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C.H. Dickinson General Hardware Collection

 Collection
Identifier: RH-A-3772

Scope and Contents

C.H. Dickinson’s General Hardware was a hardware store on N. Burdick St. during the latter part of the 19th century. The store moved locations in 1884, but stayed within the 100-200 block of Burdick St. The store was owned and ran by Chase H. Dickinson, who was born on 8 December 1837 in Vermont. In the 1870 U.S. Census Mr. Dickinson is living in South Haven, MI. By 1880, Dickinson was living in Kalamazoo. The earliest his general hardware store on Burdick St was found is 1881 in Kalamazoo City Directory. Chase H. Dickinson lived out the rest of his life in Kalamazoo before dying 14 March 1893. After his death the hardware store was closed and his widow moved in with one of their son, Bartlett C. Dickinson.

Dates

  • Creation: 1892

Creator

Extent

1 Volumes ; 3 x 7 inches

Language of Materials

English

Physical Description

The booklet is 3 x 7 inches in size and consisting of about 40 pages of paper. Overall, the front cover is in good condition and it’s writing is easily legible. The cover does have large staining on both the front and back, but has very little creasing. On the inside cover there is a letter written by C.H. Dickinson to his customers about the store’s commitment to them and the business moving to a new location in 1894. Some of the pages are full of advertising for the stoves and general hardware sold by C.H. Dickinson in his store, but a majority of the pages are lined for an individual to use as a memorandum book. The booklet was used by an unknown individual as an address and finance book during the years of 1891-1892. However, the use was inconsistent and the cursive writing is a bit tough to read. It looks as if the composer of the writings was keeping track of the work they had done and the bills they had paid off. For the most part the booklet was unused expect for a few pages.

Provenance

This memorandum booklet was created for advertising by C.H. Dickinson, a dealer in general hardware and the sole dealer of Detroit Stove Work in Kalamazoo, MI during the late 1880s and early 1890s. The booklet was printed by the Kalamazoo Publishing Company in 1892 or 1893.

Notes

This booklet was purchased through the Charles R. Starring Endowment Fund.

Title
C.H. Dickinson General Hardware Collection Finding Aid
Status
Completed
Author
Matthew Eugene Machinski
Date
1892
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository

Contact:
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490