“Past Tense: Milan family operated popular jewelry store in early 1900s” |
| Past Tense: Milan family operated popular jewelry store in early 1900s Posted: 02 Dec 2010 12:38 AM PST After spending the day working on a farm, one thing Milan residents enjoyed was the sparkle of a gold watch. Or a gem set in a necklace. Jewelry stores appear in the earliest pictures of Milan's downtown. None of them lasted longer than Phillips Jewelry at 20 E. Main St. O.F. Kleckner ran an ad in The Milan Leader in 1910, promoting W.W. Kimball pianos, along with his regular line of jewelry. The ad doesn't indicate the exact location, but it must have been 20 E. Main St. because, in 1915, Kleckner sold his store to Millard P. Phillips. There was at least one other jewelry store in town at about the same time owned by Carl Bay. One historic photo shows Bay's Jewelry on West Main Street. Bay ran an advertisement in 1911 emphasizing his stock of diamond rings, gold watches, lockets, bracelets, brooches and scarf pins. According to my source, Millard F. Phillips, Bay had his store on East Main Street across from Phillips Jewelry. Bay eventually left Milan and opened Bay's Jewelry Store in the Nickel's Arcade in Ann Arbor. The elder Phillips is seen in today's photo standing behind the counter on the right. An unknown salesman happened to be there and is seen on the left as the photographer arrived to document the Phillips store opening. Before opening his jewelry store, Phillips grew up on a farm in York Township the youngest of two children. The farm contained 160 acres and was located west of Mooreville on the Saline River. He somehow got the idea to leave the farm life behind because he attended watch-making school in Lancaster, Pa. The photo shows plenty of merchandise available at the newly-opened store, including silver-plated spoons in the glass display case on the left. Above the silver spoons, a roll of gift wrapping paper is within reach and, above that, some clocks are displayed had to be wound up each week with a clock key. Continued... The intricate floor pattern was probably linoleum, said the younger Phillips. Although not born yet when the photo was taken, he probably knows more about this photo than most people. Note a display case in the back of the store and behind it the furnace. The watch repair space is slightly visible on the right, behind a railing. Some cute beaded party purses hang from dainty chains, on display near the right edge of the photo. The store had electricity in 1915 and boasted some bright lights hanging from the ceiling. This apparently was sufficient to brighten up the jewelry inside the display cases because no additional lighting was used inside the displays. Having just opened his new jewelry store, Phillips watched as World War I gained momentum in Europe. He was not drafted and went to work in Dayton, Ohio, at the National Cash Register Co. The NCR manufacturing facility at that time was devoted to making revolvers for the Army. Anyone with a watchmaker's background was needed in the war effort for tool-and-dye work related to gun production. While working in Dayton, his mother, Clara Wilcox Phillips, kept the jewelry store open. The war ended Nov. 11, 1918, amid great celebration in Milan and in the rest of the world. Phillips gave the jewelry store his full attention and then married the daughter of a local pharmacist Nov. 14, 1922. His wife, Maurine Kelsey Miller, was familiar with Milan's Main Street. Her father, Frank M. Miller, operated Miller's Drugs at 13 W. Main St. The Miller's Drugs store operated under that name at the same location for more than 100 years, continuously. I found out recently that 13 W. Main St., home base for Miller's Drugs, is not actually a separate building. Someone apparently noticed a space between two brick buildings, and installed floor joists across that space, along with stairs to connect the first floor to the second floor. Bricks were added to the front for the sake of appearance. Voila, a store, became available at 13 W. Main St. There's no doubt Phillips was encouraged with his jewelry store, having a father-in-law just down the street in the pharmacy business. He ran his jewelry store as a partnership with his wife and son for many years. The front of the jewelry store was changed to a shiny black surface, something like art deco, in the early 1940s. The elder Phillips lived until 1970. Phillips Jewelry stayed open until 1992, when the younger Phillips retired. The building is currently available for a new venture. Martha Churchill is a freelance writer and local historian. She can