Group photos endure through time, as each member possessed a keepsake copy, increasing the likelihood of preservation to future generations.
'Miller Brothers' was one of the leading Chattanooga merchants through much of the 20th century. Gustavus H. Miller and Franklin L. Miller opened as the ‘New York Racket Store’ in 1889.
Three group photos reflect the retailer's growth over the years.
The brothers built a new store at Seventh and Market Streets in 1898 known as Miller Brothers Department Store.
A copy at the Chattanooga Public Library includes the following description:
Forty-eight employees of Miller Brothers department store on the 1st floor at the Market Street entrance. Store located here from 1898-1986. Owner Gustavus (Gus) Miller is man in center front with white goatee. Paul A. Hiener Collection (Acc. 318)
June 21, 1927 company picnic panoramic photo at Pan Gap, on the eastern slope of Racoon Mountain.
In 1915, the City of Chattanooga acquired several acres of land for the enjoyment of fire department members and their families. With support from both the police and fire departments, fundraising efforts and volunteer labor transformed the remote woodland into a lively gathering place for barbecues and outdoor festivities. An earthen dam was built, forming a lake that became a centerpiece of the retreat.
Today, 86 acres and the lake remain under the ownership and use of the ‘Fireman Outing Club.’
A 1939 Chattanooga Times article noted Miller Bros. had become "one of the half-dozen largest department stores in Tennessee. The company employs between 400 and 500 persons. The store has three restaurants; a cafeteria, a tearoom and a luncheonette patronized by 2,000 to 2,500 persons a day. It has departments for ladies' ready-to-wear and accessories, men's clothing, furniture, draperies, piece goods, books, toys, china, house furnishings, electrical goods, shoes and music. It operates a beauty parlor, a barber shop and a photographic studio. In addition, Miller Bros. does an extensive mail order business and has a wholesale department with seven salesmen traveling in the territory within 100 miles of Chattanooga."*
*Source: The Chattanooga News, March 15th, 1939
'One May afternoon in 1895 with her hair in braids and her short skirts crisply starched, she appeared alongside her mother to ask for a position. Frank Miller hired her on the spot — and she's been working there ever since, the longest in continuous service of any employee of Miller Bros.'*
Laughing, she said, 'I was a girl in short dresses when I went to work at the old store. If the child labor laws had been in effect, I could not have worked.'
Indeed, records indicate she was (almost) 13-years-old when hired.
'Mr. Clark's first job with the New York Racket Store in 1893 was as delivery boy for wages of $3 a week, driving a Texas pony hitched to a small cart. He left Chattanooga for 3-years and returned after the 1898 photo was taken.'*
"I didn't know one street from another," he said. Adding to his difficulties was the fact that in those days driving a cart as far as two blocks in Chattanooga was an adventure."