Food
& Other Important Things,
by Don Curto
The Payday Downtown Journey
Sometimes when my father's railroad paycheck arrived, he would take
me with him on the trip downtown to cash his check and to pay the
month's bills. We walked from the corner of North Third and Crescent
streets to Washington Street. My family never owned a car, although
next door, my grandparents always had one. I have written about the
famous Cadillac Cabriolet before. (My uncle John Tobin's love of cars
probably is what caused me to become a "car nut.")
I have no idea what my father's pay was and never thought to ask.
We made this trip many times when I was growing up, but there is one
time that offers a special memory for me. It would have been in the
late summer of 1935 after I turned twelve years old on August 16.
Downtown Marquette looked different then but surprisingly, the south
side of Washington Street was remarkably similar to today, although
the occupants of the buildings are not the same. Only the First National
Bank (now Wells Fargo), Doncker's and the Delft remain the same, if
you look only at the front and don't count the Delft's complete makeover,
with the most uncomfortable seats in the movie business.
I remember, J.C. Penney, A&P food store, Stern & Field men's
clothing store, Marquette Pharmacy, Delf's grocery (a wonderful store),
Piggly Wiggly food store (was there ever a sillier name?), Richard's
Sport Shop, the Knights of Columbus (youth Friday night dances were
held here when I was in high school) and Gamble's.
The other side of Washington Street is much changed due to time, but
also because of the 1938 fire which destroyed a number of buildings.
However, two important buildings to note for the purposes of this
story are the corner store, now Jack Deo's Superior View and immediately
next door, the Doghouse Pub. The corner was Harrington's men's clothing
then, and where the Doghouse is now was the Marquette Café.
Tucked into a small space between the two was Chapeki's shoe shine
shop.
Without stopping for any business, except possibly to chat, we went
directly to the First National Bank. Oddly, while many buildings are
changed completely inside, the bank lobby today looks much like it
did then. Herman Olson, a very friendly bank executive, often came
out of his office to talk to my father. I think they talked railroading.
After cashing his check (no checking account in our family at that
time), we went next door on Front Street to Spear's Coal, where he
would pay his coal bill-either one current or one for the future.
I think anthracite coal in 1935 was less than $5 a ton. I recall my
father complaining at home once that the cost of coal was too high
since it took just about five tons to heat our small house for the
winter.
After that stop, we might go to Shoch & Hallam jewelers for a
thirty-day check on my father's railroad Hamilton watch. This was
a ritual required by the railroad. Selected watch sellers were authorized
by the railroad to make monthly reports on engineers' watches that
could lose or gain no more than one minute per month. Trains really
ran on time here, and reportedly in Germany and Italy, too.
The watch was an important tool in those days. Only pocket watches
were acceptable to the railroad. They were all wind-up watches. The
digital watch had not been invented and the wonderful work done by
watchmakers of that time is amazing. The Hamilton (a U.S. company
in Pennsylvania) watch was preferred for railroaders. As I write this
I am looking at my father's 1937"Railway Special." His 1914
Hamilton stopped keeping good time and he had to buy a new one. I
think I remember him complaining that he had got the 1914 watch for
only $18 and now he had to pay $37. By the way, the watch-which has
to be wound daily-still keeps good time. It gains about a minute a
month, but then there are no trains needing its time and there are
no jewelers authorized by the railroad to correct its minor error.
We went on then to City Hall (which we now call Old City Hall) where
almost all city offices were located. Here was the assessor, the city
attorney, city clerk, accounts and finance, board of light & power,
public health and safety, public works, city engineer, fire department,
mayor's office, municipal court, police department, street department,
water department, and on the second floor one found the family welfare
agency, the community chest, the municipal band, W.P.A. offices and
the U.P. Development Bureau. Here he paid the electric bill, which
I am sure was very small.
On next to the federal building (it is still there) to drop a letter
in the post office. Also in this building was the postal inspector,
bureau of mines inspector, U.S. district court, department of justice,
the IRS (Yup, it was here, even then) the alcohol tax unit, department
of agriculture, and the weather bureau on the fourth floor with its
instruments on the roof of the building. In those almost prehistoric
days of the weather business, at least city folks got city weather
figures instead of Negaunee Township weather.
After his business in City Hall, we went back across Third Street
to the Marquette Cafe, where we had the treat for the day. Except
for surface changes, the inside is remarkably similar to the old café.
If the seat was available, we always took the first table on the right,
just inside the front door and up the three steps from street level.
(This has changed now since entry does not go directly up from the
street, but up an incline to the left
My father always ordered a beer and a shot (I don't recall the brand),
and a partial shot glass (less than one ounce) of Port wine for me.
I know now that this was illegal, but at the time this never entered
my mind and possibly not that of the café owner, either. I
was a big guy when I drank with my dad. This only took place a couple
of times a year. I don't ever recall my father taking a second drink.
On this particular trip, he said "Son, (he always called me son,
even when I was fifty) if the Tigers stay on top, do you want to go
to Detroit to see the World Series?"
Of course, you know that I said, "No, I don't want to go. I might
miss some school."
I was so excited I don't remember going home that day.
As you might guess, I immediately told all my friends, neighbors and
anyone else who would listen. If you remember, the Tigers stayed on
top, and for the second time in two years, they went to the series
and won their first ever championship from the Chicago Cubs, who had
not won the series since 1908. Detroit won Games 2,3,4 and 6, making
the seventh game unnecessary.
We went on the railroad to Detroit to that series and stayed with
my father¹s youngest brother, Tom. He worked in the offices for
Ford Motor Company and drove a coupe with a rumble seat. What a trip
to the stadium that was.
I think you could say that that was the best payday trip downtown-ever.
-Don Curto
