The Mail Pouch Tobacco sign on the original barn building. Courtesy | Facebook
The Hillsdale County Historical Society is waiting to have enough funds to display the Mail Pouch Tobacco sign that was saved from the Meijer property.
“Meijer dismantled it, numbered the boards, and brought it to us free of charge,” said JoAnne Miller, a member of the historical society.
The sign is in storage while the funds are being raised for its restoration, said Morgan Morrison, a historical society board member. Although the project is currently on hold, the Mail Pouch Tobacco sign is set to be displayed inside the barn of the Will Carleton Poorhouse after restoration is completed.
The West Virginia based Mail Pouch Tobacco company launched an advertising campaign in the mid twentieth century that involved enlisting thousands of farmers across the country to paint the brand’s name and slogan on the side of their barns, according to a 2023 article in The Fence Post.
“Our next project will be to weatherproof the old barn. Although the exterior was repainted recently, the interior needs to be wired for electricity,” Miller wrote in an email, “and the Mail Pouch Tobacco siding installed inside to protect it from weathering. We received a generous donation from the estate of Ellie Leutheuser that will go toward doing that.”
The historical society is also repainting the Will Carleton Poorhouse, named for Michigan Poet Laureate and Hillsdale graduate Will Carlton. The Poorhouse, constructed in 1853, provided room and board to those who were unable to provide for themselves, according to the historical society’s website.
According to Miller, this is the first time both the interior and exterior of the Poorhouse have been repainted since the historical society originally restored it in 1989.
Along with the poorhouse, the society repainted both the interior and exterior of the Fairgrounds Museum, constructed in 1869, over the summer. The Museum is located in a white building on the fairgrounds, and has been used to house educational displays since the historical society acquired it in 1972, according to an article in the Hillsdale Daily News.
The historical society also recently completed a new addition to its range of attractions. According to Miller, the General Store and Barn Museum are now open for visitors during specific historical society events.
