Posted on by bunnyhugger

N. Magnolia Ave., Hosford Bros., undated

On the west side of North Magnolia Avenue between Vine and Fernwood, there are two houses that share a driveway, and on that driveway are three undated Hosford Brothers Inc. stamps (one on each of the three big blocks making it up). Shared driveways are fairly common in my neighborhood, and from reading the various neighborhood social media groups, I have learned that they are an unending source of neighbor disputes. This one looks to have been repaved pretty recently, making me wonder about the logistics of shared driveway projects.

This is the rightmost of the three stamps. They all look pretty much the same, so I figured you didn’t need to see all three.

Hosford Brothers Concrete Inc. is located on Saginaw Highway in East Lansing, at least per their postal address. That actually places them closer to Haslett or Bath. Their Web site is broken but they seem to still be in business, based on recent online reviews. Their Facebook page says they have been in business since 1994.

This is the driveway in question; the photo is facing south down North Magnolia. The driveway looks wide enough for multiple cars, but (as the shrub should make clear) the right side of the pavement is actually serving as a sort of front walk to one of the houses and is not actually part of the driveway.

Posted on by bunnyhugger

N. Magnolia Ave., [Illegible] West, 1954

This tough-to-read stamp is on the west side of North Magnolia Avenue between Vine and Fernwood. I can be fairly confident that the last name is “West,” but what comes before that is illegible. It looks like two initials.

The only lead I have is a series of classified advertisements that ran in the Lansing State Journal in March and May of 1953: “CEMENT – And concrete work… Phone Dick Connick, 97392, or Dick West, 23050.” Searching for references to Dick West in the LSJ are stymied by the existence of a UPI correspondent by that name.

Looking north (and a bit west) on North Magnolia.

Posted on by bunnyhugger

S. Magnolia Ave., Concrete by Thompson, 2004

This stamp is on the west side of South Magnolia Avenue between Marcus and Horton. (It’s just north of where Elizabeth Street would be, if it didn’t disappear for a couple of blocks.) My husband actually found this one first and told me about it, but I forgot where he said it was, and then ended up running across it on my own.

What happened here? Yes, the date was accidentally reversed, but how? This forces me to admit that I have no idea what these stamps actually look like such that it’s possible to reverse them. I always picture something that looks like a branding iron, but then how could this happen?

Looking around a bit, I find this site selling name stamps for contractors. Here’s another example from a different company. The stamps pictured have holes so that a new year stamp can be inserted. That makes sense, but I still don’t see how the date can end up mirrored. The raised numbers are only on one side of the stamp as far as I can tell. Upside-down is a more obvious way this could go wrong.

Looking south on South Magnolia. This is in Urbandale, so of course what’s up ahead is an urban farm.

Posted on by bunnyhugger

H. Plummer, N. Magnolia Ave./Vine St., 1980

Today’s stamps are kitty-corner to each other on the northwest corner of North Magnolia Avenue and Vine Street, meaning that one is really on Magnolia and the other on Vine.

This one almost looks like it says “1960,” but the other one makes the “8” clearer.

H. Plummer can be found advertising concrete work in late 1960s and early 1970s Lansing State Journal classifieds pages. It turns out his name was Henderson Plummer and he lived in Mason, that is, when he lived in Michigan. He seems to have spent at least some of his time in Texas. While trying to find more about him, in hope of turning up a history of his contracting business, I found some pictures of apparent relatives, and was surprised to discover that they were Black and thus he probably was too. I say surprised because so far whenever I have managed to turn up a picture of a contractor featured in the blog it has been a White man. So, it is nice to find some diversity in the business. (I will also be very excited if I ever find a woman, but I’m not holding my breath in the meantime.)

I haven’t found much about Plummer, but I did find this page from a Plummer family reunion newsletter in which he gets a brief mention in “Notes of Interest”:

Henderson Plummer will complete his tour of duty in Texas, where he works on the toll-road in Houston. He will return to his extensive contractor business in Michigan where his family resides.

Reunion News, June 23, 1987, p. 7.

The reference to the contractor business gives me confidence that it is the same Henderson Plummer who had a concrete business in Mason and who poured this sidewalk.

The corner of North Magnolia and Vine.

Posted on by bunnyhugger

N. Magnolia Ave., Dumeney Cont., 1960

This pair of stamps is on the east side of North Magnolia Avenue between Vine and Fernwood. I’ve been striking out a lot recently on identifying contractor histories; I wasn’t able to find anything on Dumeney. It doesn’t help that there was a Gary Dumeney who served as the spokesperson for the Meridian Township Police for many years.

