Bon Ton Shop

February 18, 1956 was the grand opening of the Bon Ton Shop on Main Street in downtown Minot. The Bon Ton shop was the store for discriminating women….. The store featured many nationally advertised labels. The departments in the store were Sportswear, Suits and coats, Dresses, Accessories and Tot-n-Teen wear…. Contractors were Mackley Construction, Minot Electric and Minot Plumbing. During the celebration customers could register for prizes, watch an informal modeling show and listen to organ music by Marge McFall…Making a special appearance at the grand opening was the 1956 Dodge La Femme. This was a Dodge Car designed exclusively for women ….

Ramstad School

May 31, 1956 – It was on this day that the construction of the new Erik Ramstad Junior High was given the green light… The total of the bids came to $1,050,273. This included a 60 by 20 foot swimming pool. The contracts went to the following firms: Mattson Construction as General Contractor…. Mowbray and Sons – Plumbing, heating and ventilating…. Main Electric – all electrical…… the school construction was financed by a $1,110,000 bond issue approved by Minot voters…… The site of the original Erik Ramstad Junior High was in Lincoln Park. The school board got the land from the Park Board

Victor's Dance Studio

 In February, 1956 Michael’s School of Dancing came under new ownership and the name change to Victor’s Dance Studio. It was located at 124 1^st St SE….. Vctor’s Dance Studio had six instructors…. George Zeitler and Victor Gelking were two of them. The dance studio was open Monday – Friday from noon to 11 pm and on Saturday from 10 am to 9 pm…. Upon reaching various degrees of proficiency the dance students would receive awards similar or a trophy…..

Bel Air Addition

In February, 1956 developers were starting to sell lots in the newest Minot Residential District. Bel-Air Addition. The area was just west of 23^rd Street NW and North of 4^th Avenue NW, (at that time referred to as the Country Club Road….. the lots were 90 X 100 and the minimum size on houses in the addition was to be 1000 square feet. The price of a lot was $2950.00. this price included curb and gutter, sidewalk, paved streets, sewer and water…. The developer was Lloyd Construction of  Minot.

Hancock Motor Sales

 Located at 1104 2^nd St. NW (North Broadway and 11^th Avenue), Hancock was the Studebaker dealer in 1953. That year Studebaker claimed to be the most talked about car on the road. The Coupes, (2 doors) and hard-tops were actually less than 5 feet tall. The Studebaker claimed to have a foreign car flair in styling, longer and wider wheel bases and a larger windshields for better visibility. So far I have not come across any pictures of Hancock Motors

Tuesday, July 24, 1956

These were some of the events that were occuring on that day:
The grand opening of Doyle’s Dine and Bar – located ½ mile south o Highway 83 (not sure exactly where but should have been around 20^th avenue) …..  It was also the grand opening of Alm’s Dairy Store #4 – It was located across from Roosevelt Park at 1300 4^th Ave SE (Burdick Expressway ….. Tex Ritter and his band were appearing in person at the Club 52 (about 2-3 mile west on Highway 52) ….. and Louie Welk was performing at the Dutch Mill (not sure if he was related to Lawrence Welk)

Tuesday, November 9, 1954

A sampling of things in the newspaper – Many businesses, banks and others announcing they would be closed on Thursday in observance of Veterans Day ….. Many others and most retail stores would not open until Noon on Thursday …..

Entertainment --- Minot Community Players presenting a performance of  “The happy Time” at the Bohemian Hall (when I was in high school the Bohemian Hall was a party spot out of town…… 

KCJB – TV – schedule 6 pm – News ---  7 pm – Pantomime Quiz --- 7:30 pm - Halls of Ivy (new TV comedy) --- 8 pm film --- 9 pm - City Detective --- 9:30 pm Thru the Keyhole --- 10 pm News

There was a story on how to lay vinyl (resilient) tile….. and many teaser ads announcing the unveiling of the 1955 Ford on the following Friday

1927 Tobacco Ads

This is the blog from yesterday.... not sure why it did not post
It seems that a lot of the advertising done in the newspaper back in 1927 was for tobacco of various types, mainly cigars and cigarettes. 

