Faygo ghost sign tagged into oblivion

In late 2011 or early 2012, this building abutting a former grocery (now liquor) store in Detroit . . .  

Google Street View  July, 2009: 

Google Street Views July, 2011:

 . . . .  burned to the ground and revealed several vintage signs, dating back to at least the mid-1950s if not the late 1940s or before, including a classic Faygo Orange (far left), and KowalsKi sausage sign (middle, mostly hidden):

The signs after they first appeared in 2012 

To my surprise and delight this Faygo sign looked almost exactly like it did when the adjoining building was constructed:

 Vintage ghost sign as it appeared in early 2012.

According to the Faygo web site, this logo originated in the 1930s and was used into the 1950s. My search for anything with this logo style on it had, until that day, been futile.

I have returned several times since then in hopes that the debris and remnants of the adjoining wall might have been cleared so I could see and photograph the other vintage signs on the wall. On each of those visits I was disappointed - but not surprised - that the rubble remained. I was, however, astounded and extremely relieved to find that the Faygo sign remained untouched. Perhaps, I thought, local vandals and taggers might have spared this priceless classic out of respect for the art and history it represents.

Fast Forward 2 years.

In March 2014 I was nearby again so I drove by, still hopeful that the Faygo sign remained unscathed and the others, by some miracle, might be revealed, too. 

Silly me !

Nothing is sacred, respected, spared or preserved in this town. It just took longer than usual for vandals to find it and destroy it:

 2012

2014 

I have plenty more to say about  #%M*^@&F(#*B%@S&%  like this, but none of it is fit to print. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks . . .

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Bond & Bailey Machining, Detroit

The Bond & Bailey building on W. Fort St. in Detroit is one of my favorite old buildings. I like it because of its unique character, its slight lean, its "ghost" sign on the east wall, and most of all because it is at least 125-130 years old and still being used (I think). I have been unable to learn anything about its history except that Bond & Bailey has been there "since 1948," according to the sign out front.

Bond & Bailey Machining and its neighbor the Detroit Trucking Co. 

building, aka, Don Miller "Land Storage" - May, 2012

 Former Detroit Trucking Co. building - May, 2012

 This neighboring building was constructed (late 1930s - 1940s?) by the Detroit Trucking Co. and was later occupied by Bond & Bailey Machining, and then Don Miller Land Storage. It was still standing in 2012 after being vacant and suffering at least two fires. As you can see it was a mere shell awaiting its dismal fate which was most probably demolition. The only question was, how and when.

The answer came when it burned again (likely due to a scrapper's torch) the afternoon of June 29, 2012, just 40 days after the photos above were taken. After a 2-hour battle the fire was extinguished without injury. The building has since been demolished. 

The late 1800s Bond &Bailey building still stands. These photos show how it looked in 2012:

Bond & Bailey Machining (2012)

A sign on the east wall by the entrance boasting their services (2012)

It was - and still is - comforting in some way to see the little building still there each time I pass by. At the same time, though, I always wonder how much longer it will be there. While this old stalwart still stands it has been, like so many buildings in Detroit, senselessly defaced by tagger vandals. I was furious when I saw it on a drive down Fort Street in July of 2013. Taggers have painted the entire side of the east wall, completely obliterating the terrific old sign:

July, 2013

For what useful purpose was an historic building defaced, and a vintage sign destroyed?

What or who is TAF-TMK, and why should anyone care???

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Lawrence Street Gallery: Best of 2013 Exhbition

I am pleased to have been invited to participate in Lawrence Street Gallery's annual exhibition which showcases the prize-winning artists from their four annual juried shows (Invitational, Figurative, Photography, and Small Works). 

Exhibition organizer Laura Host says, “Just as music, theater, and literature look back on the best of the previous year’s offerings, we at the Gallery have decided to give the public another chance to take a look at the new work of last year’s top picks.”

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I first "discovered" Charles Sheeler (1883-1965) in 2004 when his work was exhibited at the Detroit Institute of Arts. I was - and continue to be - completely captivated by his precision and realism, and how he created art from subjects to which the average person would never give a second glance or thought. To my mind, Sheeler and Edward Hopper were cut from the same cloth.

