Cohen Millinery Shop (previously known as Mrs. D. Cohen's Millinery Shop, Magill Jewelry Store, and Baker Street Jewelry Store)

This building has a bit of confusing history to it. The reason for this confusion is caused from a mistake Henry Ford made when he purchased it back in 1935. From what a number of presenters have told me, when Mr. Ford bought this structure, he thought he was buying the Magill Jewelry Store, where, as a youth he moonlighted repairing watches.
During the 1990's, research showed that, in actuality, he bought the Cohen Milinery Shop building.
And that is what I will concentrate on in this chapter.

This milinery shop, located at 444 Baker Street in Detroit, represents the new wave of specialized stores in the larger cities in the late 19th century. It was here that Mrs. Elizabeth Cohen made her living decorating women's hats from 1892 to 1903, catering to mainly the middle class genre.

Mrs. Cohen purchased ready-made hat bodies from manufacturers, then trimmed them to the tastes of her customers with ribbons, artificial flowers, feathers, and buttons. She also sold various fabrics, notions, and gentlemen's accessories such as ties, cuff links, and shirt collars.

As the shop now sits in Greenfield Village, presenters dressed in period clothing continue to trim hats in this building.

Records show that the building was originally built around 1879/1880 in Detroit.


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