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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)
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)
Detroit on the Ways: 1904
... Ecorse, Michigan. "Great Lake Engineering Works. Steamer Detroit , Michigan Central Transfer, before the launch." The giant railcar ferry seen here . 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. The Actual Launch Process??? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2013 - 10:20am -

November 1904. Ecorse, Michigan. "Great Lake Engineering Works. Steamer Detroit, Michigan Central Transfer, before the launch." The giant railcar ferry seen here. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. The Actual Launch Process???OK, I know that the hull is going to slide down the boards sideways into the water. There are even images here on Shorpy showing that happening. I think I can see some large blocks near the propeller on the right side that appear to be holding it in position and there are probably some in the middle and on the other end also. At actual launch time how is the hull released... Is there some master release to move the blocks out of the way all at once? Not likely with the weight of the hull resting on the blocks. Do the guys underneath with the sledge hammers knock the blocks out and then duck down as the hull slides over them? That sounds like a job that would certainly invalidate their life insurance. The timing on that would be difficult since they would all need to be released at the same time. Is the hull held in place by a cable(s) on the other side and then released after the holding blocks are knocked out of position and hopefully the crew is out of the way? Can someone shed some light on this process! The Detroitwas unique among Detroit River ferries in that it had one fore & aft compound engine for each of its screws (four, two at each end). Each had cylinders of 24 and 48 inches, with a stroke of 33 inches, each rated at 900-ihp. The propellers, given the vessel's length and beam (308 feet, 61 feet) and its duty in ice are not unusual in the least. She was launched 12 November 1904 and entered service 13 January 1905 for the Michigan Central Railroad Company, operating between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. After the MCRRCo opened its tunnel beneath the river in 1910, the Detroit was sold two years later to the Wabash Railroad Company, which operated it on essentially the same route. The vessel was reduced to a car float in 1969, and propelled by the tugs R. G. Cassidy or F. A. Johnson until her owner then, the Norfolk & Western, gave up the Detroit River service in 1991. The vessel was dismantled at Sandwich, Ontario, in 2009. As for the funnels: The Detroit began with four, ran with three for the Wabash, and, while still self-propelled, ended with two. Where are the stacksthat are billowing black oily smoke in the 1905 photo? That's what I call screw propulsionThe props seem enormous for the hull size (when compared to big ships of the 30s and 40s) and very coarsely pitched. Due to slow turning reciprocating engines perhaps?? (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)
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)
Woodward Avenue: 1917
Detroit, Michigan, circa 1917. "Looking up Woodward Avenue." Dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. "Mellow as ... as a small-town Georgia baseball player who signs with the Detroit Tigers. Health Insurance Almost 100 years later, the country is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 9:50pm -

