  Mortalman Member Username: Mortalman Post Number: 299 Registered: 03-2007 |
Question: The attached map is from a Sanborn Map of Detroit from 1884. This business is down by the Detroit River at W. Atwater. The map says: "Eagle Tobacco Wks. Nightwatchman & Clock R.Stations. No Hose 120 Hand Grenades Distributed Through Bldg. & Fire Buckets Each Floor Fuel Coal. Heat & Dry By Steam. Lights Gas." "120 HAND GRENADES DISTRIBUTED THROUGH BLDG." What in the world would a Tobacco Wks. have "120 HAND GRENADES DISTRIBUTED THROUGH BLDG." for??? I'll take my answer off the air!  | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 2072 Registered: 04-2005 |
They were glass globes about the size of a grenade filled with Carbon Tetrachloride, that were thrown at the base of the fire to extinguish it. | ||
Sludgedaddy Member Username: Sludgedaddy Post Number: 158 Registered: 01-2008 |
The hand grenades were probably stored in case Trotskyites arrived with Molotovs in hand. Maybe Wal-Mart has a similar contingency. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1855 Registered: 12-2005 |
quote: [source: Answers.com] | ||
Sludgedaddy Member Username: Sludgedaddy Post Number: 159 Registered: 01-2008 |
Love those Victorians. Carbon Tet is an extreme carcinogen. It is hard to believe that in the days of TV's science educator, Mr. Wizard, Carbon tet was recommended for children who wanted to collect mounted insects by using the above mentioned chemical in a device called "a killing jar". | ||
Mortalman Member Username: Mortalman Post Number: 301 Registered: 03-2007 |
How cool is this website. Answers to the most obscure and often times difficult questions about Detroit. I'm am constantly amazed at the knowledge and research capabilities of this group. There ought to be some kind of money making operation that could come out of this group. Hey, Ypd, "How can we make money with this group of talented researchers on DetroitYes?" | ||
Youngprofessionaldetroiter Member Username: Youngprofessionaldetroiter Post Number: 378 Registered: 07-2008 |
quote: Wow. True that. Mortal...I say we pool a team together and market ourselves to train and prepare future Jeopardy contestants. Of course, we'd charge a small retainer and ask for 3-5% of the winnings, with payouts percentages increasing with the size of the prize. You can take a 90% equity stake in the firm, and I propose we take the other 10% and use it to invest into capital improvements to the neighborhoods of your choosing ;) (Message edited by youngprofessionaldetroiter on September 22, 2008) | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 2073 Registered: 04-2005 |
Here's a list of the cigar makers that I've found, so far, looking through the Sanborn maps, with their volume and sheet #: San Telmo Cigar -3-55 Tegge Cigar Co -3-73 American Cigar -3-35 Mazer Cigar Factory -3-74 Bagley Tobacco -3-71.72 Cadillac Cigar Box -3-72 Detroit Snuff Co -3-105 General Cigar Co -3-59 Michigan Cigar Box -3-61 Webster Cigar -3-104 Ritter Cigar Box -3-28 White Eagle Cigar- 7-54 (later Mazer?) I'm sure that there's quite a few more. (Message edited by Hornwrecker on September 22, 2008) | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 6449 Registered: 12-2005 |
quote:Holy Halon! Phosphine gas "is a colorless, flammable gas" and "is highly toxic; it kills at low concentrations." | ||
Mortalman Member Username: Mortalman Post Number: 303 Registered: 03-2007 |
It's my understanding that prior to being the automobile capital that Detroit was the Cigar capital. Anybody have any hard facts to back that claim up? Oh and by the way Ypd I knew you wouldn't disappoint and I think it's a great initial business plan. Maybe some proformas can be worked up once we have some potential clients in the pipeline. How's that for a little business-ez lingo? | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3682 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Detroit was once called the "Tampa of the North" because of its prominence in tobacco production. We made cigars, chewing tobacco, and snuff. I don't know when this industry peaked in the city, but in the 1920s it employed ~10,000 workers. | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 4167 Registered: 10-2003 |
Tobacco and stove making were the big industries in Detroit before the auto industry rose (c. 1910). With any luck, it could be that way again. | ||
Mortalman Member Username: Mortalman Post Number: 305 Registered: 03-2007 |
Stoves, that's interesting just when I thought I knew a lot about Detroit I find out that Detroit was the "Tampa of the North" and that we were BIG in the stove business. Is that why that BIG stove that's at the State Fair is there. Where was it before the State Fair was it Jefferson or Belle Isle or Palmer Park? Bring it on! | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3683 Registered: 10-2003 |
