This morning Ed Parsons posted his Illinois private label Grade 179 watch here: Illinois Watch Co. Grade 179

I find private label watches interesting and started researching A.L. Haman & Co., St. Paul, Minn. At first nothing came up but being persistent I was able to find some information.

One of the last things I found was out of The Dual City Blue Book by R.L. Polk & Company, 1899, and it was what I was looking for at first, an advertisement.

As can be seen in the advertisement above Mr. Haman dealt with top shelf watches. The business also was an agent for the Webb C. Ball as can be seen below.

Advertisement courtesy of Google Books

While searching the web I stumbled across what looked like A.L. Haman & Co., 295 Endicott Building. That lead to searching for the building: Pioneer and Endicott Buildings

Here is a link to a PDF with recent history and information about the buildings: Pioneer and Endicott Buildings

On the bottom of the Wikipedia article it shows a link to photos and that's where the image below is from. I like this because it is around when Eds' watch was made and as you can see the form of transportation is horse and buggy.

Image courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society Circa 1900

Good job Richard, so a A.L. Haman-marked Ball-Hamilton 999 is a possibilty. That would be a nice partner for my Gr 179!

Ed,

That would be great if you could find a matching private label Ball-Hamilton 999.

There's more to come.

It's kind of confusing how the Endicott and Pioneer buildings are connected and looking more into it I found the photo that ties some facts together. What really fascinates me is I think it's possible that your watch may have been purchased from the exact place in the picture below.

Photo courtesy Minnesota Historical Society Circa 1929

Here is the street view of 350 Robert Street which is the same view of the building shown above.

Image courtesy of Google Maps

I didn’t find anything in particular about Mr. Haman but did find an article which included the picture below that may include Mr. Haman. A.L. Haman & Co, St. Paul, Minn

Perhaps Tom Brown can dig up some information about Mr. Haman.

That's a great looking watch Ed.

Enjoy,

RR

Photo courtesy of Google Books

It appears he was Albert L. Haman, he was born about April 1859 in Illinois.

Thank you Tom,

RR

Nice work Richard.

Great history lesson Richard, this is what draws me to private label watches as well. It's nice when the buildings are still standing and still looking much like they did in their day. Since this is on the national historic registry it's not likely to change. Much like Eds watch, History Preserved.

One would hope so Ray, so we're preserving the watch, plus also on the private label aspects, provide a window on the people that sold it and serviced it.

When I got back to St. Paul in January I will have to look up the place.

Tom

quote:

Albert L. Haman a little more history

off the 1900 Federal Census...

Name: Albert L Haman
Age: 47
Birth Date: Apr 1859
Birthplace: Illinois
Home in 1900: St Paul Ward 11, Ramsey, Minnesota
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Katherine Haman
Marriage Year: 1889
Years Married: 11
Father's Birthplace: Germany
Mother's Birthplace: Germany
Occupation: Jeweler
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Albert L Haman 47
Katherine Haman 31
Truell Haman 3
Lillie Herhold 26

I found this photo of F.W. Kinnoin, he either worked for A.L. Haman, or he was a partner in his store.

Putting it all together, how about this? A fully restored jeweler's store, complete with watchmakers, sales displays, watches, tools, etc. A touring exhibit perhaps, so visitors could see what it was like to get their watches serviced back in the day. What do you think?