Detroit, Michigan, circa 1917. "Looking up Woodward Avenue." Dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. "Mellow as Moonlight"If I was a drinkin' man, I would be sippin' some a that Cascade whiskey. Motor city, for sure!Not one single horse in view. Temporal AcheMan, this is one of those Shorpy photos that really make me wish I had a time machine. Not much leftAbout the only thing still remaining is the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, and even it has been moved about 300 feet from where it stood for 130 years. An amazing photo. Casting against TypeI see the film "Somewhere in Georgia" is playing, where Ty Cobb stars surprisingly as a small-town Georgia baseball player who signs with the Detroit Tigers. Health InsuranceAlmost 100 years later, the country is in a major pique over health Insurance and the Detroit Creamery had the answer all along. This maybe the best urban photograph yet, it certainly is the busiest. Notice the #2 streetcar?It's got one of those fancy-schmancy 'people scoopers' on it, like this: https://www.shorpy.com/node/4468 HodgepodgeOne of the best urban pictures yet! Too much to take in at one sitting; The Opera House, that wonderful memorial, the traffic, those streetcars. I wonder what the tent was for in front of that fountain, just across from the Opera House. FascinatingThere's so much to look at in this photo. I especially enjoy seeing people going about their daily lives, not posing for a camera. The movie theater sign says "All Next Week, Somewhere in Georgia". According to IMDB.com "Somewhere in Georgia", starring Ty Cobb, was filmed in the winter of 1916 and released in June 1917. Is the 1915 date on the photo in error? [Do we know what "circa" means? - Dave] An Edison ElectricI notice that the Edison Electric is being driven by a woman. My grandmother (who lived in Detroit) said that the only car she ever drove was an Edison Electric. She was afraid of driving a gasoline-powered car. [Women liked electrics because there were no gears to shift, and no clutch -- shifting and clutching on cars of that era required quite a bit of muscle. - Dave] Cloudy crystal ballCover story in Time Magazine, October 5, 2009: "The Tragedy of Detroit: How a great city fell, and it it can rise again." Speaking of moonlightFarewell, good moonlight towers. Twenty years gone by the time of this photo. Is it a coincidence that Shorpy has hit upon another star of the silent screen? The theater beneath the Blackstone Cigar sign (far right)features Gladys Brockwell, who, like Kay Laurell (1890-1927), died in her thirties. Horrific 1929 car crash in California. Merrill FountainThe Merrill Fountain in front of the Opera House still exists, too. Granted, it was moved about seven miles up the road to Palmer Park. Before it was called Wootwart (Woodward)The definition of the "good old days" ... Traffic LightsGreat image. Did traffic lights look different then, or did they not have them in Detroit? [In 1917, traffic signals came on two legs. - Dave] Re: An Edison ElectricLooks more like a Detroit Electric car than the very rare Edison. The main reason the ladies like the electric car was no crank starting. Charles Kettering changed that a few years later with the electric starter motor if IC engines. Notice the complete absenceof horse poop. And horses. Stop sign doesn't apply...Surprised to see that pedestrains do not follow traffic signs as they crossed the streets. It seems that those signs were for trolleys and cars only. It anwered my question why my g-g-great uncle got killed by a trolley. ProsperityWow! You can almost hear the hustle and bustle of prosperity in this amazing photograph -- the essence of early 20th century proud American urbanity. Go to Google Earth or some other mapping web site and visit the corner of Woodward and Fort today -- a dreary, faceless, lifeless desert of glassy highrises without a pedestrian in sight. HeartbreakingWhen I go through Detroit now it is a vast third world, broken down, trashed city, with gangs and thugs peering from behind collapsed buildings. How in the name of all that is worthy could this magnificent American city come to what it is today? Almost makes me want to watch Glenn Beck. Oh what a feelingI had to smirk a bit when I opened of the intersection on Google streets and the first thing I saw was a shiny Toyota. FABULOUSThis image is go busy and wonderful. There is so much to notice. I wonder what the conversations were and so much more. There is a tent in the middle of the square to the left of the statue. Why? What is the statue of? All in WhiteI love the woman all in white crossing the street with her plaid skirted friend (near the front of the photo, just before the frontmost car). She looks so different than everyone else. I bet the two women just walking into the frame below them are talking about her. She's showing ankle AND calf! I'm sure she'll be a flapper in a few years! The girl in whiteI think that the girl in white is in fact a girl - probably a young teen accompanying her mother (the lady in the plaid skirt). Therefore she would be perfectly well dressed for her age. However that also means that she would be in the right demographic to become a flapper once the twenties (which would coincide with her twenties) rolled around. Great picture - Lord I could look at it for hours! That banner over the street"ENLIST NOW! YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU" And to your left...Seems even Detroit had its requisite "Seeing..." touring bus company. I count three "charabancs" in this photo, one across the street from Bond's with "WELLS" emblazoned on the back, and two in the centre-left crammed with mostly female tourists. Wonder what they were off to see next? I'm loving the little insignificant human moments the photographer caught and immortalized: the man at the lower left trying to make something out on a bulletin board; the hefty many putting his arm around his companion's waist next to the memorial; three ladies converging outside the theater. Fantastic. The building on the far leftis the 1896 Majestic Building, designed by the famous Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. Among other things, Burnham also designed the Flatiron Building in NYC, and oversaw the construction of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The Majestic was Detroit's tallest building until 1909, when the Ford Building (also a Burnham creation) was completed. The Ford still stands today, as well as Burnham's other Detroit creations, the David Whitney Building and the Dime Building. Sadly the Majestic was torn down in 1962 to make way for the exponentially less-interesting 1001 Woodward Building. “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die, but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistence. Remember that our sons and our grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.” -Daniel H. Burnham Sight Seeing in Detroit ca. 1917The Dietsche Sight Seeing Company was one of several companies that offered tours of Detroit back in this time period. Below is a photo of their advertisement offering their services to local companies who might want to entertain their out-of-town customers with a "Sight Seeing Trip around the city, Belle Isle, or Water Works Park." Given the description of the street banner, this photo was probably taken sometime around June 5, 1917, which was the date on which all men between the ages of 21 and 31 were required to register for the draft. Soldiers and Sailors MonumentStill nearby, but not as nicely maintained. Very Nicely MaintainedThe Soldiers & Sailors monument is actually very well maintained. Notice how it's not all blackened with soot as in the old photo. When you view it up close you can also see where some very nice restoration has recently been done. Not everything in Detroit is a rotting hulk. Still busyNot like this, but the ice skating rink at Campus Martius is already set up and would be approximately directly in front of the Detroit Opera House. Downtown Detroit is not the home of thugs or crime at all, really, but is sadly quiet when the businesses are closed. Many of the buildings are still here, and magnificent. Come visit before they tear them all down. I'll be ordering a large print of this image! Thank you Shorpy. Re. "Mellow as Moonlight"I saw this photo a few days ago, and, like GeezerNYC, I was quite struck by the Cascade Whiskey billboard. Now, I know that Geo. Dickel is still in business, and I was familiar with Dickel's Tennessee Sipppin' Whiskey and Old No. 8, but I had never heard of Cascade. It must have gone the way of the buggy whip and Lydia Pinkham, I thought. But then today I stopped at the liquor store after work to pick up a bottle of wine, and GUESS WHAT THEY HAD?!?! shhhh...too loud. So, then and I bought some. And do you guys know what? It's pretty goood. I';m drikning it right now. And I just wanna True story I swear. Hey! do you know what? I bought some oft hat Cacsade whiskey? Or is it whishky? Aanyway, I just wanna You know what/ You guys are greatf. I just wanna Hudson's Grows, and...Hudson's grew with Detroit, and perhaps inevitably, declined with Detroit. Cascade HollowThe current Cascade Hollow Whiskey was created to deal with a shortage of the Dickel No. 8 and then just hung around. They didn't have enough whiskey of a certain age so they made a new brand and put their younger stuff in it so that the quality of the No. 8 wouldn't suffer. The Cascade Hollow has been discontinued, but it's still on the shelves in many places. The name Cascade was replaced by the Dickel name after Prohibition and a number. In order of price (& quality) the current Dickel offerings are: (Cascade Hollow) Dickel No. 8 Dickel No. 12 Dickel Barrel Select (which is one of the best whiskeys I've ever had. And I've had a lot.) Anyway, Dickel is currently owned by the evil international spirits conglomorate Diageo, which also owns Guinness, Hennessey, Smirnoff, Johnny Walker, Tanqueray, Bushmills, Cpt. Morgan, Jose Cuervo, Crown Royal and many many more. I can't relate to this picture at allThere is no one in this picture that looks like me or anyone else in my family and for that matter most of my friends...maybe that's how most of the people making comments about it want Detroit to look like. Movie ID helpIn the background, there appears to be a movie showing called "The Spoilers", but Wikipedia says it came out in 1914, not 1917. Just below that it looks like "Barrymore (?) as Georgia" and to the left of that is "Ty". Anyone have some ideas as to which movies are being advertised? [The movie is "Somewhere in Georgia," with Ty Cobb, released in 1917. - Dave] Re: Re: An Edison ElectricMy great-great-grandfather Frank Montgomery Foster was selling Kissel Kars in Detroit. In 1913, he also had "one of the Detroit's finest garages at the corner of Gratiot Avenue and Grand Boulevard." It looks like the two cars in the bottom left of the photo (with the barrel fronts) may be Kissels, but I don't know enough about autos of the era to ID them. KernsMy co-worker's last name is Kerns. I showed him this picture one day and eventually forwarded it to him. He then forwarded picture to his family and learned that his mother Americanized their Polish name around 1917 after seeing that building "Kern's Children's Clothes." One of the best!The photo is insanely busy and the comments led me on a couple scavenger hunts online. Introduced to Gladys Brockwell, Daniel Burnham, Cascade, Dietsche company, etc. A very entertaining hour and a half on this one pic! Of course, being from Detroit makes it that much more interesting. Also, Heartbreaking, Detroit is a pheonix. You watch what she can do! The people have so much spirit. We love our city like a member of our family. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars)
Rooftop Detroit: 1899
Detroit circa 1899. "Detroit N.E. from Chamber of Commerce." The elevated vantage affords an ... blocks. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size. Detroit Music Co - Woodward Avenue A street that looks a lot different now. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/02/2016 - 11:28am -

Detroit circa 1899. "Detroit N.E. from Chamber of Commerce." The elevated vantage affords an excellent view of at least a dozen of the city's celebrated "moonlight tower" carbon arc lamps -- giant electric fixtures 165 feet tall, each illuminating several blocks. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size. Detroit Music Co - Woodward AvenueA street that looks a lot different now.
Detroit: 1910
Detroit, Michigan, circa 1910. "City Hall and Campus Martius." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. +101 If the Soldiers and ... street view of basically the same area today. Looks like Detroit has leveled all the structures that were standing in 1910. [It ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2012 - 3:10pm -

Detroit, Michigan, circa 1910. "City Hall and Campus Martius." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. +101If the Soldiers and Sailors Monument hasn't moved in the past 101 years, this is the street view of basically the same area today. Looks like Detroit has leveled all the structures that were standing in 1910. [It has moved twice over the years. To the left of the Google Street View below is the 100-year-old Dime Bank. - Dave] View Larger Map Fantastic!This photo is absolutely perfect! There are men, cars, advertising, women, children, horses and so much more. I love it. What a great window into the past. The Food To Tie To Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year 1911. Patentees of Designs, Trade-marks, Labels and Prints. … Kellogg Toasted Corn Flake Co., Battle Creek, Mich. "The Food To Tie To" (For Prepared Cereal Foods.) No. 2,877; Nov 7; Gaz. vol. 172; p. 258. … Apparently, "The Food To Tie To" failed as an ad campaign — it does feel awkward to pronounce. Prior to this post, a Google search of this Kellogg's slogan yielded only two results: both google-book scans of a 1912 government publication of patent listings. Follow the Google search of this slogan to witness the steady accumulation of search-engine results as a multitude of blog/web-sites scrape and automatically re-post content from Shorpy. P.S. Undoubtedly this black-and-white image of the Kellogg's "The Food To Tie To" sign on the Campus Martius fails to capture the contrast and readability that the full-color signage would have presented. It is difficult to read the slogan and one must look closely to see the cowboy and his lasso. Any Shorpy photo-colorationists willing to lend their skills to offer historical palette schemes which might have attracted the eye of a 1910 breakfast-cereal consumer? View TodayHas anyone got a modern view of this site? Given Detroit's decline, it would be interesting to see it from this angle. [See above. The notion that downtown Detroit is some sort of decaying urban wasteland is a mistaken one. - Dave] Parallel ParkingIn 1964 I managed to fail the parallel parking portion of my driver's test while driving a relatively small 1962 Dodge Dart with power steering and automatic transmission. It appears the taxi guy is trying to park that 3 ton beast without the benefit of power steering or automatic trans. He's a better man than I. [Circa 1910 Hudson Model 20 touring car. At around 1,800 pounds, it weighed less than a ton. - Dave] If onlyIf only time travel were possible. To me, that era was the most serene. Discounting any wars, epidemics or such. I would go. The BoothInformation? Tickets of some kind? It looks too small to be a news or food vendor booth. [It's a kiosk of the kind used for posting bulletins, news, weather etc. - Dave] The Kellogg signThe original Kellogg Toasted Corn Flakes box was not colorful by today's standards, being dark green and red lettering on a beige background, but with those three banks of lights focused on it, I am sure it stood out on the sign. On close inspection it appears that the rope lasso also might have had its own string of lights just above it. As far as what the lighting on the cowboy might have been, it is anyone's guess. To get an idea of the original box (and tin) colors, just Google "Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes" images. [The rope itself is a string of lights. This sign probably used hundreds of bulbs. - Dave] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars)
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)
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)
Detroit Skyline: 1918
Detroit circa 1918. "Sky scrapers from interurban station, Jefferson Avenue at ... A view last glimpsed here . 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Now just faces in the crowd ... marked with red dots were very prominent in the 1918 Detroit skyline (at left), but now are just faces in the crowd. At the bottom ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/07/2023 - 2:28pm -

