KALAMAZOO INDUSTRY

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1930 illustrated postcard shows panorama of multistory red brick buildings. 'THE UPJOHN COMPANY, Kalamazoo, Mich.; 40 Seventh Avenue, South, New York City; 25 E. Pershing Road, Kansas City; 199 First Street, San Francisco.' F.M. BOYETTE Promises a March 6 visit. Image Credit: Sue Hodapp

Kalamazoo grew into one of Michigan's premier industrial centers at the turn of the century. In 1890, Mayor William E. Hill said in his inaugural address: "Our manufacturers are getting to be numerous, many new ones are coming every year. They should be encouraged."

The railroad and expanded utilities helped many industries get their start in Kalamazoo. Whether making automobiles or stoves, pharmaceuticals, railway supplies or cigars, businesses found a welcome environment in this city.

Mid 20th-century Kalamazoo King Pipe Furnace catalog page. A weary-looking man in a smoking jacket shovels coal in a furnace. He is observed by a smiling girl in a gray sailor dress holding a doll, a dog at her feet. Image Credit: Sue Hodapp

Paper City

A reliable source of water, abundant timber and connection to several railroad lines helped greater Kalamazoo assemble the world's largest concentration of paper mills. The Kalamazoo Paper Company arrived first in 1867.

1930s postcard titled 'Paper Mills, Kalamazoo Mich.' Under a blue sky dotted with clouds, white smoke rises from between five three-story tan buildings with blue roofs nestled among houses and trees. The horizon is filled with forests in the distance. Image Credit: Tom Maas

Early 20th-century black-and-white postcard titled 'Sorting Room-Kalamazoo Paper Mills.' A man and woman stand by wooden barrels in a long room with brick walls and concrete floor. He wears dark work clothes; she wears a black dress and white bonnet. Image Credit: Sue Hodapp

A 1912 black-and-white postcard titled 'Pulp Beaters-Kalamazoo Paper Mills.' Six wooden vats filled with pulp stretch across a long, narrow room with windows. Pulp beaters hang from metal piping overhead. Image Credit: Sue Hodapp

By the 1910s, about half of Kalamazoo's workforce was employed in paper related industries. Wood pulp was even shipped from Sweden to supply the Kalamazoo mills. In the 1960s and 1970s, pressure to reduce pollution led to a rapid decline in the industry, but it still has a presence in the city.

Celery City

Kalamazoo's surrounding muckland was ideal for growing celery, but it required a lot of labor. In the late 1800s, Dutch immigrants purchased small plots to grow the tender plant. By 1890, the innovation and hard work of the 'Celery Dutch' helped make the region a world leader in celery production.

Late 19th-century postcard. Storks delivering babies fly over green celery fields. Text includes: 'The Home of Celerytone. A Delicious and Refreshing Beverage. Made Where the Celery Grows. YOU WILL LIKE IT. 5 cents at All Fountains. Increase in Pop. 61%.' Image Credit: Sue Hodapp

The back of the above Celerytone postcard has text quoted below. Image Credit: Sue Hodapp

The text in the above image reads: "DO YOU LIKE CRISP, WHITE, TENDER CELERY? Then You Will Like Celerytone from Kalamazoo. Served at the Soda Fountain, with its deliciously appetizing, rich, nutty flavor and well known invigorating properties. Its fatigue relieving qualities everybody knows. Celery is good, see that you get the genuine. Kalamazoo is the home of celery, and is peopled with healthy, sturdy men and beautiful women; they drink Celerytone. Did you ever wonder that you never heard of a Celery Beverage that you liked? It is because it can not be made successfully from Celery Seed Essential Oil Extracts, so common, any more than you would like a lemonade made from lemon peel or seeds. Celerytone is our registered trade-mark and denotes the only Genuine: it is made right, it is pure and delicious, you will like it and can drink it freely. Ask for it at the Soda Fountain. 5c a glass. Put up in bottles for the home. Celerytone high ball is the latest."

1911 black-and-white postcard titled 'A celery field in the heart of Kalamazoo, Mich.' Three girls in white dresses and a boy in a white shirt and clean overalls pose barefoot in a celery field with the barley reaching their ankles. Image Credit: Sue Hodapp

Kalamazoo shipped so much celery by rail that it was the second largest freight user in the state, behind only Detroit. Declining soil fertility, blight, and adverse environmental effects from paper manufacturing led to the industry's demise after the 1930s.

Gibson Guitars

Orville Gibson (1856-1918) taught himself to make mandolins at his home workshop in Kalamazoo. By the 1890s, Gibson began experimenting with a violin-style arched top design. In 1902, he formed the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company with five other Kalamazoo businessmen. While Gibson sold his shares shortly after its founding, the company which bore his name made revolutionary guitars in their Kalamazoo factory at 225 Parsons St. from 1917 until 1985, when the company left for Nashville, Tennessee.

From a Gibson Guitar catalog: A photo shows six women playing mandolins, seated in front of a painted woodland scene; a young girl observes the musicians. Caption reads: 'EVERY ONE A GIBSON-ITE. BLUE BELL MANDOLIN CLUB, Stella Lyle, Director, Kalamazoo.' Image Credit: Sue Hodapp

A page from a Gibson Guitar catalog shows front and side view illustrations of the style 'O' concert six string Guitar. Read text below. Image Credit: Sue Hodapp

The text in the catalog image above reads: "Special Grand Concert Guitar, Style 'O'. Artist's Model. Carefully selected, top (sounding-board), finished in an exquisite blend from dark mahogany to sunburst; select, thoroughly air-seasoned maple rim and back, dark mahogany finish; highly polished throughout; select straight grain British Honduras mahogany neck reinforced and non-warpable, neck richly blended in shading of mahogany; veneered head-piece, front and back, front bound with ivoriod and handsomely inland with ‘The Gibson’ in pearl and mother-of-pearl Fleur-de-lis; ivoroid bound convex solid ebony extension finger-board, with twenty-two ovaled, narrow frets; pearl position dots inlaid on finger-board and position dots on upper side of neck; ivoroid bound oblong sound-hole, inlaid with three rings of fancy colored woods; perpendicular compensating bridge, securing divided vertical string pressure and preventing shaping of tones in upper positions; elevated finger-rest with white copper clamp (Patented July 4, 1911). Top and back bound with ivoroid on outer edge of rim; improved extension string-holder; pearl nut; best quality nickeled machine-head. Body joins neck at fifteenth fret instead of twelfth fret, making the highest positions easily accessible. Width of sounding-board at bridge, sixteen inches. Gibson instruments may be purchased from Gibson Agents, or, in territory where we are not represented, direct from us. Responsible parties may arrange for monthly payments to suit their convenience. For prices and terms see price list attached to inside of front cover. Price list of strings, supplies and parts furnished on request. Prices quoted are NET and not subject to further discount."

Checker Motors Corporation

In 1923, looking to expand production, owner Morris Markin moved his Checker Cab Manufacturing Company from Joliet, Illinois, to Kalamazoo. Throughout the 20th century, Checker Cab's distinct boxy style and checker logo became a cultural symbol of New York City. Shifting trends in automobile style and rising gas prices in the 1970s eventually forced the company to stop making the iconic cab. The last Checker cab came off the line in 1982 and was sent directly to the Gilmore Car Museum.

2012 photo shows a vintage 1950s-1960s-style Checker cab in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The yellow sedan with the decorative black-and-white checkerboard accent sits parked on the road with other cars along a sidewalk lined with businesses. The driver's side door reads '$1.35.' Image Credit: Dwight Burnette

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