The Master Concrete designation was administered by the Master Concrete Contractors Association of Alameda County. The first appearance of the group in the papers was in 1931. A small article in the 30 September 1934 Oakland Tribune listed the members thus [with stamp numbers]:
Ensor Buel
A. Casqueiro [18]
Ed Doty & Son [13,16,17]
Douglas & Wolfe [14]
J. H. Fitzmaurice
T. J. Garvey
P. M. Henning
Jepsen Bros.
A. A. Johnson
Gus Johnson
J. B. Lee
N. J. Lindstrom [4]
L. Lovisone
P. M. Mortensen
C. T. Petersen
Reichel & Bredhoff
T. A. Ryan [8]
Schnoor Bros. [2]
A Soda & Son
Frank A. Stead
Geo. & Jas. Thomas
Jas. E. Wentworth [7]
NOT listed were these guys:
G. Tribuzio [1]
A. J. Marin [5]
J. Anderson [6]
W. Todd [12]
A meeting announcement in 1937 named a few of the members listed above, plus George Prentice.
The group was politically active through the Depression and WWII years, but is last mentioned in the papers in 1946.
Although I didn’t seek out examples of each Master Concrete number, or even collate them until after my sidewalk survey was finished, I think I’ve captured all of the ones who practiced in Oakland.
Here they are, in numerical order.
Ryan continued to use “Master Concrete” on his mark after 1937, but without the number:
Ed Doty had two Master Concrete numbers.
I have to say that all of these Master Concrete workers did high-quality work. It was surely a source of pride, a higher wage, and more than the usual mortification when errors were made.
And the last of the series (so far anyway):
Between numbers 1 and 18, I’m now missing 3, 9, 10, 11 and 15. Those may have belonged to contractors in other cities. There may be more beyond 18. Must keep eyes peeled.
Updated in late 2024















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