Detroit circa 1918. "Sky scrapers from interurban station, Jefferson Avenue at Bates Street." A view last glimpsed here. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Now just faces in the crowdThree of the four buildings marked with red dots were very prominent in the 1918 Detroit skyline (at left), but now are just faces in the crowd. At the bottom with a red dot is the back of the First National Bank, which replaced the Hotel Pontchartrain (backside is seen in 1918). Click to embiggen A lot happens in a yearComparing the 1917 view and this 1918 view, two new skyscrapers were built! Is that even possible? The Cadillac Square building at the right (which still exists but lost it's its minarets), and the white building in front of the Hotel Pontchartrain, which is gone. In fact, even this portion of Bates street is gone, it's now under the City-County building and the parking structure behind. ["Circa 1917" doesn't mean "in 1917." It means around ("circa"!) 1917. - Dave] Number 97What is with the large 97's on the one building corner as well as the water tower? Hide and seekThe white building half hiding the Hotel Pontchartrain in the original photo is called the Vinton Building. In Doug Floor Plan's photo, it is hidden behind the Z-shaped First National Building. This photo shows the Vinton Building with the First National behind it. Number TowerThe number "97" on the water tower and building is advertising the street address of the Fred Lawrence Printing Company at 97 Woodward Avenue. Their street sign is visible in both images. The earlier image doesn't show the number. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC)
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)
Detroit: 1897
Circa 1897. "Post Office, Detroit." Sign on utility pole: "Please do not spit on the sidewalk." 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Not in Austin The ones in ... as noted below, they were purchased used by Austin from Detroit. - Dave] 1892 From the woman's attire in the right background, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 10:22am -

Circa 1897. "Post Office, Detroit." Sign on utility pole: "Please do not spit on the sidewalk." 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Not in AustinThe ones in Austin were built in Indiana. [They may have been manufactured in Indiana, but, as noted below, they were purchased used by Austin from Detroit. - Dave] 1892From the woman's attire in the right background, (white blouse, dark skirt--not quite in an "A" line, probably a boater hat), I guess that this was taken in 1892. If she is not quite in fashion, then 1893. Moon tower!That looks exactly like one of the "moonlight towers" of Austin, Texas -- and according to Wikipedia, they were purchased used from Detroit in 1894. I wonder if that's one of the ones residing in Austin now. Fort and ShelbyThe old post office in Detroit was on the northeast corner of West Fort and Shelby. Nothing in this photo remains today. Alright, alright, alright ..."Party at the Moon Tower." Sidewalk Sign EnvyI would like to time travel and swipe some of the polite requests to refrain from spitting on the sidewalk, and bring them to current day Boston to be posted. The sidewalks are covered with spit and gum, and there is nothing quite like walking behind a spitter. That is particularly true on a windy day. Back to the photo, the post office is magnificent! I wonder if it had spittoons inside. A short tripSeems ironic that there should need to be a letterbox across the street from the world's largest post office. High SteppingWhat's with the man high stepping in the street, a block back? [He's getting on a bicycle. - Dave] Smooth pavementI can't help feeling a bit of envy by looking at that smooth pavement on the street. Notable that this was taken at a time when the automobile was still considered a fad, a mere toy for the idle wealthy, and was not still being used as a regular means of transportation. Federal BuildingThere's quite a history of this place, as well as more photos, over at: www.buildingsofdetroit.com/places/post M.O.S.W.Looks like John Cleese doing his Silly Walk in front of the library. It is quite odd to find nothing at all remaining from this wide swath. Many buildings from this era are still in place - any drive through Detroit shows that. Then & NowHey guys, I couldn't resist this one, I just went out on the bike to get an "after" photograph of this view. Enjoy! http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsgeorge/3935273602/ (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC)
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)
Detroit Landmarks: 1908
Detroit, 1908. "Cadillac Square, Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument and Hotel ... And: Someone stop that hat! 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. A Spindly Affair This is ... (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/19/2023 - 12:32am -

Detroit, 1908. "Cadillac Square, Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument and Hotel Pontchartrain from City Hall." Also the lower section of one of the city's famous "moonlight tower" arc lamps. And: Someone stop that hat! 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. A Spindly AffairThis is my first time to see one of those moonlight arc lamp towers up close. Seems kind of flimsy - though I notice all the guy wires. Climbing one of those for maintenance was surely a risky business and there doesn't seem to be anything to prevent anyone from doing so. [The lamps probably come down to street level for maintenance. Hence the crank. - Dave] Moonlight ElevatorDave, the lights didn't travel down to meet the man. The man used a hand-cranked elevator to travel up and service the lights. This is depicted and described in the following NY Times news article: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/travel/austins-moon-towers-beyond-daz... (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars)
Hotel Tuller: 1980s
... The Tuller Hotel was one of the largest luxury hotels in Detroit in the early twentieth century, with 800 rooms, each with a private bath. It was also the first hotel built in Detroit's Grand Circus Park district. Lew Whiting Tuller (1869-1957), who ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/14/2011 - 5:01pm -

