From Chapter 5: The Kaplans as Merchants [Sources of quotations are provided in the book] Eddie opened his first store in Ware in 1907 at age thirty-two, selling ladies’ clothing and furnishings. The store, located at 100 Main St. (in the Albertine Block), was a few buildings away from the handsome Romanesque revival Ware Town Hall. Eddie took over premises that had been occupied by the Star Lunch Room (owned by Edward L. Thompson). By 1910, Eddie’s son Louis Harold, then fifteen years old, was helping out in the store as a clerk. Immediately adjacent to Eddie’s store in the Albertine Block were Satz’s watch and jewelry shop at 102 Main St., and on the other side, in the basement at 98 Main, Boucher and Strack’s saloon. Nearby were Charles H. Rood’s secondhand-furniture store, at 110 Main, and another large furniture store, F. P. Clark & Co., at 112–116 Main. On the other side of Eddie’s store, at 92–96 Main, were two adjoining shops owned by George D. Contacos, an immigrant from Greece: the Imperial Candy Kitchen and Ware Fruit Store. Fire was not an uncommon hazard for retail establishments in the earlier part of the twentieth century. Eddie’s shop was among several in the Albertine Block that suffered damage in August 1907 as a result of a fire that broke out in Mary Satz’s residence on the second floor. However, his losses, settled by his insurer for $368, were the highest. Kaplan stores would again fall victim to fires in later years. In 1911, Eddie purchased from William C. Wiggin a vacant lot on the corner of Main and North Streets, diagonally across from his store at 100 Main, for $13,000. The lot, called the “Holden corner” at the time, had been a “mecca for fakirs exhibiting their goods by torchlight.” On this lot, in 1912, Eddie built the two-story commercial building that became known as the Kaplan Block, comprising 85 to 91 Main St. With its neo-classical revival design and “an elaborate metal cornice composed of foliated modillions and an egg and dart course,” it was said at the time to be “the largest building erected [in Ware] in years,” and “the handsomest in town.” New cement sidewalks, “the first of this material in Ware,” were installed along both the Main Street and North Street sides. This block became the location of the Kaplans’ longstanding commercial presence in Ware, the clothing stores E. Kaplan & Co. and Kaplan’s Woman’s Shop. The speed with which Eddie engaged a contractor and commenced construction—less than three months after acquiring the property—defied the expectations of some observers. It was reported at the time that the beginning of the work “came as a surprise to Ware’s wiseacres and sidewalk capitalists, who, in their omniscience, have predicted that it would be a long time yet before a building would be started there.” The building of the Kaplan Block was not without controversy. On the eastern side of and immediately adjacent to the lot purchased by Eddie was land owned by Joseph Weeks. A house straddled the two parcels. One half of the house was owned by Weeks and the other half by Andrew Bryson, but only Bryson was willing to sell to Eddie. To build the Kaplan Block, Eddie had to remove the half of the house that he obtained from Bryson, sawing through the middle and leaving the other half in place. Weeks claimed that the part of the house that remained was not left in as good condition as it had been before Eddie removed the other half and, in February 1912, he sued for damages. The case went to trial in January 1913. On January 24, Mr. Weeks was awarded $192.76 in damages plus $16.79 in costs. A few years later, there was further litigation involving the Kaplan Block and the adjacent lot once owned by Mr. Weeks. Emily L. Robinson had become owner of the Weeks property. A dispute arose between Eddie and Mrs. Robinson as to the dividing line between their respective parcels, precipitated by her claim that an underpinning wall and a cornice of the building on the Kaplan Block encroached into her land. The disagreement was, in essence, over a four-inch strip between the two properties. A court case ensued, which was eventually settled in July 1919 by an agreement between Eddie and Mrs. Robinson establishing the exact location of the line dividing their respective lots, and allowing the encroachments to remain.
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