Candy Cane Production

In the 60s and 70s, Christmas time in Fowlerville meant making candy canes of all sizes by the Spagnuolo family.  Thank you, Lenore, for providing this wonderful picture of her father working hard to model and manipulate the hardening candy.  

As a side note, check out this link if you are interested in purchasing a copy of "The Fowlerville Chronicles."  There's more about the Spagnuolo family, both on this blog and in the hardbound copy.  Thank you to all that have purchased the book since it was published in 2011!

1959 Lepard Chevrolet Ad

A few blocks east of the main four corners, where you will now find KW Corporation and the Fowlerville Pizza Box, Lepard Chevrolet showed off the latest and greatest.  In 1959, found in "The Fowlerville Review," big fins were all the rage.

Did anyone have one of these cars?

Lepard actually started out at the northwest corner of East Grand River and South Second Street, the former location of Maria's School of Dance.  As a reminder, there are nearly 3,000 posts on this site.  I did a quick search on the "Lepard" name and at least a half dozen articles came up.  So, please remember to search if you'd like more information!

1949 Harmon Ford Dealership

Mr. Bunn sold his dealership to Gordon Harmon, as reported in "The Fowlerville Review."  He'd owned it from 1921-1948, with a four-year break somewhere in the middle of that.  Without doing a great deal of research, I'm remembering Mr. Bunn lost his son, Ken, in an automobile accident, east of Fowlerville, on Grand River Avenue.  I'm wondering if Mr. Bunn took a break from the dealership when this happened.

At one time, at about where Owosso Road is, the curve was much sharper, nearly a 90-degree turn.  Older maps show it as such.  According to an article I found while doing research for "The Fowlerville Cronicles," this is about where the young fellow's accident occurred.

Eventually, Gordon Harmon would go onto real estate as well as owning this newspaper.

1940 Holt 60th Anniversary

I'm just randomly grabbing articles found in "The Fowlerville Review," published between 1874 and 1972.  Today's two articles are from December 25, 1940, front page.  

Holt and Hart were partners in dry goods stores, 10-cent barns, and doing photography.  There are numerous pictures from the early 1920s where they documented various houses and buildings.  They are treasures.  

The picture and article show the Holts celebrating their 60th anniversary.  The other interesting article is in the right column.  A car accident south of town, Fowlerville Road and VanBuren.  That's always an interesting intersection even now due to speed on Fowlerville Road.  The Mrs. Blank mentioned was probably the wife of H.T. Blank, a local jeweler.  

Any of these names can be searched on this blog for more articles.

1958 Real Estate Office

I knew this building, at the corner of East Grand River and South Second Street, as a collection office; others may remember it as Joseph Cox's law offices.  But, in 1958, it was part of an addition to a house where Mr. Clair Jones lived and the new add-on would be his office space.

Neither the house nor the building exist, both having been torn down a few years back.  The lot is empty except for a large rock at the corner, honoring John Gilully, an officer in the Civil War.

If you do a search on this blog for the military officer, you will find various articles and some squint shots I've posted over the years.

Another item to search on would be the "Spencer House."  Early on, in Fowlerville's development, a large white building stood at that corner and was used both as a storefront for travelers' needs as well as a few rooms for let.  The building was gone by about 1915-16.

The article for this addition was found in the December 31, 1958, issue of "The Fowlerville Review."  As a reminder, if you ever would like to do research in Fowlerville newspapers, head to the Fowlerville District Library.  The ladies there will be more than pleased to help you do a search of the digitized newspapers.  They are available from the years 1874 through nearly current.

1945 Spagnuolo Christmas Ad

I have absolutely been AWOL from this blog--so much going on!  But, that's just an excuse.  Over the holidays, I'm thinking things might slow down a bit.  Because of that, I'll look for some interesting articles and post them.  Don't give up on me!

I headed to Christmas, 1945, in "The Fowlerville Review," and immediately the above advertisement jumped out at me.  Yesterday, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting one of the Spagnuolo children--we're not young anymore!--but it was such a delight to listen to her remembrances of growing up in Fowlerville.  The ad above seemed appropriate for this morning's post.

I hope all of you enjoy the holidays and come back for a visit as I'll be posting more.