A circa 1980s look at the Tuller Hotel, seen earlier here and here. "Tuller Hotel, 501-521 Park Boulevard. The Tuller Hotel was one of the largest luxury hotels in Detroit in the early twentieth century, with 800 rooms, each with a private bath. It was also the first hotel built in Detroit's Grand Circus Park district. Lew Whiting Tuller (1869-1957), who erected and operated this hotel, was a major builder of hotels and apartment houses in Detroit in the 1900s and 1910s. The three distinct buildings share a common Italian Renaissance styling." Photograph and caption by the Historic American Buildings Survey. View full size. Mayor Coleman Young EraA more apt description would be that this is the Detroit of the Coleman Young era. If anyone is interested in seeing the difference between the vacant properties of Detroit against the border of affluent Grosse Pointe, look no further than the satellite photo of Google maps and the Alter Road divider to see an infill landscape (GP) versus plenty of land (Det) where thousands of homes stood less than 20 years ago. This is the area where Charlton Heston and my father grew up (although neither knew of the other). You've heard of the Honeymoon SuiteThis must be the Homewrecker Suite. Afterparty Is this after Charlie Sheen stayed there? AlmostToo sad for words. I was looking earlier this evening at a series of pictures showing how some of the great buildings in Detroit have fallen into neglect and disarray. A great shame. Liberalism's Great SocietyLiberalism's Great Society in actual practice, and what they intend to do to our entire country, if we don't stop them. [This is Reagan-era Detroit, a city whose decline does not have much to do with "liberalism," or politics in general. - Dave] Downward Spiral Just heard on NPR yesterday how Detroit's population has fallen from a high of 2 million to around 700,000 today. While I knew Detroit was in a bad way I had no idea the depth of its despair. Hard to believe the "Motor City" of my youth in the 50s and 60s has lost its prominence. How quickly it has faded. I thinkthe Who must have stayed here. And thank you, Dave, for the nippage in the bud of political nonsense. There's already too much snarkery in the world. Shorpy is above all that. Hold up there, CowboyRadical Liberalism began in the 1960s hippie movement in SanFrancisco while Reagan was still a cowboy riding his pinto across the make believe range. Radical Liberalism's rampant runaway across America is alive and well and great cities in this country are all on the decline because of it. This hotel room is repeated all over America. it's not political, it's a fact. [Factwise, when the hippies were grooving to the Summer of Love in San Francisco, Ronald Reagan was governor of California. In 2010, Detroit is depopulating as the auto industry there declines. More people would link the export of manufacturing to the free-trade policies of conservative administrations than to any kind of "liberalism." What would really be interesting (or entertaining) would be to lay out the specifics of how "liberalism" is responsible for the condition of this hotel room. As for it being "repeated all over America," the number of ancient abandoned highrise hotels in this country is probably close to zero. - Dave] I base my comments more on what I see happening in middle america where rampant extremist liberalism deposited its payload, not so much on THIS hotel room in THIS city. Point about Reagan whether he was riding the range or not, is HE had nothing to do with this hotel room. Where do you live? An Ivory Tower, no doubt where you do not have to mingle with the masses. If you are going to let in one political comment then, speaking from a liberal viewpoint, Shorpy will Also cease to exist. [Roll eyes] Interesting comment from the guy making his political statement commending you for not allowing a political statement. [Roll eyes] You run a good site here, but people are hungry in America, keep your nose clean and give us something to enjoy. [nice of you to allow me this conversation--be nice to continue it in person as so much is lost in text] [Next up on Fox: "Politically Incoherent." - Dave] Factwise, there have been some good comments, and some who understand the point I was making. You just aren't one of them, Dave. I had thought you to be a smart guy and now I realize you are just a smart-ass guy. I bet you have a small penis, too. Current Detroit PhotosColor photos of Detroit's sadder side can be seen here: http://www.marchandmeffre.com/index.html The Tuller isn't part of the set but others show the loss of what Detroit had been. Here Comes The Political MessWhy is it some people just have to share their political opinions with you? Please go where they care about your political opinion; you see I could not care less about your political views. Now if you have photos to share you have my attention. A common cycleMany a respectable hotel has gone through a cycle of decline. This is not a new thing. As fashions move on, the rising cost of redecorating to stay high-end or even respectable, at some point, intersects with falling revenues. Buildings obsolesce, become more costly to maintain, leaving less money for services. Clientele becomes more and more down-market, until the building finally succumbs to decades of neglect. Sometimes, after a decade or so of dereliction, the establishment finds new owners and new capital, and rebounds. The Tuller was not so lucky. As we have seen, some folks are just itching to blame this cycle on '60s liberalism (cue eye-roll), but this cycle played itself out many times before that decade. PoliticsI think there were some politicians of all types who contributed to the decline of Detroit, most prominently in the mayor's office. That said, Shorpy is a much better place when it is nonpartisan. Damn Hippies Killed the TullerSorry, I just couldn't help the title. The image came first. The room just creeped me out. YIKES!Looks like they kept the "DO NOT DISTURB" sign out to long. I was hereI was one of the architectural team that evaluated the condition of the hotel just before it was demolished, and the seeds of its decline were sown back in the 20's and 30's, and are not the result of liberalism, Reaganomics, or anything more complicated than the poor decisions of the owners. The additions to the hotel, especially the one on Washington Boulevard side, were poorly planned and poorly executed - you had to go outside across a metal fire escape just to get from one side of the hotel to the other! The original hotel could never have been called elegant, and its decor over the years just got worse until a 1950's remodel made it look up to the minute in 1954, but terribly dated by 1960. Every other major hotel in Detroit, the Statler, the Hilton, the Cadillac, the Fort-Shelby, was ruined by 'modernizations' in the 50's, 60's and 70's that replaced or covered the original elegance and classic details in favor of ersatz 'luxury' that faded quickly. The thing that killed them ALL, however, was the opening on the Westin in the Renaissance Center in the early 1970's. How could any old, drafty, non-air conditioned hotel with its rattly elevators, cracked plaster, peeling paint and knocking radiators compete with a 2000 room glass and concrete symbol of the future? Both the Cadillac and the Fort Shelby have been renovated and re-opened, both required complete gutting and both required conversion of half of the building to condos, just to pay the bills. Now these are the hot new properties, and the Westin looks tatty. The Tuller WAS too far gone to save, its fate was sealed in the 1950s. The '67 riots sealed Detroit's fateIn addition to the usual business cycle of fancy old hotels losing favor to newer "better" hotels, the city of Detroit received a huge black eye 15 to 20 years prior to this photo. "White flight" was in full swing by the time of the 1967 riot in Detroit. After the riots, the prosperous black population wanted to move out of the city too. The result was the affluent property and business owners moved to the suburbs. Without a reason for wealthy hotel patrons to visit the city why would there be a need for a luxury hotel in the city? Idiot's delightNobody has pointed out that the Republican party chose to hold its 1980 convention and nominate Ronald Reagan in Detroit. The idea was to showcase the problem city--AND to promise that things would be different. With 30 years' perspective, we can draw conclusions about both of those notions. The Tiresome Discussion About DetroitWhy must every discussion of my hometown devolve into either tirades about the evils of "liberalism," or none-too-subtle allusions to race (the "Coleman Young wrecked the paradise that was Detroit" angle), or some nasty combination of the two? But oh-so-little consideration seems to be given to the underlying economic structural factors and technological tides that have been much more historically important in making it both the great boom town of the early 20th century and the poster child of urban dissolution in more recent decades. Jeez o peteI think that the decline of big cities has less to do with the tidal flows of two-party politics, and more to do with the invention that made Detroit what it was, the automobile... and the mass migration of everybody with money out of those cities. Not to mention poor city planning of the 50s-60s that slashed many urban neighborhoods into pieces with freeways. Cities have only begun to recover in the past decade. In any case, I find it difficult to see how hippies are to blame, especially not for our present and future problems considering that generation is nearly in its 70s. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, HABS)
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)
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)
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)
War Kitchen: 1941
... "Light bulb in the trash can" reminded me that here in Detroit (and I assume other cities) the Edison Co. would exchange light bulbs ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/21/2022 - 10:31pm -

