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Michigan Mystery #1
... a camping trip from the watertown area of Wisconsin into Michigan through Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I'm trying to figure out where these were taken, ... 
 
Posted by mamyers - 08/24/2012 - 9:46pm -

My grandfather sometime in the 50's took a camping trip from the watertown area of Wisconsin into Michigan through Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I'm trying to figure out where these were taken, if anyone lives near these areas would you mind taking some current photos and sending them my way. View full size. Looks like this areahttp://goo.gl/maps/JKYNV Hwy 45This is almost certainly taken on Highway 45 at the Wisconsin-Michigan state line, just east of Land O'Lakes. Then as now, one of the major entrances to this area. Somewhere I'm sure I have a picture of me & my friends on a similar trip about 1973 or so, likely in front of that same sign. Sign?Does anyone know if this sign still exists? (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Michigan Manselet: 1910
Circa 1910. "Morgan residence -- St. Clair Flats, Michigan." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/02/2016 - 4:06pm -

Circa 1910. "Morgan residence -- St. Clair Flats, Michigan." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Time marches onAnd not always in the right direction. After some research of my own and contacting the St. Clair Flats and Harsen's Island Historical Society, I found that the house still stands, albeit not in quite the same form as it was intended. It's at 1250 Circuit Dr. on Harsen's Island in the Flats and is up for sale. Anyone interested at a million eight? Are you sure?I have an Aunt that lives on Harsens Island so this photo was of particular interest to me. After perusing the internet, I found another pic of the Morgan residence. This image clearly shows a square or rectangular piece of land (where the flag is)in front of the house surrounded by water. This feature is quite unique, so I went on Bing Maps and found a property that still has such a unique characteristic. It is located 4-5 houses east of this mansion that's for sale. The mansion that is for sale shares obvious characteristics with the Shorpy photo, so it sure looks like the Morgan Residence, but the square/rectangular "island" makes me wonder. Pretty sureI contacted the Harsen Island Historical society before I posted this and the head of the society drove out to the house and concurs that this is the same place. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC)
Ferndale, Michigan: 1928
Nine Mile Road just west of Detroit's main thoroughfare, Woodward Avenue. Ferndale became a boomtown in the 1920s when Henry Ford created the $5 workday wage. His factory was located a few miles south on Woodward in Highland Park. Ferndale was ... 
 
Posted by kbreenbo - 09/19/2011 - 9:17pm -

Nine Mile Road just west of Detroit's main thoroughfare, Woodward Avenue. Ferndale became a boomtown in the 1920s when Henry Ford created the $5 workday wage. His factory was located a few miles south on Woodward in Highland Park. Ferndale was listed in "Ripley's Believe It or Not" twice in the Roaring 20s. It had more children per capita than any other town of the same size; and it was the only place in the US that had a drugstore on all four corners at a main intersection. In the early 1930s, Ferndale went on to become the second largest growing city in the nation. The Woolworth sign in the window says, "50th Anniversary Sale Saturday." View full size. Kroger GroceryNotice the Kroger Grocery store next door. It would grow to become one of the largest grocery chains in the USA! WoodwardThe building is still there. The front is changed, but the tiles (which are very colorful, salmon and orange and red) are still visible at the top. I walk here every year for the Woodward Dream Cruise. The street is usually blocked off & filled with people, vendors, bands & rides. Few blocks over, there is the car show on Nine Mile during this event. To boot, I grew up within walking distance in the 60's and remember this area so well. Thanks for the memories. Nine Mile Road219 W. Nine Mile Road is the address on Google Maps. View Larger Map (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Stores & Markets)
Michigan Plungers: 1910
Circa 1910. "Afternoon plunge, Saint Clair Flats, Michigan." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/21/2018 - 5:51pm -

Circa 1910. "Afternoon plunge, Saint Clair Flats, Michigan." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. "Old Club"This wooden walk was part of the "Old Club" of the "St. Clair Flats", which is part of the area known now as Harsens Island just outside of Algonac Mi. In the link below is a video of the cannon in use and history of the area. http://theoldclub.com/history CannonI love that cannon. I bet it was used to start regattas and other water related races. There is a similar one at the Reynold's Mansion on Sapelo Island, GA. (The Gallery, DPC, Swimming)
Michigan Sugar: 1908
1908. "Michigan Sugar Co., Saginaw." Processor of sugar beets. 8x10 inch dry plate ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/31/2015 - 6:29pm -

1908. "Michigan Sugar Co., Saginaw." Processor of sugar beets. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Still can't be beetPhoto taken 2 years after the merger that created the company. Still pumping out that sweet stuff today. A little history from the company website. http://www.michigansugar.com/about/history/ (The Gallery, DPC, Factories)
Flint, Michigan: 1929
Flint, Michigan 1929. My mother was 7 years old at the time. She is sitting in the ... 
 
Posted by Jking - 03/01/2010 - 10:27am -

Flint, Michigan 1929. My mother was 7 years old at the time. She is sitting in the buggy. View full size (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
The Pontch Again: 1912
Detroit, Michigan, circa 1912. "Hotel Pontchartrain." Yet another view of this ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/08/2023 - 5:20pm -

Detroit, Michigan, circa 1912. "Hotel Pontchartrain." Yet another view of this relatively short-lived hostelry on Woodward Avenue, whose downfall was a paucity of private bathrooms. Familiar landmarks include the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Cadillac Square and the Cadillac Chair. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. "Misfit"I wonder what went down at "MISFIT"? Or did they just sell irregular clothing? And what could those fellas on the corner be taking a gander at? [Misfit was the haberdashery owned by Sol Berman at 120 Woodward Avenue. The headline below is like something out of the Onion. - Dave] Anywhere you wantThere do not seem to be much in the way of parking regulations yet. Check out the street in front of the hotel. Nice Cleanup DaveI downloaded the original image from the LOC a while back. You've done a very nice cleanup job for the Shorpy site! Thank you. [Thanks, but I didn't do any "cleaning up." - Dave] My mistake. I'm confusing this image with a sister image you've previously posted that was pretty distressed. Cheep lodgingsHenry Ford had a purple martin bird house at his home Fairlane that he called the Hotel Pontchartrain. Don't know if Albert Kahn was the architect. You'd Almost ThinkApparently, the plethora of windows was no offset for the paucity of bathrooms. Street sightingOdd load waiting to cross the street. Coil of rope? Life preserver? Spare tire? Aha! Much clearer in closeup. The fellow is obviously hefting a coil of rope headed for a nearby ship chandlery. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars)
Michigan Swimming Hole: c. 1920s
... this photo on to me. It is almost certainly taken in the Michigan lower peninsula. I'm still researching who the people are and I guess ... 
 
Posted by Karlheck - 06/28/2011 - 11:12am -

The grandparents passed this photo on to me. It is almost certainly taken in the Michigan lower peninsula. I'm still researching who the people are and I guess the date to be early 1920s. One wonders what the guy in the background is up to. View full size. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Coldwater, Michigan: c. 1865-75
... I found Tibbit was a very important citizen in Coldwater, Michigan, who built Tibbit's Opera House in 1882, which is still open today ... 
 
