked the House of Representatives to investigate the dispossessing of the Bell Fur Company in Chester. He claimed that the International Furrier Workers Union of New York schemed to shut down the plant. In a statement printed in the Mendham-Chester Tribune, he said Samuel Dretel, the owner of the company, closed his Chester business on May 5 because several union members had threatened the life and safety of his brother B.J. Dretel and his brother’s family. B.J. Dretel’s company in New York was under threat of strike at the time.