51 Main Street
William W. Coffin
1940s to 1970s
Bill Coffin stocked old Nantucket books, gifts, cards, antiques, and sundry goods in his store and “Lending Library” on Main Street, next to Walter Coffin Hardware. Coffin was also an amateur photographer who did a series of remarkable photographic portraits (hand-tinted by Elizabeth McDonald) of World War II servicemen and other Nantucketers.
Scrimshander Nancy Chase got her start in ivory carving by making whale pins for sale in Coffin’s store.