Posted by stuwil - 09/16/2011 - 2:02pm -

After nearly one year of trying to track down the location of this photo I finally Googled the partial sign all the way to the far right, "Tibbit Cigar Manu..." I found Tibbit was a very important citizen in Coldwater, Michigan, who built Tibbit's Opera House in 1882, which is still open today after an extensive restoration. Using Google Maps street view I was able to then identify the two buildings to the right which are still standing. Unfortunately they have over the years been stripped of all their beauty. The address is approximately #19 West Chicago St. View full size. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Stores & Markets)
Alma Sugar: 1901
Alma, Michigan, circa 1901. "Alma Sugar Co. factory." An early manifestation of the ... Beets" https://youtu.be/KuZNSGdg2ms Sugar from Michigan? I never heard of Michigan sugar, so I looked it up (of course!). ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/15/2021 - 12:26pm -

Alma, Michigan, circa 1901. "Alma Sugar Co. factory." An early manifestation of the state's sugarbeet boom. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Sugar & the Groovy BackbeetsThough it predates my kids' births, they used to sing this song when I'd haul out my sugar bin to bake some treats, and then they'd end with "SUGAR!" using preschoolers' approximation of a man's voice. Sesame Street "Sugar Beets" https://youtu.be/KuZNSGdg2ms Sugar from Michigan?I never heard of Michigan sugar, so I looked it up (of course!). https://www.michigansugar.com/about-us/history/ How sweet it is!Found it, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map 1902: Listen up!From the size of that plant steam whistle, I'll be you could hear if for miles. Very neat property. Sugar beetsThank you J W. I had looked along the railroad tracks in Alma to see if I could spot a remnant of the sugar factory, but there was none to spot. Here's an aerial that aligns with your map. The buildings at the bottom are for Alma Products Co. and appear much newer than 1901. The five story plant in the 1901 photo is interesting. I'm pretty sure the windows on the top floor are slightly taller than the windows on the two floors below it, which are noticeably taller than on the two floors below them. It's an interesting way to break up the monotony of such a large building and make it appear even taller than it is. Sweetness lingersEither from the long summer grass or from the cookie factory just up yonder... beyond the tracks. The smell of moneyI lived in mid-Michigan for 35 years and remember beet season quite clearly. After harvesting, the beets were trucked to Bay City for processing into sugar. Beet trucks were always overloaded and frequently lost a beet or two with every bump on the road. Since the beets were about the size and weight of a bocce ball, you quickly learned to avoid following a beet truck. And once processing started, the plant emitted an awful stench that hung in the air for miles around. Alma Sugar Co.This was one of the many businesses established by local entrepreneur and philanthropist Ammi Wright. The foundation was poured in March 1899 by D.J. Kennedy of Bay City, with construction by the Kilby Manufacturing Company of Cleveland. It began operation in October 1899 with a production capacity of 500 tons daily. The company was absorbed by American Sugar Refining in 1903, and in 1906 by Michigan Sugar of Bay City. By the mid-1950s production had ceased and the facility used for beet storage. In November 1961 Michigan Sugar sold the plant and its 44 acres to the Alma Industrial Development Corporation for use as an industrial park. Michigan Sugar Company, by the way, is still very much with us, the third largest beet processor in the country. (The Gallery, DPC, Factories)
Michigan Bluff Posse: 1905
... 1905 Posse organized to find and arrest a murderer near Michigan Bluff in Placer County, California. Left to right: Coroner W.A. ... 
 
Posted by rgibsonx2 - 04/10/2015 - 7:12pm -

1905 Posse organized to find and arrest a murderer near Michigan Bluff in Placer County, California. Left to right: Coroner W.A. Shepard (also the editor of the Placer Herald); District Attorney Lowell; Sheriff Charles Keena; and Undersheriff Charles Henry Adams. This photograph is in the collection of the Placer County Museums. View full size. The orneriest one of the bunchis riding the mule. Or maybe he just drew the short straw. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Willow Run: 1942
... plant, the giant Ford bomber factory at Willow Run, Michigan. Fixtures in background hold bomber wings during assembly." Photograph ... being assembled here at that time? Thunder Over Michigan Good timing, as the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run was hosting ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 10:52am -

July 1942. "Willow Run bomber plant. A small part of the world's largest one- story war production plant, the giant Ford bomber factory at Willow Run, Michigan. Fixtures in background hold bomber wings during assembly." Photograph by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information. View full size. YpsiI love seeing the plant on Shorpy! I went to Willow Run School District for all K-12. The district, and practically all of Ypsilanti Township, was built for the families that came up (mostly from the South) to work at the plant. I loved hearing the stories. There's a great museum at Willow Run Airport. Go Flyers! Class of 2001! Willow RunI grew up in Belleville in the 60's, less than a mile from the plant, and have always had a fascination for its history. My grandfather worked there during the war as a machinist (center section) and always had some interesting stories. I actually worked at Willow Run in the 70's and 80's, and at one point worked in Hangar 1, Bay 4, the subject of another Shorpy picture. Unfortunately the B-24's were long gone. My dad tells of seeing them lined up along the Ecorse Road side of the field after the war, scheduled for demolition, lined up three rows deep for nearly a mile. Willow Run IICharlie Paterson, a manager of Willow Run, was later a company vice president. I had to report to him because one my workers had cut off his thumb while operating a stamping press. Years later as I was walking back from lunch we met, he remembered me, he asked how I was doing etc. etc. as six or seven of his assistants stood waiting wondering how a vice president knew a die room supervisor. Willow Run IIIIf memory serves me correctly, Ford made Consolidated B-24 bombers at this plant, or at least the airframes for them. Were there any other warplanes being assembled here at that time? Thunder Over MichiganGood timing, as the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run was hosting the 10th annual Thunder Over Michigan air show the day this image was posted. A lot of great old warbirds on display and flying, including a couple B-24s. This show just gets better every year. Willow Run JigsBeing an engineer and lifelong aviation enthusiast, I always love the photos of the aircraft factories. I am curious as to what the jigs in the foreground are for, as I can't quite make out the shape of what's being put in them. Any guesses? Control surface structure? Perhaps Dave can provide a closer look at the racks or one of the nearly completed jigs near the bottom of the photo? [Click below to enlarge. Depending on your browser you may need to click a second time to expand the image. - Dave] JigsI'm thinking that it's the wing in-spar rib assembly area, though it's kinda hard to tell since there isn't a completed one on the tables. Looks like they just do the forming of the outer ribs and maybe it goes to another area (off camera) for the attachment of the flat sheet metal to complete the rib. The proximity to the wing jig makes me think my guess might be correct. That and I work in a rather large plant (Boeing 747) right now. Willow Run PhotoI believe they are assembling wing spars for North American B-25 "Mitchell" bombers. I can do some digging on the web for confirmation, if necessary, but I remember reading recently that they were assembled there early in the war, before B-24 production ramped up. Note that the spars are not straight; the B-25 had a strange inverted gull wing. New to this site: FABULOUS! Willow RunWow, thanks so much for sharing this photo. My grandma worked at this plant during the war; for all I know, she could be one of the ladies in the foreground. She carpooled with coworkers every day from River Rouge. I'm going to have a copy of this printed and share it with her. Thanks again! Willow RunTom I also grew up in Belleville, and graduated BHS in 1956. I worked for Capital Airlines in 56, loading baggage out of the final assembly building, which was then the terminal. I also learned to fly at WCFS at RML. As a small boy I lived near City Airport, and recall stories of them flying completed B-24's full of gas into City, draining the tanks, and shipping them out on flatcars as spare parts. The gas went down the sewers, they say, or into local's car gas tanks, if cars could be set up to run on 100 octane. Drove by City Airport last summer. Really sad. Brian Luscombe Driver Willow Run workbenchesMy grandfather worked at Willow Run during the war and acquired one of the work benches shown here. The legs look like they are made out of angle iron but were in fact one piece cast iron. I still have the leg sections and will try to reproduce the top. Thanks for the great pictures. Willow RunHi Tom. Is your dad still alive? I grew up in Willow Run in the 50s/60s, my grandfather had a drycleaning company that picked up and delivered in the village. I've never heard the story about the planes. I'll have to ask my dad if he remembers that. Where do you live now, by the way? B-24 stringersThe channel-like material in the foreground might be "stringers" for the wing surfaces. These ran spanwise just under the skin and gave strength to the structure. An example can be seen at this B-24 wreck on Humphrey's Peak in Arizona. To BrianI also lived near City airport We moved into our brand new house in February,1950. I was six years old. Shortly after we moved in, a large cargo plane crashd just a few blocks away, destroying two homes, I will neveer forget walking over there to see it. My mom got nervous everytime she heard a plane going over after that. Worked near this areaI graduated from Chelsea High in June l942, worked at the bomber plant July 1942 until Feb 1943 when I went in the Army Air Corps. I worked near this section alongside of the noisy center wing section mounting castings for the landing gear. In the early days things were slow getting up production. If the production line didn't move to take out a center wing we were idle until they moved one, they would have us sort rivets to make us look busy, when we got them sorted we would mix them up and we would sort them again. I tell people that production sped up after I left. In November 1943 after I graduated from airplane mechanic school I was sent to Pratt & Whitney engine school on the other side of Willow run airport. Re: Willow RunI always look for my mother in Willow Run photos. She left Kentucky to work in that plant. (The Gallery, Ann Rosener, Aviation, Factories, WW2)
B-29 City of Michigan: 1944
WW2 B-29 bomber with flight crew taken at Walker AFF in Kansas in 1944 during training before leaving to Guam to join the 459th Bombardment Squadron. The 459th BS was part of the 330th Bomber Group which was part of the 314th Bombardment Wing. Thi ... 
 