July 1941. "War housing. Mrs. B.J. Rogan and her small son, Bernie, in the kitchen of the Rogans' new war home at the Franklin Terrace housing project in Erie, Pennsylvania. Mr. Rogan is a drill press operator at a nearby plant which is working three shifts on war contracts. The Rogans pay about twenty percent of their income for rent." Medium format acetate negative by Alfred Palmer for the U.S. Office for Emergency Management. View full size. Light bulb in the trash canThat used to be a familiar sight, as manufacturers held to highly inefficient--thus highly profitable--incandescent bulbs long after alternatives were possible. It took an act of Congress (Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007) to phase out incandescent bulbs that typically lasted 750-1000 hours, as opposed to today's LED bulbs which won't need replacing for 25,000 hours. That CoffeepotWas my worst enemy after visiting my father-in-law's house for the first time for an overnight stay and being asked by my wife to "make coffee." Of course I had no idea how to make coffee in that kind of pot. We had only been married a year and I had been in the US for the same. Needless to say, I greeted everyone to breakfast with the best coffee sludge a newbie could make. Still thereThe Franklin Terrace apartments are now called the John E. Horan Garden Apartments. The old kitchen was tiny but charming; now, not so much. https://www.hace.org/housing-info/hace-rental-properties/john-e-horan-ga... https://www.hace.org/about-us/revitalization/ Snack TimeIt's about 2 pm according to the clock on the wall. I am just wondering what he did to get a snack at 2 pm. When I was his age, I didn't dare ask for a snack that soon after lunch. I usually waited until about 3 pm. Chances were 50/50. If if got to be 4 pm - it was too late - 'dinner is soon'. There's a busted light bulb in the trash bin. I wonder what wattage it was. Looks peaceful to meEverything spic and span and in its place while Mrs. Rogan whips up something tasty for her family, but I'm sure it reflects accurately on the home front during wartime. Those Servel gas refrigerators always seemed to produce a faint odor, but they did work using a science I never understood of how to make cool with a gas flame. Between 1955 and 1960 with I was in Boy Scouts, we'd spend Memorial Day weekend at a deer lease in the Hill Country of Texas between Kerrville and Medina. The first thing our Scoutmaster did upon entering the asbestos sided cabin was light the Servel refrigerator and that odor lingered throughout the weekend, but we had a lot of fun. [Fun fact: Servel is a contraction of "Serving Electricity." - Dave] Movin' on upIt's new, nice, clean, and not an attic nor a small travel trailer still on wheels. I couldn't find the Rogan family in the 1940 Census, but did find this description of their living arrangement progress: "Defense housing, Erie, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. B. J. Rogan and their small son, Bernie, at home in the living room of their new defense home in Erie, Pennsylvania. Mr. Rogan is a drill press operator at the nearby General Electric Company plant. He earns $42.50 a week, and pays about twenty percent of his income for rent. Before moving into a newly constructed defense home at the Franklin Terrace housing project, he lived in a remodeled attic, and then a trailer. For the latter he paid 6 dollars a week, including all utilities." I'm pretty sure the B. stands for Bernard. The Franklin Terrace housing project is now the John E. Horan Garden Apartments. Horan was/is the director of the Erie Housing Authority. These units are now public housing. PercolatorI suggest Baxado ought to retry the percolator for making coffee. I still have my parents' percolator which is used extensively on camping trips. Makes a great cup of coffee, but be careful of the grounds! Encyclopedias, The seat of knowledge Loco ...... motive on the table. 1941, huh?Since The U.S. didn't enter the war until December, why was this family living in "war housing?" [Yes, huh. Some googling might provide enlightenment. Keywords: Lend-Lease, Battle of Britain. - Dave] Found 'em Bernard J. Rogan, Sr., wife Lenore, and son Bernard Jr. are in the 1940 census, living in Washington DC, where Bernard Sr. is an insurance agent. All 3 were born in Pennsylvania. In 1948 they are living at 2130b Gladstone Ct., Erie PA. Occupation was listed as "Tool Rpr". In 1950, they are back in Washington DC, where Senior is manager of a service station. Lenore works for the Federal Power Commission. Senior died in about 1983. Lenore died in 1992. Junior died in 2016. Let there be (free) light."Light bulb in the trash can" reminded me that here in Detroit (and I assume other cities) the Edison Co. would exchange light bulbs (burned out for new) at no charge. That went on for years until some local store owner sued Edison for restraint of trade because he wanted to sell more lightbulbs. And won! What a yutz. Monday ... is laundry day. And this kitchen appears to have a combination kitchen sink and deep laundry tub. If Mrs. Rogan was lucky she would have an electric wringer washer, otherwise it would be the old washboard. It would lean against the angled portion of the laundry tub. My 1928 house still has its original double concrete laundry tubs. There were also refrigerators that operated on kerosene. Re: Snack Time by Soda_PopGiven his age, the social conventions of the time regarding raising children, etc., it's highly likely that Junior had a relatively early lunch - between 11:30 and noon, followed by a nap. Upon rising from said nap, he could have had a regular snack, followed by playtime in the yard all afternoon. Dad may have been at work until 3 or 3:30, and walked home by 4. Dinner may not have been until 5, so a 2 o'clock snack for Junior wouldn't have been out of place. Kids' stomachs are smaller than adults are, and their metabolism is generally higher. (The Gallery, Alfred Palmer, Kids, Kitchens etc., WW2)
Knickerbocker Trust: 1904
... Fifth Avenue at W. 34th Street." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. We're just dust in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/24/2024 - 1:59pm -

New York, 1904. "Knickerbocker Trust Building and Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Fifth Avenue at W. 34th Street." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. We're just dust in the windIf you look at that first column of windows closest to the Knickerbocker Building & go up five windows, there appear to be two people there (possibly kids). A shame we'll never know who they were. [Phantoms! - Dave] There's something else there nowThe Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was torn down in 1929 in order to erect the Empire State Building. Is the Knickerbocker Trust Building still there? ¾ ain't half badWithin a few years, three of the four corners of this intersection would be occupied by buildings bearing some of the most famous names in New York (Astor, Knickerbocker and Altman). The Knick -- did anyone dare call it that when it was in its prime ? -- was widely publicized in the architectural press, and survives today, expanded and simplified ... a Faustian bargain that spared it a Penn Station type date with the wreckers. Earlier KnicksKnickerbocker Trust failed amid the Panic of 1907, although a year later it reopened for a few more years under that name. By 1912 it was an acquisition target, and the "Knickerbocker" name disappeared from the firm's title in 1914. Its building at 358 Fifth Avenue, however, was never torn down, but was expanded, then modernized to the point that it's impossible to see Stanford White's magnificent columns. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/realestate/08scapes.html (The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Streetcars)
PneuTube: 1942
... were the trips to the massive Hudson's Department Store in Detroit where they had cash registers with eight drawers. In 1972 I flew to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/05/2024 - 3:13pm -

November 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. A pneumatic tube system connects the main yard office with yardmaster offices throughout the Illinois Central railyard. Switch lists and other communications are quickly sent in this way." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Ol' Dan TuckerThe operator looks like he combed his hair with a wagon wheel. But hold on!It also cuts hair! A technology no long pneuMy local bank branch abandoned its drive-thru tube system within the past few years, but some remain, as do manufacturers of the equipment. Probably the main use today is in hospitals, providing safe and monitored transfer of laboratory and pharmacy materials. The largest urban pneumatic mail system was in Paris, where 'pneus' could be sent from 1866 to 1984, with peak usage (30 million messages) in 1945. The last such system, in Prague, was wiped out by flooding in 2002. Emails, 1942 styleI had once the privilege to work for a company that was using a pneumatic tube system well into the 1990s. Back then that was still the most efficient way to quickly share drawings and documents with colleagues who were working at the other end of a mile long facility. Back then that was the most economic way to provide prints and copies within such a company. Printers and plotters were much more expensive and needed to be utilized. Hence a central printing and copying offce. Which was located next to the microfiche archive. And also sported a microfiche printer and a cyanotype copier (as in "blueprints"). I must be getting old. BTW, the City of Prague (Czech Republic) may have been the last city to have had a municipal pneumatic mail system in operation. Alas, it got swamped during the Great 2002 European Floods, and that was that. SENDSo it's essentially an early version of text messaging. Department stores had them.I remember them c. 1958 in Cleveland, at Sterling-Lindner-Davis. There was a restaurant, too, with a child menu I was treated to a few times. And elevator operators. Red light bulbsAt least I think they're red and not blacklights. Also they don't have any protection form being broken by a wayward cylinder. Most frequent pneumatic tube communicationU up Smith's Department StoreAs a kid growing up in Windsor, Ontario in the 1950s a trip to Smith's with Mum was always a treat. When she made the purchase the cash was put into the cylinder and away it went to the cash room. The store employee wrapped up the purchase, and a short time later there would be an increasing volume of hissing air coming from the return tube and suddenly POP. The cylinder fell into a cushioned bin, and the employee would open the cylinder to give my mother her change and receipt. But the real treats were the trips to the massive Hudson's Department Store in Detroit where they had cash registers with eight drawers. In 1972 I flew to Chicago from Seattle and my cash was sent off in a pneumatic tube. Central Cashier StationI remember several stores that had a secure (caged area) that served as a central cashier location that would receive customer payments from the floor sales clerks via the tube. They would process the bill and the included cash payment and send any change back to the clerk through the tube. This way only a few folks had access to the cash drawer. Still in UseThe UK supermarket ASDA (still with a minority Walmart holding) still use pneumatic tubes to send cash paper money in pods from the checkouts to the cash office. I worked in one for a time and can still hear the vacuum motor winding up, a whoosh of air and then the rattle and clatter as they fell into a tub in a sealed safe. (I didn't tell you that OK?) I know you are, but what am I?This looks like Pee Wee Herman working his first job! It must be really hot in that office since he has actually removed his jacket and bow tie. (Technology, The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads, The Office)
Detroit: 1910
Detroit, Michigan, circa 1910. "Hotel Pontchartrain and Campus Martius." Frequent photographic subjects of the Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Big Brother It must have been ... can see BERMAN on the awning) at 120 Woodward Avenue in Detroit. Below, another Misfit Clothing Parlor in New York. - Dave] ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/02/2022 - 1:05pm -

