in 1964 Glenn Miller & Amandus "Junior" Steigerwalt met with Carl Wittig, their accountant. The two decided to take a leap of faith & "bailed out" the faltering Seligman & Company. We found records of Seligman dating back to the early 1900s. It was active in the lumber industry & had close ties to Clear Creek Coal Company, an LCN subsidiary.
in 1911, the Evening Courier reports Seligman hosted a 3 day "mini world's fair in Tamaqua. An estimated 20,000 people attended. On the 1st day alone over 22 gallons of coffee was served. Prior to Seligman, EJ Fry built a 2nd hardware store at the current M&S location to serve local mining companies & miners. EJ Fry's 1st store opened in 1840 at the corner of West Broad & Hunter Street (see the old picture below).
As you can see from the old time pictures below M&S changed & grew over the past 50 years. After "Junior" retired in 1992, his shares were purchased by Glenn's sons--Todd, Trevor, & Kyle. in 1995, the former Hadesty Hardware store on South Railroad Street was purchased. It's now the firm's outdoor power equipment sales & service headquarters.
Tragedy struck the Miller family in July,1996 when Kyle Miller & his wife Amy were victims on board TWA Flight 800 that exploded & crashed shortly after taking off from New York. But, the Miller's bounced back & acquired the land where the former Keller's Hotel stood in 1998. In 2008, a new addition was erected on that site.
M&S is hosting a gala 50th birthday celebration this Friday & Saturday. See M&S's ads in the Times News. AM 1410 WLSH & Magic 105.5 WMGH are broadcasting live both days. We're proud to salute the Miller family for re-investing in the Tamaqua downtown area. For more info visit M&S's website www.mshardwareonline.com & their Facebook fan page.
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