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Another year, another cool calendar! This time, Steve Rossio over at the Portage Library got out his jangling key chain and unlocked a previously unexplored drawer in the file cabinet. Their John Todd collection of negatives is massive and there are many shots that have not yet been examined or cataloged. I felt a little like Indiana Jones poking around in the fascinating views of long-ago Portage and Kalamazoo (and even Schoolcraft).
January opens backstage at the Kalamazoo Country Club circa 1955. You can just see an excellent old Tyler refrigerator at the right hand side of the page. We have one right here at Portage Printing! February has some great shots of area industrial might. The largest photo is from a foundry where the forklift driver on the left is moving stacks of pig iron to be loaded into a smelter. The choir kids in March not only appear to be singing sweetly but they look swell too. I count three boys wearing bow ties, just like I do.
There is military merriment over at Fort Custer in the April photo. A couple of my great-uncles were there right around when this was taken (1942). Both were red-hot swing musicians and one, Uncle Jack Rosenberger, went on to perform, write and arrange for Glen Miller and Ray Anthony.
May is Graduation month, so congradulations Bob (as the cake says if you read carefully). June is for brides, and the Todd collection yielded a blushing one along with her natty groom and YOWZA — check the excellent whitewalls on that 1953 Kaiser Manhattan! Stored in its trunk may well have been the latest model from the Kalamazoo Canvas Boat Company on Harrison Street (July).
August features yet another snappy bow tie on the well-dressed gent in front of the Heckman truck at Family Foods (that building now is the home of Jo-Ann Fabrics). The girls are all lined up in 1958 illustrating September’s “Back to School” theme. Most of them look pretty happy about it. October features a roundup of fresh breath and real chewing satisfaction just in time for Halloween. This display rack was probably photographed inside Wolber’s grocery store. They used to be located down the street from Portage Printing near the corner of Centre and Westnedge.
November is the season of elections and politics and the Todd Collection did not disappoint! Schoolcraft Republican Garry Brown gets a big campaign-boosting handshake from Richard Nixon himself. In the smaller photo Garry is on the Kalamazoo mall along with Governor George Romney hobnobbing with the electorate. For December, we found this photo of happy children dressed head to foot in natural fibers as they visit with jolly old Saint Nick courtesy of the 1957 Kalamazoo Chamber of Commerce.
Best regards,
Craig Vestal