1937 Hee Haw News

The Fowlerville Lumber Company had an interesting way to advertise.  I've noticed when I post these from the 40s and 50s, I get a few comments and more interest.  Here's one, found in "The Fowlerville Review," in January of 1937.

1936 Centennial Park Part 2

A couple days, an article showed the schedule and some information for the dedication of the land behind the library, to be known as "Centennial Field."  The following article, found in the November 11, 1936, issue of "The Fowlerville Review," spoke of the celebration:

1936 Centennial Field

Some still call the park behind the library "Centennial Field," although in 1998 it became Centennial Park.  In 1936, the land was dedicated by the Board of Education for use in sporting events, etc.  Following is the article found in the November 4, 1936, issue of "The Fowlerville Review."  

The next post will show more information.

1952 Gulf Gas Station

Well, we are back in 1952 Fowlerville, long before I96 was constructed, making Grand River Avenue the main thoroughfare between Lansing and Detroit.  I96 was proposed in 1958 and finished by 1962.  So, ten years earlier, the Gulf gas station was opened up at the southeast corner of Ann Street and Grand River.  Following is the article announcing the "formal" opening, found in the October 8, 1952 issue of "The Fowlerville Review:" 

If you happen to park across the street, in what some call the DDA lot, and look over at that corner, you can still see the outline of the building.  It has been resided and all windows taken out (as well as the pumps), but the building is still there.  I believe it has been incorporated into the automotive service building it is attached to.

1953 Orr Theatre

The old newspapers for Fowlerville are an absolute wealth of information and, to be quite honest, fun to browse and getting lost looking back through all this history.  Today I was looking at some of the movies advertised as showing at the Orr Theatre in 1953.  I found this ad in "The Fowlerville Review," along with a ton of other ads for new cars, furnaces, clothing, farming equipment, groceries.  You name it, there was an advertisement.  Does anyone remember the Orr Theatre and/or seeing these movies?

As I've mentioned before, feel free to email me or leave a comment if you are looking for something in particular.  At the moment, I'm also doing some research on early photographers in Fowlerville -- around 1900-1930.

1947 Fowlerville Lumber Company

Part of the Fowlerville Lumber Company's advertisement philosophy was to make the customer laugh.  Weekly, they would have this little "newsletter" published in "The Fowlerville Review" to keep their name in the forefront:

1960 Recipe for Canned Meat "Magic"

So, for those that grew up in the 60s, does anyone remember a meal such as the one shown below?  Canned Meat Magic makes it sound a bit suspicious!  

Although this isn't really related to Fowlerville, I did come across a page of recipes in a 1960 issue of "The Fowlerville Review" and wondered how many women made these meals for their families.  I guess I do remember some mystery meals when I was growing up, quite often something covered with a gravy so we wouldn't question our mother too much!

Anyone care to comment of a meal they used to get served (or made) in the 60s and 70s?

Also, on another note, I got a nice email from a friend, giving me a bit of personal information on Hall's Mill (see previous post).   An earlier owner of the mill, George Monroe (who passed away only a couple years back) used to mow the library lawn in the 90s after the mill was taken down by an intentional burn by the fire department. 

1947 Hall's Mill

Seventy years ago this month, the following advertisement, along with articles and thank you notes scattered through the newspaper, showed up in The Fowlerville Review, January 8, 1947, issue:

Ken Tannar (as listed at the bottom of this ad) was a charter member of the Fowlerville Rotary Club.  Such a nice, caring man I had the great fortune to meet and know for a few years.  By the time I met Ken, he was retired from the elevator business as well as his appraisal company.  We worked quite a few Dawn Patrols together, him always manning the mixing of the pancake batter and me helping to either deliver the batter to the bakers or even sometimes being allowed the cook the pancakes.

If anyone has memories of Charles and Marion Craig or Ken Tannar, I would love to have you share and comment.

1958 Frank's Golf Outing Champions

One more random article found in The Fowlerville Review regarding the Curtis family and their grocery story.  In 1958, Frank's team became golf champions:

As always, anyone wanting to make a memory comment will be greatly appreciated!

1959 Photo Development Ad

A little nostalgia...

For those of you who remember having rolls of film developed, anyone remember Sidell Hardware running advertisements like the one below?  This one is from December, 1959.  Bring back some fun memories of getting that envelope, quickly opening it, hoping that most of the pictures were in focus?  Invariably, there were some totally out of focus but still treasured!

