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Green Detroit: 1942
Detroit, July 1942. "Looking north on Woodward Avenue from the Maccabees ... transparency by Arthur Siegel. View full size. Detroit Institute of Arts In the foreground, the building to the right (cut off) is now the home of the Detroit Institute of Arts. The building on the left is the Detroit Public ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 10:52am -

Detroit, July 1942. "Looking north on Woodward Avenue from the Maccabees Building with the Fisher Building at the distant left, and the Wardell Hotel at the right." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Arthur Siegel. View full size.
Detroit Institute of ArtsIn the foreground, the building to the right (cut off) is now the home of the Detroit Institute of Arts.  The building on the left is the Detroit Public Library.
It's strange to see all the trees in the photo.  Those are sadly not there anymore.
My Old NeighborhoodI went to college and lived in this neighborhood about a block out of frame to the right. Most of the major buildings in the picture are still there today and look much the same. The Detroit Institute of Art has just finished up a Michael Graves redesign of the 1960s and 70s additions that wrap around the back of the original central building seen here. The DIA atrium contains Diego Rivera's famous Detroit industry murals. The main branch of the DPL on the left is by Cass Gilbert with a later rear addition by his son.
The streetcars are gone of course, but there are groups working to bring them back to this part of Woodward Avenue.
Charles Lang Freer's Mansion is hidden behind the three-winged Wardell (now Park Shelton) Hotel. The Freer Mansion, one of the most important Shingle Style residences in the country, once contained the famous Peacock Room designed by Whistler, later relocated to the Freer Gallery in Washington.
The smokestacks next to Woodward just at the horizon were at the now demolished powerhouse of Ford's Highland Park factory.
Old Detroit87 years ago today I was born in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit was a tree city. I remember going to the top of the downtown sky scrapers and was surprised at seeing so many trees in the city.
[Happy birthday, Seattle Kid! - Dave]
Parade routeDitto anonymous tipster, I worked at that library, attended Wayne State University which is (will be) off to the left, and this side of the photographer. 
Site of the Hudson's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Still a Jungle Out ThereSeattlekid, you still can see the treetops from many buildings.  I went up in the abandoned Michigan Central Station and after looking at the pictures, you'd think Detroit was all trees.  On another note, look at how nice Woodward Avenue actually looks.  Nowadays, if you try riding your bike on it you're certainly taking your life into your hands.
Home Sweet HomeJust across Woodward from the Wardell/Park Shelton, in that grove of trees, you can see a roof with several chimneys. 14 years after this picture was taken, I was born in that building, Called the Art Centre Hospital. It later became part of the Detroit Historical Museum, and is now, I believe, part of Wayne State University.
DetroitI was one of the artsy folk over at the College for Creative Studies, but several of my cousins went to Wayne State.  The Public Library is really something. My film-major roommate used the grand stairway and second-floor hall as sets for as a fairy tale style palace in a short film he was making. 
Clang Clang ClangI lived about a half mile south of there on Woodward a few years back - walked to the library all the time, but it's the trolleys that get me - how cool that must have been.
The Pontiac SignMakes me think of all the GTO's that will help turn this avenue into a street racing legend 20 odd years later.  Or was it Woodward Boulevard?  Well, what does a hick from Georgia know about Michigan?
Foy
Las Vegas
Woodward AvenueAerial view.
Although MS Live Maps doesn't allow me to view at the same angle, it's still interesting to look at the layout of the area ~66 years later.
Detroit trees and streetcarsSadly, most of Detroit has lost the beautiful American elm trees over the last few decades due to Dutch Elm Disease.  I remember the early a.m. spraying helicopter flights over our northwest Detroit neighborhood in the early sixties as the city tried to control the blight.  I wonder how many later sicknesses and chronic conditions were caused by all of us breathing the aerial sprays.
In 1970 while working for the DSR (Detroit's bus company), many old time executives told me detailed stories about the streetcars' demise in the 50's.  Most of the tales had to do with the auto executives refusing to allow room for tracks within the newly planned expressways (freeways) to the Willow Run auto plant during WWII.  One was quoted as saying that he'd be damned if his employees would be taking a streetcar to work instead of buying and driving one of the cars that they made.  I think they were sold to Mexico City where they still faithfully ply the rails.
The City BeautifulA few months ago, I was on a road trip from Toronto to Ann Arbor. We went south instead of north (can't remember the road) and ended up driving into Detroit. I was thrilled. The architecture is amazing. I plan a trip soon to visit and photograph these incredible buildings. I'm putting the DIA, the DPL and the Freer Mansion on the top of the list. 
I'm rooting for those tracks to be brought back too. 
Streetcars and treesA lovely pic of Detroit; if you want to actually be in a city with hard-working streetcars and a blanket of trees go to Toronto, just a few hours east of this view. With a few glass skyscrapers now added one gets the impression of a prosperous, pre-1940 American city, with a dose of peace, order and good government -- sort of a motto there. 
Woodward Dreaming CruiseWe used to ride the streetcar down from the 8-Mile Palmer Park area by the State Fairgrounds to go shopping at the big J.L.Hudson department store in downtown, farther south from this photo.
The last day of service of the streetcars they put on several extra cars for a "one last ride" experience. My father took me along and we rode that last trip into the sunset. I got to see Canada across the river and was tremendously impressed at being able to actually see a whole different country.
Still don't know how we got home, if that was the last trip!
About those GTOs on Woodward Avenue. That all happened way farther north from here off into the distance at the top of the photo, starting at 11 Mile Road in Royal Oak (where I lived later on) and racing from stoplight to stoplight (about every half mile) up to about 15 Mile Road in Birmingham.  I learned to drive a half mile at a time -- but very quickly.
Detroit, my hometownWayne State University was (and still is) located to the left of what this photograph shows. When this photograph was taken, however, the university was known as Wayne University and was actually operated by the Board of Education of the city's public school district. The word "State" was added to the university's name in the 1950s when it joined Michigan's other main state-supported schools--the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.
In the upper left-hand corner of the photograph two of legendary architect Albert Kahn's edifices can be seen. The tall building is the Fisher Building, so named for the Fisher brothers (of Fisher Body fame) who commissioned it. Immediately in front of, and to the right of, the Fisher Building is what was then known as the General Motors Building. This edifice, which was the world's largest office building when built in the late 1920s, housed the carmaker's main offices until the late 1990s when the automaker moved to its present home in downtown Detroit. Today, the former GM Building is known as Cadillac Place and houses various State of Michigan government offices and courts.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Arthur Siegel, Detroit Photos, Streetcars)

Factoryville: 1910
... scene from the early 1900s. What is this gritty city? Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size. Rungs on the ... Company was based there. Henkel's Flour was out of Detroit, but I think there was an outpost in Cleveland, too. Gritty City ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/09/2014 - 5:10pm -

An uncaptioned industrial scene from the early 1900s. What is this gritty city? Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size.
Rungs on the smokestackAre those (barely visible) rungs on the right side of the smokestack? If so, what a harrowing climb that would have been. Also, why would anyone need/want to climb that smokestack in the first place?
Cleveland, OHThe Stowe-Fuller Co. in the lower right is the clue.
Cleveland?I'm gonna guess Cleveland. The Stowe-Fuller Company was based there. Henkel's Flour was out of Detroit, but I think there was an outpost in Cleveland, too.
Gritty CityCleveland.
Stowe-Fuller CoLooks like the origin may be Cleveland. Could be the Cuyahoga River. There's much railroad infrastructure along that river still.
DetroitJudging from the Henkel Flour mill, I'd guess Detroit MI.
DetroitI'm going to take a wild guess and say Detroit, Michigan.  That looks like Henkel's Flour mill sign in the background.
Before the river caught fire (I think?)Cleveland. Was my first guess based on looks alone, but this picture of the Henkel's Flour elevator would seem to confirm it:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det1994021768/PP/
I also found info indicating that there was indeed a Stowe-Fuller Co. in Cleveland.
Stowe and Fuller Co.Cleveland, OH?
ClevelandCould that be the Cuyahoga? On 11/27/1899, the Stowe-Fuller Co filed a U.S. federal trademark registration for a brick called Alumnite. Wow!  
The cityIt's Cleveland.
It's ...Cleveland!
ClevelandStowe-Fuller seems to have been a Cleveland Ohio Cement and Brick maker so I'll guess Cleveland?
Cleveland?The Stowe Fuller name is all over google as a Cleveland business.
Where Are We?Detroit? Henkel's Flour mill was there.
Detroit?Since there is a Henkel's Flour building and since the negative has a Detroit Publishing source, I would guess that it is Detroit.
FactoryvilleThe Flats. Cleveland, Ohio.
The old Superior Viaduct can be seen crossing the Cuyahoga River off in the backgound.
On Lake ErieCleveland, Ohio.  
Henkel's Flour had a grain elevator on the river and another photo is attached showing the freighter North Star tied up next to their dock.
Also, theh Stowe-Fuller Co. was based in Cleveland too.
The Stowes tell itCleveland, Ohio
Looks like it might be Detroithttp://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270836777233&item...
Stowe-Fuller FirebrickThat would be Cleveland, Ohio, no ?
ClevelandHere's another angle on the Henkel's sign. On the far right is an ad to visit the Likly and Rockett showroom at 405 Superior Ave.
Taking an Educated Guessat Cleveland, based on the Stowe-Fuller Company building in the lower-right corner of the picture.
Why this is Cleveland The clue is the Stowe-Fuller Co., who made fire brick among other products, on the river bank.
Possible I.D.I think it is Cleveland, Ohio.
Henkel's FlourQuick search revealed the plant was located in Detroit on Atwater Street. Also known as Commercial Milling Co.
Detroit's Commercial Milling Co.A search for "Henkel's Flour" (seen from the reverse of the sign in the distance) returns results for the Commercial Milling Co. from Detroit.
I tried searching for Stowe-Fuller Co. too, but did not retrieve many results.
Cleveland, OhioPossible taken at the same time as Detroit Publishing Co. no. 500408?  
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/det.4a25417/
Based on that picture, which shows a warehouse at 405 West Superior Road, the Henkels factory was at the tip of the elbow in the Cuyahoga river where Carter and Scranton Roads meet today, and this picture would have been taken from about where Route 10, Carnegie Avenue, crosses the Cuyahoga.
Use Henke's FlourAlong with Pillsbury, Henke's Flour was produced in Minneapolis. The faint image of a stone bridge in the distance also looks like one still standing in Minneapolis.
Google leads me to think it's ClevelandBoth Fuller-Stowe and Henkel's Flour seem to have been located there.
Cleveland OhioWhat do I win?
ClevelandCleveland, shot northward from Franklin Ave., just west of where the big Cleveland Union Terminal RR viaduct would be built in the 1920's.
Here is a streetview from almost the exact location. It was shot on Franklin Ave, just east of W 25th street: 
https://maps.google.com/?ll=41.488721,-81.705558&spn=0.007756,0.016512&t...
Streetview is difficult, as there is now thick vegetation between Franklin Ave and the river.
The coal dumper was Erie RR (NYPANO). The farthest flour mill is still there, modified.
The low swing bridge is Center St., still in daily use. The stone part of the Old Superior Viaduct still stands. The replacement Detroit Superior viaduct would cross about where the Erie coal dumper was.
Henkel's Flour building still thereThe Henkels flour building is still there - you can see where the sign was taken off the roof. And the swing bridge just past it on the opposite bank is still there too, it looks like - you can see it in red behind the overpass.
View Larger Map
Absolutely ClevelandAs a Clevelander, here's what I can add:
The 1910 Cleveland City Directory showed Henkel's Flour mill at 1636 Merwin Ave., and Stowe-Fuller nearby at 1722 Merwin Ave.  
The Center Street swing bridge in the river was built in 1901.  Construction of the Detroit-Superior High Level Bridge, shown in an earlier aerial photo, was substantially complete in 1917.  There is no sign of that construction project.  
So, the general date range of the photo is after 1901 and before 1915.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cleveland, DPC, Factories, Railroads)

Detroit of Detroit: 1904
Ecorse, Michigan. 1904. "Steamer Detroit , Michigan Central transfer, stern view from under." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Wow One of the Monitor class ... no doubt. Don't forget the bunk boards The Detroit operated as a railcar ferry between Detroit and Windsor on the Detroit ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 1:21pm -

Ecorse, Michigan. 1904. "Steamer Detroit, Michigan Central transfer, stern view from under." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
WowOne of the Monitor class of ships, no doubt.
Don't forget the bunk boardsThe Detroit operated as a railcar ferry between Detroit and Windsor on the Detroit River. She had twin screws and a rudder on each end, all of which operated in both directions. As well as propelling the vessel, the bow screws also functioned to break winter ice. The deck portion of her bow was straight across, allowing it to fit against the loading apron. The Detroit was built with three tracks on her deck, with a capacity of 24 freight cars. The foregoing is from an excellent summary (with great pictures) of the Detroit in George W. Hilton’s book, “The Great Lakes Car Ferries, “ page 34. (Available online as a Google book.) The picture brings to mind my experience in the mid 60s of working on the GTW car ferry, City of Milwaukee. Never did get seasick, but was scared like never before during a storm. I cherish those memories now.  
PerspectiveWhat a grand shot. I hope there's a shot somewhere of this steamer so we can get a better idea of the design.   Two neat touches:  the tiny DANGER sign; today, you're talkin' temporary chain link, at least, and, the depth markings are Roman numerals; today they'd probably be Arabic. A new favourite shot.
A biased Story"Funny how all these timbers are on a slant. I wonder what this chock is for? YIKES, the whole ship is sliding sideways! SOMEBODY STOP IT!"
Old growth forestI'm amazed at the beam that forms the sloping rail of the slipway:  18-24 inches square and about 50 feet of unbroken length that I can see.  Good luck finding a piece of lumber like that today.
Detroit of DetroitA ferry so nice, they had to name it twice.
Better Than... a Detroit steamer.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Detroit Photos, DPC)

The Detroit: 1905
The Detroit River circa 1905. "Transfer steamer Detroit. " 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Exceptional Ice Breaker ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 3:27pm -

The Detroit River circa 1905. "Transfer steamer Detroit." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Exceptional Ice Breaker


Bulletin of the International Railway Congress
Volume 19, 1905.


