This is just another L & L stamp; at least, I assume so, though they seem to have lost the ampersand this time. The truth is that the other stamp I photographed on tonight’s walk turned out to be one I had done before (which I am now fairly sure is 1952 rather than 1957 by the way), so I have to deploy a less interesting backup. My walks have been limited due to my recent surgery and tonight I had to walk after sunset, so you’ll take this L & L stamp and you’ll like it.
This is near the driveway that leads behind 1700 East Michigan Avenue from the east side of Shepard St. It’s alongside the vacant commercial building that until recently, and for years, was Discount One Hour Signs.
This Department of Public Works stamp is on the west side of Regent Street between Kalamazoo and Elizabeth (400 block). It’s a typical 1940s DPW stamp, quite worn. The date is hard to read and apparently harder to photograph.
That one isn’t too interesting on its own. What’s interesting is the matching one adjacent to it on the driveway apron of the property (see below).
This one is placed diagonally on the corner of the driveway apron, and the date is a lot clearer. This is interesting to me because although I’ve seen driveway aprons with stamps here and there, this is the first one I’ve noticed with a DPW stamp. I’m surprised that the DPW would have been involved in replacing someone’s driveway apron, unless some kind of city work is what caused it to need replacement.
Looking north on Regent Street. The closest sidewalk slab has the stamp, plus the driveway of course.
This corner-placed stamp is on the west side of South Hayford Avenue midway between Prospect and Michigan. The contractor is definitely Smith, probably O.M. [something] Smith, and tentatively O.M. Smith. It does look like an M to me. There is another similar stamp on this block but unfortunately the second letter on that one is at least as worn. Although at first glance this looks like 1982, closer inspection shows it is 1962. (I find that is often a hazard of the fonts they like to use for numbers; they tend to have a highly curved 6.)
I haven’t been able to find anything out about the contractor. I can find from the Lansing State Journal that an O.M. Smith was living in Lansing in the 1940s, but nothing about a cement business. Perhaps I’m wrong about it being O.M. Or perhaps I just haven’t done enough research yet. (I can’t help thinking of the character One Million, who goes by “O.M.,” from the Rankin-Bass special Rudolph’s Shiny New Year.)
Looking south on South Hayford.
A tween-aged kid was practicing basketball solo in his driveway, making a go at doing flashy moves like spinning around as he approached the basket. I glanced away as I passed in order to avoid embarrassing him but honestly it was pretty endearing. It reminded me of my brother messing around on his skateboard when we were that age. You can make out just his legs in my photo above.
Update 3/21/21: I now know that it is O.V. Smith, as I happened across his name in the classifieds while research a different contractor!
This Able variation is on the west side of South Magnolia Avenue just south of Prospect. Their name at the time had a more generalist sound to it, versus the current moniker of “Able Concrete.”
The southern stamp, which is the one I found first.
I know now to look for a paired stamp and I found one a little way north, but both were facing in the same direction. Usually the paired stamp is facing the opposite way.
The northern stamp.
This got me wondering. Cantu & Sons has the greatest representation on the east side, hands down. But who covers the greatest span of time? I have found an Able stamp as recent as 2004 and now as early as 1986.
Looking south on Magnolia. The southern of the two stamps is visible.
Here is another one of those mysterious “BdWL” marks. There are a couple of them along this block. This one is on the west side of South Magnolia Avenue, just north of Prospect Street.
Yes, yes, I know, another Cantu & Son(s). But this one is notable for being the most recent one I have found. It’s actually a pair of them, on the north side of Prospect Street just west of Fairview.
The eastern stamp.
The style is the same as the ubiquitous 1987-88 stamps except for the handwritten date.
This DPW variation can be found on the west side of South Magnolia Avenue a short distance south of Michigan Avenue. It is alongside the Hot Water Works hot tub dealer.
No “Lansing” this time, just DPW. I like the design. I always think outlined stamps look smart. I still hope to narrow down when they quit using DPW (or DPS?) and switched to the undated O&M stamps.
This is an unusual Cantu & Sons variation on the south side of Prospect Street just east of the intersection of South Clemens. While I was taking the photo, a car pulled up at the stop sign. I tried to act nonchalant, like I was just checking my texts or something, since I’m always worried someone is going to start asking me what I think I’m doing taking photos of neighborhood streets. But alas, I could hear over my earbuds that the driver, an older man with white hair, was talking to me. I pulled my earbuds out and he was asking me, “Is it an old one?”
I was surprised, but I suppose it was bound to happen eventually that someone would actually know what it was I was after. I explained that it was undated but a variation I hadn’t seen before, and he told me there was a very old one “up that way,” meaning north on Clemens. From the 1920s, he thought. “Oh yeah,” I said, “I think I know the one you mean. It’s 1922 Department of Public Works.” He declared that he thought I was right. I shared with him that the oldest one I’d ever seen was from 1907. After he left I walked away amused with myself for having come across as a human gazetteer of east side sidewalk stamps. A few minutes later I realized that it would have been even more impressive if I had remembered the date right.
Here is a rare Cantu stamp that isn’t from the 1987-88 swarm, on the east side of South Clemens Avenue between Prospect and Kalamazoo. This one is just Cantu and Son. Evidently only one son had thus far joined the business.
It is difficult to read the date, and the photo doesn’t do much to make it clearer, but close inspection leads me to be pretty sure it is 1980.
Surprise! I felt up to a short walk after all, so here’s a bonus entry. This is on the west side of South Magnolia Avenue between Michigan and Prospect.
There is a date in the lower right corner, but no name anywhere that I can see. Although scofflaws who stamp a name without a date are fairly common, this is the only date without a name I have seen. I know it’s possible for the name to wear away faster than the date, presumably when the mark is made more shallowly for some reason, but if there was ever one here it is completely gone.
Looking north on Magnolia.
Update 12/20/20: I now know that the Board of Water and Light usually stamps “BWL” in the lower left and a date in the lower right. The date style seems to match theirs. So, my guess on further consideration is that this is a BWL stamp and I missed the mark in the shadow. In fact, I have walked this block in daylight and I am pretty sure I remember a BWL stamp in this vicinity, so that is probably what this is. I’ll have to check again sometime.