Posted by AmerHistory - 10/16/2015 - 6:23pm -

WW2 B-29 bomber with flight crew taken at Walker AFF in Kansas in 1944 during training before leaving to Guam to join the 459th Bombardment Squadron. The 459th BS was part of the 330th Bomber Group which was part of the 314th Bombardment Wing. This crew served 16 missions over Tokyo. On the 16th mission on June 11, 1945 a Japanese fighter fired an automatic cannon and the explosive shell blew a four foot diameter hole in the outboard section of the left wing. Pilot Massopust regained control of the disabled aircraft when additional attacks from Japanese fighters disabled the both forward turrets and injured Bombardier Nowicki. Aircraft Commander Duty pulled Nowicki from the bombardier position and administered life saving assistance. Massopust kept the aircraft stable throughout the return flight back to the base in Guam for which he won the Distinguished Flying Cross. I got this story from the son of a friend of Massopust who served with him in Guam. Please look at his website and you can learn a lot about those who served on Guam during the war. I own this photograph as part of my WW2 collection of our war heroes, and the back side has the signatures of the crew shown on the front. I am happy to share it with anyone. View full size. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
S.S. Deathtrap: 1910
... Electric employees, families and friends across Lake Michigan to Michigan City, Indiana, for a day of fun and fellowship. But the festivities ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/24/2023 - 9:40pm -

Lake Erie circa 1910. "Excursion steamer Eastland -- Cleveland, Ohio." On July 24, 1915, 844 passengers and crew were drowned when the Eastland, which had a history of listing problems, rolled onto its side while docked in the Chicago River. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Media eventThe 'Eastland' disaster of 1915 was extensively recorded in both still photography and film (discovered in 2015). The images are horrific. Ironically this was the least deadly of four notorious ship catastrophes within less than a dozen years: the burning of the 'General Slocum' in New York's East River in 1904 (1,021 deaths, and mentioned in Joyce's 'Ulysses'), the 'Titanic' in 1912 (1517), and the torpedoing of the 'Lusitania' (1199) just two months prior to the 'Eastland' rollover's 844 deaths. Family TragedyHere is the Eastland Disaster Historical Society account of that fateful day: The S.S. Eastland, known as the "Speed Queen of the Great Lakes," was part of a fleet of five excursion boats assigned to take Western Electric employees, families and friends across Lake Michigan to Michigan City, Indiana, for a day of fun and fellowship. But the festivities were short-lived and quickly turned tragic. The Eastland, docked at the Clark Street Bridge, never left the Chicago River. Tragedy struck as the ship rolled over into the river at the wharf's edge. More than 2,500 passengers and crew members were on board that day – and 844 people lost their lives, including 22 entire families. The Response Months of planning and preparation for the excursion and picnic led up to the Eastland Disaster, but the tragedy itself was over in a matter of minutes. However, the rescue and recovery efforts following the tragedy went on for days, even weeks. The sinking of the SS EastlandThe listing problems were made worse in 1912 after the Titanic sank. Ships were required by law to have enough lifeboat capacity for everyone on board. To meet the requirement, they added more lifeboats to the top deck, making it more top heavy. When passengers boarded for the Western Electric excursion, many flocked to the top deck on the shore side to wave to people there, and extra weight up there caused it to capsize. George Halas, later the founder of the Chicago Bears and the National Football League, was supposed to be on that trip. That Sinking FeelingShe appears to be listing to starboard here. A horrible tragedy, which my grandparents remembered many years later as being in the news, and never forgot. Wrong lessons learned ??I've read that, post Titanic, the ship was outfitted with additional lifeboats, something which would have made the ship even more top-heavy. The original owners wanted a shallower draftWikipedia has a good rundown of the SS Eastland tragedy. Shortly after being launched in 1903, the Eastland was modified to have a shallower draft for trips on the Black River in South Haven, Michigan. At the same time, air conditioning was added, and modifications were made to increase the ship's speed. These combined modifications reduced the ship's metacentric height (I learned a new term), making it less stable. Recognizing there was now a stability problem, the passenger limit was lowered from 3,000 to 2,800. Cabins were removed and the smokestacks shortened. Alterations continued to be made to improve the ship's stability, while other alterations made it worse. During these 12 years of operation, the ship went through five different owners. No alteration remedied the listing problem and, in 1915 the approved passenger capacity was increased to 2,570 after more lifeboats had been added (post Titanic), making the ship even more top heavy. Clarence Darrow represented the Eastland's owners and officers in a criminal trial. They were found not guilty. Second LifeNot long after the horrific tragedy in the Chicago River, SS Eastland was raised and repurposed as the gunboat USS Wilmette in the employ of the US Navy Reserve. She served mostly as a training ship for Naval Reservists from 1918 until just after the end of World War II and sold for scrap in October 1945. That Sinking FeelingThe apparent list to starboard may be due to the obviously stiff wind from port as evidenced by the flags and stack smoke plus, the ship has a ton of freeboard which will subject it to crosswind. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cleveland, DPC)
Swedish Softball: 1942
September 1942. "Cass Lake, near Pontiac, Michigan. The Westerberg family outside the home which Karl Axel Westerberg, a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/12/2023 - 5:07pm -

