  Bc_n_dtown Member Username: Bc_n_dtown Post Number: 1 Registered: 09-2006 |
I've been reading the posts on here for some time now and find them very informative, especially those dealing with information and photos on Old Detroit. So I figured that if anyone out there could help me solve my little problem it would definitely be the folks here on DetroitYES.com. I've looked everywhere I could think of trying to track down photos of the old Awrey Bakery main facility that use to be located at 5231 Tireman in Detroit. It was a large two-to-three story plant which took up one entire block along Tireman--right there where the two Detroit street grid patterns merge together. The only pic I could find was the one Awrey's has on their web-site, which had to be taken sometime back in the 1920's or 30's, when they were known as Awrey & Sons. Unfortunately, that's not the building(s) I remember while growing up near the area during the early 1960's. From what I can remember, it was a series of buildings added on thru the years as the facility grew. I definitely remember the large Awrey windmill which hung from the second level at the corner of Tireman and Ironwood. As a matter of fact, it's the same one they currently display along Farmington Rd. -- outside the current location they moved into around 1967. I'm trying to find the photos for a family memorabilia photo collection I'm working on. Can anyone help me??? | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 4351 Registered: 11-2003 |
Loved those Awrey "girls" at my Wrigley's Store on Davison and Greenlawn, 1950s. They gave us lots of freebies on Saturday night as they cleaned out. The store was closed on Sundays. jjaba, Westsider. Welcome to the Forum, BC in Dtown. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1626 Registered: 04-2005 |
I didn't find any exterior photos yet, but there are a few interior photos of the bakery here: Virtual Motor City Search for awrey turns up 7 photos. | ||
Broken_main Member Username: Broken_main Post Number: 1163 Registered: 06-2005 |
I got my first five birthday cakes at that bakery on Tireman. I will dig up the pics and share them soon. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 1597 Registered: 10-2003 |
Welcome to the Forum, bc_n_dtown!! The Burton Collection at the Detroit Public Library may be able to help here. Among the catalogs they've maintained over the years are buildings and companies. They may have a clipping file with the type of images you're looking for. It might be worth a visit! Most of the materials in the clipping files (newspaper and magazine articles and other paper ephemera) are able to photocopied. They may have images from which photographic copies can be made for a fee. If you have a digital camera, they may allow you to take a photo of the photo. Good luck!! | ||
Bc_n_dtown Member Username: Bc_n_dtown Post Number: 2 Registered: 09-2006 |
Thanks for all the advise, but for some reason old photos of Awrey's seem to have been stashed away in a top-secret file somewhere. I did try the WSU/Virtual Motor City collection when I first found out about that site about a year or so ago, but just as was mentioned by Hornwrecker, only interior shots can be found over there. Earlier this year I went down to the DPL Burton Collection, but unless I was mis-directed there were no photos there either. However, they did send me downstairs where I was able to dig up a few interesting old Detroit Free Press articles on Awrey's. One was from June 1971, titled "When a Firm Leaves, the City Dies a Little," which dealt with the reasons why they left the city and what happened to the surrounding neighborhood after they left. According to the article, Awrey's moved into the plant on Tireman in 1914, but after attempts to further expand the Detroit facility failed, a second plant was built in Livonia and opened in 1967. By 1970, the company and its 700 employees moved to Livonia. "Awrey Bakeries of Detroit had become Awrey of Livonia." Another excellent article from January 1985, which centered around Awrey's 75th Anniversary, gave added info for closing the Detroit plant. Originally, the Livonia plant was built to produce frozen baked goods aimed for a national market, much like Sara Lee was doing at the time. Unfortunately, Awrey's entered that market too late and lost millions. Consequently, they had to make cuts and trim staff. The new plant had to be adapted to produce traditional breads and sweets, which were still being produced at the "outdated" Detroit facility. Of course it now didn't make sense to keep both plants open, so the Tireman facility was sold to a food-vending firm. It was later torn down in the early seventies. Both articles were informative, but still no pictures!!!! I have been told by a relative that they're sure that they have a distant photo of the plant on an old slide taken back in the early sixties, but they're not really sure where exactly it's located. So I'm still where I started. | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 672 Registered: 12-2005 |
I too get 7 images when searching for "Awrey" there. Good post, Bc_n_dtown. Welcome! | ||
Bc_n_dtown Member Username: Bc_n_dtown Post Number: 3 Registered: 09-2006 |
For those who just might be interested, here's a little bit of online history of Awrey's from 1910 thru 2005. It looks like it was posted prior to the company being sold. http://www.fundinguniverse.com /company-histories/Awrey-Baker ies-Inc-Company-History.html | ||
Bc_n_dtown Member Username: Bc_n_dtown Post Number: 4 Registered: 09-2006 |
I was finally able to get my hands on that old slide photo of the original Awrey's Tireman facility, which I made mention of on here some days ago. The way it's looking, it seems to be the only photo of the place left on earth (lol). Since the facility is only visible in the distant background of the photo it will require some cropping. There's also a lady in the foreground I don't want to keep in the photo. Anyone know the best place near the northwest side of Detroit where I can go to get the slide image transferred into a decent looking photo? Hopefully it's not too expensive. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1658 Registered: 04-2005 |
I found out that my grandfather used to work for the Awrey Bros in the early years, probably in the 1910s. He then started his own bakery in Hamtramack (Warsawa), then went to Silvercup where he retired from, but being less than 65, he went back to Awrey's where he decorated cakes until around the early 1960s. I haven't found any photos yet of him baking. |