While he was a painter first, out of neccessity in 1912 he taught himself photography to make a living. He did such a remarkable job learning the craft that it soon became his full-time occupation.  By the 1920s his paintings and photographs received equal recognition. In 1927 Ford Motor Co. commissioned him to do the series of photographs and paintings of the Rouge Steel plant in Dearborn that so enamored me.

His 1939 photographs of the pistons and drive wheels of a New York Central locomotive were used as a reference for "Rolling Power," one of a series of paintings on the theme of power for Fortune magazine in 1940. "Wheels," is basically the same composition as his painting, but the photograph on which it was based no longer exists.

"Rolling Power No.1" is my homage to this master of canvas and camera, and was the inspiration for my subsequent "Iron, Steel, & Steam" series, two of which will also be exhibited. 

Rolling Power No.1

Homage to Charles Sheeler

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 Iron, Steel, and Steam No. 1

(First Place - Exposures: 2013)

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Iron, Steel, and Steam No. 2

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Other participating artists are: 

Jud Coveyou - Ferndale
Suzanne Rock  - Leonard
Mary Ann Rutledge - Sterling Heights
James Ritchie - Northville
Eliza Ollinger - Detroit
Jean Lannen - Bloomfield Township
Peter Tkacz - LaSalle, Ontario,
Janet McCall Rimar - Clarkston
Brant MacLean - Detroit
Jonathon Downing - Carleton
Rosemary Lee - Howell

  

There will be two receptions:

Opening: Friday, January 10,  6 - 9 pm

Mid-Month: Friday, January 24,  6 - 9 pm 

I hope you can join us for one of them.

Regular Gallery Hours are:

Wednesday & Saturday: Noon - 5 pm

Thursday & Friday: Noon - 9 pm

Lawrence Street Gallery:

22620 Woodward Ave.

(1 block south of 9 Mile Rd.)

Ferndale, Michigan

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Packard plant update

The enormous 35-acre Packard site made news throughout 2013. Vagrants caused several fires, and scrappers continued to pick its bones of structural steel causing the collapse of several sections of different buildings. In July Bill Hults, a would-be developer from Chicago, made overtures to purchase the site, but failed to produce the money. 

In October the entire site went on the Wayne County auction block. A high bid of over $6 million dollars was made by a Texas doctor who  put up about $200,000 in earnest money, but ultimately failed to comply with the auction process and forfeited the cash. The property was then awarded to the next highest bidder, who turned out to be the Chicago developer whose bid was $2 million. He put $100,000 down to secure his bid, but again failed to produce the money. The property was then awarded to Fernando Palazuelo, a developer from Peru whose $405,000 bid was the 3rd highest.

Lintel of main entrance to the Packard Motor Car Co.

Detroit

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The photo above was taken just days before the entire entrance facade was removed from the building and shipped to America's Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio. This piece of Detroit's automotive and architectural history may be gone, but it is available to you as a 10" x 20", 12" x 36" or a nearly life-size 20" x 60" canvas gallery wrap photographic print. Each canvas has a solid substrate to prevent warping, is 1 1/4" deep, has a finished back with wall bumpers and hanging hardware already installed.  A "must have" for any Packard owner or enthusiast !

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Michigan Central Depot Centennial

Michigan Central Station

Detroit

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When Detroit's Michigan Central Railroad depot opened a century ago on December 26, 1913,  it was a majestic symbol of the city's grandeur and phenomenal industrial success.

It was the tallest railroad station in the world, and the fourth tallest building in Detroit. The Michigan Central Railroad (a subsidiary of William Vanderbilt's New York Central RR) spent $16 million - about $332 million today - on the new station, office building, yards and the underwater rail tunnel, which opened on Oct. 16, 1910. The cost of the station alone was about $2.5 million ($55 million today).

Today its hollow ruin has become an icon of the city's monumental decline.


From 1884 to 1913 the Michigan Central Railroad operated out of a depot in downtown Detroit at Third and Jefferson. In 1906 the company began constructing a tunnel under the Detroit River to Canada. To meet the demands of its growing business the railroad decided a new and much larger depot should be built nearby and began acquiring property in the Corktown neighborhood in 1908.

