While digging through my parents garage last night looking for something, I came across this old claim check nailed to the wall.
Do any old Windsorites have any memories of these guys? 340 Pitt St. E. no longer exists, it was plowed under for the Casino in the early 90’s.
A check of the 1937 Fire Map, shows 340 Pitt E. as being on the north side of the street. The building is listed as: “Flour & Feed Store” It was sandwiched in between Canadian Ice Refrigeration Co. to the west and Canada Fish Distributors to the east.
The yellow dot shows about where the building sat on a current aerial view.
This final view is an aerial shot from 1949 (from the Detroit Edison Archives @ Wayne State). The building is outlined in yellow.
Might want to try this image too:
http://airphotos.nrcan.gc.ca/photos101/images/a3271_020.jpg
Windsor is on top, detroit on the bottom, taken 1931.
from this site: http://airphotos.nrcan.gc.ca/photos101/windsor_e.php
Thanks Voice, that’s a neat link. I only wish the resolution was a little better…
It’s pretty wild how there used to be all those buildings on Riverside where dieppe park is now. Can see them all lined up in that photo. I’ve got some old photos of them from the archives. The ones right at Ouellette and Riverside that went all along the street on the river side of the road across from where the norwich block was.
we fail to see how this page has anything to do with our band but that cool – keep repping that CBT set family!!! Cock Brothers Team = Cock Brothers 4 Life!
http://www.cockbrothersteam.com“
http://www.myspace.com/cockbrothersteam
http://www.cockbrothersteam.com/blog
http://www.cbtmusic.com
Andrew: J.T.Wing Co. was a wholesale / specialty hardware supply company which brings to mind a previous map showing the location of a Jewish school. A larger structure labled “G.G. McKeogh”(spelling?)was also in the wholesale hardware business. My father worked for both in the past.
Seems to me I remember the name of the Cock Brothers, a store to buy/sell/repair lawnmowers, chainsaws, sharpening tools, etc. in the mid 1950’s. My dad always mentioned them and spoke of ‘checking out what they have at Cock Brothers downtown.
After moveing from Pitt ST.they where located on the curve of Tecumseh Rd. on the west end of Mathews Lumber. now Home Hardware by CPR tracks.
There was also a Cock Bros. store on Tecumseh road. It was on the south side either between Hall and Moy or between Moy and Gladstone. We used to go there for hobby supplies, but they carried other things – perhaps pet supplies. There was also a similar store on Pellisier street between Wyandotte and Maiden lane. This was in the ’50s, perhaps into the early ’60s.
In the late sixties, early seventies there was a hobby shop in that area of Tecumseh Rd. they also had a store on Wyandotte west, south west of KFC. Tecumseh Rd. store closed first, a few years later the one on Wyandotte.
That was Janice’s (spelling may be wrong). The Tecumseh Road store was originally a slot car track setup before they converted to a hobby shop
I remember going to the Cock Bros. on Tecumseh West to purchase chicken feed and other farm supplies with my dad in the 50’s.
The hobby shop on Wyandotte W. was Janisse’s Hobbies, owned by Paul Janisse who went on to be the Commodore at the Windsor Yacht Club. Paul sold everything imaginable for the hobbyist from trains, planes, slot cars and steam engines. It was better than a candy store. The model planes we built were flown in the empty fields south of International Tool on Huron Line at Malden. These meets were frequently sponsored by Janisse’s. The only other stores to go to were in Detroit. Does anyone remember the Toy and Doll shop on Woodward just north of nine mile? They were so popular they had ads on the radio in the 60’s. Also there was Joe’s Hobbies on Tireman Road and the Model Railroad shop downstairs next to a sheet music shop on Grand River downtown. Janisse’s had slot car tracks at Lincoln and Tecumseh and it cost 25¢ for 20 minutes of track time. I delivered drugs on my bicycle for McGaffey Drugs at Leonard and Tecumseh at 40¢ an hour and one week, I worked 6 days and rode my bike as fast as I could to Janisse’s to buy a slot car called a Cheetah. We’d put tape behind the motor’s magnets to cheart and make them go faster. As with all fads, there were the fanatics who ate, slept and breathed slot cars. They’d build their cars from scratch and you always gave way to them. They’d run their homebuilts after hours withe front door locked.
Thanks for this posting. I am a great-grandchild of Joseph Cock, one of the owners of Cock Bros. machinery. Happy to read this history and have these photos.My great-grandparents lived on Lillian St.
Lorayne , I am the daughter of Ralph Cock owner of Cock Bros. I spent my childhood running and playing in all of the stores. The one on Pitt Street was lawn and garden seed, supplies and pets. The hobby shop was on Techumseh near Gladstone, then he brought in a partner closed the stores and opened up the new store on Techumseh west which had lawn and garden, hobby, pets, and a florist as well. We used to have pony rides out front during promos. Every spring we had baby chicks and rabbits. I have alot of fond memories of those stores. My father was a very hard working man and used to get kids from the Pitt Street area bringing in little puppies and kittens for him to sell for them he was kind to everyone and an honest man.
Cock Bros on Pitt street was my father’s store. His name was Ralph Cock. His uncle Joseph and his father started the store and in time Ralph bought Uncle Joe out and owned is solely. I worked at that store at 340 Pitt street from a very early age. Later on Ralph opened a store on Tecumseh East between Gladstone and Moy as a hobby shop as well as in a smaller way the things from the Pitt street store. Again, later on, about 1963, Hi Murroff of Mathews Lumber offered to build an addition to his place for a new Cock Bros. That location was operating for several years after that. I worked part time in both Tecumseh Road stores. It was an institution at the time and a lot of people really missed my Dad and the store.
I have often told my daughter-in-law how comfortable I feel in the casino, as I used to work at the Cock Bros. store located there. I started when I was 16 years old and continued there until 1952. I thought the world of both Ralph and Florence, and considered them very good friends. I only left because it was a long commute from England, and was very sad when I returned in the 1970’s to see it was gone. I really enjoyed finding these postings, as they bring back quite a few good memories.
Oh, and to answer the question posed under the picture that led me to this page
(http://internationalmetropolis.com/2008/02/19/more-we-ls-railway/)
that is indeed a picture of the warehouse, and it was located on Howard Avenue.