September 1942. "Cass Lake, near Pontiac, Michigan. The Westerberg family outside the home which Karl Axel Westerberg, a Swedish immigrant who is a foreman at the Dearborn plant of Ford Motor Company, and his son, Eric, built themselves after working hours. Eric, his young son Karl, his father and mother, and Mrs. Eric Westerberg in the backyard of their house. It is a modern well-designed home with all conveniences, including an electric refrigerator and stove." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the U.S. Foreign Information Service. View full size. I can't find the houseThe Westerberg family (L-R) are: Eric 36, Carl 5, Carl 59, Elda 57, and Anna 36. In the 1950 Census, below, both Carls are spelled with a C. The two generations live next door to each other at 4740 and 4750 Centre, still near Cass Lake (West Bloomfield, Oakland County). But I cannot find their street, or the addresses on the next street, 1859, 1843 and 1650 Oakland, today. Carl Sr., Elda, and Eric were all born in Sweden. Seems they lived the American Dream. Click to embiggen: That low September sunI hope young Karl manages to see the ball before it hits him; it looks like it's coming toward him more than grampa. He's got the sun right in his eyes, an outfielder's nightmare. 4740 Algonquin Ave, West Bloomfield.Tough one to track down!! At some point, Centre (also spelled Center) became Algonquin Ave. Oakland Ave became "Oldtown Ave". Using that data, you can find both houses mentioned by Doug Floor Plan. Both houses show built in 1940. No Google street view though. Possible matchI couldn't let this go so, eventually, I found two houses that were next to each other with the right house numbers, 4740 and 4750, but they were on Algonquin Rd. Both were built around 1940, which is in line with the photo, and 4750 seems to match the photo. Unfortunately, there's no google street view because they are in a private subdivision called Zox Cass Lakeside (!?!), established in the 1920s. I eventually found a map from 1930 that shows that Algonquin Street's original name was Center. Eureka! [Dear people: Please do not submit the same damn comment ten times. Thank you! - The Management] Sorry, the software gave me an error ("Spam_flag_status_1"), so I assumed it wasn't accepted. I'll assume it's accepted if I see that again. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Kids)
The Library: 1901
"University of Michigan library reading room, Ann Arbor, 1901." Detroit Publishing Company ... represent, and what does the subject have to do with Michigan? Go Blue!!! Steam Heat What a unique shape for the radiator ... up very well against a century ago. Heroic Figure of Michigan The sad end of the plaster statue of Michigan is described here ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/26/2012 - 12:31pm -

"University of Michigan library reading room, Ann Arbor, 1901." Detroit Publishing Company glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size. StatuesqueWho does that well-armed statue represent, and what does the subject have to do with Michigan? Go Blue!!! Steam HeatWhat a unique shape for the radiator that's in the foreground Communal SpacesYou can tell a lot about what a culture values by its public and communal spaces. Shorpy keeps reminding us that the signals we send today don't measure up very well against a century ago. Heroic Figure of MichiganThe sad end of the plaster statue of Michigan is described here. The library is gone, too. O Warlike PallasThat is Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. From the outsideHere's the history of the building (1881 - 1918), which sat on the southern side of what is now known as the "Diag" at the center of the campus, where the Hatcher Graduate Library is now. Shhh!No commenting in the library! Reading only, please! RadiationMy wife's aunt has a similar circular radiator at the top of the staircase in her home, in a town about 20 minutes from Buffalo, NY. The house is about 100 years old. I've never seen one anyplace else before now. It must be a fairly efficient way to heat a large space, such as this reading room. Though I can't quite figure out why it was installed in a house, where it dominates the top floor landing. (The Gallery, DPC, Education, Schools)
City Hall: 1907
Lansing, Michigan, circa 1907. "City Hall." Where the time is I:XLIII, or XVII minutes ... Spent its life - most of it anyway - in the shadow of the Michigan State Capitol (certainly figuratively and in the evening pehaps ... the MICHOP corner. Click to embiggen. Michigan Capitol construction They are currently installing geothermal heat ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2022 - 12:45pm -

Lansing, Michigan, circa 1907. "City Hall." Where the time is I:XLIII, or XVII minutes to II. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. MCMLVIII: requiescat in paceSpent its life - most of it anyway - in the shadow of the Michigan State Capitol (certainly figuratively and in the evening pehaps literally). Silver Medalist in the Most Impressive Building in Town contest is apparently no guarantee of survival. Unknown growthThe clock is interesting but what is that growth on the building to the left? Intentional? Accidental? [That's ivy, and it's horticultural. - Dave] Distracted informationI went to get a Google Earth view of the Lansing City Hall today and am including additional information that distracted me. The city hall is labeled in the upper right. It's much larger than was needed in 1907, plus it's all new and shiny. Then I got distracted by the construction on the capitol grounds. Looks like something is being built underground. But the front lawn is pristine green. Then I noticed there are five churches on the block just north of the capitol. The four labeled are Methodist, Christ Community, Catholic, and MICHOP. The one not labeled is Episcopal. Where I grew up a big Baptist church would occupy the MICHOP corner. Click to embiggen. Michigan Capitol constructionThey are currently installing geothermal heat to the Capitol, and building a museum/visitor center. The construction has been ongoing for a couple years, slowed by Covid, but fingers crossed it will be complete in about a year. https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2021/04/12/update-geother... (The Gallery, Bicycles, DPC)
Arthur Zickgraf: 1913
... Zickgraf (standing far right) with his surveying class at Michigan Agricultural College in 1913 - Now Michigan State College. He later became a civil engineer and started Wolverine ... 
 
Posted by ltitus - 04/26/2007 - 9:29pm -

My great-grandfather Arthur Zickgraf (standing far right) with his surveying class at Michigan Agricultural College in 1913 - Now Michigan State College. He later became a civil engineer and started Wolverine Engineering in Mason, Michigan. Arthur ZickgrafMy father, Carl Knopf, graduated from MAC in 1911 and we have many of his photos of his experiences while in school. Thank you for sharing yours. My son went to MichiganMy son went to Michigan State, and I showed him these pics and he commented: "that's why there is a street called "M.A.C." because it stood for "michigan agricultural college" Also, there is a big smokestack in the middle of campus that says "MSC" because it used to just be Michigan State College " (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Miller Time: 1942
September 1942. "Detroit, Michigan. Milling machine operator at the Allison Motors plant." Acetate ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/15/2023 - 5:06pm -

September 1942. "Detroit, Michigan. Milling machine operator at the Allison Motors plant." Acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Office of War Information. View full size. Title?I don't know what to title this. Originally I thought "Top Ten". The problem is you keep coming up with a headline that shoves a Top Ten headline out of the Top Ten. And they don't deserve to be shoved out. The Top Ten probably contains close to a thousand headlines. If all that makes sense! Kearney & Trecker?We had a very similar horizontal mill at the old GE plant where I worked. It did have the 'finish is approved by the War Production Board' brass badge on it. Not sure but I think the machine was made by Kearney & Trecker* of Milwaukee. *Upon finding another photo of the same machine, I have come to the conclusion that it is a Brown & Sharpe Model 2. It’s a pareidolia momentCan’t help but look at the machine and see a face that seems to be saying ‘Wow! A woman!’ Left Arm, PleaseI noticed her smallpox vaccination scar on her left arm. I have one in the same place: it's nearly faded away by now—like so many of my generation (and certainly of hers). Some girls then were given the vaccination on their thighs, "where it wouldn't show." It's a different world now, and smallpox is just a dim memory. What beautiful eyesAnd the woman's eyes are very nice, too. CollectibleHer employee badge, boldly proclaiming her to be TEMPORARY, is a pure Cadillac collectible. That would be a really fine thing to pick up at a garage sale. Beats yet another union pinback badge. Safety FirstMany of the pictures on Shorpy of machine operators without eye protection make me grit my teeth. I spent my working life in the machine tool industry and safety glasses/goggles were at the top of the list. Even wearing glasses I was milling cast iron two different occasions and got cast iron "dust" embedded in my eyeball. Under magnification, these "dust" particles looked like tiny needles. I wonder how many people suffered eye injuries during those days? Kearney & TreckerThat's definitely a Kearney & Trecker horizontal. I've spent many hours running them. The other photo that was posted in the comments may be a Brown & Sharpe but it's not the same as the machine she is operating. The geometry of the overarm arbor support is different. Also see the difference in the front apron mounted feed lever and oil port. There is a hex head plug for oiling, left of center in the original post. The other photo posted has a spring loaded swinging metal cover on the oil port right of center. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Detroit Photos, Factories)
Let's Get Fiscal: 1942
September 1942. "Detroit, Michigan. Office worker at aircraft engine plant, Allison Division of General ... Division, General Motors" with a reference to "Detroit, Michigan." But (aside from Rothstein's photos) I can find no evidence that such ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/13/2023 - 11:52am -