Car-ferry steamer "Detroit": Michigan Central Railway

A four-screw car-ferry steamer of exceptional size and power, designed to serve as an ice-breaker and maintain communication through the heaviest ice, has been built for the Detroit River service of the Michigan Central Railway (between Detroit, Mich., and Windsor, Ont.). The railway company has four car-ferry steamers, and all but the new one are propelled by side wheels. The distance across the river is half a mile, and the time allowed for crossing is ten to twelve minutes, including landing. The new steamer  has been in service through the latter part of the winter, and in January performed successful work in contending with very heavy ice and ice jams.
The Detroit is 308 feet long, 64 feet beam of hull, and 76 feet beam over the guards, with a molded depth of 19 ft. 6 in. and a displacement of 3,850 tons. Its average speed is 18 miles an hour. The draft is 10 feet light and 14 feet loaded. The engines and boilers are placed below the deck, from which rise four smokestacks. On each side is a deck house about 90 feet long, with accommodation for the officers and crew (34 in summer and 55 in winter), and for the American and Canadian customs officers, as well as special quarters for the superintendent and superintending engineer of the railway company's marine department. The top of each deck house forms a promenade deck. There are three tracks, the two outer tracks being spread so as to clear the smokestacks, and the vessel can carry 24 freight cars or 12 Pullman cars. The cars are secured to the tracks with clamps and chains. The vessel had rudders and screws at both ends, for use in manoeuvring, but it is not double-ended; one end is normally the bow and has a high steel bridge spanning the tracks and carrying the pilot house. At each side of the river the boat is run with its bow against a pier or slip having three tracks.
There are four compound engines of the marine type, with cylinders 24 X 33 and 48 X 33 inches. The crank shafts arc 10 3/4 inches diameter, of the built-up type and with counterbalanced cranks.
There are two twin vertical compound air pumps, and duplicate compound boiler-feed pumps. As the vessel may stay in the slip for several hours, and the hot-well supply is then cut off by the stoppage of the air pumps, a special feed system is used. Two of the air pumps discharge into the bottom of a large feed tank, from which the water is pumped into an open Cochrane heater connected to the suction pipes of the feed pumps. The tank pump and feed pumps are fitted with pressure governors, and the feed-water supply is controlled entirely by the feed valves at the boilers. When the feed pumps are stopped, the water rises in the heater and by means of a float closes a valve in the delivery pipe of the tank pump, which pump is then shut down by its governor. The exhaust steam from the engines of the pumps, dynamos, fans and steering gear is passed through a separator and thence to the feed-water heater. Two direct connected dynamos supply current for the lighting system, including a large searchlight.
Steam is supplied by four Scotch boilers; they are built for 150 lb. pressure, but except when the vessel is working in the ice the working pressure is 100 lb. Forced draft on the closed ash pit system is provided in case of necessity. There are four oblong smokestacks rising 35 feet above the deck and surrounded to a height of 14 feet by casings which serve as ventilating trunks for the fire rooms. The bunkers carry 300 tons of coal and are supplied by hopper bottom cars standing on the outer tracks over deck openings 40 feet long.
The steel hull is very heavily built, but the keel is straight from end to end instead of being curved upward as in most ice-breaking steamers. The vessel is therefore designed to cut and drive a way through the ice instead of riding upon it and breaking it by the weight of the vessel.

In 1910, the Michigan Central Railway completed a tunnel under the Detroit River and no longer needed use of transfer ferries. The Detroit was sold to the Wabash Railroad in 1912 (along with two other ferries: Transfer and Transport).  She served the Wabash line until the 1960s.
The above photo appeared in a 1905 news article in the Bulletin of the International Railway Congress.  It was one of two included figures. The other figure is shown below.

Detroit dispositionThe most recent info I could find on the Detroit. It was converted to a barge around 1970.
Prolific GLEWCarferry Detroit was built by Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, in 1904. Converted from 3 tracks (24 cars) to 4 tracks (32 cars) in 1927. Reduced to car float at Detroit, summer 1969.
-- Bowling Green State U.
A Brief Trip to the SouthwestThis book has an account of a man traveling by train which was transported across the Detroit River From Canada to the US by the Transfer Ship Detroit in the late 1800s.
Our trip in Canada terminates at Windsor Here we are confronted by the Detroit river about a mile in width which flows between Canada and the State of Michigan. To continue on our way we must pass this barrier This is successfully accomplished by means of an immense ferry boat Our lengthy train made up mostly of sleepers is broken into three sections placed on board of the boat and firmly secured Thus we are ferried over to the American shore The trip across this river is most interesting Steam and sailing craft plying in either direction are numerous while the shores on sides representing as they do the two foremost nations the world as well as the rippling sparkling water of the river charm and hold the eye with constant delight.
From the ferry we are landed at Detroit Michigan.
Pinch Points Old and NewWon't see any pinch point warning signs on the bow of this ferry.  Nice pair of capstans to snug the ferry to the dock.  Hope for the crew's sake they are steam powered and the holes for the capstan-bars at the top are for emergency backup purposes only.  Tunnels under the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers now handle the rail traffic while the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, Michigan and the the Ambassador Bridge near downtown Detroit, Michigan handle the truck traffic.  The steady increase in traffic flow at these border pinch points over the years, together with the wear and tear of decades of use has Michigan and Ontario governments scrambling to fund the billions it will cost to replace them.      
Real Example of ForeshorteningAt least I think that is the correct term, the head on shot makes it look much shorter than the side shot!
The Detroit may still exist!After seeing this photo I remembered that I had seen something similar in a Bing aerial view -- sure enough, there it was.  Its very reasonable to assume that the Detroit, with its very sturdy icebreaker hull, would have been converted from a steamer to a barge at some point in its life (probably right after WWII), and had additional track laid to carry more cars once the funnels were gone.  The outline, size, and general arrangement, particularly the long deckhouses on each side, convinces me that this is the old Detroit.  Bing aerials are usually 2 to 3 years behind, so I'm sure its gone by now.  The location is in Ecorse, on the Detroit River, south of the city itself.
Recent ViewHere is a recent view just off the Detroit River in Ecorse. It is still there, but not floating. 
Train ferry Detroit and its rare 2 pairs of propellersMost people comment about the large size of this ferry, its fortress, its resistance to the ice, its operative life for nearly 60 years, but nobody use to comment that this train ferry was one of the few (or maybe the only one) to have a double pair of propellers to navigate. It is rare and their function would surely be to facilitate the "go and return" with the trains, avoiding the need to make the turn to direct the bow to the destination pier and then to turn the ferry again to put the bow back toward the first dock. All with the trains over the deck. Of course, it is a rare mechanism, that of having two quiet propellers in the bow which would mean to have a small brake and resistance to the free slip of the ferry over the water. And in addition, also to have a double rudder system, one at each end.
What a problem should have been driving this ship, my God!!
I can´t upload a picture because it was not taken by me, (and this is not allowed in this site) but I may send pictures to the person who is interested on this point.
OLIVERIO  //   oliverio.1@g.m.a.i.l.com
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Detroit Photos, DPC, Railroads)

Detroit Electric: 1921
1921 or 1922. "Detroit Electric car at the State, War and Navy building in Washington." View ... was wondering what type of performance the owner of a 1921 Detroit Electric car could expect. Detroit Electric Car I understand that someone has bought the rights to make ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/31/2012 - 8:18pm -

1921 or 1922. "Detroit Electric car at the State, War and Navy building in Washington." View full size. National Photo Company Collection.
Ghost and the MachineAll that's left is a well turned ankle and shoe. Some poor woman wandered into the shot on the left, stopped for a second, and most likely turned around and left.
ReflectionI love how you can see the old brick gutter reflected in the side of the car. It's too bad the photographer wasn't caught too.
Viable option?Finally found that "well turned ankle and shoe", anyway now that gas is nearing the $3.50 a gallon mark, electric cars are starting to sound better. I was wondering what type of performance the owner of a 1921 Detroit Electric car could expect.   
Detroit Electric CarI understand that someone has bought the rights to make the Detroit Electric Car again.  They will be making some that look like this one and then there are others that are designed for right now.
I tawt I taw a ...I can't look at this without thinking of Tweety, Sylvester, and that little old lady...
Steve Miller
Someplace near the crossroads of America
Detroit ElectricLooks like I'll be trading in my Beetle:
"After 100 Years, Electric Brand Revived"
http://www.nbc26.com/news/business/15404341.html
Electric CarThis is a Milburn 27L.
Kinda nervousThanks Dave, kinda nervous about going near the White House nowadays. Might be why I missed it.
[When I worked downtown I'd drive by this building every day. - Dave]
The building in the backgroundLiving in the District as I do I often go searching for a "modern" view of the buildings shown on here. I cannot find this building however. Can anyone tell me where it is or what became of it if it is no longer standing? Did it become part of the LOC?
[Did you try Googling the name in the caption? State, War and Navy Building. This D.C. landmark at 17th and Pennsylvania next to the White House is now called the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Formerly Old Executive Office Building, and before that the State, War and Navy Building. - Dave]
Not todayDave,
Automobile traffic is expressly forbidden on that whole section of Penn. Nowadays the biggest thing you could drive through there is a skateboard...
[Yes, today. It's the humongous building on 17th Street across from the Corcoran Gallery. Hard to miss. - Dave]

Now post...a picture of Pennsylvania avenue in front and beside the white house - where you said the building was, "right beside the White House" -  showing the barricades preventing automobile traffic. 
[It is next to the White House. But I never said anything about driving on Pennsylvania Avenue. - Dave]
Nice linesI like the upsweep at the back of the car between the body and the windows. I don't think I've ever seen a sweeping line like that on an old car before.
I Won't See Your Detroit Electric but I'll Raise You a MilburnThis is a 1918 - 1921 Milburn Model L Brougham.
Can we please update the title now?
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo)

Forest Brook: 1956
... of 1953 in newly built grade school on the west side of Detroit. We immediately began having fire and air raid drills. For air raids ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/14/2013 - 7:14am -

