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Vertin's Department Store Ledger

 Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: MS-353

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Ledger, 1892-1897, from Vertin's Department Store in Calumet, Michigan. Bound volume includes individual charge accounts that indicate the good purchased, prices and dates accounts are paid.

Dates

  • 1892-1897

Access

Available for use in the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections.

Biography

The Vertin family emigrated from Yugoslavia to Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula in the 1870s. In 1881, Matt Vertin and his sons, John and Joseph, began working under the company name M. Vertin and Sons. They sold household goods door-to-door throughout the Keweenaw and Houghton counties. In 1885, the brothers John and Joseph purchased the old Provincial Hotel in Calumet on the corner of Sixth and Oak streets and tore it down to build a two-story sandstone building to house the Vertin’s Department Store. In 1903, they expanded and added two stories to the building, making the building the size it is today. Vertin’s was a household name in the Upper Peninsula. Over the years, the family owned Vertin’s stores in Calumet, Houghton, Norway and Ironwood, as well as three Klemm stores in Illinois. Vertin’s Department Store carried all the goods a family needed, whether they were miners or millionaires. They provided for the community’s needs, stocking everything from furniture to tools, from Levi’s overalls to ladies lingerie, filling four floors and a basement with merchandise. At its peak, the Calumet Vertin’s employed 60 sales associates. In 1985, the Vertin’s Department Store in Calumet shut its doors for good in the wake of mine closures.

Extent

0.71 Cubic Feet (1 oversize flat box)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Ledger, 1892-1897, from Vertin's Department Store in Calumet, Michigan. Bound volume includes individual charge accounts that indicate the good purchased, prices and dates accounts are paid.

General Physical Description note

0.70 cubic feet1 oversize flat box

Processing History

Elizabeth Russell,12/15/2010

Title
Vertin's Department Store Ledger
Author
Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Russell
Date
12/15/2010
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Description is in English

Repository Details

Part of the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections Repository

Contact:
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton 49931 U.S.A. US