Surely you're capable of doing some research by yourself?: http://info.detnews.com/redesi gn/history/story/historytempla te.cfm?id=198 | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 2075 Registered: 04-2005 |
BEFORE OLD CAR FACTORIES -- STOVES! https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/62684/69428.html | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1856 Registered: 12-2005 |
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Detroitjim Member Username: Detroitjim Post Number: 45 Registered: 02-2008 |
My grandmother worked at a cigar factory . This picture was taken around 1913. The old timers can't remember the name of the place but they think it was possibly Webster. If you look closely you can see bundles of cigars under the tables.  | ||
Detroitjim Member Username: Detroitjim Post Number: 47 Registered: 02-2008 |
Close up  | ||
Mortalman Member Username: Mortalman Post Number: 306 Registered: 03-2007 |
Great shot, Detroitjim! It seemed to me that many of the Polish women in my grandmother's generation worked in Cigar factories. I think there was a cigar factory over on Carpenter right on the Detroit/Hamtramck border just west of Jos Campau but I don't remember the name of it. | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 172 Registered: 10-2007 |
I was in one years ago, I think on Ferry and Grandy. It was called Goike Snuff. The place was absolutely coated in the brown stuff, smell was amazing. Located behind a home in the front, was in the garage behind. | ||
Sludgedaddy Member Username: Sludgedaddy Post Number: 161 Registered: 01-2008 |
Look closely at the photos of the "cigar factory".It is in reality an early 20th Century sex toy manufacturer. The name "cigar factory" was an euphemism. Many doctors of this time period would relieve women of stress and anxiety problems by using a vibrating electrical device. Just what the Good Doctor ordered. Another bit of trivia for you Oh, Mortalman. | ||
Youngprofessionaldetroiter Member Username: Youngprofessionaldetroiter Post Number: 381 Registered: 07-2008 |
quote: It's funny how things can change in a few generations. I can't imagine any city being known as the "Tampa" of the anything anymore. That's like me saying, "Oh yeah, Des Moines! That used to be the Boise of the Midwest!"  People used to write songs about Kansas City and St. Louis. Who knows, a lot could be better for Detroit in a generation or two. Mortalman...I'm already working on the white paper. Sludge...I believe one thing you maybe referring to is now known as the Sybian. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S ybian Good times | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 307 Registered: 10-2007 |
I remember moving 2 huge glass jugs of carbon tetrachloride in the science department storage room at Renaissance High School in the early 80's. The teacher told us not to drop them. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 1902 Registered: 08-2007 |
grenade picture photo of grenade advertisment | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 312 Registered: 08-2007 |
Goike Snuff was a favorite of my grandfather. You could purchase it in unique shaped quart jars, but I do not have one. My father lived near Holbrook and Jos. Campau and would walk to the store at Ferry & Grandy. | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 175 Registered: 10-2007 |
Were they glass jars? I don't remember seeing any when I was inside. The packaging I remember was orange blue and white, I believe in boxes. | ||
Sludgedaddy Member Username: Sludgedaddy Post Number: 163 Registered: 01-2008 |
YoungPro....The Sybian is a hedonistic device and is not meant for use on a patient by a physician (unless he or she wishes to lose their license). The Sybian is to the medical apparatus I mentioned as a turbo Porsche is to Ford's Model T or an F-16 is to the Wright Flyer. In the early 20th Century, electrical devices were the marvels of their age. Examples of the medical contraption I mentioned are on display in a museum in Amsterdam and other locations. They were actually used on women and administered by a physician....Again, gotta love those Victorians. | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 313 Registered: 08-2007 |
Townonenorth; the time period I am speaking of would have been in the 30's. The last containers I remembering seeing for sale were small plastic bottles. | ||
Mortalman Member Username: Mortalman Post Number: 315 Registered: 03-2007 |
Goike Snuff, Detroit!  | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 2076 Registered: 04-2005 |
In the Early Polish Detroit HOF thread, there's a Sanborn map of a snuff factory behind White Eagle Cigar near Hancock and Grandy (my post #1643, 25SEP06). Not sure if this is the Goike Kashub Snuff Co, but it seems to fit. |
