1940s Fragments from Ecorse History
July 1940
While lunching on sandwiches, preparations are underway in the kitchen for 6 p.m. dinner: boned, rolled pot roast of beef at 26 cents per pound, potatoes, a peck for 28 cents, onions, five cents per pound, and carrots, two bunches for nine cents. For dessert, freshly sliced peaches from the four pound bag that cost 19 cents and that was in July 1940.
Editorial- Roy Seavitt Retires From the Ecorse School Board
Ecorse Advertiser, June 16, 1949
Roy W. Seavitt has retired from the Ecorse School Board. After serving eight terms…twenty four years…on the Board of Education. He did not seek reelection and has retired from public life.
The Ecorse school system will miss Mr. Seavitt. A school man himself, he has been able to give valuable assistance to the development of the Ecorse School system.
For nearly a quarter of a century Mr. Seavitt devoted himself to improving the educational system of his own home town.
This, he was well qualified to do as for many years he has been an administrator in the Detroit school system with an excellent education and a thorough knowledge of business.
The present fine school system is due in great part to his interest in education and his determination to give Ecorse children the best possible educational advantages.
The task was often a thankless one as every school board member knows only too well.
Partisan criticism and spiteful accusations have been hurled at him as at other members of the school board, especially at election time. Instead of constructive criticism there was frequently the unreasoning criticism of malcontents.
Through it all, however, Mr. Seavitt retained his serenity and never deviated from his goal, the best possible educational system the city could achieve with the resources it had.
The Ecorse Board of Education will miss the experienced counsel and the devotion to duty which always characterized Mr. Seavitt.
His retirement from the Board is received with general regret.
Polio Epidemic, 1949
The Ecorse Advertiser of September 15, 1949, reported that Michigan had more cases of poliomyelitis in 1949 than in any previous year, even topping the previous all time high of 1,228 cases reported in 1940.
There were 144 deaths as compared to 116 reported in 1924, the highest for any year, and the epidemic was not over.
State health officials predicted that the number of cases for 1949 would exceed 2,000.
Because of the number of cases in Michigan and the nation in 1949, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and the Wayne County chapter practically exhausted their funds for hospital care.
Detroit and Wayne County were particularly hard hit in the present epidemic and the end was not in sight.
Nearly every Downriver community had some cases and probably would see more before the end of the epidemic.
There was no time to organize the great March of Dimes campaign which was scheduled for January. The money was needed immediately. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were desperately needed in Wayne County to care for people who were stricken in 1949.
“Give your aid in the emergency by sending in your contributions today. Your contributions may help someone you know,” the Ecorse Advertiser said.
Ecorse Businessmen’s Association
The Ecorse Advertiser of Thursday, December 1, 1949, reported that Louis Parker, city councilman and veteran civic leader, had been elected president of the Ecorse Businessmen’s Association at its annual meeting and banquet held at Ciungan’s Shrimp House. Louis Parker succeeded Charles Montroy, the outgoing president.
Over fifty members of the Businessmen’s Association attended the banquet. In addition to electing officers, the Association presented plaques to its six past presidents. These past presidents were Nick Stroia, Frank Butler, Stewart Frank, Earl Hebert Lambert Pfeiffer and the late James Pantages.
Other officers elected included Dee Helbig, vice president; John Banyan, secretary, and Pat Trondle, treasurer. On the board of directors will be Earl Hebert, Al Jaeger, Nick Stroia, Ormal Goodell, Frank Butler Newt Hawkins, Herb Smith, Stewart Evans, and William Voisine.
Obituary- Mrs. Emma Beaubien
Thursday, December 1, 1949
Services for Mrs. Emma Beaubien Toranjo, the oldest descendant of Ecorse and Detroit pioneer Beaubien family, were held Tuesday, November 29, 1949, at the H.F. Thon Funeral Home in Wayndotte and at St. Elizabeth's Church in Wayndotte. Burial was in Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Mrs. Toranjo, who was 97, died Saturday at the home of her adopted daughter, mrs. Nora Griffin, in Wyandotte.
She was the last os seven chidlren of George Beaubien, descendent of Jean Baptiste Beaubien, who arrived in Detroit in 1701 with Cadillac.
Besides her adtoped daughter she is survived by 14 nieces and hephews.
Library Christmas Party
More than 250 guests attended the Wayne County Library Union Council’s annual Christmas party at Ecorse Public Library on Sunday, December 11, 1949.
Following a program in the auditorium a smorgasbord dinner was served.
Chairman of the program which included dance numbers, music, and an address of welcome by Major W. Newton Hawkins was Mrs. Agnes Pauline of the Plymouth Public Library.
Other speakers were the Reverend Leonard Duckett of the Ecorse Library Board and Walter Kaiser of the county library board.
- Attorney Howard E. Wood and Judge John V. Moldovan held open house in the building they occupied at 4438 West Jefferson, Ecorse. The building had been enlarged to give the Judge more court room space, besides a lobby and more office space for both men.
- Guy Pooley of Ecorse was president of the Downriver Chamber of Commerce and named new committee chairman. A resolution introduced by C.C. Ward at the meeting in Wabeek Inn, Wyandotte, was in regard to the “smoke nuisance in Detroit and Downriver” also to “oil being dumped into the Detroit River” and the “time traffic is blocked by freight trains across streets.”
- Robert Bichan assumed his office as Ecorse Township justice of the peace in July 1940, opening his office in his home, 23 West Josephine.
