1893 Russet Shoes

In 1876, bananas were introduced to Americans. A mere 17 years later, advice was being given on how to clean russet shoes (finished but not blackened leather) by using a ripe banana. This article was published in The Fowlerville Review in 1893:

One of the drawbacks to the wearing of russet shoes is the fact that they so easily take on a rusty look. An easy scheme for keeping them clean and bright is given by one whose own footgear testifies to the value of his plan. He says: 'With a piece of nice, ripe banana, I can not only keep russet shoes clean, but I can keep them polished as well. I simply take a piece of banana and grease the leather with it, and then polish it with a cloth. In this way all the discolorations are removed and a polish is obtain.'

Anyone willing to test this theory 117 years later?

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Two squint shots today show the length of the wood pieces on the south side of the former building behind Maria's School of Dance and Sweet Sensations and Save-On. On September 10, 2010, I posted an article, which you can find by clicking here, on this building being torn down. I even used one of these pictures that day.

1875 Advertisement Advice

Being a business owner myself, I am always on the lookout for ways to keep my company in the forefront. One of the ways I do that is by being a part of the Fowlerville Business Association, both for its marketing purposes and also to learn from the various speakers we have in attendance at our monthly meetings.

One piece of advice I have heard over and over again is that advertising during hard economic times is as important, if not more so, than any other time. Upon hearing this advice, I never dreamed it was advice that has been around for over a hundred years. The following short article was found in an 1875 issue of The Fowlerville Review with G.L. Adams, editor and publisher, looking for new advertisers.

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Most of this month's squint shots have been showing an old building in varying forms of dismantling during September, 2010. Where the building used to stand, and definitely encouraged "No Parking Any Time" has now been turned into four or five parking spaces behind the building that used to house the Butler Gun Shop.

This is a shot of the rusted siding before it was removed from the structure, showing some interesting wood beneath. Check out yesterday's shot for one piece of wood in particular.

1880 Chatauqua Book

I am finding one of the most fun parts of having this website, as well as the notoriety (or infamousness) of publishing The Fowlerville Chronicles, has been new contacts from here within the state as well as across the country.

A couple months back, I received an e-mail from a woman in California. Her husband had been at a garage sale and happened upon an 1880 Chautauqua Edition of the History of the United States Prepared Especially for Schools on a New and Comprehensive Plan, Embracing the Features of Lyman's Historical Chart by John Clark Ridpath. He brought it home and started leafing through it, and lo and behold, the lettering and notes of F.D. Seward of Fowlerville was found inside.

Ultimately, the couple searched online for anything about Fowlerville and came upon my website. We e-mailed back and forth and a couple weeks later, I received a package in the mail copies of the book's cover and information as well as some of Seward's notes.

So much has faded with time but I am going to be on the look-out for an F.D. Seward while I continue to catalog my research materials. If I come across anything, or if anyone has information on this person, I will gladly post it here.

This is the part that I find incredible -- I can have "penpals" from all over the world -- just because of this wonderful (if I do say so myself) website on our village in our little corner of the world. Thank you to the couple in California for taking time to do a little research and find me.

As a side note, as I've been working on looking through microfilm, I came across the following article in the local newspaper, in 1894:

A Chautauqua reading circle was organized at the residence of Prof. S. Durfee, on Friday evening, with ten members. Prof. S. Durfee was elected president and Prof. Knooihuizen secretary and treasurer. The circle will meet again this evening at the residence of G.L. Adams.

In later years, the Chautauqua came to Fowlerville. A large tent was set up and there were performances from oratories to plays to various performances.

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There are two squint shots today -- pretty much of the same thing, just at different angles. I've mentioned the last few days how the stamped steel metal siding was being taken off the old building behind Butler Gun Shop as well as how brittle the wood was. The steel was worth recycling but the wood was disposed of. Although I kind of hope someone grabbed this particular piece -- who knows what for -- but just because it was worn in a way to look like it had melted.
Both pictures were taken looking at the south side of the building.

Watercolors

One of the four people I dedicated my book, The Fowlerville Chronicles, to was Nellie Glenn. For those of you that may have never heard her name, she was a historian for the village in the mid-1900s, passing away in 1975 at the age of 90. A huge amount of the materials, documents, remembrances, and memoriabilia from various celebrations, to be found in the Fowlerville Historical Collection is due in a major part to Nellie Glenn.

Until recently, I didn't realize she was also an artist. I'm sure she wouldn't mind, posthumously, if I show some of her work that can be found in the Fowlerville Library. Head there, ask directions to where the computers are, and then look on the walls. These are some wonderful depictions of some of the old, and now non-existent, buildings.

The first one shown is of the Spencer House, which was located at the northeast corner of North Second Street and East Grand River. It was torn down around 1915. The next one was labeled the Lutheran Church. A brick structure now houses that congregation. Next, this drawing is of two of the schoolhouses that used to be located at about where the Senior Citizen building now stands. The white, wooden schoolhouse burned down in 1921, and the red, brick schoolhouse was torn down in 1957. The nickname for the following picture of the Reason House was "Independence Hall." It was located at the southwest corner of South Grand and West Grand River Avenue. It burned down in 1878 and by 1880, the Commercial Hotel, a brick structure, stood in its place. The last picture shows what the northeast quadrant would have looked like along about 1874. These wooden structures burned in a huge conflagration in 1891. By the end of that year, over 13 new brick buildings were being constructed in the downtown area. So now, with this very slight taste of some of Fowlerville's history, you might consider checking out all of the other posts on this website . . . or purchasing a copy of my book, The Fowlerville Chronicles.

Happy reading!