Hirsch's Northtown Archives

December 28, 2014April 14, 2021

Rerun: Shoe Factory to Casino

I asked the folks in the Growing Up in Cape Girardeau Facebook fanpage what they’d like me to repost. There were lots of requests for stuff either before or after my time – it’s hard to believe that my photo window in Cape was only from about 1963 through 1967. Several people asked for shoe factory photos. Unfortunately, I never was inside the building. The best I can do is a collection of ground and aerial photos documenting the transition of the biggest business in Cape to a casino.

This aerial photo was taken in the early 1970s. It ran in one of the most extensive posts I did dealing with the history of the shoe factory. If you follow only one link, it should be this one. By the way, you can click on the photos to make them larger, but following the links will take you to more pictures and the backstories.

Reporters love stats

Reporters love stories with lots of statistics, and a 1925 Missourian story was full of them: the factory produced 3,164,080 pairs of shoes, enough to provide every resident of Cape with 175 pairs.

There was a human side, too. The company bragged that “no death or accident of serious consequence has been recorded…”

I’m not sure if the shoe company would qualify this as an injury of “serious consequence, but I’m sure Mrs. McCrite would:

June 24, 1926 – The condition of Mrs. Octavia McCrite, who is in the Cape Girardeau hospital following the loss of her scalp in an accident at the factory of the International Shoe Co. Saturday, was today reported to be unchanged.

If you read the comments, Mrs. McCrite was the grandmother of one of my readers. It sounds like it must have been an horrific injury with lifelong consequences.

A view from the tracks

Here’s a view of the shoe factory from the Red Star side of the floodwall. The river was coming up, but never got high enough to have to close the floodgate. [If you are short on time, this is a link you can skip. The picture is pretty much the story.]

Shoe factory neighborhood

Here’s a wreck on Main Street at the shoe factory. The piece has pictures of buildings in the neighborhood, including one that became various things: Fairway Market No. 2, Margarite Mama’s and the Mule Lip.

Aerial photos of Red Star and Casino area

I shot a series of aerial photos of the old shoe factory site and surrounding area just as clearing was beginning. This one showed Red Star looking to the south.

Morrison Ice and Fuel

A nondescript brick building south of the old shoe factory had been Morrison Ice and Fuel. It had the corner on the ice market in the early 1900s. It eventually became the Pure Ice Company.

When refrigerators first started coming out, Pure Ice sold Coolerator Iceboxes, but marketed them as a replacement for the old-fashioned wooden iceboxes (with a $5 trade-in), not as a refrigerator like we think of it today. Home ice delivery went on in Cape until the 1960s. That’s why a lot of people still call the fridge an “icebox.”

2011 and 2012 casino panoramas

I took panoramic photos of the casino to compare the changes between 2011, when it was mostly just a slab, and a year later.

Casino at night in 2012

After the casino opened, I took some night time exposures of it.

Downtown parking vs casino parking

Aerials showing the number of cars downtown and at the casino.

Bingo is still thriving

In 2010, Bingo folks were concerned that the casino would cut into their business. It doesn’t look like their parking lot is empty.

Hirsch’s Northtown

My post on the building across from the shoe factory that eventually became The Mule Lip was short, but it drew lots of comments from people who went there in its various permutations.

December 12, 2014December 12, 2014

Bill’s and Hirsch’s Midtown

We’re dipping into Terry Hopkins‘ dad’s General Sign box again. This time I ran across two signs that shared a bunch of elements.

Bill’s Courtesy Cleaners was located at 1107 Broadway, more or less across from Houck Stadium. The cleaners were housed in one of two buildings built by Eddie Erlbacher shortly after World War II. I photographed the school board moving a big safe out of the second floor of the twin building to the east.

The property had an interesting past, detailed in a Fred Lynch blog in April 6, 2010.

Hirsch’s Midtown

The Hirsch’s sign’s has the same arrow and basic shape. I wonder how many other businesses in the area shared those pieces / parts?

I did a post on Hirsch’s Midtown in 2012, and it generated quite a few comments. So many, in fact, I followed up with another story about the Hirsch Bros. No. 2, otherwise known as Hirsch’s Northtown.

It was better known to later generations as the Mule Lip or Margarita Mama’s. It’s a casualty of the Casino, but the Midtown store is still standing.

