Exceptionally rare partly-printed DS, one page, 10.25 x 6.5, October 1, 1871. A Stock certificate issued to Lewis S. Hills for five shares of the Zion's Co-Operative Mercantile Institution. Signed at the conclusion by Young as the company's president. In fine condition, with several vertical folds. In 1868, Young founded the Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI) in an attempt to create a fairer business atmosphere for Mormons in Utah. By banding together and pooling their resources, Morman businesses were able to place orders large enough to deter non-Mormon wholesalers from price gouging, a problem that had plagued the Mormon business community up until that point. As this church-promoted wholesale and retail house grew in strength, all the independent businesses melded into what would become 'America's First Department Store.' This ZCMI Stock Certificate, issued to Lewis S. Hills, bookkeeper for the Zion's Cooperative Banking Institution, is one of only a handful known to exist outside the Mormon Church's archives.
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