Posted on by bunnyhugger

S. Francis Ave., Concrete by Thompson, 2004

I was walking on the west side of South Francis Avenue between Marcus and Elizabeth when I spotted a Concrete by Thompson stamp with a reversed date. At first I thought it was one I have featured before, but then I realized I was not on the same street. No, evidently Concrete by Thompson managed to reverse their date stamp at least twice in 2004.

I wonder if these two reversed Thompson stamps were done on the same day. They were done the same year, a few blocks apart in Urbandale, so I can imagine they might have been done one after the other, accounting (somewhat) for the same stamping error.

Looking south on South Francis Avenue.

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

N. Clemens Ave., Concrete by Thompson, 2001

This single stamp on the west side of North Clemens Avenue between Vine and Fernwood is the only one I have found from this contractor so far. Although it’s from 2001, the style of the stamp resembles the style of several of the oldest stamps such as W.H. McKrill, V.D. Minnis, and yesterday’s F.H. Rounsville. Another more recent contractor who uses this style is Able. It’s an appealing look and I appreciate the retro-ness of it.

Concrete by Thompson (as that seems to be their formal name) is, or was, located on Armstrong Road in Lansing, which is on the south side in the Jolly/Pennsylvania area.

Looking south on North Clemens.