Posted on by bunnyhugger

1914 State Journal Editorial

I found this short editorial on page 4 of the the August 7, 1914, State Journal. This was four days prior to the “Bum Walks” city council meeting report that has given me so much joy. Evidently, the subject of sidewalk construction contracts was an ongoing controversy. I will reproduce the article here, as I believe it is out of copyright.

The State Journal‘s recommendation that the city do all of its own sidewalk construction work was clearly not adopted, at least not for long, since otherwise this blog would be 100% Department of Public Works/Department of Public Service/O&M stamps. On the other hand, this has caused me to look over my records and notice that there are certain spans of time in which I do not have any non-DPW stamps recorded. All the stamps I have from 1910 and 1911 are Minnis and Ewer, then I have no stamps collected from 1912 through 1918. The 1918 and 1919 stamps are all DPW, then from 1921 until 1924 there are quite a lot of DPW stamps mixed with a small number of Wm. Meister. Another notable period is 1941 through 1945, during which time all the stamps I collected were DPW.

Posted on by bunnyhugger

Lansing Artificial Stone Co. “Removal Notice”, 1914

It was too hot to go collecting stamps today, so instead I have a news clipping for you. On May 8, 1914, in the State Journal, the Lansing Artificial Stone Co. ran a classified advertisement with a “removal notice.” I had missed this one when doing some research on Lansing Artificial Stone previously. I have to suppose that “removal notice” is a 1910s term for an announcement of moving. Here is the text of the advertisement, in its entirety:

REMOVAL NOTICE We have moved our office to 109 North Cedar first door north of Michigan Ave. Let us give you prices on your sidewalks. Lansing Artificial Stone Co., J. P. Sleight, Prop.

State Journal, May 8, 1914

There is also another removal notice elsewhere in the classifieds, with the same text except that instead of offering prices on sidewalks, it says “We have full line of building material, etc. See us for right prices. Special attention given to farmer trade. Full stock on hand at office warehouse.”

109 North Cedar Street no longer exists; the site is currently a permit parking lot beside the Lansing Center. The latest reference I can find to an establishment at 109 North Cedar (though it may well not have been the same building) is from February 1967, at which time it was… any guesses? I’ll give you a moment. Time’s up, it was a car dealership, specifically England-Cook Chevrolet (subject of the famous book, Unsafe With Any Spice). The Artificial Stone Co. was certainly gone from there by March 1921, replaced by “Cooper-Ehinger Company, Builders of fine homes.” England-Cook was in residence there by 1937.