Vertin's Department Store Ledger
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