Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
- Proviso Yard Noir
- A Face . . .
- I think it's called charisma
- He's not looking for hard work
- The composition is correct
- Victim of Prohibition
- The good old days
- One hard workin' man
- Man!
- Charlie Brown called --
- Good Grief!
- Cousin
- West Street Building
- First Subway in America
- +100
- Steam Power
- THE Boston store
- Koh-I-Noor: 1902 extended through at least 1959
- That guy
- Apples to apples, then to oranges
- No Channel 13
- Boys at lower right
- "Bull" Durham
- One thing remains
- Jack Chesbro
- Walleye Fillets coming up!
- Read all about it
- But base ball survives to this-day
- Working from Home
- Those Extra Digits
Photos submitted by Shorpy members!
Print Emporium
Fill the Flag: 1918
Detroit, 1918. "Cadillac Square and Real Estate Exchange from City Hall." Also a view of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument with World War I patriotic signage as the backdrop. Now playing at the corner movie palace: the "cinemelodrama" Cheating the Public. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size.
Inflation
"Mr Waitt?" "Yes, Mr. Bond?" "We need to increase our cigar prices to 11c." "You realise that means changing the big sign?" "OK, forget it..."
Gratiot Streetcar
The streetcar at the bottom left of the photo is headed for Gratiot Avenue, a major artery from the centre of the city to the northeast. By 1956 Gratiot and Woodward were the last two remaining car lines when the system closed down. Streetcars run again today along Woodward Avenue's Q Line. Pronunciation note: The locals all pronounce Gratiot as "Gra-shit" without batting an eye.
A city in decline
This type of architecture is probably a thing of the past, unfortunately. Below is a picture from Historic Detroit that shows the demolition of this great building, one floor at a time.
Cadillac Square Today
Here's the approximate view today, but from ground level. The Real Estate Exchange was demolished in 1976 to make room for a proposed mall. The remaining tall white building is the Cadillac Tower, the REE's similar, taller neighbor, built a few years after the 1918 photo.
Cheating the Public.
Fox Film 1918, another lost Silent.
Too bad because it looks quite exciting.
["Thrilling food riots"! - Dave]
Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Site © 2022 Shorpy Inc.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5