September 1942. "Detroit, Michigan. Office worker at aircraft engine plant, Allison Division of General Motors." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Office of War Information. View full size. FridenThat is a Friden calculator. It adds, subtracts, multiplies and divides, all mechanically. The electricity just runs a motor that turns the gears. No floating point decimal though, so you have to know where it goes. Some versions of this calculator will extract square roots. The good old Friden calculatorIn the 60's, my mother worked as a lab assistant at an agricultural experiment station, and the PhD she worked for had one of those beasts. I often visited the lab and one day after doing simple additions and subtractions on it, a decided to do a division problem. Big mistake. The machine went into gyrations while sounding like it was stripping gears. The good doctor poked his head out of his office and gave me the filthiest of looks. Later on, my mother would borrow it and haul it home so I could use it to do her taxes. Detroit - or Indy?The Library of Congress's archives include dozens of Arthur Rothstein pictures of individual workers at an "aircraft engine plant, Allison Division, General Motors" with a reference to "Detroit, Michigan." But (aside from Rothstein's photos) I can find no evidence that such a plant was in Detroit. During WWII the Allison Division of General Motors operated large aircraft engine plants at Speedway, Indiana and nearby Indianapolis, and of course other GM divisions had plants in and around Detroit - but perhaps not the Allison Division. https://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/General%20Motors/allison.htm [The Cadillac plant in Detroit manufactured parts for GM's Allison Division. - Dave] Divide by ZeroMy father used a large 9 column mechanical calculator to balance the books at our small dime store. I used to play with at times. When you tried to divide by zero it would go through some amazing mechanical spasms before it would spit out a "0.0". Musical NumbersEverything you need to know about the Friden calculator is in this video. There is a scene with Jack Lemmon in the movie "The Apartment" working on a Friden calculator. He enters a sequence of numbers to produce the "Friden March." (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Detroit Photos, The Office)
Tailgate Gourmet: 1960
... their Dodge Lancer." View full size. University of Michigan Based on the Maize (yellow) and Blue scoreboard! UMich Sure looks like Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor to me. The Great Pumpkin Apparently he ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/14/2013 - 11:58am -

Fall 1960. A Kodachrome by our old friend Arthur Rothstein, taken for the Look magazine assignment "Tailgate Gourmets." "Food for tailgate picnics displayed in the backs of station wagons, including a Ford Country Squire, a Dodge Lancer, and a Pontiac Bonneville Safari parked in a football stadium. Also images of a couple wearing raccoon coats standing next to their Dodge Lancer." View full size. University of MichiganBased on the Maize (yellow) and Blue scoreboard! UMichSure looks like Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor to me. The Great PumpkinApparently he missed Linus' pumpkin patch because he was busy attending a football game. Only explanation I can think of for a giant pumpkin at a tailgate party. King of BeersDon't know how they would serve some of that stuff, but at least they remembered the Bud. ClassicTailgate configuration where the transom glass goes down into the tailgate proper. Great for driving in the summer when not really hot enough for A/C, assuming your car even had A/C. But it could suck every shred of loose paper out that window. And real cars had operable vent windows. The good old days. Then and nowDifference between tailgating now and tailgating in 1960: No Buffalo wings. Preferred ParkingIt looks like they are about on the 50 yard line. Those Look Magazine folks have some real pull with the University. STEEL cans?So are those cans of Budweiser, but made of steel? With Xs on the bottom? Nicely equippedThe '61 Bonneville even has a power antenna. Daw GoneNow I'm hungry. A rarityIt's been many years since you could set a football on a car's fender and it would not roll off. 1961 Ford Country Squire.My dad owned of these without the fake wood on the sides and it was known as a "Ranch Wagon." LOOK at 1960My parents had a 1960 Olds wagon, the kind with miles of flat fin like an arcraft carrier - power antenna and power tuning and power windows and those cool auto headlight dimmers. Made a big impression on me at 10 years old. The thing about LOOK mag for me is how staged it all was - they look hyper-real, not at all real the way LIFE was. For example, nobody would have a real tailgate party on the 50 yard line - it would be out in the parking lot with crowds of people wallking and driving by! On the other hand, all that food looks marvelous, and I'll bet the photo crew had a great meal after the shoot! Photo crew feastI wouldn't be too sure about the feast. There are a lot of things done to food being photographed to keep it looking 'fresh' during a long photoshoot, up to, and including, varnish. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Cars, Trucks, Buses, LOOK, Sports)
Dept. of Public Works: 1900
Ypsilanti, Michigan, circa 1900. "Water tower." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, ... Oh, yeah It's still there. I attended Eastern Michigan University, which is right across the street, in the early '90s. Even ... few years ago. I miss it so much! Thank you! More pics of Michigan Normal School Please! Suddenly I feel so inadequate. Ypsi! ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 9:13pm -

Ypsilanti, Michigan, circa 1900. "Water tower." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. StunningNo mature adult can ignore the stunning Freudian symbolism. It lives!I can firm that the Ypsilanti Water Tower still thrusts skyward. It even won a "Most Phallic Building" award in 2003. View Larger Map Sometimes a water tower ...Yeah ... so that's uhh ... hmmmm ... yeah. The Consequence of RepressionIt's Phallic Symbolism Day on Shorpy and I'm lovin' it! You don't have to be a shrink to see that the designer of this innovative structure had some unresolved and repressed "issues". Thank goodness that such repression was more prevalent then, when buildings were built to last for generations, as opposed to today when buildings aren't intended to last at all. I hope this manly tower still stands. Does anyone know? YpsituckyWhen I was at university at Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti was called "Ypsitucky" in reference to all the Kentucky immigrants who landed there. Kalamazoo had a similar water tower. The legend was that it would collapse when the first virgin was graduated from WMU. The lady on the left is... spellbound. Oh, yeahIt's still there. I attended Eastern Michigan University, which is right across the street, in the early '90s. Even though I now live just east of Jackson, I occasionally drive past this giggler to get from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti via Washtenaw Avenue. By the way, I've been enjoying this site for over a year. This is my first post. [Welcome to the Hotel California! - Dave] Is that a water towerin your town, or are you glad to see me? Yay!I grew up in Ypsi and lived behind the "brick ***k" when I was in school a few years ago. I miss it so much! Thank you! More pics of Michigan Normal School Please! SuddenlyI feel so inadequate. Ypsi!It's barely changed in 110 years! I had a good view of it from my ninth-floor dorm across EMU's campus a couple years back -- at Christmas they always put a little lighted star on the tip. Eastern Michigan UniversityBy the way, that's Eastern Michigan University on the right. The building is where the current Student Union is. Continue West on this road for about, I dunno... about a mile, and you come to Ann Arbor, the home of the University of Michigan. The tower today is missing that snazzy little cupola on top, although the base still remains. Sort of looks like a lighthouse or beacon of some kind. Ypsilanti was also the home of the Tucker automobile company, but I think this landmark may be our greatest claim to fame! Welch HallActually, that's Welch Hall to the right, not the McKinney (Student) Union, which would have been directly behind the water tower except that it wasn't built until about 20 years later. (The Gallery, DPC, Industry & Public Works)
The Automobilist: 1910
... be a 1906 - 1908 Pungs-Finch (P-F) car made in Detroit, Michigan from 1904 - 1910. What first led me to this conclusion was the script ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2023 - 3:03pm -