be reached at Milanhistory@yahoo.com. Continued... After spending the day working on a farm, one thing Milan residents enjoyed was the sparkle of a gold watch. Or a gem set in a necklace. Jewelry stores appear in the earliest pictures of Milan's downtown. None of them lasted longer than Phillips Jewelry at 20 E. Main St. O.F. Kleckner ran an ad in The Milan Leader in 1910, promoting W.W. Kimball pianos, along with his regular line of jewelry. The ad doesn't indicate the exact location, but it must have been 20 E. Main St. because, in 1915, Kleckner sold his store to Millard P. Phillips. There was at least one other jewelry store in town at about the same time owned by Carl Bay. One historic photo shows Bay's Jewelry on West Main Street. Bay ran an advertisement in 1911 emphasizing his stock of diamond rings, gold watches, lockets, bracelets, brooches and scarf pins. According to my source, Millard F. Phillips, Bay had his store on East Main Street across from Phillips Jewelry. Bay eventually left Milan and opened Bay's Jewelry Store in the Nickel's Arcade in Ann Arbor. The elder Phillips is seen in today's photo standing behind the counter on the right. An unknown salesman happened to be there and is seen on the left as the photographer arrived to document the Phillips store opening. Before opening his jewelry store, Phillips grew up on a farm in York Township the youngest of two children. The farm contained 160 acres and was located west of Mooreville on the Saline River. He somehow got the idea to leave the farm life behind because he attended watch-making school in Lancaster, Pa. The photo shows plenty of merchandise available at the newly-opened store, including silver-plated spoons in the glass display case on the left. Above the silver spoons, a roll of gift wrapping paper is within reach and, above that, some clocks are displayed had to be wound up each week with a clock key. The intricate floor pattern was probably linoleum, said the younger Phillips. Although not born yet when the photo was taken, he probably knows more about this photo than most people. Note a display case in the back of the store and behind it the furnace. The watch repair space is slightly visible on the right, behind a railing. Some cute beaded party purses hang from dainty chains, on display near the right edge of the photo. The store had electricity in 1915 and boasted some bright lights hanging from the ceiling. This apparently was sufficient to brighten up the jewelry inside the display cases because no additional lighting was used inside the displays. Having just opened his new jewelry store, Phillips watched as World War I gained momentum in Europe. He was not drafted and went to work in Dayton, Ohio, at the National Cash Register Co. The NCR manufacturing facility at that time was devoted to making revolvers for the Army. Anyone with a watchmaker's background was needed in the war effort for tool-and-dye work related to gun production. While working in Dayton, his mother, Clara Wilcox Phillips, kept the jewelry store open. The war ended Nov. 11, 1918, amid great celebration in Milan and in the rest of the world. Phillips gave the jewelry store his full attention and then married the daughter of a local pharmacist Nov. 14, 1922. His wife, Maurine Kelsey Miller, was familiar with Milan's Main Street. Her father, Frank M. Miller, operated Miller's Drugs at 13 W. Main St. The Miller's Drugs store operated under that name at the same location for more than 100 years, continuously. I found out recently that 13 W. Main St., home base for Miller's Drugs, is not actually a separate building. Someone apparently noticed a space between two brick buildings, and installed floor joists across that space, along with stairs to connect the first floor to the second floor. Bricks were added to the front for the sake of appearance. Voila, a store, became available at 13 W. Main St. There's no doubt Phillips was encouraged with his jewelry store, having a father-in-law just down the street in the pharmacy business. He ran his jewelry store as a partnership with his wife and son for many years. The front of the jewelry store was changed to a shiny black surface, something like art deco, in the early 1940s. The elder Phillips lived until 1970. Phillips Jewelry stayed open until 1992, when the younger Phillips retired. The building is currently available for a new venture. Martha Churchill is a freelance writer and local historian. She can be reached at Milanhistory@yahoo.com. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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