Reading through the advertisements alone gives the impression of what students needed and desired 100 years ago. For example:
“Your friends can buy you anything you can give them but “Your Photograph.” // The Studio of Harrington // Only Ground Floor Studio in the City. // 414 W. Main St. // A Liberal Discount To Students.”
Or,
“Board for Students // 20 Meals // $4.25 (Dinner and Suppers) // Early Breakfast served at 5c, 10c, 15c and upwards according to the articles you select. // You will find satisfactory meals at moderate cost, near the Normal. // Mrs. Hudson // 524 Oak St.”
Other ads feature “good clothes,” “high grade lunches, ice creams, and candy,” “straw hats that will give you the look of success,” and “Normal novelties in rings, pins, and pendants.”
The Kalamazoo National Bank boasted $200,000 in capital and Normal Grocery reminded readers they had everything students needed for lunches and picnics.
Sam Folz, selling clothes since ’84, advertised their store as the “Headquarters for the cool things that men wear.”
The Kalamazoo Laundry Co. encourages those with dirty clothing to “try our Swiss Hand Laundry and Dry Cleaning Departments.” They also offered shoe repairs.
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