User:Melliott715/Shudde Bros. Hatters

Shudde Bros. Hatters

Shudde Bros. Hatters is a hat and clothing retail store located in Houston, TX. It was started in 1907 by Al Shudde, and currently exists as a part of the Brookwood Community, a community for functionally disabled adults, in Brookshire, TX.

History
Shudde Bros. is one of Houston’s oldest businesses. The Shudde family moved to Houston in 1901 from Carmine (pronounced “Karmeen”), Texas. Al Shudde founded the store as a teenager, in 1907, as the “Shudde Southern Hat Company”. Al’s brothers Ben, Walter, John, and Herbert were ultimately also involved in the business. The company was passed on to Al’s son, Weldon, and to Weldon’s son, Neal, who runs the business today.

While Shudde Bros. once had a large shop on Main Street (in can be seen on the far left of the above postcard), they are now located on Trinity Street, in the historic part of the Sixth Ward known as the “Old Sixth Ward”. In 1914, the brothers built a factory building next door to the original Shudde homestead on Trinity. Since then, the factory has been in continuous operation at that location. The homestead is now part of the store and factory.

Notable Customers
Customers of Shudde Bros have included John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Tom Mix, Ernest Tubb, and Dr. “Red” Duke. John Wayne wore a Shudde Bros. hat in the film Hellfighters

Move to Brookshire
Text text text