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N. Fairview Ave., J.A. Johnson, 1968

It was another night of slim pickings as snow was falling, dusting even the sidewalks that had been cleared, except the scant few that had been salted. (Bless those folks.) This one is on the east side of North Fairview Avenue between Michigan and Jerome, next to the parking lot for the Arcadia Smokehouse.

This is a nicely crisp J.A. Johnson stamp. The date is less clear, but with a flashlight and a few angles I figured out that it is 1968. I haven’t learned anything about J.A. Johnson, unfortunately, despite seeing their stamps scattered around the east side. I do always mull over the unlikely possibility that J.A. was a relative of the Jim Johnson I used to play in a local pinball league with.

Facing south on North Fairview. Whoops, I think I failed to get the stamp in this photo. I believe it’s just below this photo.
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Leslie St., Cantu & Sons, 1988

Yes, it’s the blog’s bread and butter, a Cantu & Sons stamp. It must have been a real sight to see so many sidewalks around the east side worked on at (almost) the same time in 1987-88. I wonder why the city did such a huge sidewalk replacement project then?

Note the imprint of the YakTrax I’ve been wearing over my boots ever since I took a spill on a patch of ice and cracked my head on the pavement.

Anyway, I didn’t have much choice. Even most of the sidewalks that had been cleared after last night’s snowstorm had another fine layer of snow on them. Luckily I could make out the white shadow of a stamp in order to know where to brush the pavement off with my mitten.

Looking south on Leslie.

I walked this way because this house still has long strings of lights on their fences, stretching impressively along the west side of the 400 block of Leslie, between Kalamazoo and Elizabeth. They flash and twinkle and on a cold winter night like this, I’m sure glad they’re still around.

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Hickory St., Minnis & Ewer, 1911

I walked a bit around the neighborhood west of Hunter Park, and fortunately got a stamp photographed before the heavy snow started in the second half of my walk. I haven’t surveyed this neighborhood for sidewalk stamps very much yet, so I was delighted to find a Minnis & Ewer stamp I haven’t recorded yet, on the north side of Hickory Street between Pennsylvania and Jones.

The western stamp.

Most Minnis & Ewer stamps are very clear and crisp. This is the most faded one I’ve encountered. It’s not entirely legible, and I could recognize it mainly by shape. I could not read the month, but at least I could make out the 11 for the year.

Looking east on Hickory. This is quite close to the Pennsylvania intersection.

There is a second one, even more worn, in front of the next house to the east, which might be the other half of a pair. Supporting this is that it faces in the opposite direction. I haven’t observed any obviously paired Minnis & Ewer stamps before, but it might just reflect how many of them have been lost over the years.

The stamp to the east, possibly part of a pair.
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N. Fairview Ave., Beaver Systems, undated

The whimsical name on this one caught my eye. It’s on the west side of North Fairview Avenue between Fernwood and Saginaw.

When I went to search for the contractor involved, a bunch of pictures popped up, showing a drainage system such as I have in my basement. From that I learned that a Beaver System is a trade name for this kind of setup, in which a channel (or, as I have now learned it’s called, a dam) is installed at floor level to trap infiltrating water and send it to a sump pump. Ours was not a brand name Beaver installation, but the name “beaver system” seems to have genericized and gets applied to any such installation.

From what I can tell, Beaver Systems is a franchise. It doesn’t look like anyone is doing business under that name in metro Lansing, but I can find references from about ten years ago to a Beaver Systems in Holt, and other undated references to one in Grand Ledge.

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Shubel Ave., R. Royer, 1949

I took my walk at Hawk Island Park today, so there wasn’t any sidewalk for me to photograph. After leaving I thought I’d try ducking into a neighborhood I haven’t covered at all yet, and ended up driving into the Sycamore Park subdivision and parking somewhere more or less at random.

I discovered this pleasant subdivision for the first time shortly after the New Year, when my husband and I decided to drive around viewing lights for a final Christmas activity. We discovered a real wealth of lights here, and were amused by how the street names (Lindbergh, Pershing, Harding) suggested a 1920s origin, though were puzzled by seeing a lot of houses looking to be from the 50s. It must have been developed in phases, probably interrupted by the War.

Sycamore Park subdivision resulted from Col. Fred E. Shubel developing a piece of land he owned called Sycamore Farm. According to an advertisement in the July 20, 1929, Lansing State Journal, Lindbergh Drive had been established and graveled, and selection of lots by the interested would begin taking place in a few weeks. Shubel is quoted as saying, “I think it was Ex-President Harding who stressed the ideal of owning a little piece of the United States of America.” I guess he really liked Harding.

