Hook’s and Haag: drug stores once iconic in Indiana

<p dir="ltr">Does it seem like a CVS or a Walgreen’s can be found on every street corner? In Indiana for much of the 1900s, the drug store scene was much different, and dominated by two locally-owned rivals.</p> <p dir="ltr">Hook’s Drug Stores opened its first store in 1900 in Indianapolis in what’s now the <strong><a href= "https://bateshendricks.org/">Bates-Hendricks </a></strong>neighborhood, then considered part of Fountain Square. Haag Drug began even earlier, with the opening of a pharmacy in 1876 on Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indy.</p> <p dir="ltr">The captivating history of these competitors, which included Hook’s becoming the country’s 12th largest drugstore chain, and the two brothers who founded Haag being accused of bootlegging during <a href= "https://www.britannica.com/event/Prohibition-United-States-history-1920-1933"><strong>Prohibition</strong></a> will be the focus of our show. Although both the Haag and Hook’s names had vanished from retailing by the mid-1990s, the legacy of the latter is celebrated at the <strong><a href= "https://hooksmuseum.org/">Hook’s Drug Store Museum</a></strong> at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nelson’s guest will be Indianapolis civic leader <strong><a href= "http://www.thesteelegroup.us/about/team/">David Steele</a></strong>, a board member of the museum. David has crusaded for a historic marker that will be dedicated later this year on the site of the first Hook’s store at South East and Prospect streets.</p>