Detroit, Michigan, circa 1910. "Hotel Pontchartrain and Campus Martius." Frequent photographic subjects of the Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Big BrotherIt must have been a challenge trying to operate the tiny Hotel Metropole in the shadow of the giant Pontchartrain. And what a testament to the brand power of Coca-Cola. Ninety-five years later, that logo is so modern that it sticks out like a photobomb. Times They Are A-ChangingIf you were to have taken this picture 5 years before the horses would outnumber the cars. Who's Selling What??Love to know what "Misfit" is advertising. ["Misfit" seems to have been the retail category for what we would today call clothing seconds, or maybe something more like Big & Tall. There's another Misfit sign shown here, in New York, and here, in St. Louis. - Dave] WildlifeI love the stag and deer statues. Those things are huge! Misfits explainedBelieve it or not, people would have their pictures taken and not show up for the prints. Photogs would sell the orphan or - Misfits - pictures to recoup their losses. The main market for these Misfts, were immigrant bachelors who wanted to send pictures of their sweeties back home, but they either didn't have sweeties, or they didn't have enough to have their pictures taken. Hence, an immigrant bachelor who wanted to impress the family back in County Cork, or Berlin, would finger through the Misfit bins and pick out athe girl of their dreams. [That's a colorful explanation but, as noted below, these are clothing stores. This particular Misfit was the haberdashery owned by Sol Berman (you can see BERMAN on the awning) at 120 Woodward Avenue in Detroit. Below, another Misfit Clothing Parlor in New York. - Dave] Migrating Wildlife The "stag and deer" statue is actually of elk. It's one of several temporary monuments that were erected in Detroit for the 1910 national convention of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE), which was hosted by the Pontchartrain Hotel. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars)
Eureka Vacuum: 1912
Detroit, Michigan, circa 1912. "Woodward Avenue." A shopper's paradise. Meet you in an hour at Cinnabon. Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size. View from Grand Circus Park Detroit renumbered all of their street addresses in 1920. Therefore, the old ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/04/2021 - 3:43pm -

Detroit, Michigan, circa 1912. "Woodward Avenue." A shopper's paradise. Meet you in an hour at Cinnabon. Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size. View from Grand Circus ParkDetroit renumbered all of their street addresses in 1920. Therefore, the old 260 address on the left indicates that this photo was actually taken from Grand Circus Park where Park Ave. (foreground) intersects with Woodward. View Larger Map View Larger Map I am disappointed!!Just when I was in the mood for some Chop Suey and not a place in sight. Player Pianos, Fifth FloorHope they had a good elevator! Woodward buildings still standI think the current street view above is a little off. I think this picture was taken from a spot just south of Grand Circus park between where the Whitney Building and Broderick Tower are now. Most of the buildings on the right including Grinnell Brothers still stand. Also the block of buildings on the left south of the Pontchartrain Hotel are still standing. Re What were they thinking?"When this is 'View full size' we're all be dead." PianosI counted 6 piano stores not 3. Grinnell BrothersGrinnell Brothers (sign on right side of street) was a Detroit area institution all the way into the 1980's, when the entire chain went out of business. They had stores in every area mall and not only sold pianos, but other musical instruments, lessons, records, sheet music, pianos rolls, everything to do with music. Wonderful stores, they just couldn't keep up with the times. What were they thinking?I love pictures like this! This is a frozen second in the lives of all these people. Where were they all going? What were they thinking about? Who was worried, or excited, and about what? Who had just gotten good news, or bad news? Who was going to work, or to do something fun? Who was pregnant, or had new a child, or grandchild? I also wonder what was playing at the theater. I assume it was live theater, primarily, although there were quite a few short films, and the production of feature-length films was only a few years away. If I had my choiceI have to agree with user "tterrace", I'd much rather walk down the 1910 version of Woodward than today's, oh if just for a day. What sights to behold. What happenedGrowing up in Detroit and remembering my mother taking me downtown on the streetcar and shopping at Hudsons, Kerns, and Crowleys and then for being a good kid she took me across the street to Kresge's downstairs and bought me a waffle sandwich which I will never forget. I often hear the phrase "you can't go back" but I miss and loved the way the city was. Mouse Furs, yuck!Oh wait, it's Mau's Furs. Never mind. What Could It Be?I wonder what the three objects are on the street to the left and in front of the second streetcar. No one is near them. [Newspaper bundles, thrown off the streetcar for pickup by Woodward Avenue newsies, would be my guess. - Dave] Prettier?I won't get in to the prettier/not prettier debate, but based on Anon. Tipster's Google Street View links, the adjectives that occur to me are more along the lines of : 1910: alive, vibrant, visually diverse, inviting; 2011: sterile, lifeless, visually monotonous, inhospitable. Hats anyone?As far as I can tell, with the exception of one small boy, everyone is wearing a hat. Ah, those were the days. Lots of piano storesI counted three different piano shops on this block, Bush & Lane, Manufacturer's and Melville Clark. Was this a sort of "piano district" at the time, or were pianos just ubiquitous enough in parlours of the day that several dealers on a single block was nothing unusual? [Player pianos were, I think, something like the plasma TVs of their day. - Dave] "Spirit of Detroit"The buildings at the left have been replaced by the statue "Spirit of Detroit" and Coleman Young Municipal Center. There's an automatic "people mover" tram running almost directly above where the camera was. This part of Detroit is quite a bit prettier now than it was a century ago. View Larger Map View Larger Map Urgent need to tinkleIs there anyplace on this street that sells pianos?? Of course it's DetroitMore cars here than any other 1910 picture we have seen. One thing, I think I'm pretty knowledgeable about antique cars, but does anyone know what the heck that round tank on the rear of the car at center right is? Has me puzzled. [Something steamy, perhaps. Condenser? Reservoir? - Dave] Are You Properly Attired? The boy about to board the trolley seems to be, although the ring around his shoulders could also be a part of whatever he's dragging behind him. A lamp maybe? Hard to tell - I run out of pixels before I can enlarge/enhance it enough. Still, it looks like a bicycle tire to me. Perhaps other Shorpists will have better data. Bush & Lane Piano Co.on the left had their main manufacturing facility in Holland, MI. They went out of business in 1930, victims of the Depression as were many other piano manufacturers. Right RulesLooks like all the cars of the time were right hand drive. Anyone know when we decided to change? [Gradually. - Dave] Majestic TheatreThe Majestic Theatre opened in April 1915 per its website, so I wonder it that dates this post to 1915. [Detroit had several Majestic Theatres over the years. The Majestic in this photo opened in 1908 at 231 Woodward. - Dave] Piano StoresOK, I count at least six piano stores! And at least three fur stores. More piano storesI'm counting possibly seven piano stores--Bush and Lane Pianos, Manufacturers Piano Co, Cable Piano Co, Tarrand Pianos, Grinnel Bros Pianos, Melville Clark Pianos, and another just to the upper right of the Grinnel Sign. I'm surprised that there isn't a Wurlitzer sign somewhere in this. I'm also seeing a Victor Records. Pianos were all the rage for years--before everyone had radios and tv. People learned to play for entertainment for themselves and others. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Stores & Markets, Streetcars)
Jackson Park: 1907
... Drive, Jackson Park." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Surprisingly unchanged +105 ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/19/2024 - 4:39pm -