I walked a little way along Pershing Drive and was frustrated to find nothing but a lot of BBRPCI stamps from 1990. Then I walked along Shubel and found a handful of frustratingly worn stamps. I could tell they were contractors I don’t recognize, but they weren’t legible beyond a few letters here and there. It seemed as though the older sidewalk stamps were all extremely worn and faded. I almost gave up and chose an unreadable one, but then suddenly this one appeared, on the east side of Shubel Avenue between Parkdale and Pershing.

I read it at the time as “R. Boyer,” but upon looking at it more carefully via the camera’s eye, I think the second name is Royer. Unfortunately I can’t find anything about the contractor. I can find that there was a Royer family in Lansing at the time, but they were in the oil business.

The neat little house this is in front of was built in 1949, so this is probably the original sidewalk.

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S. Foster Ave., Cantu & Sons, 1987

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Look, at least it’s the less common variation, right? It’s on the east side of South Foster Avenue between Michigan and Prospect.

Right now this blog is less a sidewalk stamp blog and more a hall of fame of people who actually keep their sidewalks clear. Well, maybe the groundhog won’t see her shadow tomorrow.

Oh yeah baby, look at that sexy, snow-free sidewalk. I’m lucky I didn’t turn into a Tex Avery wolf when I laid eyes on it.

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Lathrop St., DPS, 1953

I found another DPS stamp. Like the others, it’s from the 1950s. It’s on the east side of Lathrop Street between Prospect and Eureka.

It snowed today, so this is the best I could do. At least the S is very prominent!
The stamp is on the next one past the stamp with the ridges. I included the fire hydrant for context, and some late holiday lights in the upper left corner as a bonus. I went this way specifically because I knew there were still some lights on this street.
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Prospect St., C.E. Schneider, undated

C.E. Schneider is a contractor I haven’t seen before, or at least haven’t taken notice of. This pair of stamps is on the north side of Prospect between Holmes and Virginia. Unfortunately, neither one is dated.

The eastern stamp.

The only reference I can find to C.E. Schneider as a contractor is a brief obituary for Clyde Schneider (1920-2000) which states that he was “Owner and Operator of C.E. Schneider and Sons Cement Contractor.” It also says that he had been a resident of Mount Pleasant since 1998. Schneider is buried in DeWitt according to Find A Grave, so he might have been a DeWitt native. I would guess that C.E. Schneider and Sons was a metro Lansing business. I haven’t found out anything else about the company that would allow me to narrow down when the stamp could have been from.

The western stamp.
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E. Kalamazoo St., E.F. Sheets, 1962

I made a mistake in yesterday’s entry, saying that most of the E.F. Sheets stamps are in the Sparrow area north of Michigan. I had forgotten another cluster of them south of there, sprinkled around the Kalamazoo/Prospect/Bingham area. This one is on East Kalamazoo Street between Bingham and Jones. It’s difficult to read but a comparison makes it obvious that it is another E.F. Sheets stamp. What’s curious is the C marked above the name. I thought at first that it was some kind of odd mis-strike, but there are a few others nearby that have the same marking (and yet others that do not). I don’t know what it signifies.

The building it’s in front of is apparently Green Concepts Irrigation and Landscaping, not that one would know by looking at it, as there is no signage. In the 1930s and 40s it was Otto Kopietz’s grocery store. The building was constructed in 1926 and I’m not sure whether Kopietz was the original occupant; the earliest reference I can find to his grocery is from 1930, but no address is given. By 1932 he was definitely at this location and selling liquid malt according to an advertisement in the August 2 Lansing State Journal. While liquid malt can also be used in baking, I can’t help but wonder how many people were using it in home brewing.

The former Otto Kopietz grocery store. One can see how the windows have shrunk since those days. The stamp is on the second closest block.

Unfortunately, I am not able to determine when Kopietz closed up shop, nor what business was at this address in 1962. And yes, that is 1962. The typeface that some of the contractors used in the 1960s for dates is frustratingly curvy and often makes me think 6 and 9 are zero. I initially read this one as “1002” and stood there for a moment perplexed by it.

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Eureka Street, E.F. Sheets, 1962

This is on the south side of Eureka Street between Virginia and Jones. I see these E.F. Sheets stamps here and there, especially in the neighborhood near Sparrow Hospital, north of Michigan. I find it curious that stamps often seem to be more common in some blocks than others.

Unfortunately, and surprisingly, I have not been able to turn up any information at all about E.F. Sheets. I welcome any information any reader may have.

Looking west on Eureka, toward a stretch of scofflaws who have not cleared their damned sidewalks.