November 8, 1956. "Forest Brook Elementary School, Hauppauge, Long Island. Classroom and teacher." For those of a certain demographic, this may strike a chord. Large-format negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
We never did that.I grew up in the suburbs around Akron, Ohio, and we never had a bomb drill or duck-and-cover drill ever. All of my peers that grew up in other places had those drills, which has led me to a couple of possible theories. One, that we had some sort of pacifists in our local administration that refused to take part in the Cold War(unlikely). Or two, that we were so close to potential industrial targets that there was simply no point in hoping for survival... Better to go out in the first flash.
[Never had them in my grade school years 1952-1960 in Larkspur, California, either, nor was I aware at the time that they were going on anywhere. -tterrace] 
Lighting fixturesWe had very similar fixtures in my Elementary School about ten years after this, ours had a large bulb with the bottom painted silver sticking through the center though. 
They were probably ancient even in 1966.
X marks the spotI'm not sure if it looked that way in 1956, but Forest Brook today has a strange shape, what you might get if Picasso or Dali had been asked to draw the letter X.  
Hauppague today is a densely populated community, home to most of Suffolk County's government (though Riverhead is the actual county seat) and a huge industrial park, but back in 1956 it was on the frontier of suburbanization.  I wouldn't be surprised if some of the students in this picture were the children of farmers.
You will not leave this  house dressed like thatIt would be three years before I entered first grade about 20 miles west of Hauppauge. The New York City Board of Education had a much less relaxed dress code. Boys from first grade on had to wear ties. Jeans and sneakers were not permitted. On school assembly day everyone was required to wear a white shirt or blouse and the boys had to wear  red ties. Of course by the time we were graduating from high school there were still strict dress standards, but they only applied to the teachers.
Smelementary SchoolThose wooden desks were washed and cleaned before classes three months ago, and the floors are waxed weekly.
All the girls are in skirts or dresses, and the boys are well groomed and always polite. After all, no one wants to get called down to the school office! 
Plus, there's a great lineup of cars out the window, in case a little daydreaming is in order, but only for a few seconds at a time. By the way, you can smell today's newfangled hot lunch almost ready to serve, down the hall.
Let there be photonsMy elementary school (Horace Mann in Burbank, Calif.) had the same light fixtures, although we had four to a room. Each contained one ≈500 watt bulb; the bottom of the bulb was obscured by a silver coating. When a bulb was nearing the end of its service life, it would usually emit a high-pitched squeal. The teacher would then cycle the light switch off and on several times, killing the bulb and throttling the distracting squeal.
Reading MaterialMost of the children have notebooks, many children seem to have the Spell and Write workbook, and the young man in the lower left (just behind the girl in the foreground) has the Air Raid Instruction booklet on his desk.
My First Year of School1956 was my first year of school in Houston. Would have loved to have been able to wear blue jeans and shirt tails out but HISD rules at the time (and almost all the way through my HS years) said no blue jeans, no t-shirts, no shirt tails out for boys and skirts/dresses only for girls.
Hard to believe especially since the schools weren't air conditioned in HISD except for offices and a few other classrooms (science for one)until after I graduated in 1968.
No duck and cover drills for us until the Cuban missile crisis when we were told Houston would be a first strike target due the refineries throughout the Houston area. We had an air raid siren right next to the window in my 5th grade class that went off each Friday at noon. I also thought to myself that if the Russians were smart they would attack at noon on Friday!
Star pupils or problem children?Teacher has all that space in front of the classroom for her desk but it's right up close to those pupils at the far end of the classroom. Even with the photographer present, the kids appear to be gazing out the window. Maybe she needed to be that close to keep their attention for any length of time. I wonder if modern medicine is overused in favor of such simple solutions.
Maybe I'll send the first grade picture (1960) from my Catholic school in New Jersey. It's a bright, clean classroom like the one shown here but it's packed tight with baby boomers, all in navy blue and white uniforms, with Sister in her black and white habit up front.
1956 RebelAlright, who's the non-conformist on staff who just had to park facing the wrong way?
Sturdy Desks and the "Good Old Days"Those sturdy desks are perfect for the inevitable "Flash Drills" of the era, in which the principal would come into the room unannounced and write "FLASH" on the blackboard, causing all of us students to "duck and cover" to avoid instant nuclear incineration. I'm not sure how much good it would have done in a real attack, but it was the only tool in the drawer.
Also, I'm surprised the windows don't have the standard heavy blackout curtains, which were handy not only for viewing nmovies but to keep enemy bombers from spotting stray lights at night. 
And a decade laterI started public school a decade later, in a building constructed in 1961. And it was exactly like this, light fixtures, desks, and all. Most of the teachers were young then (and exactly one man, who I got in fifth grade) but I started out with Mrs. Lord, the white-haired wife of the principal, who could have stepped out of any 1910 school administrator picture with naught more than a change of collar. However in my day the fellow with the open shirt front there would have been made to neaten himself up.
Beautiful Schools but the Russians are coming!I began my second semester of kindergarden in January of 1953 in newly built grade school on the west side of Detroit.  We immediately began having fire and air raid drills. For air raids we descended into the basement of the school which was actually the main tunnel of the air circulation system. Some times when we went down the stairs during a drill, the big fan would still be rotating after being shut down.  We had to sit along the walls and cover our heads. To condition us further the lights would be turned off for a short period of time. I switched to a newly built parochial grade school for the fourth grade on. No basement, so we sat in the main hallway between the class rooms and covered our heads. Both schools had class rooms identical to Forest Brook. To add to the tension, the nearby Rouge Park had a Nike missile battery. The missiles were normally hidden behind a high earth berm, but they were visible when frequently pointed skyward for testing. The AM radio frequencies of 640 and 1240 were permanently etched into our memory.     
DrillsI'm exactly the right age for these memories, but except for a few very early instances that were termed "air raid," all our drills were of the fire kind. No duck, no cover - and this just north of San Francisco, with its own battery of Nike missiles by the Golden Gate - in plain view if you took a spin along the Marin Headlands. We all just marched outside. The only time we had to put our practice to use was for a 1957 earthquake centered just south of SF but sharp enough in Larkspur to get us squealing in our fifth grade classroom before the alarm sounded and we made our orderly exit.
"Silver Tooth"I was in the ninth grade in fall of 56. All of the new schools I attended in the late 40's and 50's had those windows and the 9 inch floor tiles. I believe the teacher's desk was in that position only for this pic. One memory came to me in a flash when I saw the tiles. In the 4th grade on the last day of school as I was swinging between desks I did a face plant on the green floor tiles. The impact broke off two of my front teeth below the nerves and the family dentist fixed them with silver caps that stayed that way until I turned 21. 
Blue Jeans?I was in 5th grade at the time, in a far western suburb of Chicago. What I remember was the enormous spending on shiny new schools back then. My mom was a teacher, back when teaching was a respected profession, teachers were proud of what they did for a living and grateful for the $6,000 a year they were paid.
That and the rule against blue jeans. Strictly verboten in my school system. They looked "hoo-dy", pronounced with "hoo" as the first syllable, and were a a well known precursor for the dreaded juvenile delinquency during adolescence and a life of crime and depravity later on. Without that rule, thank goodness and a vigilant school board, I probably would have a criminal record by now.
Good Ol' '56I was in third grade in Hempstead, Long Island then. Ike was president and the world 'champeen' Brooklyn Dodgers would win another pennant only to lose once more to the Yanks. Anybody who wore dungarees (as jeans were called then) in my school district would have been sent home to change to proper attire and an open shirt would catch you a stiff reprimand. Nobody knew what a school bus was and schools were not in the restaurant business for anybody. There was a lot to like about those days. 
Fond MemoriesI was in 1st grade at that time and our classroom in suburban Chicago looked very much like this one.  Someone mentioned getting called down to the office.  There was nothing worse than hearing your name on the PA system to report to the principal.  Every kid in school knew you were probably in deep doo doo.  As for the non-conformist staff member who backed into his spot, these types have always been around and still are today.  They'd rather waste extra time and endure the hassle of backing into a parking spot just so they can pull out with ease at the end of the day.  Never understood that logic.   
The Joys of childhoodI would have been 9 years old when this photo was taken. I was attending "Summer Avenue School" at that time. It was an old three story brick building. We had the kind of desks that bolted to the floor so they couldn't be moved even if you wanted to do so. The seat was actually part of the desk behind you and folded up automatically when you stood up. The top of the desk was hinged at the front so that you could lift it up and put you books and such inside. Oh Yes, they had the obligatory inkwell hole in them as well, but never any ink.
Summer Avenue School still stands but is now known as Roberto Clemente Elementary School. 
The desksStarting I guess in the late 40s that blonde style of wood came very much into vogue for furniture.  Notice, they're the first generation of school desk withOUT a hole for an inkwell.  We had ball point pens by then, no more dipping a nub into india ink.  And no more opportunities for dunking the pigtail of the little girl in front of you into the ink!
The furthest cornersAh, those desks.  In the later grades of elementary school we ate our lunches in the classroom, and the kid in front of me used to stuff the parts of his lunch he didn’t want into the deepest recesses, behind books and other trash.  It got very ripe, and one day the teacher followed her nose to Robert G.’s desk and made him excavate the smelly mess.  I will leave the rest to everyone’s imaginations.
4th grade for meDecatur Street elementary.  I think the building was probably built at the turn of the last century.  And probably the teachers. We had the well worn student desks that you find in the antique shops now for a pretty penny.  The one with the ink well and indentation for a pencil with the seat back and foldup seat on the front of your desk.  We had 12' ceilings, oiled wood floors that the janitor put sawdust down on daily to use his pushbroom on, kept the dust down.
Old School, New SchoolI started the first grade in 1954 in rural Kansas. We were in a building that had been built in 1911 and only housed six grades. The 7th and 8th grades were in the high school. The bathrooms, the lunchroom, and the art room were all in the basement, and we had music in a one-teacher school building that had been moved into town and put behind the school. The 1911 building was probably a horrible firetrap, although there was a metal fire escape on the back from the second floor down. The district built a new school in 1956, and we moved in in February 1957, when I was in the third grade. It looked much like the one in the photo, except that we had metal desks. No dress code--nearly all the boys wore jeans. That 1956 building is still in use, along with the 1923 high school. Of ocurse, they house far fewer kids than they did then.
Several years laterI was attending a Catholic school in a much older building further west on Long Island -- still vividly remember our "duck & cover" drills as I was the smart-alack who asked how a wooden desk would keep us from burning to a cinder.
As for the cafeteria, no hot lunch then; if you forgot your brown bag (no lunch money; you were not permitted to leave the premises) you might have been lucky enough to be escorted across the street to the convent for a PB&J sandwich.
The uniforms were ghastly -- white shirt, dark maroon tie with the school shield on it, and dark grey slacks with black piping down the outside seam. Girls wore a white blouse with a snap tie, grey plaid skirt (that was always rolled up at the waist after leaving the house, and a matching bolero. Once out of sixth grade boys wore a blue plaid tie & girls could wear a -- *gasp* -- blouse of color.
Reminds me of another picture here of young girls wearing skirts in the dead of winter; evil little Catholic boys that we were, we'd spend the lunch hour in the schoolyard assaulting the bare-legged victims by snapping rubber-bands on their frozen legs.
Not non-conformism. Safety!I've worked at a school for years and even though I'm not much of a rebel, I've always backed into the parking space. The logic is simple: you have to back up when you arrive or when you leave, and it's safer to back *in* to a space when there are few or no children around (an hour or two before school starts) than to back *out* of a space when children are running all around at the end of the school day (of course, one should triple-check either time). I often back into shopping center parking spaces using the same reasoning: if there's no one around when I arrive, it's safer to back up then than later when there might be a lot of people about. I knew a man many years ago who fatally backed over his 4-year-old daughter in their driveway and that tragedy changed my thinking on this permanently.
Reminds me of...Sutton Elementary School, southwest Houston, 1971 to 1973. The building was built in the late 50s and had those same big windows, but by that time we had the one piece metal desks with the big opening beneath for your books.
Few years laterI was in the first grade in a Catholic school in NYC. We had fire drills but no under the desk kiss your butt goodbye stuff. Nuns ruled the roost in those days. Midget Gestapo agents all in black with a yardstick bigger than them which was used to get you back in line if you misbehaved. I remember the first day of 2nd grade while us kids were waiting for school to open and my mom approached me to wipe my nose and the nun smacked her hand saying "he belongs to us now!" Ah memories...
Patty Duke, Ben Gazzara, Gene Hackman were some of the actors who lived in the area, Kips Bay, and might have even attended my school at one time.
"Snaggletooth"I can sympathize with jimmylee42. I broke a front tooth in much the same way at my school in the fourth grade. It was the winter of '63-'64.
When the weather was exceptionally cold, they would open the gym for the early kids to come inside before classes started. Although the details are vague now, someone said I was tripped by a bully while I was running around. In a family of four siblings my folks couldn't afford to get my missing tooth capped for years. So one of my nicknames throughout grade school was "Snaggletooth"... not one of my fonder memories. I finally got a white tooth cap just before I started senior high after we moved to Florida.
I wonder how my Alabama classmates would remember me now?
Yes, the Memories!I would have been right in this age range, near as I can tell from looking at the kids. That would have made it my first year out of parochial school, escaped from 4th grade under the rule(r)Sister Rita Jean, she who was Evil Incarnate.
Best memory was teacher telling me, "David! Stop moving your desk around. It makes me think we're having an earthqu... Everyone - outside!!"
DaveB
WonderfulGrade school in Alexandria, Louisiana.  Very familiar classrooms, with the good Nun up front to keep [or try to keep] us on the right path. 
Bayou View SchoolThis reminds me of Mrs Powell's 2nd grade class at Bayou View School in Gulfport, Ms, c.1955.
Fast ForwardTwenty years later I attended a school built in the early 1940s.  This reminds me of those old classrooms in some respects with the desks all lined up in rows, large windows and undoubtedly a large slate chalkboard just out of view.  I notice that the teacher's chair is a sturdy wooden straight back chair - no comfortable office chairs here!  Also, only a two drawer filing cabinet?  I don't think I've ever seen one that small in a classroom.  I teach school now and while this brings back memories (even the light fixtures), it's amazingly different today.  
Green ThumbThe teacher has quite a spartan setup, but I love the line of flowers along the windowsill! What a lovely touch that would be in a classroom.
This was a fun photo and I enjoyed the comments. My parents were born in 1954 and I really like seeing and reading about what that might have been like.
I grew up in that town!I didn't go to this school, but grew up in Smithtown--where this school actually was; not Hauppauge. I was in elementary from 1990-1995, when times were much different. As a teacher I love seeing how it was then.
Love this photo but makes me sadIf I could push a button and go back in time and be someone someplace in the past, I'd be on my way to being one of the kids in that classroom. This is public school education when it was about education.
(The Gallery, Education, Schools, Gottscho-Schleisner, Kids)

Detroit River: 1900
Circa 1900. "Car ferry 'Transport' entering slip, Detroit River." Railcar steamer on an icy, windy day. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. Brrr. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 3:18pm -

Circa 1900. "Car ferry 'Transport' entering slip, Detroit River." Railcar steamer on an icy, windy day. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size.
Brrr.Great Photo!  Truly captures the feel of winter yet to come. I have to have a cup of cocoa after looking at it!
Re:Brrr.My sentiments exactly.  It's a great photo of something I hate (Winter).
Two thoughts:1. You mean this isn't a Delano?
2. Does this remind anyone else of Dali's "Soft Construction with Baked Beans (Premonition of Civil War)"? 

WowThis photo is incredible.
Very aliveThis photo is very dynamic and alive. Love it.
Ferry 'cross the DetroitThe Grand Trunk was still running railroad ferries that looked a whole lot like this, if not this one, across the Detroit River until 1975. I rode on one of these once when I was a kid, because I had an uncle who worked for the line. It was old, loud, shook like hell, and since it was November, was good and cold.
Greetings from DetroitYou can almost feel the arctic air and the sting of icy droplets on your face as the wind blows across the water. Definitely not a pix that would be used by the local chamber of commerce.
Rib freezing coldFrom 1953 to 1970 I lived on Grosse Ile. In winter the chill from the river would go right through your clothes to your ribs. Yes, there is a reason millions of people live in Southern California.
Eek! I'm freezing!Amazing how this photo evokes chills in my bones!  
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)

City of Detroit: 1912
Circa 1912. "Steamer City of Detroit III , pilot house and bridge." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. The Beholder's Eye ... the starboard stern. The brand spanking new City of Detroit III This was a larger sister ship to the City of Cleveland, pictured ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 4:24pm -

Circa 1912. "Steamer City of Detroit III, pilot house and bridge." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
The Beholder's EyeI find the way they stow the fire-hose interesting.
But I am really interested in the sailing rig off the starboard stern.
The brand spanking new City of Detroit IIIThis was a larger sister ship to the City of Cleveland, pictured here a couple of days ago. The City of Detroit III was also a side-wheeler and sailed passenger trips and excursions on the Great Lakes for nearly 50 years. 
This picture of the ship was taken when it was brand new.  In fact, the Detroit Shipbuilding Company that built it can be glimpsed on the right.  
Although the ship itself was scrapped in the 1950s, the beautiful wood paneled and stained glass windowed Gothic Room from this ship can still be seen at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle in Detroit.
My grandparents may have sailed on this ship (or the City of Cleveland) on their honeymoon cruise from Detroit to Cleveland in 1922.
Shipshape and Bristol styleVery nice vessel. It took a lot of work to keep that much white painted woodwork clean and scuff-less. I'll bet the brasswork gleamed too.
I believe the sailing ship in the background is a gaff-rigged topsail schooner. 
Also on shoreI have seen similar fire hose stowing on shore on Navy sites. Tradition is big in the Navy, aided by a philosophy of enough coats of paint will keep anything from collapsing.
The ignored sense As to the fire hose, the pin hanger accordion hose box had yet to be invented, they laid hose just like sailors faked rope, so it wouldn't tangle whilst unspooling. The greatest disappointment I have is in being unable to convey the aroma of these vessels. Modern steel and polymers have nothing on the early use of wood, canvas and grease paint. Even the cushions were filled with horse-hair, redolent with the aroma of it's source. My great-uncle owned and operated a tug in NY harbor, Ole was a taciturn Swede, but his ship was a wonder of sights and smells to an eight year old landlubber.   
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)

The Hereafter: 1906
... and boardwalk." 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Grewsome Objects THE ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/24/2024 - 5:39pm -

Norfolk, Virginia, circa 1906. "Pine Beach -- amusements and boardwalk." 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Grewsome ObjectsTHE DAILY PRESS, Newport News, Va., June 21, 1906
"HEREAFTER" AT PINE BEACH
Local Amusement Company Offers
Weird St. Louis Attraction
"Hereafter," a spectacular show which created a sensation on the Pike at the St. Louis exposition, has been put in at Pine Beach by the Newport News Amusement Corporation at a cost of $10,000 and will be ready for public exhibition tomorrow afternoon and night.
The contract for constructing this expensive amusement enterprise was awarded to Austin, Bradwell and McClennan of New York, the firm which put in the St. Louis show. Mr. McClennan was manager of Luna Park at Coney Island for two seasons, and has created such shows as "The Johnstown Flood" and "Over and Under the Sea."
"Hereafter" is under the general management of Messrs. Clinedinst and Ballard, of this city.
The show is a very weird one but it has never failed to attract immense crowds wherever exhibited. Entering the first chamber of the great building erected for this show, the spectators are ushered into the chamber of horrors, the walls of which are lined with coffins and decorated with grinning skulls and other grewsome objects. This is an exact reproduction of the famous Cabaret de la Mort, or the Cabinet [sic] of Death, in Paris. The lecturer invites some person in the crowd to enter one of the upright coffins and he is immediately transformed into a skeleton. His spirit invites the spectators to accompany him to the under world and together they descend a bottomless pit, finally crossing the river Styx and finishing in Hades. The electrical effects used are most vivid and greatly add to the impressiveness of the scene.
Entertainment through the decadesIt's nice to see Oliver Hardy and Mary Martin making use of someone's time machine. But as for the Hereafter, it is easy for us to snicker at such a kitschy exhibit for the rubes, but our contemporary comic book movies and "reality" tv are just as stylized and phony. In fifty years this will be really obvious.
Less amusing now.Pine Beach was located at Sewell’s Point in Norfolk.