Chicago circa 1907. "Lake Shore Drive, Jackson Park." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Surprisingly unchanged +105Google gives us nearly the exact same view. I can almost see the ghosts of the girls walking there: The land now in the background across the water is Promontory Point, a man-made peninsula opened in 1937. German BuildingThe picturesque building rising behind the stand of trees is the German Building, built for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. This is one of the few survivors of that spectacular world's fair, which covered the whole of Jackson Park and spilled over into the nearby Midway (a block wide swath of real estate between 59th and 60th Streets, then as now connecting Jackson Park with Washington Park). The German Building faced the shore of Lake Michigan, not far from the Fair's Fine Arts Building (later rebuilt as the present-day Museum of Science and Industry). Different accounts hold that it was converted into a beach house and a museum of some sort after the Fair ended. In the wave of anti-German sentiment that accompanied World War I, it was renamed the "Liberty Building" (just as sauerkraut was renamed "liberty cabbage," I guess); the structure met an untimely end when it burned to the ground on March 31, 1925. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chicago, DPC)
Detroit City Gas: 1908
Detroit circa 1908. " Detroit City Gas Co. building , Washington Boulevard and Clifford Street." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Empire Building ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/11/2019 - 12:23pm -

Detroit circa 1908. "Detroit City Gas Co. building, Washington Boulevard and Clifford Street." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Empire Buildinghttp://historicdetroit.org/building/empire-building/ Billows OffsetThe three verticals are all vertical on the film, producing a weird optical illusion that's typical of the period. If it's on the negative, it's done by offsetting the lens from the film (via a flexible billows) rather than pointing the camera upwards, the lens and the film remaining vertical. [Psst. BELLOWS, not "billows." - Dave] When horses polluted more than autosThe horseless carriage parked at the curb seems to be an electric car, make unknown. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC)
Detroit Rubber Works: 1908
Detroit, Michigan, 1908. "Detroit Rubber Works." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. What do they manufacture? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 6:16pm -

Detroit, Michigan, 1908. "Detroit Rubber Works." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. What do they manufacture? Vulcanized, galoshes and boots, rubber bands, or condoms? [Hmm. Detroit? Rubber? Morgan & Wright was the world's largest maker of bicycle tires when, in 1906, they moved from Chicago to Detroit to exploit the needs of the growing automobile industry. In 1911 the company was sold to the U.S. Rubber Co., renamed Uniroyal in 1961.] I found the steam whistle!Just to the left of the two "smoking" smoke stacks. Cookin' With GasGreat view of a gasometer complete with promotional message on it. Story in dBusiness Magazine this MonthI just read a story about them/Uniroyal in the Jan/Feb 2012 issue of dBusiness magazine (a Detroit business periodical). Morgan & Wright's Wartime WomenDuring World War I, Morgan & Wright hired many women to fill essential production jobs previously held by men. Here's a photo from the collection of Wayne State University. Amelia Bloomer and Parisian fashion designers usually get the credit for introducing women to wearing trousers, but it's likely that more American women got to experience this for the first time during their temporary wartime jobs. Strange PhotoIt looks like something painted by Edward Hopper. Not even a rubber band can be found there today.[Area immediately southwest of MacArthur Bridge Park.] View Larger Map What did they make?Bet they made some Baby Buggy Bumpers. Uni, Roy & AlUni, Roy & Al say "Cook with Gas". (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Factories)
Bustling Detroit: 1915
Detroit circa 1915. "Woodward Avenue and Campus Martius." Among the Motown ... Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument, Ford Building, Detroit City Hall and Dime Savings Bank. Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Only Two Left I was in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/28/2012 - 4:11pm -

Detroit circa 1915. "Woodward Avenue and Campus Martius." Among the Motown landmarks in this panorama of two 8x10 glass negatives are the Hotel Pontchartrain, Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument, Ford Building, Detroit City Hall and Dime Savings Bank. Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Only Two LeftI was in Downtown Detroit two weeks ago for a conference, and I got to see many of the sights that have been featured on Shorpy over the past few years. The only two buildings in this picture that are still standing are the Ford Building (the tall white building smack dab in the middle of the picture) and the Dime Savings Bank Building (the tall white one directly behind City Hall). Just about everything else is gone or - in the case of the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument - moved. The two survivors were both designed by the Chicago firm of Daniel Burnham, as was the case for the (now demolished) Majestic Building at the extreme right edge of the photograph. Thanks for putting it all together for us, Dave! Just a few yearsIt's amazing to realize that just a few years earlier you would see this plaza full of horse drawn vehicles. We think we live in unbelievable technological times, but the changes that had taken place by 1915 were incredible. Right hand driveWikipedia has this comment about right hand drive, which makes sense now that I think about it: "On most early motor vehicles, the driving seat was positioned centrally. Some car manufacturers later chose to place it on the side of the car closest to the kerb to help the driver avoid scraping walls, hedges, gutters and other obstacles." My GrandfatherMy Grandpa was an elevator operator at the Hammond building in Detroit for nearly 50 years, from 1907 to 1956,when the building was razed. During "off peak" hours, he would run errands for the many lawyers and businesses in the building, including their most famous tenant of the early 20th century, the Detroit Tigers baseball club. Every time I see one of these amazing DPC photos of Detroit, I imagine that among the throngs of people we see going about their daily lives so long ago, was my Grandpa going about about his daily life. I just know he's there, somewhere. Thank you Shorpy for these wonderful glimpses into the past. No don't jump!Oh wait, it's a statue. Right hand drive carsI was surprised to notice many of the automobiles in this photo are designed with the driver on the right hand side, as opposed to the modern American convention of left side drivers. On the DimeIs someone standing on a window ledge on the left tower of the Dime Savings building, eight floors from the top (just to the right of the cupola on top of City Hall)? Maybe Mrs. Wiggins locked him out of his office again. Name changedThe Dime Bank is now known as Chrysler House. Right hand drive Seems a natural evolution. Almost all drivers of horse drawn vehicles sat on the right side. When speeds increased and we drove on the left side of the road, I suspect a change to left hand drive was natural. Two Little Rascals!Directly in the front of the Monument. It looks like a cop grasping two youths by their ears! Window washer on the Dime? The fellow on the window ledge is a window washer.... Look carefully and you can see his safety belt hooked into each side of the window.... A fairly common job with all the buildings with their windows! (Panoramas, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars)
Livingstone Channel: 1910
... east." Construction of the navigation channel along the Detroit River circa 1910. 8x10 dry plate glass negative. View full size. ... New York Times, Oct 20, 1912 New Channel at Detroit Navigation into Lake Erie Made Easier — The Opening ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 11:18am -