Detroit circa 1910. "Automobile on town street." More specifically, Jefferson Avenue at East Grand Boulevard. The building at right is Moesta's Tavern at 1407 Jefferson (also seen here). 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Ellie IncognitoI think this is Elinor Blevins in disguise. How many paople would own a pair of gloves like that? Eat my dust...I've got a horseless carriage and you guys DON'T! A pair of gloves like that?Put me down as one owner; got them about 35 years ago, kept the leather (hand) part nearly soaked in mink oil. The long fur sleeves are wonderful, used them today with the temps in the teens. Snowmobile used to call them "snot-wipers," the furry part being perfectly located for that work. WindowsWhat are the words in the window of the building to the far right? [Too blurry to tell. - Dave] WHAT is the world coming to?Danged hot-rodders! Seriously, can anyone make out the model of the car? This looks to have been in an upper-class neighborhood. Look at the size of the houses and how clean everything was. Also, no packs of "feral children" are running wild in the streets! Moesta's Store?The illegible shopfront sign got me curious, so I rummaged around in the LOC's Detroit Publishing Co. images that included automobiles. There are two more views of this street scene in the collection, taken at slightly different times, but each with a passing car. The LOC cataloger devised the titles from scrutiny of the original 5x7 glass negatives, listing one as "Street with automobile and Moesta's store," (LC-D418-31165) and the other as "Street with Moesta's store and Fuller Savings Bank" (LC-D418-31166). I'm not sure that the reading of "Store" is quite right, since the S-word looks longer than that in the image posted here, but the "Moesta" seems correct. There don't seem to be any other online references to these businesses, but a Moesta family genealogy page (a German surname later anglicized to Mesta) suggests Pittsburgh, PA as a possible locale for the period of the photo. Wealth creationThe home on the left is a great house. Even when wages were only a dollar a day, there have been people that could do things that would make them rich. I think that is wonderful. You big dummy...The driver of that car sure looks a lot like Fred G. Sanford to me...the G is for gasoline. Early BuickMy guess on the make of automobile is A Buick Model 10 (produced from 1908 - 1911). This appears to be a runabout version without the back seat. Very sporty, no matter what. DetroitJefferson Avenue and East Grand Boulevard. Shown below circa 1936. Pungs-Finch?The auto looks like it might be a 1906 - 1908 Pungs-Finch (P-F) car made in Detroit, Michigan from 1904 - 1910. What first led me to this conclusion was the script lettering on the radiator - which although blurred seems to be two words. The script is certainly is not the word "Buick," but there are many similarities between the two marques. Other identifying features in common with a P-F are the radiator shape and single strap running across the hood; tie bar below the front chassis; front axle almost directly below the radiator; rounded cowl shape and lights only on the cowl as seen in all early P-F advertising; fender line; tank or muffler below the left side chassis; and the curved body line from the top of the cowl to the front of the seat. I am not 100% sure it is a P-F because I have not found any other photos with this exact script on the radiator or the horizontal lines running across the radiator. Everything else seems to match perfectly. The Pungs-Fitch was made by a father and his son-in-law (W.A. Pungs and E.B. Finch). Pungs supplied the money and Finch supplied the engineering ability. They bought out the Sintz Gas Engine Company and claimed Sintz' history as their own. It is estimated that only a few hundred cars were made during their seven years in production and only two cars appear to survive. The cars shown below are from the January 1, 1909 Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal. The fenders have been modernized, but otherwise looks nearly identical to the earlier models. Note that the Runabout and Touring Models used different hoods. Moesta's Saloon in DetroitI found the following information online, but there was no date attached to the newspaper article nor the newspaper name. "Detroit's most famous east side saloon, on Jefferson avenue at East Grand Boulevard since 1875, is being torn down. Formerly the headquarters of Detroit River yachtsmen, it was operated by Henry Moesta until prohibition drove him from business. His father, Henry Moesta the first, founded the tavern." Henry (the first) ran the business for about 17 years, and Henry (the second) continued on for another 23 years - roughly 1879 - 1919. "I would have grown rich, like so many others," said Henry Moesta the second. "I preferred to obey the law like my father before me and keep always the memory of the honest place he constructed." "The Moesta place was taken over by Harry Gordon when prohibition arrived." "Henry Moesta's brother, Charles was also a famous tavern-keeper until prohibition arrived, when he too abandoned the business." The story also states, "Now they are tearing the tavern down to make way for a bridge boulevard and the marine atmosphere that attached the vicinity of Jefferson avenue and East Grand Boulevard with the fresh flavor of the inland seas will never be the same again." The street address was 1407 Jefferson Avenue which was directly across the street from the Detroit River. In the Detroit phone directory the business was described as a "Restaurant and Cafe, Imported and Domestic Wines, Liquors, and Cigars." The photos below show the sign in front of Moesta's Saloon and a photo of part of the newspaper article showing Henry Moesta (the second) and his brother Charles Moesta along with two views of the business. Note: This main portion of the article was very out of focus and I tried to copy everything correctly, but some words may not be correct in my quotes because reading portions of the text was so difficult. Amazingly, there is actually a photo of the inside of the Moesta Saloon here. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Detroit Photos, DPC)
Uncle Joe: 1922
... Joe" Cannon, congressman from Illinois, accessorized with Michigan lawmaker Vincent Brennan and a big cigar. National Photo Co. glass ... on the front of its very first issue, in 1923. Michigan not Maine Vincent Brennan was a congressperson from Michigan, not ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/04/2012 - 11:08pm -

