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| Discuss Detroit Discussions with a focus on the fabulous Detroit - Windsor metropolis. |
November 12th, 2009, 08:54 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Woodward Avenue, 1915
Another absolutely amazing photo provided by the fantastic "Shorpy" web site at http://www.shorpy.com/node/7136?size=_original
Looking up Woodward Avenue from around old City Hall in 1915. How wonderful it was!
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November 12th, 2009, 09:25 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Great photo. I love the banner on the Hudson's building: "Hudson's Grows With Detroit." It also shrinks!
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November 13th, 2009, 05:13 AM
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Jaw-dropping and extraordinary-- a stunning capture of what once was. The Wright Kay Building, Soldiers and Sailors Monument, and Central United Methodist Church are the only remaining structures visible in this view (well, almost -- the fountain in front of the opera house was moved to a city park and now stands overgrown and decrepit). And when do you ever see that many pedestrians in Downtown Detroit? It is a testament to the city's vibrant and exciting past, and the lack of historic appreciation, planning foresight, political leadership, and public transportation today. How could so much have gone so quickly? Detroit was unlike any other city in the country -- and I suppose you could confidently say it still is.
Last edited by Gsgeorge; November 13th, 2009 at 05:18 AM.
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November 13th, 2009, 07:10 AM
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Thank you for sharing this great photo.
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November 13th, 2009, 08:55 AM
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Another great find, Ray. A couple of things... I'll bet ya that the tent in front of the Palmer/Merrill Fountain has something to do with a Boy Scout Jamborie as I espy a few of those boys amoungst the crowd.
Another thing, you can see a Detroit Electric Auto near the Fort Street corner, looks like they're double parked or at least looking for an open spot. In fact, just to left of the Electric Auto it looks like your Uncle Conrad's Oldsmobile. License number 43222
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November 13th, 2009, 09:06 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2009
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Good morning!
To use a hackneyed phrase: Long-time lurker, first-time poster, here!
Thanks for posting that wonderful photo. I spent about a half hour studying it; I found it to be mesmerizing.
I was hard pressed to find anyone not wearing a hat. People appeared to be dressed in their "Sunday Best." Also took note of the servicemen walking about! A different era, that's for sure.
One question, though......A couple of clothiers' signs advertised $10/$15 clothes.
Would that not have been expensive back in 1917?
In the lower left corner there appears to be some incredibly tight parallel parking going on!! 
...
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November 13th, 2009, 09:31 AM
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thank you ray!
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November 13th, 2009, 10:13 AM
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What a marvelous photo!Almost too much to take in.The thing I noticed was the dearth of Model T Fords.There's a lot of mid to large sized(and priced) cars in the photo-Hudson,Packard,Cadilllac,and the Detroit Electric.Note,too, the preponderance of open cars-closed cars didn't begin to dominate until the early 20s.
I have to brush up on my old car I.D. skills.I couldn't recognize as many of them as I could have a few years ago.Ah, the creeping rot of age(sigh).
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November 13th, 2009, 11:42 AM
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Anyone have a more recent picture of that area?
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November 13th, 2009, 11:50 AM
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Might be a slightly different perspective, but I think it captures the feel now
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November 13th, 2009, 12:50 PM
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Posts: 162
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Quote:
Originally Posted by d.mcc
Might be a slightly different perspective, but I think it captures the feel now
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Good One! 
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November 13th, 2009, 12:55 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 613
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 45thParallel
Good morning!
To use a hackneyed phrase: Long-time lurker, first-time poster, here!
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Welcome, GREAT username!
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November 13th, 2009, 12:59 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 624
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Yeah, I just spent about an hour pouring over that photo. That's incredible detail and you almost feel like you're there. Thanks.
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November 13th, 2009, 01:33 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 1,044
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skyl4rk
Anyone have a more recent picture of that area?
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From more or less the same area, but much lower. The Campus Martius park is where the big intersection used to be, and the traffic now circles around the park. Compuware dominates the skyline where the Opera House etc. used to be. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument is still there, but has been moved a few hundred feet to a location just to the right of this view.
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November 13th, 2009, 03:09 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2009
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Shorpy's site says 1917, not 1915, which makes me think that maybe that tent by the Palmer Fountain is for army recruiting? There appears to be a soldier in the bottom about to cross Fort as well. But maybe the army didn't recruit using tents in the middle of cities, I'm just guessing.
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November 13th, 2009, 03:22 PM
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It's obvious to me that the people depicted in the photo are unaware of the following:
1. Detroit was never a densely populated city like New York or Chicago, and never will be.
2. Nobody wants to walk in Detroit.
3. There isn't enough parking downtown.
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November 13th, 2009, 03:27 PM
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Incredible detail! In the lower left portion there is a man who is looking at what I would assume to be a street map. In front of him by the curb there is a big box, at first I thought this may have been a police call box but it seems to sit fairly low. Could this have been a drive up mailbox?
