Smokie Joe's

Smokey Joe's was a well known men's clothing store that was started on Maxwell Street in Chicago, Illinois by Joseph Bublick in the late 1930's. The store was known as a trend setter in men's fashions. The name originated as a combination between Joe and his oldest son Morris who enjoyed smoking a pipe. Morry was purportedly the originator of the "Zoot Suit." A lot of the black entertainers came to Smokey Joe's to have their entertainment suits made, including the Jackson Five at the beginning of their careers who came from their Gary, Indiana home. Morry also suited James Brown and other well-known black entertainers during the 50's and 60's.

Smokey Joe's was so popular that it was mentioned in a Jimmie Lee Robinson's blues song "Maxwell Street (Tear Down Blues)." "I'm talking about Maxwell Street, that's right. A place of many lives, many dreams...I remember when we use to go to the 12th Street Store. There was the Earvin, Bertells, Levetts and Smoky Joe's..." Jimmie Lee Robinson who was one of the first Chicago born Bluesmen. He lived a few blocks from the Maxwell Street Market.

The last Smokey Joe's store was closed in the mid-1970s. Source: Jewish Maxwell Street, Shuli Eshel and Roger Schatz, (2004)