Pine Beach Hotel - The Hampton Roads Naval Museum Blog
A Hellish Experience?I have to wonder if that expensive $10,000 investment was profitable as time went on.
I'LL GET IT Apparently, the merry-go-round swing thing in the center of photo is stuck because someone is scaling up the side to locate the problem with a 1906 version of WD-40 aka lubricating oil. 
WhirligigThe merry-go-round swing thing in the center of photo.
I'd be hereafter... a ride on the little train just the other side of the messy log patch. Looks like a nice steamer, willing to tote a dozen or so happy kids around the park. And the name "Hereafter" reminds me of the old plug about what guys say to their date right after parking in the woods.
Somebody help meWhat is that thing which the woman in white is looking/laughing at? I refer to what appears to be an elephant trunk -- not attached to an elephant -- suspended between the two benches. BTW I am stone cold sober.
[Is it a trunk? More likely a limb! It looks to me like part of a tree. - Dave]

(The Gallery, DPC, Norfolk)

The Shape of Things to Come: 1912
August 31, 1912. "Dime Savings Bank and Detroit City Hall." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. What a Contrast between ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 10:05pm -

August 31, 1912. "Dime Savings Bank and Detroit City Hall." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
What a Contrastbetween old and new! The Second Empire style city hall building was completed in 1871 and demolished in 1961.
A palm tree in DetroitI doubt landscape architects or workers would put palm trees these days outside public buildings in such northern latitudes.
[But they do. Then as now, it's in a a big planter. - Dave]
Tropical DetroitCity Hall front lawn corner. Are those palms and yucca plants I see?
Peeping TomSo what is the guy on the first window ledge doing? I love the untold stories in these snapshots of a time long lost.
Tombstone Folks in TownDon't make a misstep on the girders -- but if you do, the National Retail Monument Dealers Association is in town.
Yucca, YuccaBelieve it or not, here in Ottawa, many people grow yucca. It is hardy enough to withstand an Ottawa winter.
(The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars)

Hotel Ste. Claire: 1906
Detroit circa 1906. " Hotel Ste. Claire , Randolph and Monroe streets." ... Buffalo Wild Wings in the U.S. We lost a lot of downtown Detroit character when in the 1950s a program was enacted to remove cornices and "gingerbread" in the name of modernization. Detroit Electric "Looks like an interurban car preceding the other 2." ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/27/2016 - 9:30am -

Detroit circa 1906. "Hotel Ste. Claire, Randolph and Monroe streets." Completed 1893, razed in the 1930s. Note signs advertising CHOP SUEY and CHOP SOY. Panorama made from two 8x10 inch glass negatives. View full size.
Going Round the Bend!Looks like an interurban car preceding the other 2.
A Bit Changed TodayWhile the hotel is gone a few others down the block are still there. The building next to it has been modified and is now (well, as of opening in 2012) the largest Buffalo Wild Wings in the U.S.  We lost a lot of downtown Detroit character when in the 1950s a program was enacted to remove cornices and "gingerbread" in the name of modernization.
Detroit Electric "Looks like an interurban car preceding the other 2."
Most likely a Detroit Electric interurban. They operated a 600 mile system centered in Detroit. Went as far north as Flint and Port Huron and south to Toledo, Ohio 
Beal BuildingThe 8 story structure to the left is the Beal Building. Permitted in 1905 costing 120,000 to build,it was nearly new in this picture.The masonry outer column window treatment looks overwrought in the photo but better in other light conditions. It must cost a fortune to HVAC the place.
Clarification for Detroit Tony  Must interject that the Victorian cornices and gingerbread on Detroit's downtown buildings were largely removed in the late fifties/eary sixties, due to the fact that they were falling off and beaning passers-by.  I seem to recall at least one fatality.  Whatever, Detroit's freezing and thawing winter weather boded ill for the fancy stonework up above.
Goodbye Detroit!My great-grandparents left Detroit in the winter of 1906 for Santa Barbara, Calif., because my great-grandmother suffered from TB and couldn't take the harsh winters. It's not difficult to imagine that they are in this neighborhood somewhere doing some final errands before their departure. My great-grandmother died that year at the age of 28. My great-grandfather returned to Detroit only once over the next 40 years. He just had no use for the city.
HopeWhoever had to run the flags out on those topmost flagpoles got extra hazard pay.  They look impossible to reach.
Henry the HatterThe store offering men's hats and caps, in the extreme lower left of the picture, may be the current location of Detroit's oldest hat store, Henry the Hatter. They started in 1893, the same year the Ste. Clair opened. At the time of the picture, though, they were still several blocks (and several moves) away from opening in this location - makes me wonder if it was always a hat store.
Chop SoyPresumably, the vegan version of chop suey?
And in the distanceYou can see the straight, proud spire of St Josephat Catholic church which was opened in 1901. Only now it's sometime known as St Bananaphat due to high winds a few years ago nearly taking the spire down. After a large money raising effort to save this landmark for many travelling down I-75, it is standing proud again, but not *quite* as straight.
At certain points when travelling toward Detroit, the tall spire and two minor ones line up perferctly with the RenCen(GM headquarters) giving one a kind of "now and then" feeling.
Chop Suey signsI also notice Finster, Zanger, Kratz and Mittenthal.
Flag PolesWhy does the hotel have 4 flagpoles near the top? is that to display banners?
(Panoramas, Detroit Photos, DPC, Eateries & Bars, Stores & Markets)

Sleepy Sailors: 1899
... inch dry plate glass negative by Edward H. Hart for the Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Rust in Peace After ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/07/2024 - 4:23pm -

Aboard the U.S.S. Massachusetts circa 1899. "Ready to turn in." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative by Edward H. Hart for the Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
Rust in PeaceAfter being used for target practice, now she's a habitat for marine life.  Located near Pensacola in the Gulf of Mexico.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/ussmassachusetts.htm
MassashoelessLet's see ... one, two, three, four, five, six ... yep. The AI continues to improve, but it still can't quite get the extremities correct.
[Five, actually. - Dave]

The Iron SheikThe guy with the pipe looks like a young Iron Sheik !!
Liberty call?  No, thanks.These boys are all in.  Seventy plus years later, I never worked this hard in the Navy.  Never!
Terrible U.S.S. MassachusettsThis as one of the first "modern" battleships commissioned by the U.S. Navy. Top heavy and unstable, it was barely seaworthy. When the main guns were fired, the ship would come close to capsizing. The Navy chalked it up as a learning experience and soon learned to design much better vessels. These sailors were just very fortunate they never had to fight a battle in this ship.
The Smoking Lamp Is LitBut it's soon time for taps, taps, lights out, silence about the decks.   Do the bosun's mates hit the rack in the fo'c'sle? Who knows ...
Forgive me for mentioningBut good lord man! Those sailors look like bums. 
Different times, different NavyI too was struck by the somewhat rough appearance of these fine specimens of patriotic American young men. But it is worth noting that this was 1899. Potable water had to be stored on the ship in huge tanks and restocked whenever the ship pulled into port. This would have been part of the routine of refueling (loading and storing coal in the ship's bunkers) and reprovisioning (food water etc.). Because water was needed for drinking and cooking, it was not normal for enlisted men to have many opportunities for bathing at sea. If the weather was congenial, saltwater hoses might be rigged on the weather decks and the crew might be allowed to strip and take a communal shower. But in general, the past was dark, dangerous and stinky. 
Even on the crack Atlantic liners, first-class passengers had to make an appointment with the bath steward to take a bath at sea. The second-class and steerage passengers generally had to make do with basic washroom facilities. Private bath and water closet facilities were more or less unknown for even wealthy passengers in this era. As late as 1912 on the Titanic; most of the first-class passengers still had to hoof it down the hall in their bathrobes and slippers when nature called in the middle of the night. And of course, this is not an ocean liner. It's a warship with little in the form of creature comforts. And lastly, in those days, men, especially those from the working class, were not typically accustomed to what we might call regular bathing. For some of these men, a regular bath might have meant "the first of the month whether I need it or not."
It would not be until well into the 20th century that freshwater evaporators and condensers became standard on ships at sea. 
By the Second World War, times, social attitudes and very importantly, marine engineering had evolved dramatically. With the exception of smaller craft and submarines, most ships had a primitive form of evaporator which allowed for the production of a limited amount of potable water at sea. Men might not have been able to shower every day, but they were able to bath with some regularity. Even as late as the 1980s when I first joined, we were regularly lectured about the evils of taking a "Hollywood shower" while at sea. Thirty seconds of water to get wet. Water off while you soap up. And then no more than another minute or so of running water to rinse off. By time I retired from the Navy, things had improved to a point that I would almost call the heads a luxury spa compared to what those poor sods in 1899 had to live with.
UrgThe smell must have been unimaginable.
Notice to MarrinersFrom tomorrow rations of wax will be strictly controlled as it has come to the attention of officers that mustaches are being over-waxed.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, E.H. Hart)

The Automobilist: 1910
Detroit circa 1910. "Automobile on town street." More specifically, Jefferson ... Jefferson (also seen here ). 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Ellie Incognito I think ... sign got me curious, so I rummaged around in the LOC's Detroit Publishing Co. images that included automobiles. There are two more ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2023 - 3:03pm -

Detroit circa 1910. "Automobile on town street." More specifically, Jefferson Avenue at East Grand Boulevard. The building at right is Moesta's Tavern at 1407 Jefferson (also seen here). 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Ellie IncognitoI think this is Elinor Blevins in disguise.  How many paople would own a pair of gloves like that?
Eat my dust...I've got a horseless carriage and you guys DON'T!
A pair of gloves like that?Put me down as one owner; got them about 35 years ago, kept the leather (hand) part nearly soaked in mink oil. The long fur sleeves are wonderful, used them today with the temps in the teens. Snowmobile used to call them "snot-wipers," the furry part being perfectly located for that work.
WindowsWhat are the words in the window of the building to the far right?
[Too blurry to tell. - Dave]
WHAT is the world coming to?Danged hot-rodders! 
Seriously, can anyone make out the model of the car?
This looks to have been in an upper-class neighborhood.  Look at the size of the houses and how clean everything was. Also, no packs of "feral children" are running wild in the streets!
Moesta's Store?The illegible shopfront sign got me curious, so I rummaged around in the LOC's Detroit Publishing Co. images that included automobiles. There are two more views of this street scene in the collection, taken at slightly different times, but each with a passing car. The LOC cataloger devised the titles from scrutiny of the original 5x7 glass negatives, listing one as "Street with automobile and Moesta's store," (LC-D418-31165) and the other as "Street with Moesta's store and Fuller Savings Bank" (LC-D418-31166). I'm not sure that the reading of "Store" is quite right, since the S-word looks longer than that in the image posted here, but the "Moesta" seems correct. There don't seem to be any other online references to these businesses, but a Moesta family genealogy page (a German surname later anglicized to Mesta) suggests Pittsburgh, PA as a possible locale for the period of the photo.
Wealth creationThe home on the left is a great house. Even when wages were only a dollar a day, there have been people that could do things that would make them rich. I think that is wonderful.
You big dummy...The driver of that car sure looks a lot like Fred G. Sanford to me...the G is for gasoline.
Early BuickMy guess on the make of automobile is A Buick Model 10 (produced from 1908 - 1911).  This appears to be a runabout version without the back seat.  Very sporty, no matter what.
DetroitJefferson Avenue and East Grand Boulevard. Shown below circa 1936. 
Pungs-Finch?The auto looks like it might be a 1906 - 1908 Pungs-Finch (P-F) car made in Detroit, Michigan from 1904 - 1910.  What first led me to this conclusion was the script lettering on the radiator -  which although blurred seems to be two words.  The script is certainly is not the word "Buick," but there are many similarities between the two marques.
Other identifying features in common with a P-F are the radiator shape and single strap running across the hood; tie bar below the front chassis; front axle almost directly below the radiator; rounded cowl shape and lights only on the cowl as seen in all early P-F advertising; fender line; tank or muffler below the left side chassis; and the curved body line from the top of the cowl to the front of the seat.
I am not 100% sure it is a P-F because I have not found any other photos with this exact script on the radiator or the horizontal lines running across the radiator.  Everything else seems to match perfectly.
The Pungs-Fitch was made by a father and his son-in-law (W.A. Pungs and E.B. Finch).  Pungs supplied the money and Finch supplied the engineering ability.  They bought out the Sintz Gas Engine Company and claimed Sintz' history as their own.  It is estimated that only a few hundred cars were made during their seven years in production and only two cars appear to survive.
The cars shown below are from the January 1, 1909 Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal.  The fenders have been modernized, but otherwise looks nearly identical to the earlier models.  Note that the Runabout and Touring Models used different hoods.
Moesta's Saloon in DetroitI found the following information online, but there was no date attached to the newspaper article nor the newspaper name.
"Detroit's most famous east side saloon, on Jefferson avenue at East Grand Boulevard since 1875, is being torn down.  Formerly the headquarters of Detroit River yachtsmen, it was operated by Henry Moesta until prohibition drove him from business.  His father, Henry Moesta the first, founded the tavern."  Henry (the first) ran the business for about 17 years, and Henry (the second) continued on for another 23 years - roughly 1879 - 1919.
"I would have grown rich, like so many others," said Henry Moesta the second.  "I preferred to obey the law like my father before me and keep always the memory of the honest place he constructed."
"The Moesta place was taken over by Harry Gordon when prohibition arrived."
"Henry Moesta's brother, Charles was also a famous tavern-keeper until prohibition arrived, when he too abandoned the business." 
The story also states, "Now they are tearing the tavern down to make way for a bridge boulevard and the marine atmosphere that attached the vicinity of Jefferson avenue and East Grand Boulevard with the fresh flavor of the inland seas will never be the same again."
The street address was 1407 Jefferson Avenue which was directly across the street from the Detroit River.  In the Detroit phone directory the business was described as a "Restaurant and Cafe, Imported and Domestic Wines, Liquors, and Cigars."
The photos below show the sign in front of Moesta's Saloon and a photo of part of the newspaper article showing Henry Moesta (the second) and his brother Charles Moesta along with two views of the business.
Note: This main portion of the article was very out of focus and I tried to copy everything correctly, but some words may not be correct in my quotes because reading portions of the text was so difficult.
Amazingly, there is actually a photo of the inside of the Moesta Saloon here.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Detroit Photos, DPC)

Let's Get Fiscal: 1942
September 1942. "Detroit, Michigan. Office worker at aircraft engine plant, Allison Division of ... it and haul it home so I could use it to do her taxes. Detroit - or Indy? The Library of Congress's archives include dozens of ... Allison Division, General Motors" with a reference to "Detroit, Michigan." But (aside from Rothstein's photos) I can find no evidence ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/13/2023 - 11:52am -