Mystery sign

If you look closely at the bottom right of the Hirsch’s sign, there are some tiny red letters faintly visible. Blowing them up just makes them blurrier. The appear to spell COFERS. I looked at the 1968 City Directory and didn’t see any business in the 200 block of South Sprigg that came close to that.

Ideas?

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

I usually post the blog at about 2 a.m., and after I’m done I check to see if Fred Lynch has updated his f/8 and Be There blog. I didn’t check it before going to bed, so I was stunned this morning to see his topic was “Cofer’s Men’s Store.”

I emailed him to ask if he had seen my topic and decided to piggyback it (we exchange links, which builds traffic for both of us, and it helps readers fill in the gaps).

His response: “Are you kidding? I’m in bed by 10 pm. You retired folks amaze me with your sleeping habits. Anyway, I am two weeks or more ahead with finished blogs so yes, quite a coincidence.”

Working people can be SO organized. I usually don’t start thinking about the next days’ post until around 9 p.m. the night before.

June 21, 2012December 28, 2014

Hirsch’s Northtown

When I published a piece on Hirsch’s Midtown, formerly known as Hirsch Bros. No. 1, and the establishment of Hirsch Bros. No. 2 as Hirsch’s Northtown, I mentioned that I didn’t think I had ever been in the Mill Street and Main Street store.

Susan Fee Means commented on Facebook, “Ken – if you’d ever been to The Mule Lip, across from the old shoe factory on Main St, then you’d been to the Hirsch #2 store. Or at least the building.”

I led a sheltered life. I was never in The Mule Lip or its reincarnation as Margarita Mama’s. Now that the casino has leveled that area, I guess I missed my chance.

[Note: we made it as far as Lake City, Fla., tonight. I’m staying in a nice Comfort Suites I’ve stayed at before. I pulled in shortly before midnight after driving through moderate to heavy rain most of the day. The desk clerk gave me her “Your eyes sure are bloodshot super discount” that she said was even better than the alphabet soup list of names I usually give her.]

June 19, 2012

Hirsch’s Midtown

Reader Bob Reese was kind enough to loan me a copy of Cape’s 1956 Sesquicentennial book. It took me half a day to scan it, but it’s a treasure trove of information, just for the advertisements alone. A lot of them are plain text “Congratulations for surviving 150 years,” but there are a few with logos and artwork I don’t remember seeing. (You can click on the images to make them larger.)

Hirsch Bros stores sold in 1955

The Southeast Weekly Bulletin had a story on December 22, 1955, that Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hirsch have announced sale of the Hirsch Bros. Company’s two retail outlets in Cape Girardeau, Mr. and Mrs. Vernon V. Fee having purchased the Hirsch Bros. No. 1 store at Good Hope and Sprigg Streets, and George Hirsch now being the owner of the Hirsch Bros. No. 2 store at Main and Mill Streets.

Mr. and Mrs. Fee, who will operate the No. 1 store, plan to call it Hirsch’s Midtown. They have indicated that they will consolidate the grocery and variety departments and operate them as a self-service unit. Gilbert Popp will be assistant manager, with Bob Fee assisting in management of the food section and Richard Riddle in charge of the meat department.

The No. 2 store will be known as Hirsch’s Northtown, with Mr. and Mrs. George Hirsch in charge. The store will be redecorated, with some interior changes made.

The Hirsch Brothers Co. will remain an active corporation, retaining ownership of the store buildings and its other holdings. An office will retained in the Hirsch Building and the present officers will continue. They are Alfred Hirsch, president; George Hirsch, vice president, Mrs. Florence Hirsch Fee, treasurer, and Mrs. Alfred Hirsch, secretary. Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hirsch have announced their complete retirement from the retail business.

Building is holding up well

The old Midtown building is still in pretty good shape, compared with its neighbors on Haarig’s Good Hope Street.

I can remember going in there with Mother when I was a kid, but we were more of a Broadway and Child’s customer, probably because we lived on the north end of the world. I’m almost positive that I was never in the Northtown store at Mill Street and Main.

Wife Lila, who lived just a few blocks from the store, remembers it more as a department store. I remember it for groceries. I guess it all depends on what kind of shopping your parents did there.