THE MILLINER ON MAIN STREET
100 years ago, Lillian Musterman opened a hat shop in Annapolis, and its legacy still lives on today
One-hundred years ago, the women of Annapolis beat their way to the “Grand Opening” of L.P. Musterman Hat Shop. Lillian Powell Musterman, already a well-known milliner, was welcoming customers to her new business at 197 Main St.
Hats filled the store. Straw and felt and velvet. Feathers and flowers. Colors of every hue. For weeks, anticipation built and curiosity reigned as the remodeling of Dr. George Feldmeyer’s now empty Victorian Italianate home continued. What hats did Musterman select in New York this season? And what might I find for the tea next week?
At a time when women were expected to stay home, have children and tend to domestic responsibilities, Musterman, the milliner on Main Street, was an astute businesswoman competing with at least four other hatmakers when she opened her hat shop in 1921.
Until she retired 46 years later, many generations of women felt they were visiting an old friend as well as buying hats when they went to Musterman’s.
Her customers were confident she wouldn’t allow them to leave the store with a hat that wouldn’t do. One woman said: “I never look up when looking in the mirror. All I see is Mrs. Musterman behind me. If she shakes her head, I know it isn’t mine.”
She first became known for her creativity when working at Mrs. Stranger’s millinery at 205 Main St. around 1900. Those were the days of the Gainsborough hats — amazing creations of flowers, feathers, fruits, and laces piled as high as a foot or more atop the heads of women with tiny waists cinched tight with whalebone corsets.
She met and married the “most eligible bachelor” in town—becoming Mrs. John Henry Musterman in 1908. But she never stopped working. She soon had twin sons, and seven years later, in 1916, a daughter.
Two weeks after that birth, tragedy struck. Her husband had a nervous breakdown and never worked again. She became the sole breadwinner of the family.
More tragedy followed when her employer died in 1919. But this strong and independent woman, whose philosophy was “you can do anything if you really want to,” found a way. That “anything” for her was take a risk and open a store in her name only. It soon was known as the most elegant hat shop in town.
More than 50 years after she retired, customers still recall her and her store. Photos of Musterman posted on an Annapolis Facebook group from time to time get hundreds of “likes” and comments.
Some mention delivering hats for her for 25 cents. Many remember her kindness. Others note that she made more than hats: A niece found Barbie doll clothes and a silk scarf bordered with mink under the Christmas tree one year. Another little girl slipped her hands into a favorite muff and wore the matching felt hat trimmed in fox fur. A gift from her mother that she still cherishes today. All were fashioned by Musterman.
Musterman was such a savvy businesswoman that her store weathered the Depression, World War II and a devastating fire in 1957. Although she
was 76, she had a grand opening four months later, selling more hats than she did at the first in 1921.
Her community activities were many. She was a charter member of the Eastern Star, founded in 1921, and of Zonta
— the woman’s Rotary — founded in 1928. She served as the chapter’s president in 1937.
In 1961, Mayor Joseph H. Griscom Sr. presented her a floral arrangement in appreciation of her store’s being the first of 13 businesses on upper Main Street to complete exterior renovations to support a city-wide effort to revamp downtown. Former Mayor Pip Moyer noted that 13 businesses on Main Street were closed at that time.
The 1960s brought cultural change, and women no longer felt compelled to wear a hat to tea, lunch, showers, religious services, or even just to shop in town. Bouffant hairstyles made it impossible.
It was then Musterman realized she had to retire — September 1967 when she was 86 years old.
Four years later as Mrs. Musterman turned 90, Zonta devoted their Christmas party to honor her life.
Eleanor Owings, the emcee, ended the presentation of photos and stories with “Musty, yours has been an amazing life, full of love and laughter, sorrow and joy, ambition and its fulfillment, difficulties, experience, and the love and admiration of many more people than you may realize.”
Her friends called her Musty, her nieces and nephews Aunt Lil, and regular customers addressed her as Musterman. But to all who met her, she is remembered for caring, kindness, and crowning the heads of women with the best selection of hats for more than 40 years.
Today when passersby walk up Main Street, they see red lanterns where once beautiful hats were displayed. And some remember Musterman, a businesswoman and entrepreneur par excellence.
Elizabeth Leah Reed is the author of “Mrs. Musterman, Milliner of Main Street: A Biography” (Wheatmark, 2021) and “We Come From Island People” (Petersrow, 2000). She lived in Annapolis for more than 20 years and was a co-founder, with Peg Wallace, of the Eastport Historical Committee, now the Annapolis Maritime Museum. Her new book will be available at Old Fox Books & Coffeehouse., Barnes and Noble and Back Creek Books in Annapolis and though online book sellers. She lives in Tucson, Arizona. Contact her at eleahreed@gmail.com