Kohn’s
Clothier
1918-1970
Main Street
Columbia, SC 29201
FAMILIES: Kohn
50 years after Bavarian immigrant Theodore Kohn (1840-1902) and his wife, Theresa Rosa Wald Kohn (1842-1912), established Kohn’s Department Store in Orangeburg, their eldest sons, August (1868-1930) and Solomon “Sol” (1870-1955) opened another branch of the family store in Columbia. August and Sol both graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1889, and after that, August pursued a career as newspaper correspondent for The News and Courier, first in Charleston and later in Columbia, while Sol continued his studies at Cornell University. Upon his graduation, Sol became one of the first electrical engineers in the state but ultimately chose to join his father at the family store in Orangeburg. In 1908, he married Atlanta native Bessie Barbara Stahl (1886-1969), and together the couple had three children: Solomon “Sol” Jr. (1909-1977), Theodore Benedict (1912-1988), and Louis (1916-1934).
In 1918, Sol moved to Columbia and purchased the mercantile business of Will Evans at 1409 Main Street with his older brother, August. Initially operating with assistance from gentile lawyer and future University of South Carolina president, William Davis Melton (1868-1926), the Kohn brothers assumed full ownership of the men’s and women’s clothing store by 1925. August stepped away from the business shortly thereafter and by the end of the decade, Sol Jr. joined his father as a manager at the store. Around this time, the Kohn’s rebranded their growing business as a women’s and children’s department store, and in 1933, they moved a block north to 1526 Main Street. There they sold “frocks” and “sporty coats” to college girls in the 1920s, war bonds and hair turbans in the 1940s, and short leather jumpers in the 1960s. Throughout the years, they also offered community attractions and activities like photo sessions with the Easter Bunny; bridal consultations with Miss Universe 1954, Miriam Stevenson Upton (b. c.1932); and a charms course for girls interested in learning more about “fashion knowledge, make-up, hair styling, posture, fashion co-ordination, manners, weight control, and other subjects.”1
After operating on the 1500 block of Main Street for 37 years and playing a large role in the transformation of Columbia’s Main Street, the Kohn family sold Kohn’s to the proprietors of Davison’s (a division of the Macy’s department store) in 1970.
1 “Charm Course for Teen Girls Graduates First Class,” The State, September 5, 1959, 16.
Main Image: Cropped postcard depicting the 1500 Block of Main Street. Image courtesy of Postcards of the Midlands, Richland Library, Columbia, SC.
Above Image: View of Kohn’s during an Armed Forces Day Parade, 1961. Image courtesy of Bicentennial Photograph Collection, Richland Library, Columbia, SC.
Above Image: Miriam Stevenson Upton— the 1954 winner of Miss South Carolina, Miss USA and Miss Universe—providing bridal consultations at Kohn’s Department Store, 1958. Image courtesy of The State Newspaper Photograph Archive, Richland Library, Columbia, SC.
Above Image: Left: 1920s advertisement for Kohn’s. Reprinted from The State, August 28, 1925. Right: 1960s advertisement for Kohn’s. Reprinted from The State, August 11, 1968.