This is the northern stamp. Hard to make the date out on this one.
Easier to make out the date on the southern stamp, but it must be a low area and it’s been raining recently.
Looking north on Magnolia.

Posted on by bunnyhugger

N. Magnolia Ave., Knight & Wilkinson, 1960

This sharp and tidy Knight & Wilkinson stamp is on the east side of North Magnolia Avenue between Michigan and Vine. There are several on this block.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find anything out about Knight & Wilkinson. In the process of not finding anything, I did turn up a very amusing page in the Lansing State Journal promoting the upcoming 1936 city Soap Box Derby. (It just happened to include a kid named Wilkinson.) It’s aimed at kids and includes a hilarious “how do you do, fellow kids” mix of formal diction and trying-too-hard slang. Regarding a film that entrants would receive a ticket to (“Warner Brothers’ latest smash-hit EARTHWORM TRACTOR”) it says, “Then, too, your jovial friend and another favorite of boys and girls, GUY KIBBEE has a big part… Boy! This will sure be one swell treat!”

Looking north on Magnolia.

So, I have nothing to tell you about Knight & Wilkinson, but I can illustrate the kinds of time-eating digressions I end up in while trying to do research for my entries.

Posted on by bunnyhugger

N. Magnolia Ave., Paul Wright, 1952

I found this Paul Wright stamp on the east side of North Magnolia Avenue, a short distance north of Michigan. It’s only just occurred to me to observe that most contractors (based on my experience) put the date below their name, but some put the date above, as in this case.

Mr. Wright must have been at it a while, as in the April 16, 1971, Lansing State Journal classifieds, I find this advertisement: “CEMENT WORK From 6 cents a sq. ft Driveways, patios, sidewalks, etc. Ph Paul Wright, 663-4185. Free estimates.” Earlier references are uncertain. I see various advertisements from 1948 (e.g. November 29) for a Paul Wright offering to haul away rubbish and ashes, and “also trucking.” In an advertisement of December 10, 1954, close to the date of this stamp, I find Paul Wright still engaged in trucking: “PAUL WRIGHT TRUCKING Located directly north of Bancroft park on David St. Call 27123.” I am not sure whether the Paul Wright of the trucking business is the same as the cement contractor.

Looking south on North Magnolia, with Michigan in view.
Posted on by bunnyhugger

N. Magnolia Ave., B.(?) Gordon, 1950

I had been planning to do this one for a while and finally decided to do it this evening, though I got to it in waning light. It’s on the west side of North Magnolia Avenue, just north of Michigan in front of the Spanish Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

This stamp is quite small and located in the lower right corner.

Based on viewing it in better light I believe the year is 1950, which would make it roughly contemporary with (and possibly related to) the building of the church. I am not completely sure about the name. It’s certainly “Gordon” but the first initial could be B or E. In some light it looks more like B.

The Spanish Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

I haven’t had any luck finding out anything about the contractor. I thought I had a lead when I found some 1920s advertisements for the Brown-Gordon Co., but they were advertising delivery of gravel and sand. They show u p again in the October 1, 1955 State Highway Department publication, Compilation of Design and Construction Data for Concrete Pavement on the State Trunkline System. The date was promising, and I was hoping this would reveal them to also be concrete contractors, but no, they are listed only under “Fine Aggregate” and “Course Aggregate.” I suppose it is just a red herring after all.

The stamp in context, near the steps of the church.

Posted on by bunnyhugger

N. Magnolia Ave., O & M, undated

I promised myself I would not stop and look at any interesting stamps tonight because it was already late and I did not have time to go chasing down old newspaper clippings like last night. Unlike last night, this time I was successful reining myself in on my late walk, though I did twice stop and start to go back to look at a stamp, only to immediately turn again, reminding myself I wasn’t going to do that.

So here’s the most boring, dirt-common stamp I could find. Well, no, I tell a lie. It isn’t a Cantu & Sons 1987 stamp. Call it one step more interesting than that, then. It’s an undated O & M stamp, on the west side of North Magnolia Avenue between Michigan and Vine.

This could be any one of a thousand of these, so you’ll have to take my word for it that I didn’t just repeat a past photo.

I just wonder why the city’s Operations and Maintenance division spent so long failing to date their stamps, when it’s required in the city code. It’s odd for the city itself to be such a scofflaw.

The stamp is on the far end of the closest slab shown here, though it’s hard to see because it’s so dark. But at least you can see the neighbor’s giant inflatable Christmas unicorn.
Posted on by bunnyhugger

S. Magnolia Ave., Able, 1986

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.