Rosenberger's Birmingham Trunk
Rosenberger's Birmingham Trunk (formerly Rosenberger's Birmingham Trunk Factory) is a family-owned retailer specializing in luggage, leather goods and travel items. The company was founded in Birmingham in January 1897 by J. D. Rosenberger. Originally just a manufacturer, located at 315 19th Street North, the company expanded and opened a showroom at 1909 2nd Avenue North in the 1920s.
One version of the origin of the Alabama Crimson Tide's elephant mascot is that Rosenberger, whose son was a student at the university, outfitted the 1926 Alabama Crimson Tide football team with "good luck" luggage tags for the train trip to Pasadena, California for the 1927 Rose Bowl. Each tag showed the company's elephant logo in red, and reporters greeting the team on their arrival took note. Syndicated columnist Grantland Rice was the one credited with coining the phrase "Here come the red elephants of Alabama." (Another story dates the association to an October 1930 column by Atlanta Journal sportswriter Everett Strupper.) When the 1930 team returned to the Rose Bowl, the company supplied leather suitcases, paid for by the Alumni Association, for each team member.
J. D., who died in 1945, passed the company to his son, Mel. His wife, Mae joined the business in 1955. Mae and her son, Ken operated the business until shortly before her death in June 2010. Rosenberger's currently operates two retail locations, at Brookwood Village and The Summit.
Locations
- 315 19th Street North: 1897–?
- 1909 2nd Avenue North: closed
- Mountain Brook: closed
- Riverchase Galleria: closed
- Roebuck Marketplace: 1960–?
- Eastwood Mall: 1981–?
- 2712 19th Street South, Homewood:
- Colonial Brookwood Village: 1974–present
- The Summit: 1997–present
References
- Williams, Roy L. (May 8, 2005) "On the record: Mae Rosenberger, CEO, Rosenberger's Birmingham Trunk." Birmingham News
- "Origin of the University of Alabama's elephant mascot and logo" (October 2010) Newsletter of the Birmingham-Jefferson Historical Society