Shorpy!

**Whitehouse** · October-04-10, 07:10 PM

Originally Posted by Guideboat

Great photos! So the Charles B. Hill is on a floating dry dock?

Certainly looks like it. And I presume it's very close to where the Bob-Lo St. Claire is docked.Could be that on the left there's a new rail barge on the blocks. Nowadays barges go ther to die.

Although it looks like that barge is still there.\

Meanwhile, shorpy deliverd again with a stunning picture from this yard.

It's successor, also called William B. Mather is a floating museaum.
Wikipedia.

**DetroitScooter** · October-06-10, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by Stosh

Seems it was built in 2 parts, 1915 and 1913?

Attachment 7498

I took a walk around there last week and have come to the conclusion that the Edelweiss could have been been at the intersection of Madison and Randolph. A manager at the Milner recognized the pretty unique adjacent windows next to the south elevator shaft when I showed him the pic. It would make more sense if it were under construction, as some details are different, but that white trim line on the roof is still there, albeit painted the same color as the building now. The north shaft [[that would be in the pic from the John R/Broadway side) doesn't have any windows around it.

**EastsideAl** · October-09-10, 01:01 AM

The Goebel Brewing Co., circa 1905.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/9121?size=_original

Where is this? Is this the site of the surviving buildings on Rivard & Maple?

Brewster rides again!!

**Whitehouse** · October-09-10, 09:13 AM

A Goebel beer horse and tender combo. It looks like this was more of a ceremonial drive than an actual delivery to a customer. The cars are way too modern for a horse drawn era.

Here's another picture. These were shot in 1937.

Same picture as posted in the message above. A bit wider. [[From the LOC.)

Another view of the brewery. This is on the opposite side of the street. See the crest in the wall in both pictures. Amazing to see how the lenses morphed the buildings as if to let them look taller than they were. [[From the LOC.)

Goebel Beer Wikipedia. Defunct since 2005.

If I google the location it brings me to 300 Riverdrive, the Stroh facility, and the parent of Goebel. Also the UAW local 7777 there.

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

The Goebel Brewing Co., circa 1905.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/9121?size=_original

Where is this? Is this the site of the surviving buildings on Rivard & Maple?

Brewster rides again!!

That looks like Stroh's Icecream, also a vacated lot. Google forgot to black out the information on the fence. The property was for sale back then. I don't know anything about the current situation.

From Wikipedia:

In the early 1980s, Stroh's built a new ice cream production facility on Maple Street in Detroit, right down the road from its main brewery, which was demolished in 1985. Stroh's sold the facility in 1989 as a part of corporate restructuring at Stroh's. Stroh's Brewing Company was purchased by Pabst Brewing Company and the Miller Brewing Company in 1999 and moved from Detroit to Milwaukee, WI. Stroh's Ice Cream was run by Melody Farms for several years, all the time keeping the Stroh's name, until that company was purchased by Dean Foods in 2005.[1]

And:

In 1964 the company made its first move toward expansion when it bought the Goebel Brewing Company, a rival across the street.

So is the Shorpy picture a view looking into Rivard Street into the distance?

**jcole** · October-09-10, 09:18 AM

I'm wondering if they may have been some of the first deliveries after Prohibition ended. Note the police escorts.

**Whitehouse** · October-09-10, 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by jcole

I'm wondering if they may have been some of the first deliveries after Prohibition ended. Note the police escorts.

That might indeed be the case! Friom Wikipedia:

Massachusetts developed the first state-wide probation system in 1880, and by 1920, 21 other states had followed suit. With the passage of the National Probation Act on March 5, 1925, signed by President Calvin Coolidge, the U.S. Federal Probation Service was established. On the state level, pursuant to the Crime Control and Consent Act of 1936, a group of states entered into an agreement wherein they would supervise probationers and parolees who reside in each other's jurisdictions on each other's behalf. for each other. Known as the Interstate Compact For the Supervision of Parolees and Probationers, this agreement was originally signed by 25 states in 1937. By 1951, all the states in the United States of America had a working probation system and ratified the Interstate Compact Agreement. In 1959, the new states of Alaska and Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territories of the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa ratified the act as well

Collection of beercans. Was this beer still popular after the war? That eagle reminds me of some other eagle... And the Goebel name was also tarnished.

Was the Goebel Brewery part of Black Bottom?

**gnome** · October-09-10, 10:35 AM

excellent work as usual Whitehouse, except for one thing. Probation is not Prohibition.

Probation is the status granted to a freed prisoner. This status closely restricts their rights as individuals and is seen as a bridge between being free and being in jail.

Prohibition was an Amendment to our Constitution that made alcohol illegal.

**Hornwrecker** · October-09-10, 10:42 AM

HOF: Detroit Brewery Thread

**gnome** · October-09-10, 11:10 AM

You are rght about the german eagle;however, the thin German Eagle goes back centuries as far as being a totem within the larger teutonic myths. Hence, one can safety say that it was the Nazi Party that stole the eagle imagery from the German people.

However, there is no doubt the folks at Goebel saw what you saw. They changed their eagle from the thin german one to a beefier looking 'American' one. Here is a can from 1941 before the US entered the war, but after Holland laid roses for the germans to tread.

**Whitehouse** · October-09-10, 11:16 AM

This one almost slipped through the maze. Another view on the Ecorse shipyard.

Originally Posted by gnome

excellent work as usual Whitehouse, except for one thing. Probation is not Prohibition.

Probation is the status granted to a freed prisoner. This status closely restricts their rights as individuals and is seen as a bridge between being free and being in jail.

