This is the next house east from my last entry, also on the south side of Prospect between Clifford and Lathrop, also on the driveway apron. It would be nice to think that perhaps they were doing all the driveways around this time and therefore I could date the eternally undateable William Haskins, but sadly I find it doubtful. The style of the Haskins stamps just doesn’t suggest 1980s to me.
I saw this BBRPCI stamp on the east side of Jones Street, between Kalamazoo and Prospect, on my walk tonight. It’s not very interesting. There are similar ones all over the neighborhood, and I’ve covered lots of them in the blog. It’s definitely not the most interesting stamp in the vicinity, since there is a Minnis and Ewer stamp dated June 1910 one lot north.
But this is the real reason I stopped here for photos. The rambling old house this stamp is in front of – while checking the address in the city’s property records, I noticed it was built in 1898 – is decorated to the nines for Halloween. The big street tree out front is festooned with caution tape and haunted by a black-cloaked phantom. There are decorations on the porch and on the adjacent yard (the house seems to be on a double lot). I wish people on my block decorated, but I’m the only person who does much.
Here, enjoy a few photos.
I try to walk different streets throughout the spooky season in search of decorations I haven’t seen yet, and this was a new display to me. When I walk around this neighborhood, I usually stay on Prospect and miss anything south of there, so I’m glad I tried checking some of the north/south streets for displays. I also found a nice one on Virginia.
I made a foray into the Potter-Walsh neighborhood today and found this stamp on the west side of Shepard Street between Malcolm X and Walsh. Yes, I know, this blog is lousy with Cantu stamps, but it’s a variation I haven’t shown before, one that seems rare in the neighborhoods I normally walk.
This variation is the only one so far that includes a city, East Lansing. The current company, Cantu Builders, is located in Lansing. They apparently had added a second son to the business by 1984. The earliest stamp variation I’ve found is from 1980 and reads “Cantu & Son”, singular.
It’s a little hard to read but this is L & L Construction, Holt. I like the oval. I believe it says 1984; it looks like they decided to just have a stamp for the decade and write in the last number. Maybe Cantu and Sons should have considered that approach. L & L seems to still be in business, but as they don’t have a Web site I can’t say much more about them.
This slab is actually a curb cut on the southeast corner of Shepard and Kalamazoo. It’s in front of this building, which used to be a halal market.
The storefront has been unoccupied for years and the building is a deteriorating eyesore. I was surprised to notice a light on, meaning someone still lives in the upstairs apartment. I wouldn’t want to walk out on that suspiciously saggy-looking balcony.