- Cheese sandwich anyone? Bread, two loaves for 15 cents, 29 cents for a 2 ½ pound package of cheese and spread the bread from the pound of butter at 30 cents, dab on some salad dressing from the quart at 19 cents.
While lunching on sandwiches, preparations are underway in the kitchen for 6 p.m. dinner: boned, rolled pot roast of beef at 26 cents per pound, potatoes, a peck for 28 cents, onions, five cents per pound, and carrots, two bunches for nine cents. For dessert, freshly sliced peaches from the four pound bag that cost 19 cents and that was in July 1940.
- How about a spin in a used car after dinner? At Gilbert Motor Sales, a 1938 Olds was available for $149 down; 1939 Chevrolet, $147 down; and a Ford Deluxe also $147 down. That 1939 Hudson, 6 coach, was $149 down.
- Ecorse Township Clerk John R. Labadie, notified residents that the Township was to have “an alteration in the addition election precincts,” prepared for voting in the autumn of 1949.
Editorial- Roy Seavitt Retires From the Ecorse School Board
Ecorse Advertiser, June 16, 1949
Roy W. Seavitt has retired from the Ecorse School Board. After serving eight terms…twenty four years…on the Board of Education. He did not seek reelection and has retired from public life.
The Ecorse school system will miss Mr. Seavitt. A school man himself, he has been able to give valuable assistance to the development of the Ecorse School system.
For nearly a quarter of a century Mr. Seavitt devoted himself to improving the educational system of his own home town.
This, he was well qualified to do as for many years he has been an administrator in the Detroit school system with an excellent education and a thorough knowledge of business.
The present fine school system is due in great part to his interest in education and his determination to give Ecorse children the best possible educational advantages.
The task was often a thankless one as every school board member knows only too well.
Partisan criticism and spiteful accusations have been hurled at him as at other members of the school board, especially at election time. Instead of constructive criticism there was frequently the unreasoning criticism of malcontents.
Through it all, however, Mr. Seavitt retained his serenity and never deviated from his goal, the best possible educational system the city could achieve with the resources it had.
The Ecorse Board of Education will miss the experienced counsel and the devotion to duty which always characterized Mr. Seavitt.
His retirement from the Board is received with general regret.
Polio Epidemic, 1949
The Ecorse Advertiser of September 15, 1949, reported that Michigan had more cases of poliomyelitis in 1949 than in any previous year, even topping the previous all time high of 1,228 cases reported in 1940.
There were 144 deaths as compared to 116 reported in 1924, the highest for any year, and the epidemic was not over.
State health officials predicted that the number of cases for 1949 would exceed 2,000.
Because of the number of cases in Michigan and the nation in 1949, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and the Wayne County chapter practically exhausted their funds for hospital care.
Detroit and Wayne County were particularly hard hit in the present epidemic and the end was not in sight.
Nearly every Downriver community had some cases and probably would see more before the end of the epidemic.
There was no time to organize the great March of Dimes campaign which was scheduled for January. The money was needed immediately. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were desperately needed in Wayne County to care for people who were stricken in 1949.
“Give your aid in the emergency by sending in your contributions today. Your contributions may help someone you know,” the Ecorse Advertiser said.
Ecorse Businessmen’s Association
The Ecorse Advertiser of Thursday, December 1, 1949, reported that Louis Parker, city councilman and veteran civic leader, had been elected president of the Ecorse Businessmen’s Association at its annual meeting and banquet held at Ciungan’s Shrimp House. Louis Parker succeeded Charles Montroy, the outgoing president.
Over fifty members of the Businessmen’s Association attended the banquet. In addition to electing officers, the Association presented plaques to its six past presidents. These past presidents were Nick Stroia, Frank Butler, Stewart Frank, Earl Hebert Lambert Pfeiffer and the late James Pantages.
Other officers elected included Dee Helbig, vice president; John Banyan, secretary, and Pat Trondle, treasurer. On the board of directors will be Earl Hebert, Al Jaeger, Nick Stroia, Ormal Goodell, Frank Butler Newt Hawkins, Herb Smith, Stewart Evans, and William Voisine.
Obituary- Mrs. Emma Beaubien
Thursday, December 1, 1949
Services for Mrs. Emma Beaubien Toranjo, the oldest descendant of Ecorse and Detroit pioneer Beaubien family, were held Tuesday, November 29, 1949, at the H.F. Thon Funeral Home in Wayndotte and at St. Elizabeth's Church in Wayndotte. Burial was in Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Mrs. Toranjo, who was 97, died Saturday at the home of her adopted daughter, mrs. Nora Griffin, in Wyandotte.
She was the last os seven chidlren of George Beaubien, descendent of Jean Baptiste Beaubien, who arrived in Detroit in 1701 with Cadillac.
Besides her adtoped daughter she is survived by 14 nieces and hephews.
Library Christmas Party
More than 250 guests attended the Wayne County Library Union Council’s annual Christmas party at Ecorse Public Library on Sunday, December 11, 1949.
Following a program in the auditorium a smorgasbord dinner was served.
Chairman of the program which included dance numbers, music, and an address of welcome by Major W. Newton Hawkins was Mrs. Agnes Pauline of the Plymouth Public Library.
Other speakers were the Reverend Leonard Duckett of the Ecorse Library Board and Walter Kaiser of the county library board.