Jack's Corner Bookstore

I had no intention of following up yesterday's post with this one but while sorting out books that I still haven't un-crated from moving five months ago I stumbled upon these blessed relics from Jack's Corner Bookstore at 583 W. Ann Arbor Trail in Plymouth. Jack being the owner Jack Gunsaulus.

As previously mentioned, I lived in the apartment next door to the Saxton's building which housed the store and ventured in a time or three when it was open. Which seemingly wasn't often. While I didn't buy the copy of Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus in which and the above receipt were found in, I'm sure that I picked up a book or two at some point so this is a sort of ephemeral retroactive justice.

I haven't been able to find much of anything on Mr. Gunsaulus but will update if I do happen upon any information. The scant information that I did find was pertaining to a death at the apartment complex next door at 565 West Ann Arbor Trail. The woman, Barbara Grob, 36, was found dead in her aparment in September of 1990.

Plymouth Observer, September 10, 1990

Gunsalaus said she used to frequently park in front of his store and they would exchange greetings. He never saw her with anybody. Her obituary says that she had lived in Plymouth since 1985, having moved there from Mackinaw City.

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A Dudley Randall Poem in Milestone 2

I bought this Milestone 2 poetry Magazine at a Livonia estate sale this week. Milestone was the literary publication of Wayne (State) University and this second issue dates to 1949. While I don't recognize most of the names, Dudley Randall was both a nationally known poet and the librarian for the Wayne County General Hospital at Eloise via the Wayne County Library System. The poem featured is The Southern Road which was a revised version of the completed poem from 1948 that h as a handful or two of word differences between the two. I don't know if Randall edited the poem for later collected works editions or earlier but this link features it in its likely final form in 2009. Neither version particularly enchants me but the block print in the magazine is an added bonus.

A Cabinet Card of a Dead Man Lying in Repose From Wayne Photographer Susan Doolittle

The City of Wayne, Michigan was not a large village at the turn of the 20th century so it stands to reason that there wasn't a glut of photographers practicing their trade there. As such, the 3 cabinet cards and carte de visites that I own represents roughly a quarter of the early ones. Considering that the wives of Frank Hickok and William Corlett, first Village President of Wayne, took over after Frank's death in 1892 the list grows smaller beyond those two families. Had I snagged the Doolittle dead man cabinet card I'd be even that much more Wayne-rich in photographs. Speaking of Susan Doolittle, of whom I have learned very little about, it is interesting to note that Wayne had three women photographers in an era oft dominated by men in that very field. This photograph of a corpse is a startling example of her work.

Frederick Soop: Not An Equal Opportunity Restraunteer

Detroit Free Press , March 28, 1890 If you don't want to hear a racist tale of a suburban namesake then close your eyes now. As early as 1876 Frederick Soop had left his Belleville farm once again, having done a stint at the Hawkins House in Ypsilanti during the Civil War and the City Hotel in Detroit thereafter, and ventured off to Chatham, Ontario to run the Rutley Hotel , which was conducted as a Temperance House. Detroit Free Press , August 17, 1879 In 1879 he was searching for a good restaurant or small hotel to operate. Eventually he ended up on Washington Avenue near State Street running a dining hall which he ran until around 1890. Detroit Free Press , April 16, 1890 It was in 1888 when the aforementioned racial incident occurred at his dining establishment. It was then that William H. Haynes, a black doctor, sat down with his former classmate S. W. Barkwell for dinner. The men ordered but when the food was served none was placed before Mr. Haynes who, ironically, ha...

The Nankin Township Historical Society

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