As dust cleared from the corner of M.A.C. and Grand River Avenues, forgotten advertisements were unveiled sparking memories in the minds of East Lansing residents.
Ads for Vernors ginger ale, Curious Book Shop, Michigan State College Supply and The Ink Pot were discovered on the side of the building that now houses the Curious Book Shop, 307 E. Grand River Ave.
As a bulldozer removed the rubble of the former Byrnes Building on Tuesday and Wednesday, people saw the Vernors ad, which has a bright yellow background and green cursive lettering, as it may have been seen decades ago.
Some city residents can remember that wall before it was covered in the early 1950s.
Bob Metzger, 69, an East Lansing resident who owns the Campus Town, Mall a building down the street from the demolition, remembered how the corner looked while he attended MSU in the early 1950s. The 1953 graduate said an empty lot allowed those ads to be seen from the street.
“The Ink Pot was a little book store on the corner that had a display case out front that you had to walk around to get in the store,” Metzger said. “There were two apartments above the store, I remember going to parties there.”
The Ink Pot, which has a quill and well logo that can be seen, sold such items as school supplies and blue books to students.
The city block looked much different then.
In addition to The Ink Pot and the building that formerly housed Jacobson’s, he said there was a gas station, a Kewpee’s restaurant and another empty lot.
“You normally came down to Kewpee’s and had a burger and a coffee,” Metzger said. “It was a restaurant kind of like the Peanut Barrel that everyone knew.”
Cory Curtis, 46, owner of Cool Creations Gifts and Stuff, 209 M.A.C. Ave., has been watching construction workers tear down the building across the street and said she was amazed to see the old ads.
“I think it is cool, especially the one to the front. (The Ink Pot) says they repair typewriters, some people don’t even know what those are,” she said.
Amy Macaluso said the fumes and dust of construction were an eyesore on Grand River Avenue, but said the signs brighten things up.
“It is awesome,” the anthropology junior said. “Vernors is a like a hometown soda that has made it nationally.”
James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist, developed the ginger ale in 1866.
East Lansing city officials also were surprised to see the old ads.
“I thought it was really neat,” said Jim van Ravensway, director of planning and community development. “They must have been there forever.”
He said despite the unique nature of the ads, they may only be exposed for a brief time as the $30 million City Center Project undergoes construction to replace the demolished building.
“The new building will be in the same place as the old one so the signs will disappear. There is a not a lot that can be done,” van Ravensway said.