The new depot was to be formally opened on January 4, 1914, but a fire broke out at the old depot around 2 p.m. on December 26, 1913. The flames spread and it was quickly determined that the building was no longer usable. To avoid disruption of service, operations were hastily moved to the new building, and at 5:20 p.m. the first train departed for Saginaw and Bay City. An hour later its first inbound train arrived from Chicago.

Seventy-four years later, at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 5, 1988, Amtrak 353 bound for Chicago became the last train to roll out of the once-grand depot.

Its only use in the last quarter century has been to serve as an easel for graffiti vandals, a makeshift shelter for vagrants, a target of scavengers and scrappers who have stripped it of anything and everything of value, a paintball shooting gallery, and an occasional set for apocalyptic films.


Read more about it here:
http://www.historicdetroit.org/building/michigan-central-station/


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Now Showing at Fred's Ice Cream - Northville

Fred's Ice Cream has partnered with State of Mind Gallery and is displaying some of my canvases with a Northville and soda "flavor."

Fred's is a localy-owned family business named after the owners' late father. Most products in the store are from Michigan-based companies, and they serve Hudsonville Ice Cream in homemade waffle cones which are made right in the store!  Fred's fountain fare features floats with Michigan Soda Company flavors, ice cream sundaes, and fresh-fruit blended ice cream. There is also a large selection of Gelato, frozen yogurt and Dippin' Dots, too. Be sure to visit their store, web site, and facebook page.

Upper level of Northville Square
133 W. Main at Wing St.

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 Northville Clock (24 x 30)

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 Vintage Vernor's Bottle Cap  (16 x 16)

 Vintage Vernor's Sign  (12 x 36)

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  Manhole Cover  (24 x 36)

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 Northville Marquis Theatre  (24 x 36)

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New canvas size for Packard plant entrance

In August, 2008 the main entryway facade of Detroit's Packard plant was removed and shipped to America's Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio. At present it has not been reassembled and only the lintel is on display. (Read more about it here.)

Can't or don't want to travel all the way to Dayton, Ohio to see this historic automotive artifact? Now you can enjoy a canvas wrap replica in your office, den, or garage.

Previously only available as a 20" x 60" canvas wrap,

it is now available in a slightly smaller 12" x 36" canvas wrap size.

Signed, 12" high x 36" wide x 1 1/4" deep canvas wrap.

A "must have" for any Packard owner or enthusiast !

Area outside of red rectangle is wrapped around sides.

NOTE: These canvases are printed as they are ordered, so please allow up to 3 weeks for free delivery.

Order yours here

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The Mystery of Novi's Name

Manhole Cover - Novi, Michigan

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 It is documented that the area west of Farmington, Michigan was first settled by Erastus Ingersoll and several other families in April, 1825, one month before the opening of the Erie Canal. But, how Novi's name came to be is shrouded in mystery and myth. One common notion is that this place was the sixth stop, toll gate, or mail drop (No. 6, or, in Roman numerals, No. VI) along a road, railroad. or stagecoach line. This is completely false because the town was named and incorporated in 1830, and Novi's toll road was not built until 1855, and the railroad didn't arrive until 1861.

The story of Novi's name will probably never be determined with any certainty, but it is possible that it may have a Yugoslavian connection. In 1936 Novi officials received a letter from the Yugoslavian Consulate in Chicago saying many people in Yugoslavia knew of the town called Novi in Michigan. The letter related a romantic legend of a young soldier who fled to the U. S., and that his heartbreaking tale of lost love had influenced the selection of the name. 

There is no documentation to corroborate this tale, but there may be a grain of truth in it. In the 1990s a Novi News reporter was vacationing in Croatia and took it upon himself to investigate a possible connection. He found no concrete clues to the city's name, but did find that the names of a large number of cities in the area began with "Novi," which translates to "new." Like the colonials who named their settlements New York, New Jersey, etc. in tribute to the home they left for a new beginning, this might also have been the case for Novi.

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Home of the Novi Special

Novi, Michigan

Water tower commemorating the legendary 1948
  No. 54 Novi Special.

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The Novi became an Indy icon without ever winning the Indianapolis 500.

In 1938 Indy implimented international Grand Prix rules permitting displacements of 4.5L naturally aspirated or 3.0L supercharged engines. Brothers Ed and Bud Winfield, makers of racing carburetors, wanted to build an Indy car for the new formula. Lewis Welch of Novi, Michigna, who made Ford parts and rebuilt Ford engines, sponsored them.

