On a pleasant early-afternoon walk in search of Halloween decorations, I came across these stamps from a contractor I haven’t noticed before. They are on the west side of Kipling Boulevard between Lasalle and Fernwood. There are two, a short distance apart, which means they probably marked the beginning and end of a section of new concrete.
One of the stamps has a date stamped underneath, though faintly enough that I thought it was undated until I looked at my photo afterward. My phone tends to put a lot of contrast on photos and that popped it out. Curiously, the other stamp has a much clearer but handwritten date.
Yesterday’s O.E. Porter entry reminded me that I had a stamp on my “to do” list – the ones I jot down to return to later – noted as “E. Porter.” I wondered if I had missed a leading O, or if this was a name variation or even a different company. I walked to the west side of Kipling Boulevard, between Michigan and Lasalle, to check it out.
This one is on a house’s front walk. Upon arriving I could see that it was certainly the same contractor and that the lack of the leading “O” is almost certainly just due to it being swallowed up into a pockmark in the concrete. The other one was undated; this one has a date, but it’s worn into illegibility. There really is no guessing a decade. So, sadly, I didn’t learn anything more about O.E. Porter from this visit.
A closer look to try to make out the date. It’s no good; it seems to end in an 0 but that isn’t much help. Why is it always the most important digit that seems to wear out first?
It’s on the font walk of this charming English-cottage-style house.
This stamp is on the west side of Kipling Boulevard, alongside Capital Imaging (which is located on East Michigan Avenue at Kipling). I have previously catalogued a George Hagamier stamp on the same stretch of sidewalk and written a little about the Capital Imaging building in the process.
The southern sidewalk stamp.
Stamp on the driveway.
This is the most recent example I have seen of the “1980s” style DPW stamp, and also therefore the latest use of the “DPW” name. The next style used appears to be the simple “O & M” stamps. Most of those are undated but I have found a few marked as 2005.
There are three stamps, one on either end of a run of sidewalk and one on the driveway in between.
The northern stamp. Looks like they had a false start. I recognize that kind of misprint from my rubber stamping hobbies.
The back corner of Capital Imaging. The southern stamp is by the side door, the northern one is in the foreground here, and the other one is in the middle of the driveway apron.
I was surprised and delighted to find this faint George Hagamier mark on the west side of Kipling Boulevard, alongside Capital Imaging, the commercial printer on the corner of Michigan and Kipling. I considered leaving it until I could come to it in better light, but then I remembered that sometimes streetlights make something more visible, so there would be no guarantee it would look better in daylight. The fact that I have walked this block several times without noticing it suggests that the light must have been lucky, so I decided to grab it now.
I kicked ice away to find a date and was disappointed to see that it was totally illegible. I could just make out the impression of where it would have been, but there is no hope of reading it. It is rare to find especially old stamps on or near Michigan Avenue. They are mostly 1980s through the present. I suppose it’s because the the sidewalks here are replaced a lot more often. The only other George Hagamier stamps I have found so far are from 1929 and 1930. The Capital Imaging building was built in 1926, so perhaps the stamp is from then.
Looking north on Kipling Avenue. The stamp is hard to see here but it is right at the bottom of the picture. Capital Imaging is on the left.
I tried to find out who the original occupant of the building was, and failed. From 1946 until 1998 it was Alexanian’s, a rug dealer. (Old ads state that they have “Oriental and domestic rugs” for sale.) When Alexanian’s moved out, it then became Capital Imaging. But I don’t know who was there from 1929 until 1946.
This one is on the west side of Kipling Boulevard between Michigan and Vine. Not sure why Kipling gets to be a boulevard. Looks like a regular old street to me.
It’s another one of those cryptic stamps, made famous in a couple of past entries. Now, though, I think the first letter is a B rather than the D that I thought I saw before. That doesn’t get me any closer to figuring this one out, though.
