Fisher Hardware 10th Anniversary & Dedicatory Celebration, 1947

Who doesn’t remember one of Chatt’s larger businesses, Fisher Hardware and Implement Store.

Bothers Luther and John Fisher owned and operated the hardware store which was also a John Deere sales and service center.

The business was established April 1937 and in April 1947 the brothers hosted a 10-year celebration along with the dedication of a new Quonset hut building that would house their store.

Chattanooga Store In New Building
One of Chattanooga’s leading business firms is now entering its new home. It is the Fisher Hardware and Implement Store, which made its modest start on April 20, 1937, and having grown by means of good service and merchandise now is installed in a large new building erected on the lot adjoining their former location. The formal opening will be Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26.

The Fisher Hardware has enjoyed splendid support from Chattanooga and its trading area, and its proprietors are endeavoring to show their appreciation by erecting this new and bigger building in which to carry on their work. It gives the town and community one of the finest hardware and implement stores in this part of the country, which helps to make it one of the greatest rural communities in Northwestern Ohio.

The store carries a complete line of general hardware, electrical appliances, and farm equipment. It maintains one of the most complete service shops and they do all types of general farm repairing. With their new building they can now do a much better job of serving the customer. [1]  

This was a big event for Chatt and the Fisher brothers also ran a large ad in Celina’s Daily Standard.

The Daily Standard, 23 April 1947, p.3.

The Daily Standard, 23 April 1947, p.3. [2]

Their Quonset hut structure is still standing today.

Former Fisher Hardware, Chattanooga, Ohio. October 2008 Google Earth image. [3]

Former Fisher Hardware, Chattanooga, Ohio. October 2008 Google Earth image. [3]

I have had a photo of the Fisher brothers and their wives for years but I never knew when it was taken. Now I think it was probably taken at their 1947 celebration event. Mrs. Mildred (John) Fisher may look familiar because she was a school teacher and taught first grade at Willshire at one time.

Left to right: Luther & Gladys (Sapp) Fisher; Mildred (Bauer & John Fisher.

Left to right: Luther & Gladys (Sapp) Fisher; Mildred (Bauer) & John Fisher. Likely taken at their 10th anniversary, 1947.

I knew and still remember the men who once worked there: Alan Felver, Dean Hileman, Glen Miller, Edson Pierstorff, and Phil White. Alan, Glen, and Phil repaired the tractors.

Fisher Hardware & Implement Store, likely taken at their 10th anniversary, 1947.

Fisher Hardware & Implement Store, likely taken at their 10th anniversary, 1947.

At one time Luther’s son Jim and John’s son Carl owned and operated a John Deere implement store in Celina, too. That store was sold some time after Carl was killed in a car accident in 1963. Carl’s father John was the Mercer County treasurer at the time of Carl’s death. Jim ran the Chatt store with his father Luther after that.

Fisher Hardware was a very nice store and I remember going there with my parents. Fishers sold all the usual hardware-type items and tools as well as appliances. In fact, my  parents purchased their first refrigerator there in the early 1950s.

Fisher Hardware and Implement Store eventually closed when John Deere required its dealers to have larger areas to show and house their machinery that was for sale. Tony Salisbury purchased the Quonset hut building after the hardware closed.

The building and the memories still remain.

 

[1] The Willshire Herald, Willshire, Ohio, 24 April 1947, p.1.

[2] The Daily Standard, Celina, Ohio, 23 April 1947, p.3.

[3] Google Earth image, October 2008, accessed 20 August 2015.

6 comments

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    • Sondra Samples on August 21, 2015 at 7:40 am
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    Interesting that your blog last Friday and again this Friday featured pictures of Quonset metal buildings, I was told many years ago that this type of structure was sold as military surpplus following WWII. Last week’s 1948 tornado story and this week’s 1947 Fisher Hardware story would certainly fall into that time frame of possible source of new building construction.

    1. I never realized there were so many of them around and I think you are correct. After WWII there were probably a lot of Quonset buildings left over and the government probably offered them for a good price. Who knows, maybe insurance didn’t pay all that well after the tornado and these buildings were affordable. Makes sense and it fits into the time period. After all these years I never paid attention that the old hardware was a Quonset building, too. Thanks for reading!

    • Martha Fisher Lawler on August 21, 2015 at 5:53 pm
    • Reply

    Thanks, I have good memories of that day and many days spent in the store either playing or “working”. I also remember the old store but not many memories of it. They sold almost everything in the store, in addition to the farm implements and equipment, there were guns, paint, kitchen items, nails, screws, window glass, rope, and too many items to mention. Thanks again for bringing these memories to the foreground. I have the desk lamp that my Father made for his desk and hope to pass it on to someone in my family.

    1. Thanks for the additional information about the Fisher Hardware. They certainly carried a wide variety of items and your father’s desk lamp sounds very special. I love family heirlooms like that. So you believe the two photos are from their 10th anniversary? I guessed that they were but was not sure.

    • Brian Brewster on August 26, 2015 at 5:19 pm
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    I have a pocket knife inscribed with fisher hardware from grandpa Brewster .

    1. What a nice keepsake! I wonder if I have something from their hardware around here. Glad you mentioned that. I hadn’t thought to look.

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