September 1942. "Detroit, Michigan. Office worker at aircraft engine plant, Allison Division of General Motors." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Office of War Information. View full size.
FridenThat is a Friden calculator. It adds, subtracts, multiplies and divides, all mechanically. The electricity just runs a motor that turns the gears. No floating point decimal though, so you have to know where it goes.  Some versions of this calculator will extract square roots.
The good old Friden calculatorIn the 60's, my mother worked as a lab assistant at an agricultural experiment station, and the PhD she worked for had one of those beasts.  I often visited the lab and one day after doing simple additions and subtractions on it, a decided to do a division problem.  Big mistake. The machine went into gyrations while sounding like it was stripping gears.  The good doctor poked his head out of his office and gave me the filthiest of looks.  Later on, my mother would borrow it and haul it home so I could use it to do her taxes.
Detroit - or Indy?The Library of Congress's archives include dozens of Arthur Rothstein pictures of individual workers at an "aircraft engine plant, Allison Division, General Motors" with a reference to "Detroit, Michigan." But (aside from Rothstein's photos) I can find no evidence that such a plant was in Detroit. During WWII the Allison Division of General Motors operated large aircraft engine plants at Speedway, Indiana and nearby Indianapolis, and of course other GM divisions had plants in and around Detroit - but perhaps not the Allison Division. https://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/General%20Motors/allison.htm
[The Cadillac plant in Detroit manufactured parts for GM's Allison Division. - Dave]

Divide by ZeroMy father used a large 9 column mechanical calculator to balance the books at our small dime store.  I used to play with at times.  When you tried to divide by zero it would go through some amazing mechanical spasms before it would spit out a "0.0".
Musical NumbersEverything you need to know about the Friden calculator is in this video. There is a scene with Jack Lemmon in the movie "The Apartment" working on a Friden calculator. He enters a sequence of numbers to produce the "Friden March." 
(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Detroit Photos, The Office)

Free Ice: 1900
... York." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative by Byron for the Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Great Timing My friends ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/28/2018 - 10:09am -

Circa 1900. "Heat wave. Free ice in New York." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative by Byron for the Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Great TimingMy friends back East say it brutally hot just now, Hudson Valley included.
More than just comfortI would bet that most of these people are not going to use this ice for chilling their drinks. They're probably going to use it to keep their food from spoiling.
One thing about the present day is we continually go from hot to air conditioned environments during a heat wave.  In New York, no matter how cold it gets outside, the subway cars are usually cooled to the point of refrigeration.  This keeps our bodies from becoming acclimated to the temps.  These folks have been in the heat and have become somewhat adjusted.  The clothes they wear are probably all cotton or linen, both of which have the ability to wick the sweat away and help cool the body. I'm sure they're pretty miserable, but coping. 
You'd get a line for free ice right nowWith temperatures hitting 101 degrees, in the middle of a l-o-o-ng week of 95+, you'll get plenty of people willing to stand in line for bags of free ice.
Ice cubes in a bowl + fan = poor man's air conditioning.
Thanks, Dave, for reminding us that some things never change, like NYC heat waves in the summertime. The children who grew up standing in those lines supported the construction of municipal swimming pools during the New Deal. They remembered!
Nostalgic and VintageI absolutely love old photographs, the older the better. You get to experience people, places and things frozen in time.
Sure this isn't Japan?The policeman looks like he's wearing white gloves. That would suck on a hot day like it appears to be in the picture.
Hot CommodityLater on, someone realized they could spritz it with food coloring and some flavored syrup and charge for it.
The Iceman (and Milkman) ComethBack in the 1940's in Newburgh NY in the midst of a summer heat wave, neighborhood kids would raid the back of the open ice delivery truck while the iceman would be tonging a block of ice to home ice boxes. Another source for kids, of small chunks of ice, was in milk delivery trucks while the milkman was delivering his wares. 
Weather's nice here in Monterey.It might have gotten to 65 here today.  
Staten Island FerryWhen my parents married in New York, in 1953, they stayed with a friend in Harlem. It was so hot and a neighbour was having a rent party so my parents took the Staten Island ferry back and forth all night long. Cool and quiet, compared to their friends' apartment.
I lived on City Island, in the Bronx, for two years and with no air-conditioning, and the ceiling fans not being up to the job, it was like trying to sleep in pea soup.
Trying To Imagine...what NYC must have smelled like with all of those sweating people and piles of horse manure in the streets makes me not want to go back in time to experience what is going on in the photo. This is a first in all my time as a Shorpy fan.
Melting PotTemperatures in Manhattan will probably go over 100 degrees today. It has been in the high 90s for the last few days and will be in or around the 100 degree mark for the rest of the week. There will be no free ice and the local utility, Con Ed, has started cutting back on the power so the air conditioners are not performing to spec. I think I'll go to a movie today, their sign says they're 20 degrees cooler inside. Incidentally, movie theatre air conditioning goes back to 1925 when Dr. Willis Carrier cooled the new Rivoli Theatre on Broadway.
Fishy, indeed!We are experiencing a real heat wave in New York today. I don't for a minute believe that the photo was taken in a temperature that comes close to our 100+
Look at the barefoot boys on that sidewalk -- there's your proof.
I got news for yahFree Ice? That's nothing special. Every February there is tons if it in New York. You just need to plan ahead a little.
Hats Year RoundUp until the 1950's or so, you will notice that headgear was always part of the dress code.  My dad wore a hat most of the year.  It had to be hot and uncomfortable.  
Something's FishyI can't believe all their icemakers went out at once.They need to call the super and complain.
Take it offThey sure are wearing a lot of clothes for a heat wave. I'd lose the jackets and long sleeves.
Barefoot tykesThat sidewalk had to be hot!
HatsA few years ago I bought a straw hat and It seems to actually make you feel cooler on a hot day.
Cool LidOnly a straw hat would make sense, or maybe one of these.
Poor timingHow about some lovely pictures of deep snow, ice-covered lakes, or something to make us feel cooler in today's hot weather?
The Long Hot SummerLooks like the cop has had a long day. As hot has his uniform is, my hubby now has to wear pretty much all that, except in polyester and with an extra 35 pounds of equipment, plus a bullet proof vest. It's been hovering around or at 100 lately here in Maryland, and his vest doesn't have time to dry out from sweat one day before he puts it on the next. So next time you see a cop sitting in his car with the AC on on a hot day, think of that guy up there! He could use a little break! (I hope he got hold of some ice chunks.)
Waaaaah!I love reading about the New York heat waves with temperature in the 90s or even 101 (!).  If it was in the 90s in Austin, we'd all be wearing parkas.  
Most of these people want Gordon Park!As in the last picture.
Even in these Victorian times you can see signs of the heat, the cop wiping his brow, most men in the derbies have them way back on their head to let the heat out, and the straw hat man doesn't because they let heat out, just as the Mexican and South East Asian farmers learned from history.
 I loved the snow cone comment, probably very right, why give the melting ice away if you can sell it!
Hot mamaSo I can see why they had the long pants, skirts and hats, but couldn't she have left the shawl off?
Hey, Austin tipster We NY/NJ SMSAers feel the same way about you guys when your highways are shut down after 4 or 5 inches of snow. We laugh at your puny "frozen precipitation levels" that seem to cause such chaos! 
Have you ever been on the Lower East Side, and seen these turn-of-the-19th-century former tenement neighborhoods? They are still standing: five- and six-floor walk-ups, built with no help from Mr Otis, crowded together on narrow streets. 
Even today, Austin's population density of 2600 people per square mile is less than 1/10th of New York City's (26,100). Crowding ten times as many people into every square mile raises the ambient temperature of NYC exponentially. When the weather report says "90" in a town of crowded, narrow streets with ten times as many people, it is a medical emergency.
Be grateful that, in your hometown, such temperatures make you reach for a sweater. It's not a sign of how much tougher Texans are in comparison to New Yorkers. It means that you are fortunate to live where the historical development patterns have provided you an environment where weather extremes aren't so dangerous to human health.
547Was looking for clues about the location of this picture and noticed the clothing store has "547" on the awning (alas no street name).  Looking closer you can see that "547" is also written on the inside of the awning and reflected in the store window.  But the reflection isn't backwards ... so perhaps it was written backwards so that people facing the window could see the non-backwards number in the reflection?  Very curious.
[The "547" on the outside of the awning would be backwards on the inside of the awning because it's the same "547" showing through the canvas.  - Dave]
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Stores & Markets)

Savannah Electric: 1905
... Street, looking east." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. It's ALIVE! This is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 5:03pm -

Savannah, Georgia, circa 1905. "Broughton Street, looking east." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
It's ALIVE!This is one of the most evocative photos I've seen on Shorpy.  As I gaze at the enlarged version, I imagine I hear the clip-clop of horses, their occasional neighs and mild snorts, the sound of the streetcar bell and its wheels rolling on the track, the rumble of people talking and sometimes shouting.  I can almost feel the pavement under my feet (and know to watch out for the many piles of horse manure) and imagine what it was like to look into the store windows.
After many months of perusing Shorpy, I'm starting to feel more at home in my imagination of another age.
Pick me!Just a few daisies on that hat.
Stand backAnybody care to hazard a guess as to what's going on with this guy's legs?
Hat in handA closeup of the panhandler and his crutches.
Dental MysteryWhat on earth was a "NEW YORK DENTAL PARLOR"?  Sounds a bit ominous.  
Wow, the panhandler...Sitting there in a suit.  Looks like he has a set of club feet.  What a photo inside the photo.  
Re: Stand BackPossibly Rickets.  Symptoms include short stature and bone deformity, particularly leg bone.  It is caused by vitamin D deficiency, often due to lack of sunshine exposure or lack of calcium.
Dept. of SanitationThis is the first time I noticed such a well dressed "pooper scooper" in Shorpy's pictures!
Hat selection
I'm seeing at least 3 hat stores, 2 at left, 1 at right.  The hatless man at left has something in his hand that might be a hat.
I find approx. 37 men in hats in this shot.
DaisyI'm thinking that the young lady is carrying a dozen donuts on a plate balanced atop her hairdo.
Savannah ElectricThe Savannah Electric/Edison Light store was probably owned by the local gas and electric utility. This was not unusual, the lighting company not only provided the power but sold the appliances as well. They had an edge, the ability to add the payments for the refrigerator or stove to the customer's monthly utility bill.
The time machine was set to run backwardsToday Savannah looks much less urban and more nineteenth-century.
More Broughton StreetAnother view of that busy street a few years later, after automobiles started sharing the pavement with horses.
Proud BeggarHe may be poor and begging, but he is not without pride.  Despite his handicap (club foot?) his hair is cut, combed and parted; he's wearing a suit; and appears to be clean shaven.  One has to wonder how he came to this, and what his ultimate fate was.
SavannahFifty-five years after this photo was taken, on this very street, civil rights history was made. On March 16, 1960, black students staged a sit-in at eight downtown lunch counters, and three were arrested. The NAACP demanded desegregation of public accomodations, and the hiring of black clerks and managers, and they called for a boycott of white-owned downtown stores. The boycott was successful, causing some of the stores to go bankrupt. In October of 1961, the city agreed to desegregate parks, swimming pools, busses, restaurants and other public accomodations.  
Some of the buildings still there today!This photograph was taken close to the corner of West Broughton and Barnard.
Savannah Electric is Michael Kors today.
+119Below is the same view from February of 2024.
(The Gallery, DPC, Savannah, Streetcars)

Motown Rising: 1918
Detroit circa 1918. "Woodward Avenue, south from the Majestic building." ... Exchange at left. At the Gayety: "Higher Grade Burlesque." Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size. Awnings The ... weak. Did they hang out the windows to install these? Detroit Fun fact: The layout of Detroit was originally designed to mimic ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 5:23pm -

Detroit circa 1918. "Woodward Avenue, south from the Majestic building." Cadillac Square and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument with the Hotel Pontchartrain on the right and the Real Estate Exchange at left. At the Gayety: "Higher Grade Burlesque." Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size.
AwningsThe awnings at the top of the Pontchartrain make my knees go weak. Did they hang out the windows to install these?
DetroitFun fact: The layout of Detroit was originally designed to mimic that of Paris, symmetrical and very ordered.  It was when the auto industry arrived that this symmetry was destroyed--streets were criss-crossed in every which way to allow for quick transport of car parts to factories.
If you take away those streets, you'll still find Paris.
Horse PowerWhat a difference with the cityscape images from approximately 1905 where it's hard to pick out an automobile.
Ain't nothin' worsethan low-grade burlesque.
Take in a photo-playAmong the photo-plays at the Family Theatre, True Blue, a western starring William Farnum who, in addition to his stage career, continued making films until 1952. Also had notable thespian forebears and siblings.
The Quicker Picker-UpperI had to look pretty closely, but there are still a few horse-drawn vehicles, and there in front of the Family Theatre, he who picks up after them. Also, one elevated, and at least two pavement-level traffic cops. It takes a lot of people to keep those streets going.
Electro Medical DoctorsNot really keen on going in to see one of these.
Crow's nestThe small tower at bottom right was, indeed, a traffic control device manned by a police officer.  He manually threw the four way sign at the top of the "nest" -- "stop" in two directions, "Go" in the other two.  Later on, electric traffic lights were added, but just green and red.  They were common in early 20th century Detroit.
Old DetroitThese pictures of Detroit looking so prosperous and vital make me sad.  It did not weather the last 100 years very well. 
Zap it!The Electro Medical Doctors offered stimulating cures. "Male weakness" was a common complaint of our forefathers, today known as erectile dysfunction.
"Electro Medical Doctor"Never realized that ol' Doc Frankenstein spent some of his career in Detroit.
Virginia Pearsonappears to have her name in lights on the corner marquee of the Family Theatre.  According to IMDB, she appeared in seven films in 1918, and later had roles in the 1925 versions of "The Wizard of Oz" and "The Phantom of the Opera" before falling into obscurity shortly thereafter.
Small tower at the bottom rightIs it for traffic control?
They're not for lookin'Can anyone explain the windows in the Family Theater building?  I've never seen anything like them - are they wood panels, or perhaps marble-colored glass?  Either way, it doesn't look like you could see through them.
German GenerosityI wonder if the Kaiser would be wiser if the miser spent all his money on gayety and high grade burlesque?
Plan of DetroitThe plan of Detroit was conceived by Judge Augustus B. Woodward in 1807, shortly after the fire that destroyed the whole city in 1805. It is an original design based on an intricate pattern of interlocking equilateral triangles and hexagons, and it is not really patterned after any other city plan of the time - not that of Washington, and certainly not that of Paris, which was still a largely medieval warren of streets before Baron Haussmann's gigantic public works program was carried out in the mid-19th century. The amazing thing is that Woodward's novel plan was actually executed, at least in that part of downtown Detroit below the Grand Circus. Detroit's main drag, Woodward Avenue, is named after the judge.
Judge Woodward's other main legacyhe was also involved with the original chartering of a school he wanted to call "The Catholepistemiad of Michigania" but which was fairly promptly re-named The University of Michigan. Originally chartered in Detroit in 1817, moved to Ann Arbor in 1837.
(The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars, WWI)

Chelsea Piers: 1912
... veritable visual smorgasbord. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Gloriously Good! Cork ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/15/2024 - 3:02pm -

