  Designerguy24 Member Username: Designerguy24 Post Number: 104 Registered: 10-2006 |
Anyone ever read or seen this book Hudson's: Hub of America's Heartlandby Jean Maddern Pitrone? Is it worth the purchase? | ||
W_6_mile Member Username: W_6_mile Post Number: 29 Registered: 01-2008 |
I borrowed it from DPL years ago...it doesnt have exciting pictures like that more recent book that is out. My advice to you is to go to the library if you can. | ||
Ed_golick Member Username: Ed_golick Post Number: 903 Registered: 10-2003 |
I highly recommend the Pitrone book. If you just want a picture book, opt for the Hauser and Weldon book. | ||
Ragtoplover59 Member Username: Ragtoplover59 Post Number: 181 Registered: 09-2006 |
Hudson's: Hub of America's Heartland (Hardcover) by Jean Maddern Pitrone (Author) 9 used & new from $11.00 http://www.amazon.com/Hudsons- Heartland-Jean-Maddern-Pitrone /dp/1878005189 Haven't seen this one , But for $11 seems like a deal. I do have the one Ed_golick mentioned and liked it a lot ! | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2687 Registered: 10-2003 |
The Pitrone book provides a wealth of detail about J.L. Hudson, his family, his childhood, and his business dealings. Well worth the read!•• | ||
Johns Member Username: Johns Post Number: 5 Registered: 10-2007 |
I bought the book years ago at Henry Ford Museum. I heard later that the museum pulled it at the request of the Hudson Family. I also recommend it to anyone who is interested in Hudsons. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6080 Registered: 08-2004 |
Welcome Johns! I knew no good would come with all that intermarrying of famous families! Eleanor Clay Ford (late mother of William Clay Ford Sr.) was related to the Hudson's, I believe her uncle was J.L. himself. So one phone call from a Hudson to a Ford... and bingo... a book blacklisting! | ||
Aarne_frobom Member Username: Aarne_frobom Post Number: 70 Registered: 10-2005 |
I recall the Pitrone book as a good, thorough, amateur corporate history. It's not a gut-wrenching page-turner, but the entire history of the store is there. There's not too much to entertain you if you're looking for nostalgia about the store itself, though. I can't vouch for its accuracy, but I suspect it's pretty good. I don't know why anyone from one of families associated with the store would find it objectionable. The decline, sale and closure of the downtown building came long after the operation had been sold to Dayton's. Incidentally, on the subject of Michigan retailers' biographies, I also recommend picking up "Thrifty Years" from the checkout aisle at Meijer's. The story of how that chain was founded in 1934 by a Dutch immigrant anarchist is a hoot, especially the way ol' Hendrik Meijer claimed all the business from poor welfare recipients when competing small-town Republican merchants sneered at people on the dole during the Depression. But that was Greenville, and not Detroit. | ||
W_6_mile Member Username: W_6_mile Post Number: 43 Registered: 01-2008 |
One day I called Minneapolis and got this information about Hudson's: Size in square feet Eastland 503,350 Oakland 378,512 Northland 550,145 Westland 354,568 Somerset 300,000 Twelve Oaks 249,600 (currently 300,000) Lakeside 206,095 Lakeside Mens & Home 115,000 Summit Place 289,490 Southland 292,000 Briarwood 187,467 Fairlane 249,814 Saginaw 310,000 (not sure about that) Port Huron 103,000 Woodland 158,860 Rivertown 165,000 Flint 270,000 Lansing 103,307 Meridan 103,209 Battle Creek 103,209 Crossroads 123,513 Traverse City 103,000 (Message edited by w_6_mile on January 07, 2008) | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1250 Registered: 11-2003 |
To add to W_6_mile's stats, the Flint Twp. store (Genesee Valley) is about 270,000 square feet, according to a Flint Chamber of Commerce publication from 1970 when the store opened. |
