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| Ad from January 7, 1911 |
Somewhere in the shuffle, we forget about Hansen's jewelry store. So what happened to it? That is a matter of opinion. But first...
Did you know that Mrs Hansen had her own store? That's correct, Sarah "Fannie" Hansen had her own millinery. Naturally, this is an old-timey term that I did not know what it meant, so I looked it up. A millinery is a shop that sells anything for the head such as hats, bonnets, etc. It was located at 205 N Hart St, two doors down from Greek's. An ad appeared in the paper on March 12, 1901 where Mrs Hansen was looking for apprentices for her shop. Julius would have been working at Bachner Timepiece/Princeton Clock Co at the time. And as you can see:
There were several ads talking about her going to Chicago to bring back the latest fashions for her store. There are also lots of other ads stating that the store would open on a Tuesday and be open the rest of the week. So I'm guessing she didn't have it open all the time. It didn't last long though, the paper said on January 4, 1902, the store was bought out by Carrie Walker. Speculation: It could be because Julius was starting his own store at the time.
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| First ad from Feb 28, 1902 |
Back to the jewelry store. I tried to see if Julius had bought out another store, but I believe he simply started his own. The newspaper mentions that he left Princeton Clock Company in September of 1901. An article from February 6, 1902 implies that after leaving Princeton Clock he went back to work for Vollmer's and states that he is about to go into business for himself. The article also says that he will be moving into William Schneider's former tailor store. It was only described as being on the "Kidd Block." An old map of Princeton shows it would have been at 209 West Broadway. The article concludes by saying "He is a workman of unusual ability, and will doubtless make a success of his venture." Indeed. I decided to incorporate that quote onto this page on the right. The first advertisement I can find for the store was in the paper February 28, 1902, shown at left. The ad at the beginning of this article I'm guessing was written by Julius himself. According to the 1920 census form, Julius spoke German as a first language. The wording of the ad sounds like someone with English as a second language.
On September 3, 1903, Hansen's Jewelry store moved to the south side of the square at 115 West Broadway. At one point he hired a young man named Carl Applegath (b July 5, 1888, d March 8, 1974).
Did you know that in the book "History of Gibson County Indiana" on page 152, it talks about a "new electric clock" installed at Lowell school building in 1910? It says "This clock controls the ringing of the bells for all recitation and intermissions in the high school as well as at some other departments. Fire alarms are also sounded by this clock." But not a single word about it being built locally by Julius Hansen.
An ad in the newspaper June 29, 1907 caught my attention because it is signed "J. W. Hansen, Jeweler, E. & T.H. Time Inspector." E. & T.H. stands for Evansville and Terre Haute [Railroad]. I did a little research on time inspectors for the rail roads. It is an interesting read and it mentions Elgin, Hamilton, and Illinois Watches. All brands of which were mentioned at one time or another in Julius' ads. Basically he was a quality control inspector, certified, for the local rail company. In the story about Herman Vollmer, I put an ad at the end and if you look at the bottom it says "Official time inspector L.,E. & ST. L. R. R." which is Louisville, Evansville, and St. Louis Consolidated Railroad Company.
How about those big clocks on the sidewalk that look like giant pocket watches? Both Hansen and Vollmer's had them. I have to wonder if Hansen and Vollmer had a friendly rivalry. I say that because Julius made sure his watch sign was bigger than Vollmer's. You can see the difference in the photos below. I shortened the picture of the Hansen sign so it does not show it all the way to the sidewalk, but it is much taller than Vollmer's. The picture of Vollmer's sign came from a Greg Wright photo. The photo of the Hansen sign came from an article in the Clarion in 1964. Note that above the window it says "Applegath". More on that later. The third photo is from Google street view from 2012. Many may remember that Smith Diamonds had a similar clock on the sidewalk. Based on the size and the shape, I don't think it is either Hansen or Vollmer's old clock.
On July 1, 1908, Carl Applegath and Leslie Kavanaugh Thomas (b1887, d1933) opened a jewelry and watch repair store at 110 E State street. They moved to the north side of the square in December of 1909.
On February 9, 1911, a notice of dissolution appeared in the Clarion stating that Applegath and Thomas were no longer in business and Thomas would take over all financial responsibility. By February 13, the ads had changed to just Thomas Jewelry. Thomas Jewelry went into receivership in 1913, but the business managed to survive. I found this promissory note signed by Thomas and E.B. Funk (from the Bachner story).
It was announced in the Clarion on April 10, 1912 that Carl Applegath had purchased the Hansen Jewelry store. Advertising in the paper that followed called it Applegath Jewelry and noted that it was formerly Hansen's. It is probably safe to say that Julius had been spending the majority of his time up on McKaw Summit at this point. Carl Applegath had probably been running the store by himself for many months by this point. In my imagination, I see Julius walking into the store one morning, looking around a bit, then saying in his German accent "Carl... you buy store from me? I make you good deal."
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| Carl Applegath |
Unfortunately, war came. Carl Applegath was drafted into WW1. Leslie Thomas purchased Applegath's store in June of 1918. Thomas hired J.H.Mitchell, an auctioneer, to sell off Applegath's inventory. One of those history articles the Clarion writes once in a while I read stated that Thomas moved the store to "the corner now occupied by the sandwich shop" and then to the north side. These articles are known to have historic inaccuracies in them. In reality, and it makes much more sense, I think he kept his north side location and just moved what inventory he didn't auction off up there. I also believe that this is when the giant clock sign was sold. This may have also been when Julius' glass display case, the one in the front lobby of the factory right now, was sold.
On November 8, 1924, with the war long over, Carl Applegath purchased "back" Thomas Jewelry. In a huge advertisement in the paper, it was announced that Applegath was "Back In The Jewelry Business Again" and opening on November 29. After the sale, Leslie Thomas and family moved to Rochester, New York.
On July 1, 1935, Applegath hires James H. Beckner (b July 6, 1917, d March 10, 1977) to work in the store. Not to be confused with Bachner.
On June 15, 1952, Applegath sold the store to James Beckner and the store changes its name to Beckner Jewelry Store. You may be seeing a pattern, but this is the last time it happens.
On March 10, 1977, James Beckner dies. James' wife Naomi and their son Alan Beckner continued the business. They even opened another location down in Tennessee. In 1986, Beckner Jewelry closed and the inventory was auctioned off. The Tennessee location was also auctioned off at the same time. Alan was later the manager of Roger's Jeweler's in Eastland Mall for a while.
Alan and family moved to Naples, Fl where he opened another jewelry store named Beckner Jewelry. You can find their website here. He advertises "over 85 years of family experience."
From a certain point of view, you could say that Hansen's jewelry store is still in business. Just no longer in Princeton.