May 8, 1922. "Cannon & Brennan at Capitol." Former House speaker "Uncle Joe" Cannon, congressman from Illinois, accessorized with Michigan lawmaker Vincent Brennan and a big cigar. National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size. The Wit and Wisdom of Uncle JoeAlso known as "foul-mouth Joe". "I am g**damned tired of listening to all this babble for reform. America is a hell of a success." "Not one cent for scenery." "Teddy Roosevelt has no more use for the Constitution than a tomcat has for a marriage license." "I am one of the great army of mediocrity which constitutes the majority." Yikes ... now that's a "stick"Cigar smokers sometimes refer to a cigar as a "stick." In this case that "stick" is more like a branch! That said, I've seen pictures of the hand-rollers in Cuba with similar "big smokes." Apparently, they are allowed to smoke "one cigar a day" and roll themselves something large and long, a sort of "all day smoker." Bang!I wonder if anybody ever slipped him an exploding cigar. Need a light? Who rolled that cigar?Personally I'd put my money on Cheech and Chong. Uncle Joe SaysTheodore Roosevelt "has no more use for the Constitution than a tomcat has for a marriage license." Cannon retired from the House in 1923. He was first elected to the House from Illinois in 1872. He had served, with a couple of interruptions, 'til March, 1922. He had been Speaker from 1903 to 1911. Joe was so old in 1922 that his personal history included support for Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860. Little wonder Brennan looks a little awed. Joe died in his bed at age 90. Don't make 'em like that any more. Nor them cigars, neither. [He's also namesake of the Cannon House Office Building. - Dave] Big cigar indeedWhere's Freud when you need him? Proper attireIn 53 years, standards of senators' dress fell off a cliff. Cigar and AttitudeA big cigar and attitude to match. Speaker CannonTR had a small brass cannon at Sagamore Hill, his house in Oyster Bay, which he would fire off every day to entertain his children. Roosevelt named the artillery piece "Cannon Speaker." I am sure that there were a number of other quips that he made when putting the piece to work. The beginning of TimeUncle Joe was Time magazine's inaugural cover boy -- he appeared on the front of its very first issue, in 1923. Michigan not MaineVincent Brennan was a congressperson from Michigan, not Maine. But both states do start with M. [Wups. Thankew! - Dave] Later known as ...Senator Byrd. Tired of Byrd BashingSen. Byrd seems a frequent target of comparison of any elderly politician pictured on Shorpy. While I cannot defend every position the honorable senator has taken, he has done well both for the interests of his state and for upholding the constitution and tradition of the Senate. The following is a snapshot of me as a child on a visit to the Senator's office in July 1975. [A nice photo. But -- although that comment was digit-related, the digit has nothing to do with age. - Dave] Oh ME, Oh MICongressman Brennan represented Michigan rather than Maine. This was probably about as close as he came to meaningful power during his two-year tenure in Congress. Modern PharmacologyThis looks like it could be a pharmaceutical ad for an anti-aging drug. Formidable StogieWhen "Uncle Joe" said he was going outside for a smoke, his colleagues knew they wouldn't see him again for a couple of days. FreudianIn this case a cigar is only a torpedo. Uncle Rip and Uncle JoeHarold Austin Ripley, my mother's sister's husband, was one of Joe Cannon's page boys. I recall some of his stories about Uncle Joe -- not the least of which involved running to a nearby cigar store to restock the Speaker's humidor. You might imagine my total surprise, then, on coming upon this photo of Cannon, cigar in hand. What a flashback trigger! Rip tried to enlist when the U.S. signed on to the war, but his parents (Rip's father worked for the U.S. Mint) wouldn't sign off -- Rip was 16 in 1917. So Rip asked his boss to write a letter of recommendation on his behalf, making up some story about why he needed it. I cannot recall the exact wording, but it began: "I highly recommend Master Ripley etc etc." Rip took the letter to a D.C. recruiting station. The master sergeant in charge took one look at the letterhead and the signature at the bottom -- and sat up ramrod-straight in his chair, as Rip liked to tell it. No questions asked. The next thing my uncle knew, he was on a troopship bound for Europe. The army discovered his real age in France and assigned him to the Graves Registration Dept, out of harm's way. Rip and his buddies stayed drunk on cheap French vin; there was no other means of confronting the awful stench of no-man's land. Gas masks, he said, proved worthless. Master Ripley returned to the U.S. a devoted though albeit functional alcoholic, and remained so until 1940 when he imbibed his last distilled spirits (from Crown Royal to Royal Crown cola -- Rip has cases of the latter in his basement). He became, in the following order during those intervening years: the first territorial salesman for LifeSavers; crime reporter for The Chicago Tribune; the author of Minute Mysteries (read in a minute/solve in a minute) syndicated in over 150 daily newspapers; the longest continuous columnist (Photo Crime, 13 years) in Look magazine; and finally the founder of Guest House, a retreat for alcoholic priests located in the grandiose Scripps estate at Lake Orion, MI, and which recently celebrated its first half-century of drying out Catholic clergy from all over the world. The Catholic hierarchy -- totally befuddled -- simply ignored and abandoned their alcoholic priests, so Rip stepped in and devoted the rest of his life to their rehabilitation and recovery. For all his imagination, crime-plotting ability and investigative skills, Austin Ripley could never have imagined the greater crime now tearing apart Catholic dioceses around the world. I'm glad he never lived to see it. What do your cats look like?Fancy meeting you here! Uncle Joe really was my Uncle...my Great-Grand-Uncle. My Great-Grand-Mother was Joseph Gurney Cannon's Sister. Maybe our Grand Mother's traded cats too! Cheers Cousin! (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Politics)
Size Matters: 1942
September 1942. "Detroit, Michigan. Learner at the Allison Motors plant. Dimensional finishing." Photo by ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/14/2023 - 11:17am -

September 1942. "Detroit, Michigan. Learner at the Allison Motors plant. Dimensional finishing." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Office of War Information. View full size. The work of an Old MasterThe last two Rothstein pictures remind me of what a fine craft photography used to be. He's doing a routine assignment for the War Dept and turns out a couple masterpieces. [This (and the other photo) are among seven from this assignment marked "Killed," meaning they were found for whatever reason to be unsuitable for publication. Credit for how they look here goes in part to Photoshop. (And me?!) Below, an image contrasting the edited photo with the original unprocessed scan. - Dave] Learner needs to learnHow to wear a particle mask. At least when there is a photographer around. [If he's not grinding, he doesn't need the visor or the mask. Using a micrometer doesn't require any protective gear. - Dave] That shirtIt is obviously a work shirt and will not be worn to church on Sunday or anywhere dressy. Still, it is ironed and there is a crisp crease going down the sleeve. 1942 was indeed a different age than today. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Detroit Photos, Factories, WW2)
Service Man: 1940
July 1940. "Gas station attendant. Millburg, Michigan." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. I’m from Michigan. Thanks Shorpy for a glimpse of the past. I love this photo! ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/27/2019 - 2:34pm -

July 1940. "Gas station attendant. Millburg, Michigan." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. I’m from Michigan.Thanks Shorpy for a glimpse of the past. I love this photo! That peanut machine!Back in my (very small) hometown the Chevy dealer had that same peanut machine sitting on a counter by the front door. It cost a penny! And since I used to pick up my newspapers for delivery there (they were dropped off by the Greyhound bus) I would regularly feed that machine. Occasionally something inside would break and you could get hit that lever for as many times as you wanted and fill your hand with Spanish peanuts. Consider thisIf you have time to lean, you have time to clean. Mirror, mirror on the wallStrategically placed to ensure that bowtie is straight. Nowadays you would need a gas check and a confined space permit to enter this place if it was in an industrial setting. 1940My parents were born that year. They'll turn 80 in 2020. Looks like Elizabeth Bishop had it right... in her poem 'Filling Station': Oh, but it is dirty! --this little filling station, oil-soaked, oil-permeated to a disturbing, over-all black translucency. Be careful with that match! What is it?Gentlemen, what is a "telephone directory"? Did it direct you to the nearest telephone? And if it did, what exactly is a "telephone"? Now THAT's a gas station attendant!That is the most "at your service" kind of guy you could ever have ask the timeless full-service question, "Check under the hood for you, ma'am?" Any non-serious motor car need you might have is no challenge for this cat and his immediate surroundings. Just pull up, and let him ask the questions. Fill 'er up? Check under the hood? Left front looks a wee bit low, let me check the pressure for you. As one who used to pump Ethyl, at a Mobil station off I-70 mind you, the regular customers knew I would answer all those questions without ever asking them, and I would wash the windshield because that's just what you did at the full service pumps. Today, I challenge you to find a full service drive at any gas station. It's a true slice of Americana that I feel proud to have been a part of, albeit the last wave of such a service that is all but extinct these days. I think I'm going to have some T-shirts made that say "I pumped Ethyl," and see if anyone under the age of 60 buys one. Happy New Year to Dave and band of Shorpy. I love what you guys do! Be well, everyone! Rough around the edgesThis guy will never find himself singing and dancing in the opening sequence of the Ed Wynn or Milton Berle shows. The Spirit of CommunicationThat archangel clutching thunderbolts and wrapped in cables was called the "Spirit of Communication" and was used by Bell from the 1930s and well into the late 1950s as seen on this phone directory from Cameron, Texas. (The Gallery, Gas Stations, John Vachon)
Fishbowl: 1908
... Very prescient design. Love it!! Re-posted to Michigan in Pictures with links to more historical information on Belle Isle ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/10/2023 - 4:16pm -

