This is Amy Wagenaar from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan history moment. From 2013 to 2016, millions of public television viewers tuned in to watch the popular series Mr. Selfridge. The show followed the life and times of flamboyant department store owner Harry Selfridge. His huge department store, Selfridges, was a sensation in London. But Selfridges did not originate in London. Harry Selfridge, in fact, grew up in Jackson, Michigan. It was in Michigan that he developed many of the skills that led to his success as a retailer and some of the flaws that eventually led to his downfall. Harry Selfridge was born in Wisconsin in 1858. His parents had moved there from the Jonesville, Michigan area and returned to Jackson soon after Harry's birthday. Harry's father enlisted in the 3rd Michigan Cavalry at the outbreak of the Civil War. He survived the war but never returned to his family. Harry's mother, Lois, had to survive on her own. She found employment as a schoolteacher and became headmaster of Jackson High School. She insisted that Harry always go to school wearing a clean shirt and polished shoes, lessons that he would retain when he inspected his department store employees on morning tours of the store. As a schoolboy, Harry took a summer job at the Camp Winters Co. Dry goods store in Jackson and stocked shelves at the Leonard Fields department store. He learned the value of advertising when he and a schoolmate sold ads to town merchants in a monthly magazine that they published. Later, he would spend $150,000 on full page ads in London newspapers to advertise the grand opening of his department store. The store saw 90,000 customers walk through the door the morning that it first opened. Selfridge moved to Grand Rapids while in his late teens. He worked for an insurance company and developed an affinity for two things that would eventually prove his downfall, gambling and prostitutes. He returned to Jackson in 1876 but didn't stay long. In 1879, he moved to Chicago and began working his way up the ranks in Marshall Fields department store. He eventually opened his own vast department store, Selfridges in London. There he enjoyed fabulous success. Harry Selfridge's personal flaws finally caught up with him. High living, expensive affairs with women and gambling losses consumed most of his fortune. The store's board of directors finally forced him to resign from his own store. He existed on a small pension and lived out his days in England in a little flat near Putney. Harry Selfridge, the department store icon from Michigan, died in 1947. This Michigan history moment is brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine. Org.