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November 13th, 2009, 03:28 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,105
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto
It's obvious to me that the people depicted in the photo are unaware of the following:
1. Detroit was never a densely populated city like New York or Chicago, and never will be.
2. Nobody wants to walk in Detroit.
3. There isn't enough parking downtown.
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Detroit would still look like that if it weren't for all the crime and taxes. Everybody knows that.
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November 13th, 2009, 03:42 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed
Detroit would still look like that if it weren't for all the crime and taxes. Everybody knows that.
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Don't forget the Unions and the tag-team duo of Coleman Young / Jennifer Granholm.
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November 13th, 2009, 03:45 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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I always love seeing the Detroit that my first family members saw when they arrived in the first decade of the 19th century. My grandfather did not arrive until 2 years after this picture was taken, but some of his mom's relatives were already there.
Sad we can't just enjoy the photos instead of ascribing blame. Even if the Fairy Godmothers of Cities were to wave her magic wand, the Detroit of 1915 will never, ever come back... because it's almost 2010. And that can be a good thing if we let it be.
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November 13th, 2009, 03:46 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto
Don't forget the Unions and the tag-team duo of Coleman Young / Jennifer Granholm.
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Damn Commie Socialist bastards!
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November 13th, 2009, 03:53 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 624
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In this 1942 FSA photo it's titled "Looking north on Woodward." Is that the same Bonds store, in the same place as the Bonds Clothing store in the older photo?
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November 13th, 2009, 03:54 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 812
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Quote:
Originally Posted by d.mcc
Damn Commie Socialist bastards!
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I almost choked on my afternoon snack! Thanks for the laugh.
I swear that I'm going to open up an anti-urban, anti-Detroit t-shirt site somewhere. I will use unauthorized quotes from DYes curmudgeons, and then I will donate all the profits to the Greening, Alternatives for Girls, Gleaners, Blight Busters, and Mariner's. The more bile, the more sales, and the more sales, the more Detroiters will benefit. Talk about turning hate into love...
Anyway, while I adore photographs, footage, and stories from the past, I always wonder what is not being told or passed down. After all, the Detroit of today is the legitimate child of the Detroit of yesterday. Something was going on in the Detroit of yesteryear that was uniquely different from other, comparable cities. What was it?
We may never have all the answers.
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November 13th, 2009, 04:01 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 864
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Quote:
Originally Posted by English
I almost choked on my afternoon snack! Thanks for the laugh.
I swear that I'm going to open up an anti-urban, anti-Detroit t-shirt site somewhere. I will use unauthorized quotes from DYes curmudgeons, and then I will donate all the profits to the Greening, Alternatives for Girls, Gleaners, Blight Busters, and Mariner's. The more bile, the more sales, and the more sales, the more Detroiters will benefit. Talk about turning hate into love... |
I expect, and accept all royalties!
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November 13th, 2009, 04:15 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 858
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Quote:
Originally Posted by English
I almost choked on my afternoon snack! Thanks for the laugh.
I swear that I'm going to open up an anti-urban, anti-Detroit t-shirt site somewhere. I will use unauthorized quotes from DYes curmudgeons, and then I will donate all the profits to the Greening, Alternatives for Girls, Gleaners, Blight Busters, and Mariner's. The more bile, the more sales, and the more sales, the more Detroiters will benefit. Talk about turning hate into love...
Anyway, while I adore photographs, footage, and stories from the past, I always wonder what is not being told or passed down. After all, the Detroit of today is the legitimate child of the Detroit of yesterday. Something was going on in the Detroit of yesteryear that was uniquely different from other, comparable cities. What was it?
We may never have all the answers. |
If you do, I promise to continue to be a crumudgeon. I support people who support people before things.
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November 13th, 2009, 04:17 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 858
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed
Detroit would still look like that if it weren't for all the crime and taxes. Everybody knows that.
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Why would we want to live in a city full of all those white people in silly hats? Not even a fedora in the bunch of em!
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November 13th, 2009, 04:19 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,105
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Quote:
Originally Posted by English
I almost choked on my afternoon snack! Thanks for the laugh.
I swear that I'm going to open up an anti-urban, anti-Detroit t-shirt site somewhere. I will use unauthorized quotes from DYes curmudgeons, and then I will donate all the profits to the Greening, Alternatives for Girls, Gleaners, Blight Busters, and Mariner's. The more bile, the more sales, and the more sales, the more Detroiters will benefit. Talk about turning hate into love...
Anyway, while I adore photographs, footage, and stories from the past, I always wonder what is not being told or passed down. After all, the Detroit of today is the legitimate child of the Detroit of yesterday. Something was going on in the Detroit of yesteryear that was uniquely different from other, comparable cities. What was it?
We may never have all the answers. |
I don't think that the differences in what Detroit did, compared to what her peer cities of that era did, are all that mysterious. In fact, they have been stated over and over and over and over on various threads in this forum.
Last edited by iheartthed; November 13th, 2009 at 04:24 PM.
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November 13th, 2009, 04:23 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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My curmudgeonness is all a ruse anyways. Just like Stephen Colbert is a conservative, or Rush Limbaugh is intelligent
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November 13th, 2009, 04:25 PM
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Stunning photograph!