New York, 1912. "New Chelsea Piers on the Hudson." Feast your eyes on this veritable visual smorgasbord. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Gloriously Good! Cork TippedProbably my favorite things to look for in these pictures are the advertising signs. I never smoked or even saw a Nebo cigarette, but now I'd like to just because of that sign. One of the things I miss the most from my childhood and early adulthood is the wide variety of tobacco advertising and many of these old signs are getting to be valuable to collectors. Imagine the price of a big Nebo sign if you could even find one!
White Star LinesWhere the Titanic was headed when it had an unexpected detour.
The Carpathia would tie up there and discharge the survivors.
Here's your Hopkins Manufacturing Building....View Larger Map
Play ball! (or anything else)With commercial* and passenger shipping long gone, several of the piers have now been repurposed into a huge, multi-sport athletic facility. Their nautical past hasn't completely vanished, however, as they contain docking facilities for several party/dinner-cruise ships and a marina. Prior to the athletic facility's opening about 15 years ago the piers had been decrepit for many years.  
The streetcar yard in the lower right is most likely that of the 23rd Street Crosstown Line, which ran along the street of that name from river to river.  It was among the last of Manhattan's streetcar lines to be "bustituted" in the mid-1930's.  Today the athletic facility is a fairly long walk from the nearest subway station, that of the C and E trains at 23rd Street and Eighth Avenue, but that certainly hasn't hurt its popularity.
* = shipping certainly hasn't disappeared from New York Harbor, it's just that with the advent of container shipping most activity has relocated to New Jersey, with some in Staten Island and Brooklyn
Working hardThey're working up a sweat in the upper floor offices of the Steel Construction building!
Funnels and mastsThe sight of all those funnels and masts poking up from the successive piers is a visual tease of the very best kind.
Not the Night before ChristmasLease.
The Cross & Brown Company has leased
for the Clement Moore estate the plot 100 X 95 feet
at 548 to 554 West Twenty-second
street for a term of years at an aggregate
rent of $250,000. The property will be improved
with a four story and basement
fireproof building, to be occupied by the
Hopkins Manufacturing Company of Hanover.
Pa., as a carriage factory. James
N Wells's Sons were associated as brokers
In the transaction.'
NY Sun - Oct 15 1911
Would you stay at the TERMINAL Hotel?  Does anyone ever check out?
Somewhere out thereA traction modeler is dreaming of the layout he'll base on this photo as soon as his Significant Other agrees to give up the spare room.
Strictly Limited EngagementA swift plummet down the Google hole reveals that "A Scrape o' the Pen" was a Scottish comedy that ran for just under three months at Weber's Music Hall.  The names of the actors in the cast read like pitch-perfect parodies of themselves, perhaps from a unmade Coen Brothers period film.  I note only the delightful Fawcett Lomax, who sailed back without delay after the show closed to Liverpool, aboard the Lusitania, in December, 1912.
Drafting - the old way!My eyes, too, were drawn to the top floor of the steel construction building. The white shirts and ties, and the tell-tale bend of the torso, makes me believe that this is the drafting room. No CAD terminals, just wonderful old T-squares, triangles, and compasses. Those were the days!
Not just a flash in the pan"A Scrape O' The Pen" apparently entertained a worldwide audience over several years. Here's a 1915 review from a  run in Adelaide, Australia:
A Scrape o' the Pen.
In the olden days in Scotland no funeral was complete without its professional mourner, and in Mr. Graham Moffat's Scottish comedy, "A Scrape o' the Pen," which opens at the Theatre Royal on Saturday, Mr. David Urquhart, who delighted theatregoers here as Weelum in "Bunty Pulls the Strings" will humorously depict Peter Dalkeith, a paid mourner, which profession he has adopted, owing to his being jilted by the girl of his choice. This, and such old-time customs as Hogmanay, first footing, &c, have provided Mr. Moffat with excellent material for his new comedy. The story of the play is concerned with the romantic marriage of a young boy and girl according to Scottish law, the young fellow leaving for Africa immediately after signing the papers, and the subsequent adventures of the wife he leaves behind. Mr. and Mrs. Moffat are appearing in the original parts of Mattha and Leezie Inglis, and will have the support of a newly-augmented company of Scottish players.
Pier 62On the west side of Manhattan piers are numbered by this method: the cross street plus 40. Thus, Pier 62 (the number above the "American Line" pier) is located on 22nd Street. Therefore Peter's estimation that the streetcar yard is on 23rd Street appears to be correct.
Interestingly, this photo captures a streetcar about to enter or exit the yard. If there is a clock in view, a date in 1912 for the photo, a streetcar schedule and some streetcar records still around, we might know which streetcar, which direction it was heading and who was driving it. Might even find the fare collection records and know how many people rode that run that day. Ahhh, history's mysteries.
Quaker StateAttached is an advertisement, perhaps another Billboard, flacking Old Quaker Rye Whiskey. Looks like 3 Clubmen welcoming their Bootlegger, possibly Benjamin Franklin. Quakers are allowed to imbibe but not at the Meeting House.
Can anyone tell meThe purpose of the frameworks that extend above the edges of the pier roofs? My guess is that they re to prevent the rigging of masted ships from tearing into the roofs themselves - anyone have a better guess?
Highly sought afterbut rarely found; honesty in a rye whiskey.
Chelsea PiersThe steel frameworks on the roofs held the tracks for the rigid or roll-up heavy pier side doors during vessel unloading.
One of the few...trucks in this picture: just above the Old Quaker whiskey sign.
Broadway JonesThe great George M. Cohan wrote the script, composed the score, directed, and starred in "Broadway Jones," a comedy about a boy who inherits a chewing gum factory, saves the company, and wins the heart of the girl.  His father, Jere, and his mother, Nellie, costarred.  
I can tell youThe girderwork at the edges of the finger piers can also be used in conjunction with ships' tackle to extend the reach for loading and unloading cargo.
Henry B. Harris of Titanic fame presents  -  "The Talker"Interesting that a partially hidden billboard for the 1912 play "The Talker" produced by Henry B Harris would be so close the the White Star Line pier. Harris being a celebrity who lost his life on board the Titanic in April of 1912.
Two largest shipsThe twin funneled liner at Pier 60 appears to be the White Star Liner RMS Oceanic (1899) and, further away at Pier 56 is the RMS Campania (1893).
And on our leftin the distance is 463 West Street home of Bell Labs, where many devices we take for granted were invented.  And in the distance to the right, over in Hoboken one can see the North German Lloyd piers, and to their right the Holland America pier which appeared earlier in Shorpy.
Mercantile Marine Co.Interesting story about the company that owned all of the ship lines at these piers here.
The Nebo ManYears before the Marlboro man rode the range there was Nebo man looking so cool with color coordinated tie and hat plus I'm sure he lit that match with the tip of his thumb's fingernail.

Dog ParkIs that where the dog park is now? In the bottom right hand corner, where all the train/trolley cars are parked? 
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC, Streetcars)

Detroit Opera House: 1904
The Detroit Opera House circa 1904, starring an electric runabout out front. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Detroit Conservatory Music What, they were too cheap to spring for an "of"? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 10:23pm -

The Detroit Opera House circa 1904, starring an electric runabout out front. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Detroit Conservatory MusicWhat, they were too cheap to spring for an "of"?
Digital sign againI've noticed that each time we've seen one of those "digital" signs it's been on or in front of a large theater, opera house or concert hall, the type of venue you'd expect the upper classes, rather than the hoi-polloi, to frequent. My speculation: it's something used to signal carriages for their ritzy patrons. Below: this one compared to ones at Philadelphia's Nixon Theatre and Academy of Music.
Update: Thanks to TomHe for confirming my speculation.
High Bridge?Look in the window of the Pennsylvania Lines shop.  Is the picture on the easel that of the High Bridge of recent memory?
[Unfortunately, no. - tterrace]
Videochas PicThat's Horseshoe Curve, near Altoona, PA
Makes My Heart SingWhat a lovely building! I was born in the wrong era. I come to Shorpy everyday and I'm never disappointed with the photos here. I would hope this building is still standing. I absolutely love the honeycomb glass transom at the entrance door. I wish buildings of today had the details of old world craftsmanship. Sigh.
[Demolished 1966. - tterrace]
What is that thang?Sharp eyes as usual from tterrace, but I can't make out just how this configuration of three identical sets of light-bulb "dots" could be lit to form letters or numbers. The mysterious device's Academy of Music installation, at right, appears to include some kind of identifying signage on the end of the clapboard base beneath it. Dave, is your highest-res tiff file of this photo sufficiently clear to read that information?
[Not clear enough on the full LOC tiff, unfortunately. - tterrace]
Pennsylvania LinesThe Pennsylvania Railroad was a late arrival in Detroit, not gaining a direct entrance there until 1922, and then only by trackage rights on the Ann Arbor, Pere Marquette  and Wabash Railroads. The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad was chartered in 1854 to build a line from Fort Wayne to the Straits of Mackinaw through Grand Rapids. It became part of the Pennsylvania Lines in 1869. It too had no direct connection to Detroit, relying on a connection with the Wabash in Ft. Wayne to get to the Motor City.
Identify car?Great picture! Can anyone identify that nifty little car?
The proverbial needleConcerning identifying the automobile, unless it was built by a select few makers, I doubt it can be positively identified.  
During this period there were around a thousand automobile manufacturers in America alone.  What we do know is that it's an early brass era runabout with tiller steering, semi-eliptical leaf springs at each corner, and wooden spoked wheels.  That should narrow it down to about 50 manufacturers, some of which existed for only a few years.
Re: The proverbial needleI think I have identified the car.  It's an AJAX ELECTRIC. I have attached a photo from an advertisement from 1903, for visual comparison.
[Here they are together. Among other differences, note the absence of front leaf springs. - tterrace]
Wright & KayThe jewelry firm of Wright & Kay (big sign atop building) was formed in May 1906 by Ohio native Henry M. Wright (a Civil War veteran as a member of Co. B, 85th Ohio Volunteers) and John Kay, who was born in Scotland. They were jewelers, opticians, importers and dealers in watches, clocks, diamonds, marble statuary, silver and plated ware and fine stationery, and they manufactured watches and other products under their own name. Recently some Wright, Kay & Company watches were auctioned at Christie's.  
About that haystackMy first thought when I looked at the full-size image was Studebaker. After further research the answer will have to be no, they were building a Runabout with very similar bodywork and proportions in that era but it had major mechanical differences from this machine.
As BradL said, this was a time when literally hundreds of companies ranging from blacksmiths, to buggy shops, to established manufacturers of sewing machines and other mechanical equipment, all took a fling at the automobile. 
MysterymobileI'm almost certain it's a Waverly Runabout, built in Indianapolis. I have a current-day photo but it's somebody's property. Note its steering is via a front tiller whereas the Studebaker has its tiller on the side.  
Re: Digital sign againA carriage call indeed. Picture below shows numbers lit.
WaverleyDon Struke has it, I found a vintage Waverley advertisement that certainly seems to match the mystery car closely.
HorsesCalm and unaware that they were about to be unemployed in very short time.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Detroit Photos, DPC, Performing Arts)

The Ridgewood: 1904
... here , here and here . 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Photographic Co. View full size. Between the lines I've read ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/18/2024 - 3:46pm -

Daytona Beach, Florida, 1904. "Hotel Ridgewood, Ridgewood Avenue." The shady byway last glimpsed here, here and here. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Photographic Co. View full size.
Between the linesI've read the article my post linked too several times.  I do know that I look at things differently, maybe I don't see all the words, but I see nothing in the link I provided that would have sent me off to the site that had the article you posted.  If I had, would have posted your article instead of posting the link.
Torn down, not burned downAmazingly enough, a hotel structure featured on Shorpy survived fires!  Unfortunately, torn down in 1975.
https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/opinion/2022/06/21/ridgewood-av...
Outdoor plumbingObviously, they do not expect a freeze.

Reading between the (fire)linesNot to spoil anyone's day,  but if Mr. De la Cruz reads the article a little more carefully, he will note that while the business survived until 1975,  the building, at least this building, did not. (Oh the advantages of that fire resistant annex!) From December 1932:

(The Gallery, Bicycles, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Florida)

In the Ice: 1905
The Detroit River circa 1905. "Transfer steamer Detroit in the ice." Previously seen here under construction. 8x10 inch ... - Dave] Just don't Google "Detroit Steamer" The first thing that comes up isn't about this Ship. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 4:28pm -

The Detroit River circa 1905. "Transfer steamer Detroit in the ice." Previously seen here under construction. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size.
Great moment!The sense of man over the elements is huge in this photo! I'm betting that pilot house up top was one COLD spot to work!
ThanksOne two levels:  It is getting to be true summer, so that ice looks wonderful; and, secondly, now we can see how that previous shot just hinted at the overall vessel proportions.  Again, thanks.
Buffalo-Pitts Steam TractorsThe two on the deck are super interesting. Photos of this particular brand of tractor are really scarce.
[Click below to enlarge! - Dave]

Just don't Google "Detroit Steamer" The first thing that comes up isn't about this Ship.
Deere JohnFabulous tractors shown here.  How about finding some more for us, Dave?  I would love to add to my collection of locomotives and steamboats with some tractors.
Fantastic image!The Detroit was the second ship built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, and was christened November 1904. It was built for the Michigan Central RR and intended to connect Detroit with Windsor, Ontario. The Detroit was sold to the Wabash RR in 1912, and again changed hands in 1969 when the Wabash merged with Norfolk Southern. By 1970 it had been converted to barge service. In 1994, NS stopped ferry operations and the Detroit was sold for scrap.
The hull of very similar, though larger car ferry (the Manitowoc?) was moored in a slip near Ecorse MI, at the Nicholson Terminal and Docks, a few years back. US Steel is adjacent there, and it may have been scrapped.
Great image! Notice the aft ship's wheel. Not a happy helmsman who had to stand back there.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)

Southern Accents: 1912
... and Ridgewood Avenue." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. A Connecticut Yankee in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/18/2024 - 12:40am -

Daytona Beach, Florida, circa 1910. "Hotel Ridgewood and Ridgewood Avenue." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Henry's CourtDesigned by Nutmeg State solon-turned-architect Sumner Hale Grove, the Ridgewood started out as an eclectic wood structure 

before receiving an annex, in a contrasting style, in 1911 (at the right of the main picture)  A coquina veneer in 1912 tied them together. The original portion  burned in 1932 - Who'd have guessed? - but the annex continued on until 1975.

