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Detroit circa 1910. "Library Park, Gratiot Avenue & Farmer Street." This 8x10 glass plate was originally part of a multi-section panorama whose other parts have been lost, so we'll have to make do with the Dental Depot and its neighbors -- Rudolph Freidenburg's Woolens, and Hiram Goldberg's Union-Made "Clothes of Class," the class available in increments of $5. Also: "Nick Carter," a "Great Detective Story in 3 Parts," playing at the Theatre Royale ("Finest 5¢ Show"). Rising in the background, the domed tower of the Wayne County Building. View full size.
The lady walking almost out of sight on the far right, past the Opera Cafe, is so glamorous I can hardly stand it. And she's but a blur from over a century ago. Well done, missy. Your visual impact has survived you most impressively.
The view is southeast on Farmer Street, the streetcar in the foreground is on Gratiot Avenue. The Theater Royale is on the corner of Monroe Street, and Farmer veers left where is crosses Bates Street at the Cut-Rate Liquor. This photo would have to have been taken from the corner of the J.L. Hudson department store. The only things left from this picture are the actual streets and the Wayne County building in the distance; the entirety of this area is covered by the Quicken Loans / Bedrock building and it's its parking garage.
Sound of someone knocking on the door…
Woman: “What’s the matter? What is it?”
Man: “It’s another case for Nick Carter… Master Detective!.”
Announcer: “Yes, it’s another case for that most famous of all manhunters,
the detective whose ability at solving crime is unequaled in the history of detective fiction–
Nick Carter, Master Detective!”
— opening of radio show
First appeared in New York Weekly on September 18, 1886. I had no idea that Nick was that old.
I'm actually disappointed that the little strip of window glass at the right edge isn't revealing the reflection of a murder in progress, or of a tawdry rendezvous in delicto flagrante.
Guess it's time to lighten up on the streaming crime dramas ...
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