Cigars – La Palina – mild taste, made by the Congress Cigar co. --- Rocky Ford – A real 5 cent cigar --- Dutch Masters  - Very mild and as fine as any imported cigar --- Henry George – Best 5 cent cigar made  --- Charles Denby – the 2 for 15 cent cigar (tastes better than many 10 cent cigars)

Cigarettes – one of the more popular brands was Camel – one of life’s greatest pleasure in smoking --- Chesterfield – Good taste – smokers switching to them --- Lucky Strike – It’s toasted – No Throat irritation and no cough ---

Quality Booze - 1927

 As it happens, Minot bootleggers in the fall of 1927 made the mistake of selling some of their liquor to a couple of federal agents which resulted in their arrest. A chemist, employed by the government was assigned the task of analyzing the alcohol samples in the bottles that were purchased. According to the chemist, the alcohol obtained in Minot tested higher as to quality than any other intoxicating beverages obtained in other cities throughout the country. At least the bootleggers in Minot were supplying their customers with a god product, not watered down. Picture is of the sign that was placed on any businesses caught selling illegal alcohal.

1927 Past Businesses #4

Stearns Motor Company – Located at Central Avenue and 2^nd Street (Broadway) – Stearns was the Hupmobile and Oldsmobile distributor as well as selling used cars. Stearns Motors in the 50's is pictured below. Squtts (pronounced Scoots) Clothing Store – Located in Downtown Minot, Picture below was taken after Squtts remodeled in the 50's . Glazer’s Cloak Shop – in November of 1927 Glazer’s was going out of business. They were a a ladies clothing store specializing in coats, especially fur coats, including raccoon, muskrat, Northern Seals   Minot Reo Company – Located at 21 1^st St SE – Sales and service of all Reo automobiles – the feature vehicle was the Wolverine .

1927 Past Businesses #3

1927 Past Businesses #3 – Minot Furniture Company – Located at 225 South Main Street – An ad in the paper featured  assorted table and floor lamps at $1.98 – Eight piece dining room sets - $89.00 and Assorted framed mirrors for only 39 cents……. Kluver Motor Company – the Oakland and Pontiac dealer in 1927  - located on 3^rd Street Northeast years later, in the 50's Kluver was the Studebaker dealer as shown below…… Eck-Johnson Motor Company – The authorized Whippet dealer in Minot --  The Whippet was made for 3 years- 1927 – 1929. It was the first light (smaller) car with 4 wheel brakes and balloon tires. The Whippet held a coast to coast economy record and narrow front pillars for better visibility. The cars were priced from $625.00 to $875.00 for a 6 cylinder Cabriolet Coupe.

1927 Past Businesses #2

1927 Past Businesses #2 – Eyers & Underdahl – Top and Body Works – 317 East Central Avenue – the early day body and automotive repair shop …… Fauchalds Department Store on Main Street just north of Central Avenue – Sold everything including draperies and curtains…… Hodgin’s Furniture – located just north of the Union National Bank (now The Taube Museum) – Hodgin’s sold new and used furniture. ….. Brownstein’s Furriers – 30 East Central Avenue – The finest stock of fur coats in Minot…… Fahnlander’s Cleaners-Tailors-Dyers – They specialized in remodeling ladies coats. Pictured below is the intersection of Main St and Central Ave, pre 1920 and 1929

1958 Minot Phone Book Facts

1958 Facts about Minot #2 – In 1958 the Minot Chamber of Commerce was located at 19B South Main St. …… The Municipal Auditorium had just been built at a cost of $800,000 and was listed as a great convention facility in the city…… Home of the North Central Experiment Stati0n with continuous research into improving agricultural methods …… Minot featured 36 churches, (all denominations) ….. over 600 retail and wholesale business outlets …. And North Dakotas largest State Teachers College (now MSU)….. Because of the Air Force Base and political tensions of the time, the Phone book also had a whole page on evacuation procedures should the Air force Base be attacked.