Welch wanted a V8, and asked that it be named after his home town of Novi. In 1940 a 3.0L supercharged Novi engine was designed by Leo Goosen, America's only full-time racing engine designer. It was built in legendary racing engine builder Fred Offenhauser's shop.

Almost miraculously, the Novi engine was ready for the 1941 race. It was rated at 450 horsepower when a typical Offenhauser had 300 hp. The front-drive Novi was always heavy, thirsty and hard on tires. It qualified in 28th place at 120.5 mph. Ralph Hepburn finished 4th in the race without any trouble. 

When racing resumed after WW II in 1945, Welch had Goosen design a new front transaxle that allowed lower engine mounting. Frank Kurtis produced a new chassis and a low, sleek body, and the car, not just the engine, was now called the Novi. Hepburn qualified for the 1946 Indy 500 in the Novi Governor Special at 134.2 mph. No car had ever done more than 131 mph. 

Despite being placed 19th on the grid because of late qualifying, the Novi was thought to be a sure winner. Hepburn led the pack by lap 12, but brake problems caused a long pit stop on lap 56 and he dropped to 13th position. He fought his way back up to 4th place, but a broken valve knocked him out of the race on lap 122.

The two Novi Governor Mobile Specials qualified in 1947. One broke a piston on Lap 62, and the other finished fourth. 

Tragedy struck in 1948, when one of the Novi Grooved Piston Specials hit the wall in qualifying, killing Hepburn, thereafter branding the Novi as jinxed. Dennis (Duke) Nalon took over and qualified fastest at 131.7 mph. Nalon drove well, but could only finish third because of a refuelling glitch. It would be the Novi's best finish. 

In 1949 Nalon qualified first and Rex Mays second but the jinx struck again when Mays' engine failed and Nalon hit the wall during the race. The Novis failed to qualify in 1950 but were back for 1951, when Nalon broke all records, gaining the pole at 136.7 mph. Chet Miller's Novi also qualified but neither of the cars finished. 

Nalon and Miller returned in 1952, with Miller stunning Indy with a fastest-ever 139.1 mph qualifier. However bad luck struck again with both Novis breaking their supercharger driveshafts during the race. As a result, stronger supercharger drives were installed and the inter coolers removed on both cars for the next season. 

Miller was killed in 1953 when he hit a wall while attempting to qualify at 140 mph. This took the heart out of the team. Nalon qualified, but he was never a contender, and spun out on lap 191. This would be the last race for a front-drive car at Indy as the Novis failed to qualify in both 1954 and 1955.  

For 1956, the Novi engines were fitted to a Kurtis rear- drive chassis. New rules in 1957 reduced displacement to 2.7L. Many modifications were tried, but in 1961, after 20 years of attempting to win at Indy, Lou Welch sold the Novi assets to Andy Granatelli of Studebaker's Paxton supercharger and STP additive divisions. 

Granatelli and his crew squeezed more than 700 hp out of the Novi but still failed to win. In 1964 Granatelli switched from front to four-wheel drive which proved inconclusive - and moot. The advent of new, stickier tires and the change to rear-engined cars made four-wheel drive unnecessary.

The Novis did not finish in 1964 or '65, and failed to qualify in 1966, ending the exciting but ill-fated Novi's odyssey that had promised so much but delivered so little.



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Vintage 1950s Stroh's Beer bottle cap

Vintage 1950s Stroh's Beer bottle cap.

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A brief corporate history of Stroh's:

- Bernard Bernhardt Stroh 1850-1882 Lion Brewing Co.

- B. Stroh Brewing Co. 1882-1902

- The Stroh Brewery Co. 1902-1919

- Brewery operations shut down by Prohibition in 1920 and operated as The Stroh Products Co. 1920-1933

- The Stroh Brewery Co. 1933-2000

- Purchased and operated Goebel Brewing Co. 1964-1985

- Purchased by Pabst and dissolved in 2000



Canvas wrap 16"h x 16" w x 1 1/4 deep.
Finished back, with wall bumpers and ready to hang.

