Fichtel's Pharmacy

13 Oct 2021, last revised 01 Jun 2022

Charles L. Fichtel ran his own drug store in Calumet for about 8-10 years, but yet, he left us with only one known bottle in one size bearing his name. He clearly used mostly unembossed bottles, which was typical of most pharmacists.

Charles L. Fichtel was born in Hancock on 04 Sept 1863 (1) to immigrants from Prussia (2). After completing public school at the age of 16, he worked for druggist, Louis Deschamps in Lake Linden for a year (1). He then returned to Hancock and worked as a salesman and then druggist for A. J. Scott (1,3). After 12 years with Scott, Fichtel formed a partnership with Dr. J. E. Scallon, who had previously shared an address with Scott (3), but later moved to Hancock St. (4). They opened a new drug store in Hancock in Apr 1890 (20), and the 1891 Polk directory listed the firm, Scallon & Fichtel as druggists in Hancock (17).

Fichtel then moved to Calumet (1) and the firm, Fichtel & Rupprecht opened a new drug store in Oct 1891 in the Jacka Block on 5th St. (21). Subsequently, the 1893 directory listed Fichtel in partnership with Charles H. Rupprecht as druggists in Calumet (18). Rupprecht was Fichtel's brother-in-law (22), and he previously worked as assistant prescription clerk at A. J. Scott's drug store for more than a year and then worked in the dispensing room at the Calumet & Hecla Hospital, which returned him to Calumet (25). In 1893, Rupprecht was attending medical courses in Detroit (23), which explains why the 1895 directory listed Rupprecht as a resident of Detroit (4). This directory placed the drug store at 204 N 5th St., Calumet , which was on the east side between Oak St. and Portland St. The partnership probably dissolved in 1895, since only Fichtel was advertised for the drug store from Jan 1896 and Rupprecht became the doctor for Osceola in Nov 1896 (24). Fichtel was then listed alone in the 1897 directory (5). He installed a new soda fountain in 1899 (19), which was common in Copper Country drug stores. By 1901, Fichtel's residence moved from Calumet to Laurium (6).

He was last listed as a druggist in the 1903 directory, which also noted that the store address changed to 202 5th St. (7). The 1908 Sanborn map shows that the change in address was due to re-numbering of the street, and it also shows that the store location became a bank.

Sanborn map - Dec 1897

Sanborn map - May 1908

The one bottle from Fichtel has a maker's mark of A. M. F. & Co. for A. M. Foster & Co. (8). Lockhart et al. (8) dated this mark to 1893-c.1911, but based on the company history, we can narrow the range to 1895-1904. Perhaps additional information on bottle shape will help us to further narrow this range in the future.

After a career in pharmacy, Fichtel was listed as a bookkeeper in 1905 (9), a bookkeeper of Holman Bros Co. in 1907 (10), as part of the Laurium Brokerage Co. in 1910 (11), and curiously, a druggist again in 1912 (12). The 1920 U.S. Federal Census places him and his family in Buffalo, NY where he was a salesman of stationery (13), which he continued until the 1930 census (14). He had no occupation listed in the 1940 census (15). He then died on 12 Mar 1947 at the age of 83 in Denmore, NY (16).

References

1. anonymous. 1895. Memorial Record of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan. The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, IL.
2. U.S. Census Bureau. 1870 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
3. Holland, A. H. 1887. 1887-8 Hand-book and Guide to Hancock, Mich. Mining Journal Book and Job Print. Marquette, MI.
4. R. L. Polk & Co. 1895. Houghton County Directory 1895-96. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
5. R. L. Polk & Co. 1897. Houghton County Directory 1897-98. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
6. R. L. Polk & Co. 1901. Houghton County Directory 1901-02. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
7. R. L. Polk & Co. 1903. Houghton County Directory 1903-04. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
8. Lockhart, B., B. Schriever, B. Lindsey, C. Serr, and B. Brown. 2013, revised 2021. A.M. Foster & Co. In: Encyclopedia of Manufacturer's Marks on Historic Bottles. posted on Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information Website. https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/AMFoster.pdf
9. R. L. Polk & Co. 1905. Houghton County Directory 1905-06. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
10. R. L. Polk & Co. 1907. Houghton County Directory 1907-08. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
11. R. L. Polk & Co. 1910. 1910 Calumet, Houghton, Hancock and Laurium Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
12. R. L. Polk & Co. 1912. 1912 Calumet, Houghton, Hancock and Laurium Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
13. U.S. Census Bureau. 1920 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
14. U.S. Census Bureau. 1930 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
15. U.S. Census Bureau. 1930 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
16. Find a Grave. accessed Oct 2021. Charles L. Fichtel. findagrave.com/memorial/189738735/charles-l-fichtel
17. R. L. Polk & Co. 1891. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1891-92. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
18. R. L. Polk & Co. 1893. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1893-94. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
19. anonymous. (1899, Jun 22). untitled. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 5.
20. anonymous. (1890, Apr 24). About Portage Lake. Portage Lake Mining Gazettte (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
21. anonymous. (1891, Oct 16). untitled. The Calumet and Red Jacket News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
22. anonymous. (1889, Dec 20). untitled. The Calumet and Red Jacket News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
23. anonymous. (1893, Sep 20). untitled. Semi-Weekly Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 2.
24. anonymous. (1896, Nov 04). untitled. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 2
25. anonymous. (1888, Nov 08). Hancock Happenings. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.