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November 13th, 2009, 04:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bdglsmn
Stunning photograph!
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And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. PLEASE!!!
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November 13th, 2009, 04:31 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,907
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RE: Woodward Avenue 1917
Tear that schitt down!
Oh wait....
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November 13th, 2009, 04:38 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 864
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto
RE: Woodward Avenue 1917
Tear that schitt down!
Oh wait....
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That's my line sir...
also, you could say that photo was SHOPPED! Look at all the people!
GP is a curmudgeon for real...
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November 13th, 2009, 04:45 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 395
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If someone were in the north corner of the Chase Tower they could get about the same view.....with a somewhat wide angle lens.
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November 13th, 2009, 04:47 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 454
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From the perspective of 2009, it is ironic that the Hudson's sign says "Hudson's Grows With Detroit," because Hudson's did indeed grow with Detroit, and also eventually shrunk with Detroit.
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November 13th, 2009, 05:37 PM
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Posts: 812
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OK... I can't stop laughing! Especially the "Tear that schitt down!"* Haven't been to a DYes gathering in ages; will have to dig back up my t-shirt making skills.
Poor Circa 1915 Detroiters. They had every reason to expect that in 2015, Mr. Ford's company would be building flying motorcars, we'd be able to "just add water" to instant food, and hunger and disease would be no more. I love websites that talk about turn-of-the-century speculations about the future. The best is this one:
Paleofuture:
http://www.paleofuture.com/
And here's one about how the 1950s and early 1960s vision of the future went kaput:
Why Our Amazing Science Fiction Future Fizzled:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science...ack/index.html
Perhaps our descendants in the year 2109-2110 will look back to this era in Detroit, and marvel that we couldn't see the wonderful things that would happen just around the corner.
*Really, it's just as sad as it is funny.
Last edited by English; November 13th, 2009 at 05:41 PM.
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November 13th, 2009, 05:49 PM
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i have a very similar photo framed and hanging on my wall. mine is dated 1918 and was taken from down at street level (and a little to the right) on a much less busy day.
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November 13th, 2009, 06:26 PM
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Love this photo Ray! Thanks for sharing.
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November 13th, 2009, 10:52 PM
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Amazing photo! Look at how many people are in th street. How fast do you guys think those cars went? 25 mph?
Hats probably served a purpose back then. They probably used them for protection from the elements while walking and waiting for the trolley, and they were made fashionable like we "pimp" our rides (make our cars look hip and cool) today. Some things change, and some things don't.
Last edited by DetroitDad; November 13th, 2009 at 11:03 PM.
Reason: spelling
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November 14th, 2009, 03:28 PM
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At least it appears that no one is wearing their hat backwards.
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November 14th, 2009, 06:06 PM
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That was Detroit before the political and racial mess came into town the devour everything in site.
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November 14th, 2009, 06:58 PM
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Thanks for this photo... every time I look at it I see new things. Really clear for the time period!
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November 14th, 2009, 07:01 PM
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Great find, Ray36, you've done it again!! Happy Thanksgiving to you and the Mrs.! Looking forward to your next find.
Stromberg2
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November 14th, 2009, 07:02 PM
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You got that right, Danny.
Stromberg2
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November 14th, 2009, 07:30 PM
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Wonderful new background for my desktop!
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November 15th, 2009, 10:21 PM
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Posts: 334
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Quote:
Originally Posted by missn
Wonderful new background for my desktop!
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Mine, too! Born 75 years too late, I guess! (sigh)
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November 16th, 2009, 01:07 AM
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Wow. That's incredible. Just awesome.
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November 16th, 2009, 02:43 AM
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Upon further inspection of the films (silent, of course) showing at the Detroit Opera House, we see that The Spoilers (1914) has top billing. That film still exists today. The more interesting selection is Somewhere in Georgia (1917), the Ty Cobb biography starring, who else, Ty Cobb! He must have been a huge deal in Detroit back in the day, to star in a movie about himself!
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November 16th, 2009, 02:54 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 334
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kathy2trips
Upon further inspection of the films (silent, of course) showing at the Detroit Opera House, we see that The Spoilers (1914) has top billing. That film still exists today. The more interesting selection is Somewhere in Georgia (1917), the Ty Cobb biography starring, who else, Ty Cobb! He must have been a huge deal in Detroit back in the day, to star in a movie about himself!
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Hey! I just noticed the sign with Elsie the Cow's head saying " Detroit Creamery Milk IS Health Insurance"! LOL 
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November 16th, 2009, 03:15 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 166
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Quote:
Originally Posted by d.mcc
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto
RE: Woodward Avenue 1917
Tear that schitt down!
Oh wait....
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That's my line sir...
also, you could say that photo was SHOPPED! Look at all the people!
GP is a curmudgeon for real...
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Sorry, that was Rasputin's line.
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November 16th, 2009, 03:19 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,625
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I thought that was Kwame's line.
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