I went out in search of Halloween decorations on my walk tonight and I found lots of them in the blocks east of Sparrow. It gave me a nice little bit of Halloween spirit in a year where I haven’t gotten to do much. Anyway, I found this L & L “curb walk” on the east side of North Holmes Street between Vine and Jerome.
The house next door to this one also has a curb walk, although most of the houses on this block do not.
I have cleared up the mystery regarding the initial before “Gossett” on those Regent Street stamps: it is definitely “C”. I found this very clear example on the south side of Fernwood Avenue a short distance west of the intersection of North Hayford.
C. Gossett must have been in business at least a little while, as I found a classified advertisement in the October 29, 1949, Lansing State Journal: “Building, repairs, concrete work, and basements sealed.” Unfortunately, nothing else is given besides the name and a phone number.
These stamps are on the east side of North Clemens Avenue between Jerome and Vine. There are two of them, a few slabs apart, facing in opposite directions. There is also one more that I know of on Clemens a short way south of these.
I haven’t been able to find out anything about T.E. Little. I did find a couple of references to a Mr. and Mrs. T.E. Little in The Lansing State Journal‘s society pages in the 1940s and 50s, but I can’t say if it is the same T.E. Little or not.
I know what you’re thinking. “Another Cantu & Sons stamp?” Look, if I published Cantu & Sons stamps in proportion to how common they are, this would just be a Cantu blog with occasional impurities. As I’ve said before, Cantu stamps are by far the most common stamps on the east side.
This variant Cantu & Sons stamp is on the north side of East Kalamazoo Street between Fairview and Magnolia. The most common Cantu stamps are the 1987-88 stamps that just read “Cantu & Sons.” The next most common are the ones from prior to that, reading “Cantu & Sons Cement Cont.” This rather faint one adds “Cantu & Sons Const” to the mix. Unfortunately, it’s undated.
This 1941 Department of Public Works stamp is decades older than the building that currently occupies the address. It’s on the south side of East Michigan Avenue, just west of the intersection of Francis and Michigan. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to readily locate information about what was at that address prior to the current building’s construction in 1970. Given what I’ve come to learn about Eastmost, it was probably a car lot. In decades past, it seems that this was the car dealer district.
I have a sentimental attachment to this building because it used to be Fish & Chips, a former Arthur Treacher’s that decided to keep going after the chain pulled out. It still had the old IN and OUT signs, the big lantern, and some of the menu boards. Just the name “Arthur Treacher’s” had been removed from the signage. I loved their fries and hush puppies.
Fish & Chips finally closed up shop in 2018, lasting about ten years past the point when I kept thinking it would surely close anytime now (but then thought maybe it never would). For a short while afterward it was Lee Lee’s Coney Island, and now is Amanecer Mexicano. I haven’t tried it, though I hear it is good. I just can’t get past wishing it was still what it used to be, and missing those hush puppies every time I walk by.
This is a first for this blog: this stamp is not within the city limits of Lansing. It is just barely inside the convoluted borders of Lansing Charter Township. More specifically, it is on the north side of East Michigan Avenue between the two US-127 overpasses, just east of Feldman Chevrolet. S & N Contractors stamps are present at intervals all the way under both overpasses. There must have been a big overpass construction project in 2000. I have a very vague memory of the freeway being closed for a stretch when I was new in town, so that lines up.
I believe that S & N Contractors is most likely the one that was once located on Lansing Road, with a Charlotte address but located closer to Dimondale. OpenCorporates gives their dissolution date as 2005. I notice that the State of Michigan Department of Transportation’s materials source guide dated March 2014 lists them as an approved supplier. I don’t know whether or not that means they were still around in some form by then. In any case, they no longer seem to be in business.
This BBRPCI stamp is on the west side of North Foster Avenue between Michigan and Vine. There are lots and lots of these around the East Michigan Avenue corridor, many from the 1980s.
Yeah, yeah, I know. They can’t all be exciting. I was working late today and didn’t have time to seek out something novel (and well-lit after sunset) on my walk.
This B.F. Churchill stamp is on the west side of the 200 block of Shepard Street, between Kalamazoo and Stanley Court. I have become convinced that both the Churchill stamps I have found are dated 1908 even though, as noted in my entry on the one on Regent Street, this doesn’t seem to make sense of the personal history of Churchill as I understand it. Both have a month as well as a year, something that seems more typical of the earliest stamps I have found. The “AP” of “APRIL” is very faint; I couldn’t see it in person, but with the contrast turned up a bit in this photo I can just make it out.
I’m hoping I may still find more B.F. Churchill stamps to give a greater sample of years.
These two stamps are located on the east side of North Foster Avenue just north of Michigan Avenue, beside The Tattoo Shop (which is on the corner of Foster and Michigan). They are several slabs apart, facing in opposite directions.
There are several B Traverse stamps on this block, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything about B Traverse. I have found one classified advertisement from them in the October 1, 1961, Lansing State Journal, offering cement work. But my knowledge of B Traverse ends there.
When I first started this blog, one of my early curiosities was how they decided which direction to face the stamps. Since then I have noticed a pattern wherein if there are two stamps from the same contractor in the vicinity, they will be facing in opposite directions. I have come to realize that they probably mark the beginning and end of a stretch of pavement installed at the same time.
I don’t know what to make of this one I stumbled across on my walk tonight. It’s on the west side of South Magnolia Avenue between Michigan and Prospect, close to the corner of Prospect.
My first thought was that the “BWL” makes me think of the Board of Water and Light. Is that “d” looking character some sort of shorthand for “of”? It’s not one I recognize, but maybe. But why wouldn’t there also be a mark for “the” in that case?
