624 Brooklyn Street
It always pays to revisit places and take another look at obscure marks.
Archive for the ‘1926’ Category
1926 – M. E. Valente
4 September 20261926 – J. H. Fitzmaurice (II)
25 November 2024
1501 Harrison Street
J. H. Fitzmaurice, founded in 1922 and still going strong as a general contractor, was the first sidewalk maker in Oakland to use the barrel-shaped stamp format, which it introduced in 1926 and used into the 1950s at least. Only a handful of this stamp’s first configuration — with “OAKLAND” placed above the center — have stamped dates inside the mark. So I had to capture this one even though I have another example from the Grand Lake neighborhood.
1926 – Schnoor Bros.
30 November 2019
1721 Tenth Street, Berkeley
I’ve documented this year before, but those marks had hand-drawn dates.
1926 – A. N.
22 July 2015
92nd Avenue at San Leandro Street
This is an odd one, but here it is.
1926 – L. Banchero & Co.
27 May 2015
8327 Plymouth Street
This bizarre backwards mark appears to be from 1926. Let me share my thinking here. First, we’re very close to Banchero & Co.’s home location on 86th Avenue. Second, all my other Banchero marks used a racetrack format whereas this is an oval. Third, unless I’m badly mistaken, there’s no possible way to create a reversed mark with a properly made bronze stamp. Fourth, the numeral 6 next to the (backwards) date “192_” suggests to me that it’s meant as 1926. Fifth, all other Banchero marks date from 1927 and later.
The scenario I envision is this: When it went into business in 1926, the Banchero & Co. firm ordered a stamp, but it was defective thanks to a boneheaded foundry error. They went ahead and used it until a new one was made. I’ll have my eye closely peeled as I explore the next few avenues.
1926 – H. C. Orth
30 March 2015
7428 Arthur Street
Much of this block was done by H. C. Orth. Here’s a superior impression to my previous example, including the association oval.
1926 – T. A. Ryan
19 November 2014
Seminary Avenue at Walnut Street
There are two of these at this address, both of them cracked, but they’re far less cracked than the example I showed before.
Oakland Underfoot 