"Livingstone Channel, looking east." Construction of the navigation channel along the Detroit River circa 1910. 8x10 dry plate glass negative. View full size. $10 Million Ditch New York Times, Oct 20, 1912 New Channel at Detroit Navigation into Lake Erie Made Easier — The Opening Celebrated. Detroit, Mich., Oct. 19. — With the booming of guns and blowing of steamship whistles, the Livingston channel, from the lower Detroit River into Lake Erie, was formally opened to commerce to-day and a fleet of fifteen vessels passed through it and on to lower lake port destinations. The new channel is constructed at a cost of $10,000,000 and will relieve congestion in the dangerous Lime Kiln crossing, where rocky banks and a swift current have heretofore troubled navigators and deleayed traffic. The ceremonies to-day were under the auspices of the Lake Carrier's Association. The City of Detroit, Michigan, Vol. IV, 1922. For a number of years Mr. [William] Livingstone advocated the construction of an independent waterway for down-bound vessels in the lower Detroit river and spent much time interesting the government engineers in the work and prevailing upon congress to supply the necessary funds for the development of the channel. In 1906 congress made an appropriation for surveys and in 1907 appropriated funds for the work and authorized it to be known as the "Livingstone Channel" in recognition of the many services rendered by Mr. Livingstone. Work was begun in the spring of 1908 and completed in the fall of 1912. The channel was opened to commerce October 19, 1912, with imposing ceremonies. This channel ranks with the important engineering feats of the age. Mr. Livingstone's progeny and legacyWilliam Livingstone has previously appeared with his children here in the "Classic Rockers: 1900" photo. According to this source, he served as president of the Lake Carriers Association from 1909 until his death in July, 1925. The channel which was named in his honor is located here in the lower Detroit River on the west side of Bois Blanc (Bob-Lo) Island. It is used by downbound vessels while upbound vessels use the Amherstburg Channel east of the Island, except during the slow winter shipping season when the Livingstone Channel is used in both directions as a traffic-controlled, one way channel. Detroit River Bypass The $10M appropriated for this much needed "Ditch" was only a scratch on the surface. This feat of engineering was to cost many more millions before it was completed to the satisfaction of the shipping industry in the 1930's. The channel itself was cut in the "dry," meaning the river was dammed in the area of excavation and pumped out. It was completed in sections. The photo shown is looking northward, I believe, and one can see the power houses used for supplying electricity to the huge travelling bucket towers in the background. The pile of rock to the right in the photo was left there and today it is referred to as Spider Mountain by the locals. The specifications for the initial cut was: 12 miles long 22 feet deep and 300 feet wide (min.) On completion in 1912 it was already outgrown by the increase in size of the newer vessels and plans were set underway for enlarging the system even more. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)
Downscale Detroit: 1908
Circa 1908. "Monroe Avenue, Detroit." One of the nascent Motor City's seedier (and moldier) districts. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Monroe Avenue or Woodward ... in its own way. Thanks for the photograph of a typical Detroit street. Both of my grandfathers emigrated to the US, settling in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/10/2019 - 7:38pm -

Circa 1908. "Monroe Avenue, Detroit." One of the nascent Motor City's seedier (and moldier) districts. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Monroe Avenue or Woodward Avenue?Cinematreasures lists the address for the Alhambra Theatre as 9428 Woodward Avenue. [And what are the address numbers on the storefronts in our photo? - Dave] My bad, I thought the one sign said they were moving to Monroe Ave when their building was ready. HometownSeedy but lovely in its own way. Thanks for the photograph of a typical Detroit street. Both of my grandfathers emigrated to the US, settling in Detroit around the time this photo was taken. Three years before the National TheaterMonroe Street (Avenue) was Detroit's first theater district. Near the center of the picture, the building with the arch on the ground level is the Royal Theatre (or "Royale Theatre" or the "Theatre Royale" as it's been known by over the years) on Monroe Avenue at Farmer Street. What's unique here is that this picture has the distinction of being one of the few in existence to show Monroe Avenue early in the 20th century *without* the 64-foot tall twin gold-topped towers of the National Theater - now the last remaining vestige from the aforementioned Monroe Avenue theater district. A few excerpts about the National Theater, in operation from 1911-1975 from HistoricDetroit.org : "Located on Monroe Street at Farmer, near Greektown, the National opened Sept. 16, 1911, as a vaudeville house. It was located in Detroit’s old theater district — before the movie palaces near Grand Circus Park were built. The old Detroit Opera House and the Gayety, Temple, Columbia, Liberty and Family theaters were among the venues that once stood nearby, making it Detroit’s main avenue of entertainment. Inside, its small lobby was narrow and lined with tan tile and led into the 800-seat theater, which was simple yet graceful with a high, square proscenium. The interior represents the earliest surviving example of theater construction that would later characterize Detroit’s movie palaces of the Roaring ’20s. It had a suspended plaster interior shell with a brick supporting structure. The shape and technique are similar to what Kahn used in his Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor (built in 1913). Intricate, gold-leaf designs were painted on the walls. Patrons would climb up staircases in the side towers to reach the seats in the balcony. As vaudeville slowly died out and newer theaters like the Madison (opened in 1917) started showing motion pictures, the National was forced to make changes. It, too, started showing motion pictures, but the small theater couldn’t compete with the rising movie palaces such as the Michigan and United Artists theaters and quickly switched to burlesque with a live orchestra. In the 1940s, the National Burlesk Theater was advertised as “Detroit’s biggest and best” burlesque theater. The runway was lighted from beneath with multicolored panels that the dancers pranced around in their high heels. In the 1960s, evening shows would often start at 8:35 p.m. Among the ladies strutting their stuff were Miss Dee Dee Devine, Miss Lorelei Lee, Miss Gina Gina, Miss Linda Love, Miss Leslie Lang and Miss Ann Darling. The National was Detroit’s last live burlesque theater, but burlesque was a dying fad. As its patrons took their business elsewhere, the National’s performers would start taking off more clothes. The Kahn-designed theater that opened with vaudeville closed with porn. In the early 1970s, the National made the logical progression from burlesque to showing adult films, operating as an X-rated movie venue known as The Palace. By the early 1970s, the Monroe Block was a dying, decaying area of mostly empty storefronts. In 1975, The Palace joined them." Incredibly, as of May 10, 2019, the National Theater still stands (even in its neglected state indoors, it still retains its original asbestos stage curtain), though it's been threatened recently with a proposed "redevelopment" of the entire block - in which, only the facade would be saved as some sort of "pedestrian walkway". Here's a couple of pictures of the same block with the National Theater. The first one is a colorized shot from 1918 at the intersection of Monroe and Farmer. The second is from 1988 from a similar perspective to the 1908 photo (looking south/southwest - the National Theater is at extreme left). By 1990, almost everything you see in that second photo will have been razed - everything except the National Theater: Entrepreneur heavenThe Monroe Block was a normal pre-Civil War commercial area. The area didn't change when Detroit grew up around it in 1920s. Instead, it hosted successive waves of immigrants starting their first business - for instance, David T. Nederlander, founder of the Nederlander Organization theater operators, had a pawn shop nearby when this photo was taken. In the 1970s, when Detroit hoped to build a downtown shopping mall, the city took over the Monroe Block and evicted tenants. Preservationists fought to save the buildings by declaring it a historic district, but couldn't stop the city's demolition by neglect - open windows and unmaintained roofs made the buildings unstable, and by 1990 they had to come down. The mall was never built, but earlier this year, builders started a 35 story mixed-use tower on the vacant land. 3 BallsFor many years I have known that the 3 Ball signs identified a pawn shop. This image illustrates the point where you see several shops labeled "Loan Office" with the 3 Ball symbols hanging out front. This got me to thinking, where did this symbol originate? After a very short internet search I found this link. https://www.hatcitypawn.com/blog/what-do-the-3-gold-balls-outside-a-pawn... Autobots transformed it.Urban renewaled into something else entirely. August 2018Similar perspective - 110 years later. The National Theater (left) is all that remains from Detroit's first theater district on Monroe. One thing I neglected to mention in my last post is that it's been said that Bud Abbott (of "Abbott and Costello") spent a brief stint managing the National Theater in 1915! : Two "Theater" LadiesHere is a painting I did based on a photograph taken in the 1930s in front of one of the theaters on Monroe Street. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars)
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