A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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Entry from May 10, 2011
Good Willie’s or Uncle Willie’s (Goodwill Industries nickname)

Goodwill Industries International, Inc., was founded in 1902 and received its “Goodwill Industries” name from its Brooklyn branch. The nonprofit Goodwill Industries is known for accepting donations of goods for its retail thrift stores, the profits of which go to community-based programs.
 
“Goodwill Industries” has been nicknamed “Good Willie’s” (or “Good Willy’s) and “Uncle Willie’s” (or “Uncle Willy’s”). Goodwill trademarked “Good Willy” in 1950. The film title Good Will Hunting (1997) has sometimes been applied to shopping at Goodwill’s stores.
 
 
Wikipedia: Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries International is a non-profit organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have a disability, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges. Goodwill is funded by a massive network of retail thrift stores.
 
Goodwill operates as a network of 184 independent, community-based organizations in the U.S., Canada and 14 other countries. In 2010, Goodwills collectively earned more than $4 billion, and used 84 percent of that revenue to provide employment, training and support services to nearly 2.4 million individuals.
 
Goodwill’s logo is a stylized letter “g” that resembles a smiling face. It was designed by Joseph Selame.
(...)
History
Morgan mission was started originally as an urban outreach ministry, in 1902, of Morgan Methodist Chapel, Boston, Massachusetts, which was pastored by Reverend Edgar J. Helms, a Methodist minister and early social innovator. Helms and his congregation, collected used household goods and clothing being discarded in wealthier areas of the city, then trained and hired those who were unemployed or bereft to mend and repair these items. The products were then redistributed to those in need or were given to the needy people who helped to repair them. In 1915, Helms hosted a visit to Morgan Memorial by representatives of a workshop mission in Brooklyn, NY, and they learned about the innovative programs and the operating techniques of the “Morgan Memorial Cooperative Industries and Stores, Inc.” 
 
Helms was subsequently invited to visit in New York. Out of these exchanges came Brooklyn’s willingness to adopt and adapt the Morgan Memorial way of doing things, while Helms was persuaded that Brooklyn’s name for its workshop, “Goodwill Industries,” was a marked improvement over the Morgan Memorial name. Thus was officially born Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries, and that, plus Brooklyn’s interest and ties, became the foundation on which Goodwill Industries was to be built as an international movement.
 
19 March 1977, Daily Courier (Connellsville, PA), pg. 1, col. 1:
Good Willie Goes To Pot
GRAND ISLAND, Neb.—Some thoughtful soul apparently thought Good Willie, the Goodwill Industries mascot, might need a lift, so they made it possible for him to get high. Along with other contributions Goodwill workers found three pounds of marijuana, neatly wrapped in plastic bags, in a collection from central Nebraska Friday.
     
Credit and Debt Problems Forums
lavs412
01-09-2008, 05:38 AM
My girlfriend and I do shopping field trips to Uncle Willy’s (Goodwill) and Cousin Sal’s (Salvation ARmy) stores around here.
 
Cricut
Trishlaboo 
RE: OMG! Look what I found at Goodwill! - 7/29/2008 10:04:37 PM  
Congrats! That is a GREAT find! You are sooooo lucky 😊 Don’cha just love Good Willies?
     
Angela Allen’s Wicked Blog
Anything you Really REALLY Want… You can find at Goodwill
Posted on March 7, 2009 by Angela Allen
(...)
COMMENTS
Donna says:
June 20, 2009 at 7:01 pm
I love Uncle “Willy’s” I call Goodwill Uncle Willy’s when people ask me where I purchased a special item.
 
Bits & Pieces
Anne S.
July 14, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Use to know Goodwill Industries as “Uncle Willie’s.”
 
Diamonds & Daisies 
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Good Will Hunting
It’s Sunday! Anybody up for a trip to the Goodwill store?
(...)
Here’s our stop, the Goodwill Store or as my friend used to call it Good Willies or the Good Will Hunting store.
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark “GOOD WILLY” WHERE THERE’S GOODWILL THERE’S A WAY
Goods and Services IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Employment services for disabled and disadvantaged persons, namely employment outplacement services, promoting the interests of and encouraging and assisting in the establishment, development and growth of organizations throughout the world dedicated to providing rehabilitation services, training, employment and opportunities for personal growth for disabled and disadvantaged persons and for developing and maintaining operational standards for such organizations, retail store services featuring a variety of goods of others. FIRST USE: 19501211. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19501211
IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Providing vocational training for disabled and disadvantaged persons. FIRST USE: 19501211. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19501211
IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: Providing rehabilitation services for disabled and disadvantaged persons. FIRST USE: 19501211. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19501211
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 02.05.05 - Boys; Children, boy(s)
02.05.24 - Stylized children, including children depicted in caricature form
03.17.02 - Feathers
09.05.01 - Caps, including visors, military caps and baseball caps
10.07.03 - Wheel chairs
19.07.08 - Boxes, tackle; Boxes, tool; Chests, tool; Tackle boxes, fishing; Tool boxes
26.17.07 - Heat, lines depicting; Lines depicting speed, propulsion, heat or wind; Propulsion, lines depicting; Speed, lines depicting; Wind, lines depicting
Serial Number 78594424
Filing Date March 24, 2005
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition December 27, 2005
Registration Number 3070887
Registration Date March 21, 2006
Owner (REGISTRANT) GOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL, INC. CORPORATION MASSACHUSETTS LEGAL DEPARTMENT 15810 INDIANOLA DRIVE ROCKVILLE MARYLAND 20855
Attorney of Record JUDY A. BRANZELLE
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityWork/Businesses • Tuesday, May 10, 2011 • Permalink


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