Other sizes available:
20x20
24x24
30x30
36x36


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Vintage 1940 Goebel Beer bottle cap

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Goebel Brewing Co. was established in 1873 in Detroit, Michigan. Production expanded after prohibition and in 1946 they purchased the Grand Rapids Brewing Company in Muskegon and operated it from 1946-1957. Goebel purchased the Detroit brewery Koppitz-Melchers in 1947 and operated it until 1958.

In an attempt to expand westward, the Golden West Brewery in Oakland, California was purchased in 1950. Success was artificially supported by the Korean War and west coast operations ceased in 1955, ending the quest to become a national brand. The Stroh Brewery Co. in Detroit bought the brand in 1964, and was itself later purchased by Pabst.

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Canvas wrap 16"h x 16" w x 1 1/4 deep.
Finished back, with wall bumpers and ready to hang.

Other sizes available:
20x20
24x24
30x30
36x36

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Vintage 1940s Pfeiffer bottle cap

Vintage 1940s Pfeiffer's Beer bottle cap

featuring Johnny Fifer.

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Pfeiffer Brewing Co. was founded by Conrad Pfeiffer in 1889 and operated continuously in Detroit (with the exception of Prohibition) until 1968. In the 1954 Pfeiffer acquired the Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company of St. Paul, Minnesota. The Flint plant was closed in 1958, but in an attempt to become a regional brand Pfeiffer purchased the E&B Brewing Company including its brands Weidemann and Frankenmuth and renamed itself Associated Brewery Co. in 1962.


Further mergers aquisitions included Drewerys in South Bend, Indiana and Chicago; Sterling in Evansville, Indiana; and Piel with plants in New York and Massachusetts. Associated was headquartered in Detroit and Pfeiffer Beer was still brewed there along with such old favorites as Frankenmuth, Schmidt and North Star. Pfeiffer was also brewed in St. Paul, Minnestoa during this time,
.

Because of its growing debt and an increase in state excise tax from $1.25 / bbl to $6.61 / bbl, Associated found it was cheaper to brew in Indiana and closed the Detroit Pfeiffer brewery in 1966.


Associated Brewing continued producing Pfeiffer Beer until 1972 when it sold all its brands to other brewers. The former Pfeiffer Brewing Company was renamed the Armada Corporation (the name hinting at its former dominance in the market place) and it remains in business to this day as a holdings company in the Penobscot building in Detroit.

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Canvas wrap 16"h x 16" w x 1 1/4 deep.
Finished back, with wall bumpers and ready to hang.

Other sizes available:
20x20
24x24
30x30
36x36



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Vernor's Ginger Ale - Deliciously Different!

Vintage 1950s-60S Vernor's Ginger Ale bottle cap.

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According to legend, before James Vernor left Detroit to serve in the Civil War, he stored some of his experimental ginger ale in an oak cask. When he returned four years later, he opened the cask and found that the drink had been changed by the aging process, tasting even better than it had before. He declared the ginger ale to be “Deliciously Different,” which became one of the many slogans for the drink such as "Flavor Aged" and "Aged in Wood."



Canvas wrap 16"h x 16" w x 1 1/4 deep.
Finished back with wall bumpers, ready to hang.

Other sizes available:
20x20
24x24
30x30
36x36

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Better Made Sign - 16x16 Canvas

Home of Better Made Potato Chips

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.

Canvas wrap 16"h x 16" w x 1 1/4 deep.
Finished back with wall bumpers, ready to hang.

(Red Border is wrapped on the sides of the canvas.)

Other sizes available:
20x20
24x24
30x30
36x36


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The Eyrie @ Depot Town, Ypsilanti, Michigan

The Eyrie

50 East Cross Street

​Ypsilanti, Michigan 48198

I'm proud to announce that my work is now available at  The Eyrie, just west of the Eastern Michigan University campus in Ypsilanti's historic Depot Town. Janette Rook's new shop features local and Michigan-made artwork and accessories, as well as unique home decor, seasonal potted plants and garden treats. 

Read more about Janette's new venture in The Eastern Echo, the student-run newspaper and website of Eastern Michigan University.

Tue-Sat: 11AM - 7PM

Sun: 11AM - 4PM

Mon: Closed

  info@theeyrie.net

  734-340-9286

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