Vernor's - Deliciously Different

Vernor's ghost sign

Westland, Michigan

The 2006 demolition of a building adjacent to what was then Westland Hardware on Joy Rd. at Inkster Rd. revealed this long-forgotten, but well preserved Vernor's sign. The J&M Market telephone number (GArfield-2) and the fact that the Vernor's name still had an apostrophe, date this sign to the mid-1950s. (The apostrophe was gone from Vernor's products by the end of that decade.)
 

The Founder

Born in Albany, New York in 1843, James Vernor moved to Detroit as a small child with his parents. In 1858 he got a job at Higby & Stern's drug store where he learned the business, became a pharmacist. Vernor experimented with various flavored waters and drinks to serve at the soda fountain in the store. One particular concoction was stored in a keg in the basement just before he enlisted in the 4th Michigan Cavalry as a Union hospital steward in 1862. 

He was promoted to 2nd Lt. and served to the end of the Civil War. His unit, the 4th Michigan Cavalry, was in several battles and is credited with capturing Confederate President Jefferson Davis as he attempted to escape. Vernor was discharged from the Army in 1865 and returned to Detroit and the pharmacy business. In 1866 he opened his own pharmacy on Woodward at Clifford in downtown Detroit. He also opened the keg that had been stored for four years. Vernor declared it to be "deliciously different" and ginger ale was born. For years, the fountain at James Vernor's pharmacy was the only place one could buy a Vernors. But demand for the drink continued to grow and soon soda fountains throughout the city began selling cold, carbonated Vernors.

The Family

In 1873 he married Emily Walker Smith. Their son James II, who was born in 1877, joined his father in the operation of the company. Demand for Vernor's ginger ale grew at such a rate that in 1896 they closed the drug store to produce ginger ale full time. James Vernor Sr. was one of the original members of the Michigan Board of Pharmacy, formed in 1887, and was very proud of holding License #1 throughout his life.

The Fame

As Vernor's Ginger Ale became wildly popular throughout Michigan and as far as Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo and Niagara Falls, James the younger's marketing genius made tremendous profits for the company, especially during prohibition. When other soft drink concerns went bankrupt during the great depression, Vernor's made millions of dollars.

Eventually the Vernors Company would open a bottling plant on Woodward south of Jefferson Avenue to handle its expanding demand. This riverfront landmark became a favorite stop for locals and tourists alike in the 1940s. Here one could sip a fresh Vernors for only a nickel and watch as it was being produced.

 James Sr., James II, & James III

 James Sr. served on the Detroit City Council for 25 years and on several civic and philanthropic organizations. He remained president of the Vernor Company until his death at age 84 from pneumonia and influenza on October 29, 1927 when his son succeeded him. James II led the firm through World War II and served as president until his death at age 77 on April 11, 1954.

James Vernor III, attended Cranbrook School and Culver Military Academy. After graduating 2nd in his class from Culver he enrolled at Michigan State University. When World War II broke out he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves and assigned to the Coast Artillery. He served in the Aleutians until September 1945 and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He joined Vernor's as Vice President but did not long survive his father and died on April 9, 1957. James Vernor Davis, James Jr.'s nephew became president of Vernor's.

Evolution

In 1966, the Vernor family sold the company to an outside investment group. Subsequently, the company was acquired by American Consumer Products and, later, by United Brands. Vernors returned to the ownership of a soft drink company when A&W Beverages, Inc. purchased The Vernors Company in 1987.

Today, Vernors is part of Plano, Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group, an integrated refreshment beverage business marketing more than 50 beverage brands throughout North America.

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Faygo - a Detroit Original

 A building abutting a liquor store in Detroit was burned or otherwise destroyed recently and revealed this Faygo sign from the 1950s or possibly the 1940s. According to the Faygo web site, this logo style dates to the 1930s and was used into the 1950s.

Russian bakers Ben and Perry Feigenson founded Faygo in 1907. The original Faygo pop flavors were based on their own cake frosting recipes.

Here's the building before it was destroyed.

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September 11

September 11, 2001

This first-hand account is required reading for me every year.

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Car Wash Cafe

Car Wash Cafe

Detroit, Michigan

Part of a mural on E. Jefferson Ave.advertising
the neighboring Car Wash Cafe at Meldrum St.

This quirky enterprise was home to a car wash, an ice cream parlor & cafe, a junk museum and, often hosted music from DJs or bands, and owned by Larry Meeks, whose Harbortown Garage was nearby. Unfortunately, on April 29, 2010 Mr. Meeks suffered a fatal heart attack leaving his faithful fans of funk shocked and dismayed. The place sat vacant until early in 2012 when all vestiges of the cafe were removed. The mural above has since been unceremoneously and insultingly painted Rust-Oleum Red.

Below is how it looked to the Google Street View driver in July, 2009. 

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Michigan Theatre

Michigan Theatre

Ann Arbor

It took nearly three decades to remove the many "improvements" imposed upon the building during the 1950s, and '60s. Now Ann Arbor's beloved 1928 theatre has been restored to its original glory, complete with a this new marquee which is somewhat larger, but very similar to the original.


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Goodrich De Luxe

De Luxe Truck Tires

Detroit, Michgian

Goodrich ghost sign in downtown Detroit.
The bottom line used to say "Best In The Long Run".

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J. L. Hudson Co. - World's Largest Flag

World's Largest Flag

J. L. Hudson Co. - Detroit

Flag Day,  ca. 1956

On Armistice Day 1923, Hudson's unveiled an enormous American flag on the Woodward Avenue side of the store. It measured 90 ft. high x 230 ft. long with eight-foot wide stripes and five and half-foot stars.