Prohibition was an Amendment to our Constitution that made alcohol illegal.

Oopsie... How did I get those two confused!

**Mikeg** · October-09-10, 01:54 PM

Was this beer still popular after the war?

Yes, in fact my dad worked there for a few years, circa 1950-1953. He liked the job, particularly one of the benefits - the workers could drink free "shorts" on their lunch hour [["shorts" were the underfilled bottles that could not be sold). He said that the taste of the freshly-brewed beer was excellent and many workers didn't know when to stop. Gradually during the 1950s Goebel began to cheapen their recipe by using rice and sales began to fall off. After Goebel was acquired by Strohs, the brand was positioned at a price point below Strohs and tasted like it.

**Whitehouse** · October-09-10, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by Mikeg

Yes, in fact my dad worked there for a few years, circa 1950-1953. He liked the job, particularly one of the benefits - the workers could drink free "shorts" on their lunch hour [["shorts" were the underfilled bottles that could not be sold). He said that the taste of the freshly-brewed beer was excellent and many workers didn't know when to stop. Gradually during the 1950s Goebel began to cheapen their recipe by using rice and sales began to fall off. After Goebel was acquired by Strohs, the brand was positioned at a price point below Strohs and tasted like it.

Does your dad have pictures of that era?

**Whitehouse** · October-09-10, 09:05 PM

Some more pictures that have not featured on this site:
http://www.shorpy.com/node/4462?size=_original
Parking lot at the Fisher Building.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/6541?size=_original]
Not Detroit but nonetheless interesing since Detroit is the birthplace of the traffic light.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/1281
Hanna Furnaces at Great Lakes Steel. Is this Zug island?

http://www.shorpy.com/node/6736?size=_original
GCP 1920, with Statler, Tuller and Kales.

**gnome** · October-09-10, 09:27 PM

Whitehouse, when do you sleep? By my clock it is 4 in the morning.

**Whitehouse** · October-09-10, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

Whitehouse, when do you sleep? By my clock it is 4 in the morning.

\
Correct. I was just watching the Formula one qualifying sessions in Japan.

Off to bed now.

As of next week I will be less frequent on this forum. I've been stricken with back pain and was four weeks off work. Next week work for me starts again, although the back is not yet 100%. But I am fed up with watching the walls.

**marcwigle** · October-09-10, 11:24 PM

[quote=jtf1972;184616]Edelweiss Cafe, Miami Ave, 1912
/quote]

What an absolutely gorgeous building.

**marcwigle** · October-09-10, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by Whitehouse

This corner in present day Detroit looks like this. Another parking structure. As far as parking structure goes, this one actually looks quite decent. It looks like they actually bothered to spend some bucks on the outer design of it.

We stayed at the Milner last summer... a little dated and probably could use some upgrades but we'll be back. We ended up parking in that garage and felt quite safe leaving our car there with the 24 hour guard who patrolled in his golf cart throughout the evening. The garage is nice-looking [[for a parking garage, I suppose) and is clean and bright.

**EastsideAl** · October-10-10, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by Whitehouse

That might indeed be the case! Friom Wikipedia:

Collection of beercans. Was this beer still popular after the war? That eagle reminds me of some other eagle... And the Goebel name was also tarnished.

Was the Goebel Brewery part of Black Bottom?

By the 1950's Goebel repositioned the bird as a rooster. They sold their beer in smaller-sized 8 oz. "Bantam" cans, and the cartoon-cute [[if a little odd) Brewster the Rooster became a mainstay of Detroit advertising, particularly during Tigers and Lions games.

As for your other question, the Goebel brewery, and the Stroh brewery, were both at the north end of Black Bottom. Keep in mind that, before it was an African-American neighborhood ,Black Bottom and the eastern part of downtown had been the center of Detroit's large German immigrant community. Detroit's breweries all had their roots in that ethnic community. To this very day the city's main German Roman Catholic church, St. Joeseph's, sits within a couple of blocks of the old Stroh's and Goebel's sites.

**EastsideAl** · October-10-10, 09:39 AM

Some great Goebel TV ads from the '50s on You Tube, both showing Brewster the Rooster at the very end:

Edit: Thanks for the embedding tips!

**Hermod** · October-10-10, 10:09 AM

What year did Goebel switch their advertising to "Goebel Private Stock 22"?

**Hornwrecker** · October-10-10, 10:38 AM

Michigan Breweriana & Beer History seems to be online today. Do any research as fast as possible, since this site goes down more than your sister.

**gnome** · October-10-10, 10:52 AM

E-Al, to embed a youtube video:

get the url code by clicking on the youtube share button. you will see the code:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls-uhU6W0G8

copy all the information to the right of the [[equals) = sign. In this case, the information is: ls-uhU6W0G8

then type:

[youtube ][/youtube ]

insert the code between the youtubes.

it looks like this: [youtube ]ls-uhU6W0G8[/youtube ]

I inserted an extra space after the youtubes so you can see what the embed code looks like.

**Jimaz** · October-10-10, 01:56 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

it looks like this: [youtube ]ls-uhU6W0G8[/youtube ]

I inserted an extra space after the youtubes so you can see what the embed code looks like.

That's what [noparse] is for.

[noparse][youtube]ls-uhU6W0G8[/youtube][/noparse]
yields
[youtube]ls-uhU6W0G8[/youtube]

Hey, what's the proper German pronunciation of "Goebel" anyway?

**Whitehouse** · October-10-10, 02:10 PM

I'm trying to find a word which sounds the same but I can't find it. You probalby heard the name Goebels coming by in WWII documentaries. Slash the S off and there you are.