Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society

Artifact of the Week — McCollum’s Popular Empire Store


A 1946 article in The Item recorded the sale “of one of the most important business locations in the Township.” The 1946 article further noted the McCollum property at the corner of Millburn and Main had been in the McCollum family for about 100 years and was purchased from “one of the original Township settlers, Isaiah Smith…(and) W.E. and W.W. McCollum operated a general store there for many years.” [NOTE: The Isaiah Smith connection is confirmed by the information on the trade card seen here] The new owner apparently planned “to demolish the building in the near future and erect an ultra modern commercial building on the plot...” The planned demolition did not happen until many decades later, as the building can still be seen here looming behind the Pierre Deux store that enveloped it later. The original building was either completely demolished or was entombed in the Red Carpet gown store that moved into 344 Millburn Avenue much later. That gown store was then replaced by the lighting store there in 2019.

Business co-owner William Eugene McCollum died in 1918 and is interred in St. Stephens Cemetery. A 1928 obit for William White McCollum noted: “McCOLLUM — After a short illness at Nantucket, Mass. October 8, 1928. William White McCollum of 82 Harrison Street, East Orange, N.J., in his 74th year. Funeral services at the Colonial Home, 132 Harrison street, East Orange, N.J., on Wednesday afternoon, October 10, at 2 o’clock. Interment private.”  The exact relatonship of the business partners is not known, but the 1946 article about the sale of the business states the two men were father and second cousin of descendant Norman H. McColllum, who sold the property.

The Victorian trade card seen here is the latest artifact in the historical society’s collection and is the first trade card in the collection. According to a trade card article found on the Collectors Weekly website at https://www.collectorsweekly.com/cards/trade-cards “Victorian trade cards are an early form of collectible advertising. Popularized after the Civil War by businesses, they offer a colorful and diverse look at popular culture and society in the late 1800s.” The historical society has been searching for any local trade cards for at least twenty years and is delighted to add this to the collection of material about the Empire Store.