The site today.
Treebeards!Love the Spanish Moss.
Not so much the horse pucky. The previous century's exhaust pollution.
Bike WeekThere will be thousands of Harleys on Ridgewood beginning March 1.
(The Gallery, DPC, Florida)

The Hotel Essex: 1906
... 1900, now the Plymouth Rock Building. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing. View full size. How could they resist? I can ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/09/2024 - 4:53pm -

Boston circa 1906. "Atlantic Avenue elevated at Hotel Essex (Terminal Hotel)." Completed in 1900, now the Plymouth Rock Building. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing. View full size.
How could they resist?I can attest that certain letters -- always the same letters -- were often out in the  neon sign on the roof, resulting in HOT SEX. Clearly, this was not due to chance, but creative vandalism.
Gone? Then what is this?https://maps.app.goo.gl/HeJRkk4dkxWC9dP79
Really echoes the architecture of the Hotel Essex. Is this just a similar building in a close location (next to South Station. I guess if it was industrial, then look alike buildings could be all over I guess?)
[Oh right. Not gone! - Dave]
Despite certain neon letters not working properly... this is the cleanest 1906 photograph I've ever seen. 
Fireproof, as featured inFireproof Magazine, July 1906.  No interior photographs or floorplans, but the architect is identified, Arthur Hunnewell Bowditch.  His Wikipedia page doesn't include the Hotel Essex among his notable projects.  But, in 1931/32 he designed the Art Deco Paramount Theater, the last of the great movie palaces built in downtown Boston.
Looking at the two 1906 photographs and Street View, I'm certain there was a second-floor entrance to the Hotel Essex, directly from the elevated train platform.  A nice perk for guests.
If only --So 120 years ago, I could walk to my local train station and arrive at South Station, walk out and up the stairs to wait for the next elevated train to my office at North Station. But today, I have to go below ground and take two overcrowded subway rides to get to the same location. MBTA, please bring back the Atlantic Avenue line!
Platform AdsOne of the advertisements I can see on the platform is for Mennen's Toilet Powder. The rest are inscrutable to me.

(The Gallery, Boston, DPC, Railroads)

The Fed: 1937
... Beaux Arts trained architect (Pan American Union building, Detroit Institute of Arts). He later applied modern sensibilities (e.g. reduced ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/14/2024 - 12:53pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1937. "Federal Reserve Building, Constitution Avenue. Front and right side." 8x10 inch acetate negative by Theodor Horydczak. View full size.
"I want to talk for a few minutes ... about banking"Thus began Franklin Roosevelt's first broadcast fireside chat, eight days after his inauguration. FDR's response to the banking crisis was codified in the Banking Acts of 1933 and 1935, which centralized the Federal Reserve System -- and led to this building. The design was chosen in a 1935 competition which -- as can be seen -- resulted in the most grounded, solid-looking building imaginable. Very much part of what, it has been plausibly argued, saved American capitalism.
Is Cret in?The building is officially named the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building after Franklin Roosevelt's Chairman of the Federal Reserve. It was designed by
Paul Philippe Cret, a Beaux Arts trained architect (Pan American Union building, Detroit Institute of Arts). He later applied modern sensibilities (e.g. reduced ornamentation) to classical forms to come up with buildings like this, the Univ. Texas Main Building and the Folger Shakespeare Library. The style is called Stripped Classicism or Greco Deco(!). If it looks familiar, it was the style used by many of the building built by the New Deal/WPA. It lost popularity, though, when both Nazi Germany and the Soviets under Stalin made it their preferred style.
(The Gallery, D.C., Theodor Horydczak)

Marines vs. Army: 1924
... 6-0 Georgetown, 39-0 Ft. Benning, 14-0 Dickinson, 28-0 Detroit, 3-0 Carnegie Tech, 47-0 III Corps. Vanderbilt must have been a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/23/2024 - 6:49pm -

November 1, 1924. Washington, D.C. "Devil Dogs vs. Infantrymen. McQuade makes gain for Marines against Fort Benning at American League park." Jack McQuade, former University of Maryland football star, in a game that saw Quantico's Leathernecks mop the field with Army in a 39-0 rout. 4x5 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
You take out that big guy. No, YOU take him out.The Army player with no helmet looks a little long of tooth but the guy's a mountain. As every sports buff knows, the Jarheads went 7-0-1 that season: 
33-0 Catholic, 13-13 Vanderbilt, 6-0 Georgetown, 39-0 Ft. Benning, 14-0 Dickinson, 28-0 Detroit, 3-0 Carnegie Tech, 47-0 III Corps. 
Vanderbilt must have been a powerhouse. No one else even scored against the Marines. 
Not much of a chance... for that running back to get the ref to call a "facemask penalty" on the defender.
You made my day!I was born in the US Naval Hospital, Quantico, VA, 30 years after this football game took place.  My father did not retire from the Marine Corps until I was 30 years old so, of course, I am not the slightest bit surprised that the Leathernecks clobbered nearly everyone they played that year!
Great sports shot by any standardsPhotographers spend thousands on gear to get shots this good nowadays. I wonder what sort of camera/lens combination was used here.
Rails to TrailsThe "Fast Electric Trains" of the WB&A gave way to a nifty bike trail.
http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm
CamerasIt's amazing how in focus this picture is. Now we have all the digital cameras that are so easy to use, but back then a photographer had to really know how to get a great shot. 
HeadgearI wondered because there are two guys without - just wondering.
It Still HurtsWhen I went to my first duty station after boot camp I was recruited to play in the Annual Navy Marine touch football kegger game. I was only two years out of high school and since I had played varsity for two years as a lineman (offense & defense -- we were a tough breed then), I figured it would be a nice afternoon of sport.
I soon found out why no sailor who had played the year before was on the squad. Those Marines were like a team possessed and I still count it a blessing I survived the game. However the beer and bull session post game was well worth the agony.
(The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Sports)

Hamilton House: 1910
... at 1 Bowling Green. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Saved! Slated for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/05/2024 - 11:07am -

Manhattan circa 1910. "U.S. Custom House, New York, N.Y." The Alexander Hamilton Custom House, completed in 1907 at 1 Bowling Green. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Saved!Slated for demolition in the 1970s, after the completion of the World Trade Center put the customs office there.  There was no longer a counter to take a sample to of a ship's cargo for testing and assessing.  My father, as a young office boy, would take oil samples from the Standard Oil Co., then a few doors up Broadway, to be tested.  The clerks stations survive to this day.
In the 1970s I helped clean out the Merchant Marine Library there (a mariner could borrow a book and leave it at another library in another port on the honor system).  They were dumping the books.  I still have some, and others ended up at the museum library this 16-year-old worked at.  
In the 1990s my wife had a job at the National Museum of the American Indian, one of several occupiers of this great building (Bankruptcy Court is another, as well as the National Archives branch for NYC). Her office was the space that I cleaned out in the 1970s.
If you visit, a look at the rotunda and its WPA murals by Reginald Marsh is a must. All in a building designed by Cass Gilbert.  Oh - and the statuary out front?  Daniel Chester French.
Thanks, AleHouseMugPreservation of this building almost makes up for the loss of the original Penn Station ... almost.
AwningsSome awning salesman must have made his yearly bonus on that building!
History SavedGorgeous building. Everything else to left and right has been torn down. There's a wonderful display there which shows the design and construction of the building. 
Admission to the Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian, is free. Excellent bathrooms, btw.
Italianate BowlingOff the left edge of the photo (to the north of the Customs House) still stands Bowling Green. So called because the Dutch played lawn bowling there. During the Revolutionary War, the iron fence around Bowling Green was melted down for munitions, including an image of the King's head.
The Italian Palazzo-like building (complete with campanille and Romanesque arches) behind (to the east of) the Customs House now sports a boring glass tower with the address 2 Broadway.
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC)

Dupont Circle: 1905
... those pedestrians . 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Cast of Characters ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/25/2024 - 2:08pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1905. "Dupont Circle at Connecticut and Massachusetts Avenues N.W. White building at left is Patterson House, 15 Dupont Circle." Not to mention all those pedestrians. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
Cast of CharactersClick twice to embiggen.

No Exhaust FumesSeeing old photos here dating to 1905-1907, it is clear how very quickly motor cars overtook horse-drawn transport. Here there are no automobiles yet, so no gasoline fumes, just the earthy smell of life, especially in the intersection.
The Patterson placeThis building with all the horses started as the Patterson Mansion. It was designed by Stanford White, and had just been completed a couple of years before this photo. The Patterson family only occasionally stayed there and often lent it out. President Calvin Coolidge lived there during White House renovations; Charles Lindbergh used it after his transatlantic flight. It also spent ~60 years as the Washington Club, before being converted to apartments in the 2010s.

SurprisedOne feature of note for me is that there are bars on all of the ground level windows. Something I guess I have allowed myself to not notice in my naive thinking that so far back times would have been more honest.
Ah ...... the earthly smell of life. So that's what that was. I thought it was low tide.
Level of detailI’m very impressed by the level of detail in the embiggened slice that Dave has provided.  Once I opened it, I embiggened even more and was further impressed by the facial detail in the old woman crossing the street (center) and the mother and daughter walking towards us (right).  Then I noticed the bricks, the leaves, the grass ... amazing.
135I walked a foot-beat here once in the late '70s. The cast of characters included One Armed Johnny and Bad Feet Sam. Fun times.
(The Gallery, D.C., DPC, Horses)

The Detroit 200
July 25, 1901. "Cadillac Memorial Parade -- Detroit bicentenary celebration. Floats in civic & industrial parade." ... and one of the city's celebrated "moonlight towers." Detroit Photographic Co. glass negative. View full size. Extent of ... moon tower, I didn't read your caption. My mistake! Detroit 300 I found out the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument was ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/15/2022 - 11:24pm -

July 25, 1901. "Cadillac Memorial Parade -- Detroit bicentenary celebration. Floats in civic & industrial parade." Looming over the Campus Martius, the Majestic Building and one of the city's celebrated "moonlight towers." Detroit Photographic Co. glass negative. View full size.
Extent of extantThe only structure that still exists might be the oldest in the photo - the Michigan Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Its cornerstone was laid in 1867, and most of the buildings around the square were from the 1890s.

Moon TowerIf I'm not mistaken, that is a "moon tower," in the background. 
[Just like it says in the photo caption! - Dave]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonlight_tower
Sorry, Dave!  I was so excited to see the moon tower, I didn't read your caption.  My mistake!
Detroit 300I found out the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument was repositioned during a reworking of the Campus Martius plaza and rededicated at the end of that project in 2005.  I'm guessing this was part of Detroit's 300 year celebration in 2001.  Detroit has had a few different opera house buildings.  The one in the photo now has the address of One Campus Martius, and was replaced by the building in the Google Street View with the Meridian (health insurance) name over the entrance.  But Woodward Avenue still has streetcar rails.

(The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Horses)

Yesterday in the Park: 1907
... and Industry. Detail of glass negative by Hans Behm, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. When beauty IS skin deep ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/19/2024 - 4:46pm -

Chicago circa 1907. "Jackson Park -- Driveway and Field Museum." Formerly the 1893 Columbian Exposition's Palace of Fine Arts; today the Museum of Science and Industry. Detail of glass negative by Hans Behm, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
When beauty IS skin deepIt's not  quite the same building today: the exterior was originally a semi-permanent material  ("staff") and had to be rebuilt for the Museum  It's hard to tell but it looks like it might already be deteriorating in the picture.
Car ID1904 Winton (with luggage rack on roof)
Gentler, for sure!Shorpy should have a category just for Willoughbies!
A Gentler TimeI want to walk into the photo, cross that lawn in the summer sunshine—avoiding the sprinklers, of course—visit the museum, and leave the 21st century behind.
A wondrous placeWe spent many happy hours at the Museum of Science and Industry with our children when they were youngsters.
Yesterday in the Park --I think it was the Fourth of July.
Dog Gone Amazement ...I noticed the dog looking at one of the cars going by. He, like the people, seemed fascinated by the new contraptions rolling down the road. In 1907, the automobile was still a modern marvel. Our society was gradually transitioning from the horse and buggy to the automobile. When Henry Ford began mass producing the Model T, on the assembly line, the automobile quickly replaced the horse and buggy. That happened not long after 1907.
Thank you, Dave, for all the neat photographs from history you have posted on this site! We all have the opportunity to get a glimpse of the past thanks to the person who took the picture. I'm glad this photograph captured the handsome dog, standing by his owner, looking at the car. He may have been one of the first dogs in history to chase a car!
Smell v. SightI believe the dog is looking at the horse, not the car. Of course, a dog's sense of smell is more important to him than his vision or hearing and the horse's smell is probably more interesting to him than the car's. The car is just a smelly nuisance.
(Panoramas, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chicago, Dogs, DPC)

Leave It to Beaver: 1958
... the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ten years later in 1968, the Detroit Tigers came back to win the final three games after being down 3-1 to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/15/2018 - 7:10pm -

I was watching an episode from the second season (1958-59) of "Leave It to Beaver" tonight when I got to the part where Ward reads a note from Beaver's principal, Mrs. Rayburn. If you freeze-frame the note it says:

Mr. Ward Cleaver
485 Mapleton Drive
Mayfield, State
My Dear Mr. Cleaver:
This paragraph has absolutely nothing to do with anything.
It is here merely to fill up space. Still, it is words,
rather than repeated letters, since the latter might not
give the proper appearance, namely, that of an actual note.
For that matter, all of this is nonsense, and the only
part of this that is to be read is the last paragraph,
which part is the inspired creation of the producers of
this very fine series.
Another paragraph of stuff. Now is the time for all good
men to come to the aid of their party. The quick brown
fox jumps over the lazy dog. My typing is lousy, but the
typewriter isn’t so hot either. After all, why should I
take the blame for these mechanical imperfections, with
which all of us must contend. Lew Burdette just hit a
home run and Milwaukee leads seven to one in the series.
This is the last line of the filler material of the note.
No, my mistake, that was only the next to last. This is last.
I hope you can find a suitable explanation for Theodore’s
unusual conduct.
Yours truly,
Cornelia Rayburn

To judge by the contents (here's the last line, whoops, no, HERE's the last line) whoever did this folded the note first, to mark the middle third of the paper, then put it in the typewriter, started the body of the letter at the first crease and banged away until he had enough to fill out the middle section.
The Lew Burdette reference would put the date at October 2, 1958 — Game 2 of the World Series between the Braves and the Yankees, and a month before this episode ("Her Idol") aired. I see where this has been referenced elsewhere on the Web but as far as I can tell no one has transcribed the entire letter. Until now!
We now return to our regularly scheduled program. [Postscript: The Jim Letter]

