Hook’s Drugs, Inc. and Hook’s American Drugstore Museum

Denotes GMI History Denotes Hook’s Drugstore Museum History Denotes Hook's Drugs History

1900 The son of German immigrants living in the Fountain Square area, John A. Hook opened his first “Deutsche Apotheke” (German Apothecary) in a 1,000 square foot building at 1101 S. East St.

• The cabinets from this first store are the same ones that are in the store section of the museum. They were installed in the 1900 John Hook Store, that was located in Nashville, IN. They were also displayed in the old State Museum on Alabama Street as part of their Main Street Exhibit.
• The cabinets were moved to their current location in 2004.
• The building the museum is currently housed in was never an operating drugstore. It was, at one time, the Better Babies Building, where judging of infants occurred during the state fair. The Board of Health was also housed in the building at one time. The classroom section (formerly Bud Hook’s office) and the Red Cross facility were added on in the 1970’s.

1908 Hook opened a second downtown store at the corner of New Jersey & East Washington Streets. He also took on a partner – Edward F Roesch.

1943 John A. Hook dies at age 60, and Roesch became president

1950 Hook’s Drugs, with approximately 50 stores throughout Indiana, celebrates its Golden Jubilee with a grand opening of its store at 38th and Meridian Streets.

1956 With the death of Edward F Roesch, August F. “Bud” Hook, John’s son, who has been active in the business since he was a teen, takes over as president. The former Purdue University athlete and pharmacy grad, helps guide Hook’s Drugs through the postwar era.

1966 The company gives Hook’s Historical Drug Store and Pharmacy Museum as a gift to the people of Indiana to commemorate the state’s sesquicentennial. Located at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, the restoration of a late 19th century drugstore contains authentic 19th century cabinets from a drugstore in Cambridge City, Indiana. This drugstore, purchased by Hook’s for this purpose, opened in 1849 and was, prior to purchase by Hook’s, owned by the Grigsby family.

• The Cambridge City cabinets feature reverse-glass painting technique. Several of the advertising art above the cabinets is still original, but many of the panels had to be restored.
• The cabinets were built in Cincinnati in the mid 1800’s, and shipped to Cambridge City by horse & wagon. Copies of the original bills of lading are on display in the museum.
• The back bar at the soda fountain is from Sunman, IN, and the pink Lippincott soda fountain ca. 1877 was rescued from use as a planter!
• Jim Rogers and Fred Edwards, Hook Drug employees, were originally charged with collecting artifacts to display in the store. Mr. Edwards currently lives in Georgia, and has continued working with antiques as a collector, dealer, and appraiser. He keeps in touch with the museum and visits annually.
• Mr. Rogers is still actively involved in preserving the museum and its collections. Jim has moved into an advisory role, but is still anxious to keep the collection intact and in Indiana.
• 1970 The Hook’s Historical Drug Store and Pharmacy Museum adds an ice cream soda fountain.
• 1985 The Kroger Company outbids Rite Aid Corporation, which had attempted a hostile takeover, and acquires Hook’s Drugs.

1994 Hook’s-SupeRx is acquired by Revco. The Hook’s name is retired and Revco agrees to donate Hook’s Historical Drug Store and Pharmacy Museum to the Hook Drug Foundation, a not-for-profit organization.

• The Hook Drug Foundation currently supports educational efforts, specifically granting scholarships to Purdue and Butler pharmacy students.
• It is now a completely separate organization from the museum.The Hook Drug Foundation has awarded two small grants to the current museum, but does not underwrite its operation.

1998 A new organization, Hook’s American Drugstore Museum, is formed as a 501c3 not-for-profit, and with a generous donation from the Hook family, two buildings were purchased in downtown Indianapolis. The goal was to build a 30k+ square foot drugstore museum - with a projected opening date of 2002.

1998-2000 A large number of pharmacy artifacts were collected toward the goal of opening the museum. Most of these artifacts were placed in a 15k sq ft storage facility on the city’s near northwest side.

2000 The Hook’s Historical Drug Store and Pharmacy Museum is closed for year-round operation, only opening for during the Indiana State Fair.

2003 The Hook’s American Drugstore Museum officially became the Hook's Discovery & Learning Center (HDLC). After original figures for opening the museum proved far too conservative, the organizations board of directors decided to pursue a mission of life science education, which it had been exploring since early 2001. The downtown buildings were sold, and the staff was transferred to the artifact storage facility.

• 2004 Robert Hunt, a Lilly employee and member of the Greenfield Downtown Committee approached HDLC with the idea of bringing the drugstore museum to Greenfield. Hunt, and a group of dedicated individuals incorporated and began preparations for establishing the Greenfield Museum Initiative (GMI).

February 2005 The Hook's Discovery & Learning Center’s board officially determined that they were no longer “in the museum business,” and offered GMI the opportunity to take over operation of the Hook’s Historical Drug Store and Pharmacy Museum.

• March 2005 GMI received 501c3 status from the IRS.
• September 2004 – April 2005 GMI volunteers, HDLC staff, and HDLC Board Members sort and pack the stored collections. Items were then transferred by HDLC to GMI and moved to storage in Greenfield.
• June 2005 GMI took over operation of the Hook’s Historical Drug Store and Pharmacy Museum, hired Julia Miller-Moore as Director and shortened the location’s name to Hook’s Drugstore Museum & Soda Fountain. The museum begins to offer educational programs to school and adult audiences, and offers the venue to individuals and groups for private events.
• July 2005 GMI reopened the museum for year-round business with operational hours of Thursday through Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The Future: GMI plans to maintain year-round operation of the Hook’s Drugstore Museum & Soda Fountain, and seek opportunities to open a larger, more comprehensive museum in Greenfield. By October 2005, GMI will open a small exhibit in the Masonic Building in Greenfield at the corner of US 40 and State Road 9 to showcase some of the items that are in storage. The artifacts that are displayed in the Hook’s Drugstore Museum & Soda Fountain comprises approximately 20% of the full collection.