Along with its regular Flag Day, 4th of July and Armistice (later Veterans') Day duty in Detroit, the flag was hung on the west facade of the U.S. Capitol Building in 1929, and displayed at the 1939 New York World's Fair before it was retired in 1949.

A larger flag debuted in 1950. Measuring 104 ft. x 235 ft., the new flag weighed 1,600 pounds, used 2,038 yards of wool, covered seven stories of the Hudson building and required 55 men to hang it.

In 1960, to mark the statehood of Alaska and Hawaii the previous year, six seamstresses were required to construct the new 50-star field. Each star was 6 feet high, the stripes were 8 feet wide, and mile of rope held the flag in place. The huge flag was last displayed in 1976 to commemorate the nation's bicentennial. It was then retired and donated to the Smithsonian Institution, which gave it to the American Flag Foundation.

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Update
I have just received further information about the fate of the Hudson's flag from Michael Hauser:

The American Flag Foundation received permission from Target Corporation (then owner of Hudson's, Dayton's and Marshall Field's) to destroy the flag.  It had deteriorated badly.

The Smithsonian kept the flag in storage, but never publicly displayed it, as it was simply too large.

In 2003, Target Corporation commissioned a new American flag to be displayed at Marshall Field's State Street flagship store in Chicago.  It is 5,000 square feet and measures 50 feet by 100 feet.  It was flown in the north wing of the State Street store and pretty much hung from the 11th floor down to the tops of the fragrance showcases on the 1st floor.

Mr. Hauser is co-author of these fine books:

• Hudson's: Detroit's Legendary Department Store
• Remembering Hudson's:: The Grand Dame of Detroit Retailing
• 20th-Century Retailing in Downtown Detroit

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Cas Bar

 Cas Bar

Detroit, Michgian

Vintage neon sign on Michigan Ave., Detroit.

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Jimi's

Jimi's Ice Cream Pallis

Royal Oak, Michigan

Unfortunately the "Pallis" is closed so the sign, which seems to be in great shape, isn't illuminated any more. The owner said he might reopen it next summer.




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Dairy Treat

Dairy Treat

Detroit, Michigan

Vintage neon sign at the now-closed Dairy Treat on Mack Ave.

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Easy Street

Everyone wants to live on Easy Street !

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Better Made

Home of Better Made

Gratiot Ave., Detroit. 

(I have no idea what "Guest Quality" means.)
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On August 1, 1930 Cross Moceri and Peter Cipriano started the the Cross and Peters Co. Their goal was to make a better potato chip, hence the name Better Made.


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Awrey gone awry

Awrey Bakery

Livonia, Michigan

The Awrey Bakery and outlet store in Livonia, Michigan are still operating, but this landmark sign has been sadly neglected. Much of the neon is out and the windmill vanes no longer turn.

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Awrey Bakeries got its start in 1910 when Fletcher and Elizabeth Awrey left Canada and moved to Detroit looking for work in the auto industry.

To help make ends meet, Elizabeth Awrey began baking breads and pies in her wood-fired oven and selling them to neighbors, which her three sons — Elton, Wilbur and Thomas — would deliver. As business boomed, the Awreys opened a retail outlet in 1914 on Tireman and Epworth near West Grand Blvd. in Detroit, where the firm's first "volume baking" began.

The next four decades saw Awrey expand from a home-based business into a large enterprise with commercial bakery facilities, home delivery, and 91 stores by 1940. After WW II Awrey's growth resumed aided by the increasing popularity of supermarkets. By 1950 the company had 120 locations, including both individual stores and supermarket concessions, and its home delivery service. Increased success required increased capacity, and a new bakery and headquarters was built in Livonia in 1967. In 1969 the entire operation was moved there and the Tireman plant was closed.

By 1990 Awrey's food service business accounted for 70% of total revenues, with retail sales contributing one-quarter and contract baking making up the remainder. The company had 700 food service distributors and a national network of brokers that distributed its products to institutional accounts such as hospitals, schools, and restaurants. The retail line was distributed in southeastern Michigan to stores that ranged from major supermarket chains to small independent grocers.

Unfortunate changes in management and strategies led to a decline in business which resulted in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005. The sale out of bankruptcy in 2008, enabled Awrey to repay its creditors at 98 cents on the dollar from proceeds.

Awrey survived the turmoil and continued operations. The brand celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010.


UPDATE:  Financial trouble again threatened Awrey's existence in late 2012, but a last-minute purchase by Minnie Marie Bakers saved the 103-year-old brand from oblivion in February, 2013. Read more here.



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Kern's Clock

Kern's Dept. Store Clock

Detroit, Michigan

When Kern's department store was built on Woodward Ave. in 1929 its famous clock was installed above the store's main entrance at the corner of Woodward and Gratiot. In the early 1940s the clock was mounted on a pole on the sidewalk near the entrance as can be seen in this 1945 photo by Detroit Free Press photographer, Tony Spina.

The store closed on December 23, 1959 and sat derelict for several years. In preparation for the building's demolition in 1966 the clock was removed and put in storage. In the 1970s  it was returned to the corner of Woodward and Gratiot near the J. L. Hudson Co. store. It was again removed and put in storage for safekeeping before the Hudson's building on the next block was demolished in 1998.

In 2003 Compuware, which now occupies the Kern's site, had the historic clock restored and mounted on this granite sidewalk pedestal near its original location on the corner of Woodward and Gratiot Avenues.



Read more about the Ernst Kern Co.

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8-Wood Motel

8-Wood Motel

Ferndale, Michigan

On the north side of Eight Mile Rd. (yep, the one in the movie of the same name) at Woodward across the border from Detroit. In this joint I wouldn't be surprised if they have an unpublished hourly rate, but doubt there's much  demand for HBO.

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