Leave It To Beaver, 1958BEAUTIFUL!! :)
Thanks for the update.
We used to get this show Down Here (Oz) and I can remember watching every episode if possible.
Crikey...that gives my age away!
BK
Canberra
Australia
LITB on DVDSeason 1 and Season 2 are available on DVD from Amazon.
beaver lettertoo funny!!!!!!!!!
Ahh...that's awesome. ThanksAhh...that's awesome. Thanks for posting this!
I love it.That's FANTASTIC. 
Awesome!Back in the 50's they never dreamed anyone would be able to freeze frame on the TV picture.  How funny would it have been had the writer typed something REALLY embarrassing!
Great post!!Great post!!
Fan-freakin- tastic!!This is just too cool for mere words. Nonetheless, words must suffice. Excellent!!
Marvelous!I wish every movie had stuff like that for us to find.
21 inch B&W TV set.That's what you had if you really splurged on a TV for the living room in those days.  No sense buying a color TV, since for the $700 (and up) one of those cost, you got to watch maybe one show a week in color - a variety show "special" with Fred Astaire perhaps.  Anyway, you couldn't possibly read the letter from a 525-line video, no matter how big your TV was.  Film, maybe, but not video.
[I don't know about that. I'm the one who deciphered the letter and created this post, and I used a 10-year-old, 27-inch, 525-line low-definition Sony. The main obstacle to  being able to read it in 1958 would have been that it was onscreen for just a few seconds. - Dave]
Timely...Canadian viewers who get SunTV will be able to catch that episode this Friday (May 4th) at 12:30 pm...
Re: awesome!Don't you know? Back inthe fifties people didn't HAVE embarrassing thoughts that could spill out onto the printed page! Sheesh. Get with the program.
So, did a writer on the show type this up, ordid he hand it off to a secretary for her to type?
This comment has absolutely nothing to do with anythingit's just here to take up space.  I'd use this space to root for my favourite hockey team and thus forever determine the exact time this comment was written but I can't get excited about any of them.
I would guessI would guess the tomfoolery is the prop master's work, and he probably made the prop the day before, or earlier in the day, so it's more likely the actual day of shooting was October 3rd.
["The date" means the date the note was typed. My hunch is that the show's producers, Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, are behind it. They slipped written references to themselves into a number of other episodes. - Dave]
That's tamer than most propThat's tamer than most prop letters I've seen.  In the last play I worked on the prop master ranted for 3 pages about the playwright, added sexual escapades in the characters backstory and other in-jokes.  Thank god the audience is 40 feet away and there's no freeze-frame in live theatre!
wardi can't wait to get the second season. it's a great show. that is one hell of a letter. obviously Mrs. Rayburn is either on a nice dose of pharm's or desperately needs one.
awesome.
Rodine,
NYC
BK Canberra. crikey?For anyone reading BK's reply above, as another resident of australia, let me just assure you that nobody here actually uses the word "crikey". That would be like an american going around saying "dandy", "swell" or even that old chestnut, "geewilllickers". The crocodile hunter only ever used the word "crikey" when teasing an animal or selling something. 
Thanks, 
Dan,
Sydney. 
Prop funIn a high school production of the musical Cinderella, the scroll that's supposed to contain all the names of His Royal Highness Christopher Rupert Windemere Vladimir (and so on) was covered by our props department with just one line, in big bold letters: "DON'T SCREW UP".
I use the word Crikey on occasionAnd have been known to utter the odd 'by jingoes', 'cobber' or, my personal favourite, 'strewth'.
Anyone who doesn't occasionally enjoy such words (especially when overseas) is quite simply un-Australian mate :)
Mark,
Sydney.
PS: Good work on the leave it to Beaver letter - I love this stuff!
LITBGolly geewillikers that was swell.  The absolute bees knees.  Just dandy.  thanks.
Egads......So, where's the text for the second page, which contains the *real* "Roswell Press Release"? :)
That is so awesome!  HowThat is so awesome!  How freaking cool...I got chills reading it, because I'm sure that guy never thought anyone would ever read that letter.  
Sarah
Too much like real lifeReading this, I am suddenly transported back 25 years to my American History class in 10th grade. I was supposed to be writing an essay about American gangsters of the early 20th century, and for some reason I became convinced that my teacher would never read everyone's paper every single time. So being the incredibly wise-ass young man that we all are at 16, I dropped in three or four lines, beginning mid-sentence in a paragraph about Al Capone's bootleg whiskey empire, all about how my grandmother's poodles enjoyed riding in cars (or some equally stupid text about my grandmother...the exact words escape me now), and then went on to say that I know that he (my teacher) would never read everyone's paper and that he would never know these lines were buried in my own paper.  I then went on to finish the rest of the paper normally, and handed it in with a smile on my face. 
The day after I turned in the paper, the teacher stood in front of the whole class and read my paper out loud. Had there been a way to drop through the floor at that time...I'd have taken it. 25 years later, I can STILL feel my face get red, just thinking about it!
I can commiserate with the author of Beaver's letter...
"the typewriter isn't so hot""My typing is lousy, but the typewriter isn’t so hot either"
why do I have this sense that in 1958 people weren't saying "the typewriter isn't so hot"
[I don't know. Why do you? - Dave]
bravo"After all, why should I take the blame for these mechanical imperfections, with which all of us must contend."
GLORIOUS.
greek to meLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Vivamus risus risus, ultrices vel, mollis vel, faucibus sagittis, diam. Nunc dignissim odio in est. In mattis condimentum erat. Nunc ac nunc. Vivamus eget elit. Aliquam pellentesque. Aliquam dignissim tellus vitae tortor. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Nam tincidunt pulvinar urna. 
Quisque sed risus. Sed tempus, elit ut tempus iaculis, purus sapien vulputate leo, quis commodo pede magna vel turpis. Cras ac pede. Suspendisse tincidunt, nunc vel ultrices adipiscing, lacus augue bibendum magna, sit amet scelerisque felis nulla eu lectus. Sed sit amet elit. Pellentesque id dui. 
Pellentesque vel justo. Quisque sit amet mi quis tellus rhoncus blandit. Maecenas arcu. Aliquam ipsum. 
[More like "Latin to me" - Dave]
letter to mr. cleaver  I thought it would read:
    "Gee, Ward. Don't you think you were a little hard on the Beaver last night?"
Not a typical American, but...I say "swell" all the time. "Keen" and "Dandy", too.
Lew Burdette's World Series HomerDid come in the bottom of the first inning on October 2, 1958. The Braves had already won the opening game the previous day, also in Milwaukee. The bottom of the first inning, after the Yankees got a 1-0 lead in their first  at bat, began when Bill Bruton hit a 2-2 pitch for a home run to tie the game. The Braves went on to win the second game and then the Yankees won the third. After the Braves also won the fourth game, The Yankees won three in a row to win the series. This had only happened once before in 1925 when the Washington Senators came back with three straight wins after being down 3-1 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ten years later in 1968, the Detroit Tigers came back to win the final three games after being down 3-1 to win the 1968 World Series.
Donald F Nelson
LITB rocksexcellent "leave it to beaver" rocks!! ward rules! june was hot and i dont mean the month.
Common PracticeHaving been a Property Master in the television business for  quite a few years, I can assure you that this is extremely common.  The text could be the actor's lines if they have a tough scene and the prop guy likes them.  Sometimes it is jokes designed to crack the actor up during the first take.  Other times it is exactly this kind of stream-of-consciousness rambling serving no greater purpose than filling up the page.  My specialty was always the fine print on package labels.  The warning on the beer labels in the first "American Pie" movie said that beer could cause pregnancy, cause you to act like an idiot, or just plain F- you up.
Re: greek to me"Lorem ipsum" etc. is Latin not Greek.
Quasi-LatinSee:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum
Cheers!
Have you everHave you ever noticed the newspapers Ward reads during this series? There is usually some reference to a MURDER or some other catastrophe. Highly unusual for Mayfield.
And I thought we were obsessed with Beaver at The First Leave It To Beaver WebSite
Stop by and learn about The Complete Unofficial Leave It To Beaver Trivia Encyclopedia
 Marcus Tee
Speaking of Ward's newspapers...... do they ever include my two favorite column headlines:
New Petitions Against Tax
Building Code Under Fire
After watching nearly 200 old films (courtesy of Mystery Science Theater 3000), these seem to be the two most common newspaper prop filler headlines in films of the '40s and '50s. I wonder if they found their way into '50s and '60s television, too.
I adore thisSo far, this is the highlight of my day. Thanks for transcribing this! 
Love the BeavI love this show. So many great quotes: 
"Gee Dad, I wouldn't mind telling the truth if so much hollering didn't go along with it."
But who knew there were Leave it to Beaver easter eggs? This post made my day.
Re: "crikey"@Dan Re: "crikey"
That was helpful. I've always wondered when Steve Irwin said that why no one from our Australian offices used the term.  You confirmed what I thought. 
Thanks
Lorem Ipsum to BeaverThat is just so much better than the placeholder text one typically sees.
Are there jobs out there for lorem ipsum writers?  Craigslist has not a one.
Excellent post.  Thanks.
the sobsister
http://www.thesobsister.com
Building Code Under FireI think I've seen "Building Code Under Fire," & maybe the other headline as well in episodes of Perry Mason. Obviously some prop house printed a zillion front page mock-ups that were used forever. And often the program-specific headlines are in a completely different font than the rest of the mock-op.
I also dig when a prop magazine is on glossy paper so it will look real, but the glossy stock it's printed on is so heavy it barely moves, let alone looks real.
M. Bouffant
Great!I think that is so very cool! 
interesting interchange!i enjoyed reading this very much. i'm in a library in orlando, florida.
Very funny and entertaining!Very funny and entertaining!  Gotta love all those old B&W shows!!!
It's a pretty common practice.I've read some interesting freeze frames in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Roswell, also.
oh?Can you post some BtVS freezeframes you find of interest?
That's what I'm alwaysThat's what I'm always scared of! too funny!!!
It's like the whole RoswellIt's like the whole Roswell Memo, but more important.
Written on 10/2/58I don't know why but I decided to do some research on the date this letter may have been written and I'm pretty sure it's Thursday October 2nd 1958. I tried to go further and find the time of day but I can only estimate late afternoon pacific time (assuming it was written in LA). The Lew Burdette sentence references the first inning of game 2 in the 1958 World Series between the Milwaukee Braves and New York Yankees. Milwaukee went on to win the game 13 to 5 but the Yankees won the series.
Re: Written 10/2/58Another clue would be the caption under the letter that says it was written during Game 2 of the World Series on Oct. 2, 1958!
Thanks for posting this!It's too, too wonderful.  Thank ghod there are people like you in the world who pay attention to details.
my quiz for allHi all!
You are The Best!!!
G'night 
have you everI have noticed that, even in Mayfield. That was for Ward not the kids, the show was done from a childs view.
Marcus your web site is really great, and the encylopedia with its "map" is a lot of fun.
Nice running into you on this site.
OMGIf you read the letter upside down and backwards, it says that Space Aliens are going to attack the world on May 09, 2007. 
HEY, THAT'S TOMORROW! RUN & HIDE!
Old school Formatting   Well, I tried the paper trick (folding it in thirds and starting the body of the letter at the crease) and now my printer is broken and the red light is flashing. Now what?
Burdette "hit a homerun"?That's very odd, given that he was not a batter, but was instead famously known as the Braves' MVP pitcher, who won three games in the World Series of 1957!
[It's kind of hard to pitch when your team is at bat. Lew hit a three-run homer. - Dave]
Lew Burdette's homerunLew's three-run homer came in the first inning of Game 2.
Leave it to Beaver, 1958Great photo from the archives. I was only 3 years old at the time. I'm sure that I saw it a few years later. Loved the baseball reference. Keep up the good work.  rcisco
Cisco Photo
Carmel, IN
Now you've done it.I always wondered what was written on prop letters, but never did anything to find out.  Now I know how, and every movie I watch on DVD gets freeze frame and zoom.
Last night it was My Fair Lady and while Eliza is working on her 'H's, just over 1 hour into the film...well, you ought to check it out.
My family hates you.
Letters shown on cameraSo I guess Ward didn't read this one out loud as others were read out loud. Wally reading the letter from the Continental Modeling Agency and the letter from the Merchant Marines. Also they don't show the letter from Marathon Records but Beav read it out loud as does Ward reading the letter from Mason Acme Products.
Scrabby
Newspapers on LITBDid you notice how many different newspapers are shown on the show. I had to freeze frame to find them all. 
Mayfield Times
Mayfield Dispatcher
Press Herald
Courier Sun
Mayfield News  anymore?
Scrabby
Newspapers on LITBYou should talk to Marcus Tee at his web site (its posted a few comments down) he is the expert
The Beaver LetterWard did read it out loud - the crucial last paragraph.
Soapy SudsNotice how one magazine Ward is reading always has a Soapy Suds ad on the back. 
Lou, The Braves and the Beav...As a Milwaukee kid (then not quite five years old), I got a special kick out of seeing this. Oct. 2, 1958 was my big sister's 15th birthday.  At that age she was a HUGE Braves fan-- found and mailed the team  four-leaf clovers, etc.  So (the '58 Series outcome notwithstanding) a Braves victory and a three-run shot by Burdette was probably a birthday present for her.
A better letterHow fun! 100 years from now it'll be easier to find your transcription than to watch the entire episode. Perhaps the episode will have been made famous to future generations because they're hoping to catch a quick view of the Famous Letter. Full circle ironics and all that.
P.L. Frederick
Small and Big
The LetterThis is the greatest letter I have ever read.  Thank you.
Other Letters on LITBWonder if the other letters that are sent to the Cleavers are written like this one. For instance the letter Beaver gets from the Continental Modeling Company which we only see the address or the letter from the Merchant Marines.   Sometimes they don't even show the letter like the one from Mason Acme Co or Marathon Record Company.
Lew  BurdetteI remember Lew pitching. He had a routine: Adjust hat, lick fingertips, wipe on chest! I later copied the move when I pitched in Little League!
BeaverI remember when Beav was playing with a set of trains over at Mary Ellen Rodgers's house. The were marked for the JC & BM railroad. Quite a nice layout, wonder who got to keep it.
[Right. JC & BM were Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, the series creators. - Dave]
Currently #1 on RedditThe Beaver Letter has been the No. 1 post on Reddit since around midnight. Check out the comments.
Modern speakWow, they used correct English in that letter.  If that letter were typed today it would read:
Mr. Ward Cleaver
485 Mapleton Drive
Mayfield, State
My Dear Mr. Cleaver:
tl:dr GTFO. LOL, ur son iz dum. k thx
I admit it!I went out with Loren Ipsum in high school and we fooled around behind the stage.
Second base only!
Those 1960s BirthdaysEveryone here looks terrified. My 7th Birthday Party in La Puente, California.
Home Addressshame on that staff writer. If he had only payed paid attention to the opening theme he would know there was a clear shot of front door showing the house number as "211".
But .. specifically:  211 Pine Street, Mayfield, Ohio
[The Cleavers lived in two houses. The first was on Mapleton, the second on Pine. And as for Ohio, Mayfield was famously stateless. - Dave]
Leave it to Beaver - the Skokie ConnectionHere is an update on Leave it to Beaver including vintage stock footage of Skokie, Illinois.  I also very proudly deciphered the Beaver letter featured here, only to find Shorpy beat me to it by several years.  As you'll see, I give full credit where it is due.
http://silentlocations.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/leave-it-to-skokie-and-b...
(Bizarre, Curiosities, Kids, TV)
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