We've Been Over This Before

I've got three signs on the side of one building in an alley off Lake Street of varying degrees of legibility.  The first one we can make out, and in part because we've seen that yellow-hewed ad style before.  It's Lee's, but this time it's not just overalls.  This one seems to be co-sponsored by something called Jack's Toggery.  

If you're like me, you weren't so sure about that second word.  It sort of sounds like British legal term/slang for alternative sexual behavior.  But I guess maybe it used to mean clothing store in the vernacular.  Somehow, that's disappointing.  So is what I've been able to find about Jack's.  I'd guess there was a clothing store by that name in this area, but I've not been able to turn up any evidence, so, on to the others:

For the next one, we know what they do, but we're missing the name.  Apparently someone around here offered window trimming, show card writing and advertising.  My first thought was that this was a another decorating outfit, but I think that's wrong.  I think these folks were instead marketers.  Maybe they were the original Mad Men.  Sadly, if they wrote their own name on the side of this building, I can no longer read it.

The last one leaves us with the opposite problem.  I think that first line says "Van Camp's."  I can't read the rest, but it seems there is a famous brand of canned beans with that name owned by ConAgra.  I don't think I've heard of them, but that has to be what we are looking at.  Apparently I don't eat enough canned beans.  I've seen Blazing Saddles, so I do not regret it.

The brand dates to 1861 in Indianapolis, and there's a pretty cool collection of Van Camp ads from the period when they were owned by a company called Stokely here.  Local Google results for the last name seem to be dominated by doctors with that last name.   Do you think any of them focus on the gastrointestinal system?

Just for good measure, here's a guy named Van Camp hoisting anchor with some friends somewhere in Minnesota in 1941.

Foreign Lands: I'm Not Even Gonna Comment

This is a beautiful building at a beautiful intersection in a beautiful location but, well, read that sign.  Here's a close up:

Okay, so it's not a really a ghost and it's not really paint on brick.  But still.  How could I not?  It makes me wonder about our local community.  Is it good that we take ownership of potentially offensive terms?  Or is a bad that we use them?

Anyone have some lefse?

Dedicated Followers of Fashion

I started to put this one up the other day, so I had to double-check that that I didn't actually post it. I'm not sure why I like this particular shot so much, except that I like the parallel lines of the sign for Nate's Clothing and the street sign. So, yeah, that's me pretending to be arty.

Nate's is no longer operating from this location, but apparently was downtown for 92 years before moving on out to the suburbs in 2008. At the time, the space was to be converted to offices (what else), but I'm not sure what's there now. A Flickr user got this cool shot of the old sign out front. I don't recall seeing it, so I'm betting its no longer there.

The building, at 401 1st Ave. N., is apparently also known as the Manufacturers Building, and dates to about 1910.

A German Selling Leather Is Too Easy

The sign says C.F. Albricht Company, Leather & Shoe Store Supplies. But I believe it refers to the commercial undertaking of Mr. Charles Frederick Albrecht, who immigrated from Germany in 1881 at the age of 24. I have no explanation for why the spelling differs (and yes, dear readers, this time it isn't just my typo). After a rather varied career, he was president of and treasurer of a company bearing his name that was a wholesaler of leather goods and was described as the "only exclusive shoe findings business in Minneapolis" that grew to one of the largest of its kind in the "northwest." Like our undertaker friend, he passed away in 1921 (I guess Melby didn't handle the embalming).

As usual, someone else snapped and uploaded before me. This one's on the side of 118 N. 4th St.

Yippie Ki Yay [Expletive Deleted]!

This one says H.A. Juster Co., distributor, which seems to be a clothing/textile company. Below that are ads for Mayo Spruce, which seems to have been a t-shirt company from the 1950s, and Blue Bell Wrangler, reflective of the early days of the Wrangler jeans company.

Assuming that this is the same company or a predecessor or ancestor of Juster Brothers, there are also many interesting photos available from Historical Society. Several of them are interiors from the 1920s of a textile factory, although the main store front seems to be at nearby but different location. I'm not sure where the interiors are. Also the old store front looks really familiar, but isn't at the listed location anymore. Juster Bros. apparently sponsored a Gopher football radio show in 1948. 1942 apparently was a good year for writing strange sales letters.

There are a bunch of shots of this one available of Flickr and elsewhere, including several that caught better light and weather than me. It's at the back of 319 1st Ave.

Sans Talking Animated Children

The weather and the fact that this is shot through a window are robbing this one of its vitality, but Writing On The Wall has a somewhat better shot. It's Lee Overall's and work clothes. Not a lot of mystery in the product, but but it looks like an old sign. 206 N. 3rd St.