I suppose many of us--if we decide to have prints of digital pictures--use online sources such as Shutterfly and Vistaprint.  I'm still old-school enough, for those special times, I get prints made.  We just returned from a six-week road trip and I ultimately had 1,800 pictures printed.  It was a little pricey but I don't ever want to lose those memories of such an awesome trip.

My New Year's resolution is to get back to posting a bit more often so please be sure to check back.  A lot of my time was spent the last couple of years writing two historical fiction novels ("Juniper and Anise" and "Tilly Loves Johnny"--which I would love to have you purchase to keep me going).  Both are set during the Prohibition Era in a small town that looks a lot like Fowlerville.  I'm working on a third novel currently entitled "She Wore a Hat in Prison."  Can you guess maybe someone ends up in prison that looks a lot like Jackson State Prison at the turn of the 1900s?

1960 Christmas Poem

I know we're hardly upon the Christmas holiday, not even having gotten to Halloween, but I came across this poem.  I remember reading this a few years back when I was doing research for the two history books but could never find it again.  Well, I did.  It happened to be in my Rotary notebook from when I was the President during the 2003-04 year.  

Not sure when this poem was originally published in the Fowlerville News and Views but I'm guessing in the 1960s from the people and stores mentioned.  Anyone care to comment?

1938 Mrs. Carrie Miner

Following is a short little front-page article I found in a June, 1938, issue of The Fowlerville Review.

This might seem like an odd little article to post here but I have a couple reasons.  

~~When we moved to this community in 1998 (looking at 18 years ago now), one of the first comments to greet us while shopping in a local store was the owner's comment that "you have to live here 50 years before you can say you're from Fowlerville."

My, did those words stick with me.  Pretty obvious, since I'm writing about them 18 years from whence they were mentioned.  Those words rankled me and, to tell you the truth, made me feel quite unwelcomed.  

But I persevered.  I joined organizations such as Rotary and Fowlerville Business Association, opened an embroidery business which I operate to this day, and am currently serving as the Board President for the Fowlerville District Library Board.  Plus, I've researched and compiled two local history books (which I self-published) and quite possibly might now as much or more than some of the old-timers.

True to those words, though, I tend to comment my hometown is Lansing and leave it at that.  Funny how things feel sometimes.

~~The second reason is because I've recently signed a contract with a traditional publishing company for my second historical fiction novel.  My first one, "Juniper and Anise," came out in December, 2014, and I've had a blast with that one.  I'm not sure when the second one will be released as we are deep in the editing process.  The working title for that one is "Tilly Loves Johnny."  

My point for telling you this?  My main character, Tilly, is married to Johnny Miner.  There is no real Johnny Miner, as this is a work of fiction, but I always liked the clear, concise surname when I came across it in my research.  The Miner family had various enterprises around time, especially during the early 1900s, one in particular being a dry goods store.

My Mr. Miner does something completely different but I love this connection, especially since I found this article while looking for something else.

Enjoy,

1959 Jolly Drive-In Advertisement

I found this little advertisement in The Fowlerville Review, in 1959, and am curious.  The reason I'm curious is because I received an e-mail a few months back asking if I had any information and/or pictures for the Jolly Drive-In.  The inquiry came from a family member of former owners, those celebrating a wedding anniversary.

I had limited information--no pictures--to offer up.  But, now that I have a little time to do some investigating, I am wondering if you, my readers, might have something.  Does anyone remember the exact location (I had heard at the corner across from the old Keg 'n Cork where there is the carwash), what it looked like or a picture, and anything about the food.  Of course, me being Polish, I'm always curious when I see "plus special Polish foods."

I would love if you would leave a comment or contact me.

1944 Honor Roll Dedication

The Fowlerville Library recently received a small envelope with a note and the following piece of paper: 

I am wondering if any of my readers might know of this kind of a ceremony.  It sounds like the scouts were quite active in the community and you might recognize a few names, especially if you've read any of this website.  Deo Blackmer was the son of S.T. Blackmer, the founder of the men's clothing store in Fowlerville that eventually was bought out by Frank Utter and became Utter's Menswear.  Betty Woods was the wife of Tom Woods, owner of Woods Drugs.

If you search on any of these names (upper right hand corner), you will find any articles written about these residents of Fowlerville.