Mrs. Keiser Goes to London Town
Mrs. Keiser Goes to London Town On March 15, 1909, a spectacle for the eyes graced Oxford Street in London. A grand building decked in laurel and flags stood ready to receive its first visitors. At 9:00 a.m., a bugle sounded and the doors of Selfridges department store were thrown open. Thousands of shoppers, ready to inspect the new store and its merchandise poured in. The store offered hundreds of departments, along with restaurants, a rooftop garden, reading rooms, and an on-floor staff who could answer any question, and find any item you desired. As its owner, Gordon Selfridge, often proclaimed, a store was to be a “social center, not merely a place for shopping.” And boy was it!
Steamer Trunk from Selfridges, London. Owned by Sarah McCullough Keiser of Muncie, IN.
In the Heritage Collection at Minnetrista we have our own piece of Selfridges history. While London may seem to be a world away from Muncie, IN., for Sarah McCulloch Keiser it may have only been a train trip and steamship away. Sarah, born in 1865, was the daughter of a Muncie physician. Her brother, George F. McCulloch, donated McCulloch Park to the City of Muncie in the 1890s. Today it is the largest community park in town.
Postcard from 1910 featuring McCulloch Park.
By the time of the Selfridges grand opening in 1909, Sarah seems to have been preparing for European travel. In early November she was approved by the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship for a passport to travel abroad. On her November 9th application, she asked that once approved, the passport be delivered to her at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. “Please rush” was written at the bottom of the paperwork.
A portion of Sarah McCulloch Keiser’s Passport Application from 1909. Familysearch.org
What exactly Sarah did on her trip we cannot be sure. No letters or diaries telling of her adventures have been found. What does survive is a steamer trunk owned by Sarah McCulloch Keiser. Stenciled with her initials on each end, the trunk is dotted with past shipping labels that show how often it was used. Each end also bears a brass medallion emblazoned with “SELFRIDGE LONDON.” While the trunk shows sign of wear and love, its construction indicates it was likely made prior to 1920.
The Selfridges tag that adorns each end of Sarah McCulloch Keiser’s steamer trunk.
On October 10, 1912, Sarah sailed through the Port of New York on the ship Princess Irene. She was headed back home from Italy. When searching for Sarah on ship manifests, I was unable to find her on another ocean journey after that. If Sarah never traveled to Europe again, it would seem that her visit to Selfridges happened in their first few years of business. There is no doubt that Mrs. Keiser’s trunk carried precious belongings for her during her life. Now, that same trunk carries for us the story of how its owner once took a trip all from way from Muncie to London Town.
Do you have any photos, papers, or items that tell the stories of East Central Indiana? If you do, and are looking for a home for them, let us know! We’d love to talk to you about the possibility of donating to the Minnetrista Heritage Collection. Feel free to reach out to me at jjenkins@minnetrista.net or 765.287.3517.
