Pardridge & Blackwell: 1915

Wehying Brothers jewelers is still in business in Detroit today. They've moved about a mile up Gratiot Avenue, not too far from the location in the photo.

Someone cue Wilbur Hatch!

And then there are all the women and little girls not wearing coats.

It looks like melting snow on the street, but I can't figure out if it's that, or from a very brief rain shower.

[That's street-cleaning water. Posters on the billboard are advertising events in June. - Dave]

No fair, you guys using reading and observation. You probably have opposable thumbs, too.

A couple of ghost platoons. Perhaps some Starship Troopers? (First one who figures that reference gets a free internet.)

There's a lot of open windows for a winter's day!

[Why do we think this is winter? - Dave]

This reminds me so much of F & R Lazarus Department store in downtown Columbus when I was a child. They had a giant globe on the roof with a big "L" on it that lit up at night, and at Christmas they would drape lights from it to form a Christmas tree that could be seen for miles in any direction. They were also famous for their animated Christmas windows, and Santaland in the basement. The store is gone now, a victim of multiple mergers and corporate takeovers, and i haven't been to downtown Columbus since. All of my childhood landmarks are gone, so I'll stick with memories ... and Shorpy!

I found an image of the Lazarus store lit up for Christmas..had to share!

This delights me.

Honest-to-gosh bicycle racks, so there's no longer a need to prop your pedal up against the curb.

I did a double-take when I saw the title of this photo come up.

Back in the 1970s up until quite recently, there was a popular PARTRIDGE & ROCKWELL appliance store in Greenwich, Connecticut, where we bought most of our major appliances back then. The name of this Detroit store naturally caught my eye.

P&B eventually became Crowley's. This building was torn down in the late 1970s, and the Crowley's chain went under in 1999.

for lovers with initials P&B.

The store became Crowley Milner. I remember the wooden esclators.