A.H. Kaufman and Company

In 1896, Amasa H. (A.H.) Kaufman and his brother-in-law J.I. Noris came from Lagrange to look for locations to open a store. They contracted one year for the Uline Room that had been vacated by the hardware stock. Mr. Uline overhauled the room, brightening it with new paper and paint, and rearranged some of the shelving. The store was ready for occupancy by February 15th of 1896.

Mr. Kaufman was to have a stock that was peculiar to itself and he was said to be a pusher for business. People would learn what he intended to sell through the advertising channels.

He opened his store on February 11, 1896, in the building where Lehman Furniture store was located. They occupied that building for 7 years.

The business moved to the Hughes Building on the southwest corner of Main and Market Street.

Mr. Kaufman was keenly interested in the growth and prosperity of Nappanee. In 1921, Mr. Kaufman admitted Frank Lehman as a partner and changed the name to A.H. Kaufman and Co. Mr. Kaufman passed away in 1923.

In the early 1920s, the store moved to the location at 108 E. Market St. After Kaufman’s death, Frank Lehman shared equal parts of the business with Mrs. Kaufman.

During the 1930s, the store increased the inventory of hardware, housewares, sporting goods, and paint while reducing the inventory of dry goods and related items.

During the 1930s, J.O. Kantz and Frank Lehman developed a fishing lure called the Ypsi. The Ypsi brand lure was sold exclusively by Kaufman’s and was popular with many fishermen throughout the country. The lure was first manufactured for Kaufman’s in Ypsilanti, Michigan. When Ypsilanti Bait Company quit manufacturing the bait, Kaufman’s turned to the South Bend Bait Company.

However, in the 1940s, the South Bend Bait Company notified them that they could no longer manufacture the bait. South Bend Bait Company began to manufacture a similar lure called Nip-I-Diddee. Kaufman’s sought legal advice and was told that the lure could not be patented and the South Bend Bait Company was free to manufacture the Nip-I-Diddee. Kaufman’s continued to find local manufacturers and marketed the lure well into the 1950s.

Upon the death of Mrs. Kaufman in 1946, Charles Lehman (Frank’s son) purchased Mrs. Kaufman’s share of the business. On January 1, 1952 - the name of the business was changed from A.H. Kaufman and Company to Lehman’s Hardware. Lehman’s closed in 1971 and sold their inventory to the former Martin’s Hardware.