Velvet Peanut Butter 'N' Jelly

While the story of peanut butter and jelly as a combo is iconic the packaging together of the pair of products vastly disparate in viscosities and moisture levels was a bit more scientific and complicated than mere taste. As such, Shedd-Bartusch of Detroit, a mainstay in the city along with Velvet Peanut Butter, began working on the combination in their laboratories in 1953 and formulated both a high quality peanut butter and jelly which blended well together. In that process they also had to design a special filling nozzle to accommodate its production in the factory.

Berwyn Life, August 16, 1967 (enlarge)

The results produced the first shelf brand peanut butter and jelly in a jar combination that officially hit the market in the summer of 1967. Though it was likely taste-tested for at least six months prior to that time.

Livingston County Daily Press and Argus, July 12, 1967

Their local competitor Velvet Peanut Butter jumped into the market a mere six months later and as I've written previously, shortly thereafter Smucker's Goober Grape appeared and has dominated the marketplace up until this day. Velvet was long a revolutionary force in the production of peanut butter having supported at least three offshoot discount brands as well as a peanut butter and marshmallow blend called Peanut Fluf. Shedd's in turn created numerous combination blends of peanut butter, marshmallow, jellies and jams and even cereal in the form of Rice Krispies.

The East Liverpool Review, November 6, 1967 (enlarge)

While I've never seen a Velvet Peanut Butter 'N' (or &) Jelly jar I now am the owner of nearly a dozen jar lids of said product having stumbled upon and procured 11 of them at a Lyon Township, Michigan estate sale yesterday.

While nearly impossible to find as well there has been at least one sale of the Shedd's Peanut Butter 'N' Jelly specimen in the past decade and it's a splendid example of its ilk.

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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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