City Drug Store

30 Oct 2021, last revised 24 Mar 2024

With several bottles from the City Drug Store, we expected the store to have been in business for some time, and it was. Throughout its life, it certainly faced competition on Quincy St., with the likes of Geo. H. Nichols, A. J. Scott, P. H. Gallagher, and the store run by Dr. S. E. Campbell among others. The City Drug Store was listed with Andrew Bram as proprietor (1).

Andrew Bram was born on 30 Nov 1869 in Finland (2) and immigrated to the U.S. in 1880, 1881, or 1882 (3-6). He was in Hancock from about 1883 (24) and was married in Hancock on 04 Oct 1890 (7). Before being proprietor of the City Drug Store, he was a clerk for S. D. North & Son's general store in Hancock (8,9) and then a clerk for the Quincy store (39).

The drug store was established by Dr. A. W. Lindbohm (3,17), but the 1895 and 1897 Polk directories listed his wife (3), Naema Lindbohm, as the druggist at 205 Quincy St. (8,9). Albert W. Lindbohm was in business for four years when he sold the store (39), which would mean he established the store in 1894. The 205 address was on the north side of Quincy St., between Ravine St. and Tezcuco St., and it was previously 412 before the street was re-numbered.

Lindbohm suffered from ill health and could not tend to the store, so he sold it to Bram in Mar 1898 (39). Bram hired Arthur Ellsworth from Green Bay to manage the store (39). Ellsworth previously managed Nichol's drug store (39). The 1899 directory then listed Andrew Bram as proprietor of the City Drug Store (1). In Mar 1900, Bram reported business being "better than ever before" (28), and started to renovate the store, including moving and expanding the prescription case, extending shelving, reducing the size of the private office, and re-decorating the entire store (36). In Jul 1901, he added new cases and counters to be able to accommodate a large crowd in preparation for a grand carnival (29). In Apr 1904, he was building a gallery in the rear to deal with crowding in the room (30), and then in May, he installed a new cabinet for holding the ice cream freezers (31). In Jun 1907, the store was re-papered and painted (32).

Like with other drug stores, the store employed a team of people. In Mar 1900, Frederick Laurin, who recently arrived from Finland and spoke German, Swede, and Finnish, joined "Mr. Ellsworth" with the prescription department (37,38). In Oct 1902, George E. Blodgett, who previously worked at the Marquette prison, accepted the position of manager of the store (27). In Sep 1904, John Kivela, who previously worked at the Sodergren & Sodergren store, joined the City Drug Store (33). By 1907, E. R. Hunt was manager (32). Blodgett was head pharmacist for 10 years (21), and then he was appointed to Chief of Police in May 1912 (22).

The store continued to be listed at the same location with Andrew Bram as proprietor up to the 1912 directory (10). In Jul 1912, Bram sold the store to Werner Nikander (17,23), who previously worked for Carl Printz in Hancock (17), with C. J. Sorsen in Red Jacket (18), and then became proprietor of Eagle Drug Store in Red Jacket (8). In Jul 1914, Axel Durchman was a pharmacist at the store (25), and by Oct 1916, Nikander had sold the store to Axel Durchman and Werner O. Nikander, his son (19,20). The 1921 directory listed only Axel for drugs and stationery, while a Werner Nikander (probably the son) was listed as secretary of the Finnish Lutheran Book Concern (14). Durchman later died in 1926 (17), and his wife (7), Leslie Durchman was listed as proprietor of City Drug Store at 300 Quincy St. in the 1930 and 1939 directories (12,13). The City Drug Store was still listed at the same address in a 1947/1948 business directory (28). It is unknown when it closed.

Aside from being a druggist, Andrew Bram was a prominent Finnish republican in the city (34). In Feb 1904, he was urged to accept the nomination to run for city treasurer on the republican ticket, while others urged him to run on the people's ticket (34). He decided to run on the people's ticket (35). After selling the store, Bram was appointed as postmaster of Hancock in 1913 (24). Curiously, though, he had the occupation of druggist on the 1920 U.S. Federal Census (5). He was not listed in the 1921 directory (14). He was listed as postmaster on the 1930 census (6) and as a salesman for a monument company on the 1940 census (15). He then died on 07 Mar 1944 in Detroit at the age of 74 but his residence was still Hancock and he was buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Hancock (2).

The bottles for the City Drug Store have features of later pharmacy bottles (16). They all have the easy-pour shoulder instead of the rounded shoulder. Bottle #s23 has a collared top, and #s23 and #s38 have graduation marks. It wasn't long after these bottles that pharmacy bottles started to be made by machine. The transition to ABMs marked the end of embossing pharmacy bottles (16).

References

1. R. L. Polk & Co. 1899. Houghton County Directory 1899-1900. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
2. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records (accessed on ancestry.com).
3. U.S. Census Bureau. 1900 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
4. U.S. Census Bureau. 1910 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
5. U.S. Census Bureau. 1920 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
6. U.S. Census Bureau. 1930 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
7. Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952 (accessed on ancestry.com).
8. R. L. Polk & Co. 1895. Houghton County Directory 1895-96. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
9. R. L. Polk & Co. 1897. Houghton County Directory 1897-98. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
10. R. L. Polk & Co. 1912. 1912 Calumet, Hancock, Houghton and Laurium Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
11. R. L. Polk & Co. 1916. Houghton County Directory 1916-17. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
12. R. L. Polk & Co. 1930. Polk’s Hancock (Michigan) Directory 1930. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
13. R. L. Polk & Co. 1939. Polk’s Hancock (Michigan) Directory 1939. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
14. R. L. Polk & Co. 1921. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1921-1922. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
15. U.S. Census Bureau. 1940 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
16. Lindsey, B. accessed in 2021. Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information Website. sha.org/bottle/medicinal.htm
17. Holmio, A. K. 2001. History of Finns in Michigan. Wayne State University Press. Detroit, MI.
18. anonymous. 1895. Memorial Record of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan. The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, IL.
19. anonymous. (1916, Oct 05). News Happenings in Drugdom. N.A.R.D. Journal 23: 36.
20. anonymous. (1916, Oct 04). Business News. Trade: A Journal for Retail Merchants 23: 12.
21. anonymous. (1914, Jan 05). Geo. E. Blodgett Taken by Death. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 2.
22. anonymous. (1912, May 10). G. E Blodgett Chief of Police. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
23. anonymous. (1912, Jul 27). City Drug Store Sold. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
24. anonymous. (1913, Feb 04). A. Bram will be Postmaster. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
25. anonymous. (1914, Jul 02). Novel Clock in Hancock. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 2.
26. The Daily Mining Gazette. 1947 or 1948. Copper Country Classified Business and Professional Directory. Houghton, MI.
27. anonymous. (1902, Oct 03). Blodget Honored. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
28. anonymous. (1900, Mar 02). untitled. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
29. anonymous. (1901, Jul 03). On Portage Lake. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
30. anonymous. (1904, Apr 06). Portage Lake Briefs. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
31. anonymous. (1904, May 19). Portage Lake Briefs. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
32. anonymous. (1907, Jun 10). City Drug Store. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 6.
33. anonymous. (1904, Sep 12). Calumet Briefs. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 4.
34. anonymous. (1904, Feb 20). Andrew Bram's Peculiar Dilemma. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
35. anonymous. (1904, Feb 29). Mr. Bram's Position. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
36. anonymous. (1900, Mar 02). City Drug Store Down to Date. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
37. anonymous. (1900, Mar 14). Drug Business Expansion. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
38. anonymous. (1900, Mar 15). Hancock Brevities. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
39. anonymous. (1898, Mar 24). untitled. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.