This hopelessly worn stamp is on a driveway apron on the south side of Prospect Street between Virginia and Holmes. The only part that can be made out is the date, which I am inclined to say is 1952, especially since that’s the year the house was built. I had hoped that I would be able to make something of the contractor name by tweaking the photo, but no luck. The style of the date marking is unfamiliar – it’s larger than most – so I wonder if it is a contractor I haven’t covered in the blog yet. Sadly, I’ll never know.
Would you be able to maybe take a rubbing to try recovering the stamp?
Using foil is less likely to cause wear (I know that’s a hopeless thing to worry about with sidewalks, but I get quixotically protective of these markings) and I’ve thought of trying it in some cases, but I just haven’t had the nerve to kneel in front of someone’s house messing with their sidewalk yet. I admit that’s just timidity on my part. My guess is that in a case like this where it’s been worn down to a very rugged finish it’s probably not going to be visible no matter what I do. Concrete is so pebbly that it gets very rugged when it’s worn, which I think makes it harder to make out than a worn gravestone.