HISTORY OF THE MILITARY SURPLUS STORE
I figured, for the first blog post for this website and business, it would only be right to make it about the history of this business as a whole; Military Surplus. It’s no secret that today in 2023 if you visit your local surplus store it is very different from what you would remember if you had been to one at any point in the 20th century and early 2000’s. What I mean by this is when you walk in, then walk through the isles it's possible and very likely that you’ll see less and less actual surplus and other genuine issue military and government equipment, not only from the United States but any country's armed forces. What you will see is a big influx of foreign manufactured then imported articles of mostly tactical gear such as pistol holsters, vests, tactical packs, range gear, various belts, BDU’s etc. You may even find regular work pants and T shirts!
That's not to say all surplus stores are like this or that it’s absolutely negative but nowadays truly authentic surplus stores are far and few between. Surplus stores that we all might remember as kids if we stepped in them, the type of surplus store with no website, only one small storefront location with maybe a few ALICE packs strewn up by the windows. Then when you walk in, the smell of old canvas, metal, and leather strikes you immediately. You walk through the extremely cramped and packed isles that are absolutely filled with real and genuine military surplus gear from WWII all the way into the early and mid 2000’s and in the glass display cases by the front, you may see a few items from WWI or earlier. If you’re like me in that you’ve grown an interest in military history and have started building your own collection of collectible and surplus equipment from packs to rifles, you can't help but notice how the “game” has changed.
To understand today's world of military surplus and collectibles we have to know the history of it and how it shaped the current market for these items. To start, There wasn't a market for military surplus in the United States before the civil war, it simply didn't exist. It wasn't until the civil war when the United States started centralizing and industrializing the manufacturing of military uniforms and equipment as well as other various items needed for war. After the civil war huge amounts of surplus equipment was sitting in warehouses collecting dust, so to recoup the costs of manufacturing for this idle sitting equipment the government started auctioning off supplies in bulk to the public at heavily discounted prices. With this going on many small store owners took advantage, especially one man in particular, Francis Bannerman. Rightfully dubbed the grandfather of the army/navy surplus store, Bannerman was born in Scotland in 1851 and eventually immigrated as a child with his family to New York. At a young age Bannerman had various side hustles buying and selling various types of merchandise for profit and ended up using that profit to buy large lots of surplus at government auctions in 1865 once the civil war ended. One acquisition he is known for was acquiring 11,000 captured confederate rifles.
Bannerman went on to keep acquiring surplus and eventually consolidated it all in one store in New York City that spanned 7 floors high and over an estimated 40,000 square feet of floor space. If you have been to any surplus store before you would understand this is astronomical for an army navy surplus store. A catalog with over 300 plus pages was available to customers to order from and it contained everything from horse saddles, rifles, and literal cannons if you had wanted. Bannerman also happened to have a particularly interesting customer base that happened to include military commanders, explorers, mercenaries, and even governments and militaries of other countries. Bannermans inventory only kept growing in these years, he eventually went on to acquire 90% of the Spanish - American wars surplus and bought a small island on the Hudson River in New York. Bannerman then built a Scottish like castle to now store his vast arsenal of surplus and militaria.
A Page From Bannermans Catalog
I don't want to get too in depth in this blog post about Francis Bannerman and his surplus empire as he deserves his own post, I intend for this blog to be a brief overview of the history of the military surplus store and market. Now fast forwarding to the eras of both WWI and WWII, the United States wasn't fully prepared for a huge industrialized war such as WWI, we simply didn't have enough equipment, uniforms, helmets, even weapons. We used French and British helmets as well as certain French and British machine guns, after WWI there wasn't much surplus going around and flooding the markets like previous conflicts in large lots. Now seeing what was required to fight wars in an industrialized world the military needed everything they could get. Moving forward through the years into WWII the United States once again found itself ill equipped and unprepared for another large scale war such as this one but the unrivaled scale of American industrial power was on full display once involved in the war.
After WWII had ended, what many consider the golden age of the military surplus stores had started. Due to the industrial power of the United States, to say there was an excess of surplus equipment is an understatement. Military surplus flooded the markets after WWII and many business men followed the example of Bannerman, a person could purchase enough equipment at one auction to outfit an entire surplus store, once again there was new gear to replenish the dwindling inventories. Surplus stores hadn’t received huge bulk lots of equipment in these numbers since before WWI. It would take years before any WWII stock would be hard to find on the shelves. Now, two decades later another boon appeared in the surplus market; the Vietnam war.
Post WWII Army & Navy Store
America's heavy and drawn out involvement in Vietnam gave surplus store owners the opportunity to restock their shelves, replacing the now dwindling WWII stock after 20 plus years. I believe it is safe to say post WWII to the late 1990s was the boon or “Golden Age” of military surplus stores, during these decades you could find Army and Navy stores everywhere around the United States no matter where you lived. They were filled with all of the interesting genuine surplus from various conflicts and eras. As I stated in the beginning, these stores still exist but are definitely far and few between. Most military surplus stores you'll find now are diluted with imported products and not enough genuine surplus, a major decline in this industry is due to how we fight conflicts. A downsized force designed for a more quick and streamline approach to war with a heavy reliance on technology, this doesn't require the same industrial effort needed in the past.
Vietnam Era Army & Navy Store
With less boots on the ground there's less equipment “leftover” to go around and less equipment circulating in general. Many items you can say have grown out of the surplus stage and are now considered relics, collectibles, and antiques, causing the prices for them to fluctuate heavily. Many of the items now in these categories are much more sought after and harder to find, items that you could once walk into your local Army & Navy store and grab off a shelf for ten dollars are now sold or auctioned off for hundreds if not maybe thousands of dollars. There are many other reasons, theories, and details I could go farther into but i'll save that for another post, what I will leave you with is that I do not consider The Garrison Militaria to be amongst the authentic or old school Army & Navy surplus stores I have spoke about because all business must adapt to survive just as a soldier in the field. 100% authentic militaria and surplus will always be our main pride and focus here at The Garrison Militaria.