The Belle Isle Park Aquarium in Detroit circa 1908. Its cavernous spaces and glass viewports afforded aquatic life a fascinating peek at the bipedal terrestrial creatures known as homo sapiens. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Hey, what's in that vase?Ewwwww... Those spittoons just disappeared over the years. And leaving our local museums spit-free except for the occasional cobra or llama. Bet there were some great echo effects bouncing off all the tile work. As a wee bipedaling homo sapien I remember testing out such places with gleeful boy noises. That is one magnificent barrel arch beyond the equally grand dome ceiling. A Sign of CivilizationI await the return of spittoons to all public buildings. PixelatedIt's interesting how the brickwork resembles pixels in a digital photo. [Or a TV. Which was my impression, too -- "These tiles are tiling!" - Dave] In Swimming ColorThe aquarium today, in all its green glory. The forward lookBrass expectoration appurtenances notwithstanding (say that fast five times), this photo has a distinct contemporary feel to it - the lighting, natural yet at the same time seeming to be carefully arranged, plus the composition. I can see it on slick paper in an upscale lifestyle-type magazine, advertising fashions, perfumes or other snazzy stuff. Come to think of it, the visual aesthetic, if not the architecture, reminds me of that of the Case Study homes photographs. The pixelation-like effect of the brickwork is also eerily arresting. League of Extraordinary Museum-GoersWow, the first thing I thought was "steam-punk." Those brass railings and the radiator and the projecting stands for the aquariums are all very cool! Gone, almostThe building is still there on Belle Isle, but the city closed the aquarium last year due to Detroit's disastrous financial situation. Sigh. --Ray in Henderson, NV The Shocking TruthI remember the electric eel that would swim around in its tank and periodically light up a neon sign. Pewabic Tiles Another Detroit treasure with tiles made by Pewabic Pottery, which is still in business. Really SciFiAfter the "Lady in the Lake," this image is the most striking I have ever seen on Shorpy (and that's saying something!) Thank you Dave! Wow, wow, wow, wow, wowThis photo is really ... eerie. It just looks so different from modern times that I can hardly believe it ever happened. And how in the world did they clean the tanks on those ornate stands jutting out into the middle? Is that an optical illusion, or does the round railing keep one from falling down to another story below? Thank you for posting the modern photo showing the green tile. I never would have guessed the color. I hope Detroit does better this year, and I hope they can keep this place open in the future. But what did they do with the fish?I visited the aquarium with my first grade class in the spring of 1957, the high point of the school year. And it was foreign travel from Windsor Ontario. Back then, we only needed notes from our mothers to cross the border! Life AquaticI've got relatives in Detroit of long standing, but I've never heard of this delight until now. There are a few more present-day pictures (how dazzling that green tile is!) on the tour here: http://www.belleisleaquarium.com/aquarium_tour.htm Yes, thanks KwameThank you Kwame for closing our wonderful aquarium just so you could spend all the money on your criminal activity. What a shame. Recent pictures that I have seen show that the former aquarium is now full of crap and is being used for storage. Nice. FramesI really like the frames surrounding the wall tanks, presenting the displayed sea-life like works of art. I wonder if the frames were painted gold or silver to look like gilding. Fate of the fishThe fish were loaned out to various aquariums across the country. Come visit the aquarium again. Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium care for the koi that overwinter in the basement. They are usually there on Saturdays, late morning, caring for the fish. Check out their website, belleisleaquarium.com for more information or to get involved. The original aquarium frames were constructed from cypress, a wood particularly resistant to damage from moisture, and were gilded. The frames were carved in an egg and dart motif to frame the exhibits as if they were canvases. The frames were removed during the 1955 renovation and replaced with stainless steel. The lovely tiles are green glass. They were not made by Pewabic pottery ... a common misconception. Eero SaarinenI too thought it was a modern building. Very prescient design. Love it!!Re-posted to Michigan in Pictures with links to more historical information on Belle Isle Aquarium! (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Education, Schools)
Commuters: 1907
... hear from Chuck that it still hasn't changed. 6 North Michigan At the time of this photo, the tower in the background was the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 10:07pm -

Chicago circa 1907. "Arriving from the suburbs." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative by Hans Behm, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Looks familiarI take the train from Tacoma to Seattle every day for work and if you stood at the top of the stairs, the scene would be identical except for the clothing. Van Buren Street StationThis appears to be Illinois Central's Van Buren Street Station. Still in use today by Metra. The trains are now electrified, but other than that, the station hasn't changed much since 1907. Only a few changesAgree with others about things not changing much. Biggest change that the stairway we're looking down is gone and there's a bridge on the other end of the platform where Jackson crosses the tracks. Art InstituteSide view of Art Institute of Chicago in front of the Montgomery Ward tower. Very familiarIn the 1970s I used to come into this station on the South Shore Line. It looks completely familiar in this photo, and I'm glad to hear from Chuck that it still hasn't changed. 6 North MichiganAt the time of this photo, the tower in the background was the tallest building in Chicago. It was built as the headquarters for Montgomery Ward. South Shore StationVan Buren station on the Illinois Central was shared with the South Shore electric line. I also used to take the IC electric line daily into Chicago in the 1970s. The Van Buren and Randolph Street stations were below ground level -- actually at ground level as it existed before the Great Chicago Fire. That area was built up a level with rubble from the fire. ProgressI never get over the progress made in this country and only 42 years past the darkness of the civil war! SecurityI got a kick out of seeing what I think is the long arm (and high hat) of the law, keeping an eye on everything from the platform on the left. (The Gallery, Chicago, DPC, Railroads)
Cadillac Square: 1902
... the experience encountered when traveling south out of Michigan in the dead of winter and you first experience the smell of the earth ... smoke is from those cheap cigars. To be fair about Michigan Esteemed fellow Shorpy-ite FotoFantasist correctly mentions clean ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/13/2013 - 12:14pm -

Detroit circa 1902. "Cadillac Square and Wayne County building." The rigging is for one of the "moonlight tower" arc lamps that provided nighttime illumination, an example of which can be seen behind the Rajah Coffee sign. View full size. Smoke gets in your eyesMaybe we've got global warming today, but once again here's a skyline with lots of soot and smoke on the horizon, thanks to the nearly 100% of energy being made from burning wood or coal. Life wasn't all rosy then, either. Pass my inhalerOh my, us that really smoke/smog hovering in the middle background? Gives me an asthma attack just looking at it. No QuadrigasBeautiful shot of the Wayne County Building minus Victory and Progress. ImpactIn my shorpy-inspired daydreams of travels through time, I often imagine it would be the olfactory sense that would be the first to be impacted. Much like the experience encountered when traveling south out of Michigan in the dead of winter and you first experience the smell of the earth and living things as you cross into Tennessee. A good 5c Cigarperhaps some of that smoke is from those cheap cigars. To be fair about MichiganEsteemed fellow Shorpy-ite FotoFantasist correctly mentions clean air found leaving the Mitten State and entering other states. To be fair, however, one can encounter the same (literally) breath-taking change in air quality, smell and beauty about the time one traverses the Mackinac Bridge between Michigan's two peninsulas, and enters the pristine Upper Peninsula. You can always smell the pine trees and so much more, or so much less. Moonlight TowersAustin, TX still has a few working Moonlight towers - usually just called Moontowers. At Zilker Park a Moontower is used as the frame for the Holiday Tree of Lights in December. Vast amounts of pollen spewing from one kind of tree after another can be pretty breathtaking so it's good to have one tall tree that doesn't set off allergies. Cadillac nowSome of these buildings are still standing today although the church steeple cloaked in good old Detroit pollution is behind the apartment buildings and the ornate building on the right has been seriously foreshortened. View Larger Map The ornate building on the rightis one of Detroit's grand old hotels, the Russell House, first opened in 1857. The hotel has since been replaced with two successive buildings, each bigger than the last. First came the Hotel Pontchartrain (a great favorite of both the Detroit Publishing Co. and the viewers at Shorpy), built 1906-1907 to the designs of George D. Mason; then came the First National Bank Building, designed by the great architect Albert Kahn, built 1920-1922 and still standing. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars)
Woodward Avenue: 1917
Detroit, Michigan, circa 1917. "Looking up Woodward Avenue." Dry plate glass negative, ... 
 
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)
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