1958 Minot Phone Book #5

1958 Facts about Minot – Site of US Air Force Jet Interceptor Base and Radar Station – Great Northern Freight Classification yard in Minot was the most modern in the nation – The Airport was service by Braniff Airlines Daily and had charter service available – 3 paved highways intersected in Minot – There were 12,173 telephone connections and 8,981 electrical connections with a population of about 30,000. Minot also enjoyed a healthful and invigorating climate…. A fact proven by government records which show only a small percentage of people from this area were rejected for physical reasons in World War II.

Minot Phone book 1958 #4

Rural Line Ringing Code – 1958 – Phone subscribers on the same rural line could call each other. The process was to dial the code 18 and then the 4^th and 5^th digit of the called party’s number, in the order given. After dialing the proper sequence of numbers you would replace the receiver on the hook and allow time for the called party to answer. After waiting a short period of time you would pick up the receiver and hopefully the party you called would be there. Example of a ringing code: 4^th Digit –2 and  5^th digit 4 the ringing code was 1S – 1L – 2S (S being a short ring and L being a long ring)

1958 Minot Phone Book #3

Minot Building Addresses – One of the last pages in the white page section was a listing of building addresses in Minot. Many businesses used the building as their address, such as : Located in the Scofield Block located at 11A South Main Street. The Kresge Block in 1958 was located at 108 South Main and the Fauchald Building was at 4A South main …Apartment buildings were also listed… the Mackley Apartments were located at 425 2^nd St. NW (which is now North Broadway).  The Dwire Apartments (shown below) were and still are at 223 South Main St.

Minot Phone Book 1958 #2

Dial Service Instructions – One of the first pages in the 1958 telephone directory had a complete set of instructions on how to use a rotary dial telephone. I believe this was about the time the dial phones came into existence. The instructions also explained the different signals one could hear over the phone lines…. The phone ringing signal was described as a “burring” sound…. The Busy signal a “buzz-buzz-buzz” sound.  Instructions were also there on the use of “party lines”. Long distance and out of town calls had to go through the operator. In 1958 all phone numbers were 5 digit. Example: the phone number for Steenstrup Jewelers was 36-221

Minot Phone Book 1958

The 1958 Minot telephone book was published by Northern States Power Company, the parent company to the phone company. The picture on the front cover was of a field and a large sun behind it. The words printed across the sun were “Why Not Minot?”. Below the picture was the slogan – “ The City with a Future”. What I thought was a bit unusual is the Minot Genie is not pictured on the cover. Instead the phone book has a farmer or maybe a cowboy standing in front of the field with the sun in the background.

Past Business - 1927 #1

The Brunswick Shop – Located next to Anderson Drug Co. in Downtown Minot. The sold phonographs and records. The Brunswick Shop also Sold New Panatropes which I believe were a type of phonograph or record player. Benno Drug – Located in Downtown Minot – Their phone number was 42, so they were an early phone user. They were running a 1 cent sale. Buy one item for regular price and get the second for 1 cent. Items included Witch Hazel – 50 cents – 100 ct aspirin – 50 cents – Foot Powder – 25 cents and Zinc Oxide ointment – 20 cents

Blaisdell Motor Company

Located at 419 South Main Street – This location would later become Main Motors and is now the Main Medical Building.... Blaisdell Motors was the Chrysler Dealer in 1927. On November 1, 1927 they were advertising the New Chrysler “52”.  The ad claimed the “New 52” was head and shoulders above the rest of the industry in comfort and luxury. The wood and Steel body was larger, the seats were wider and more comfortable and the car could achieve speeds of 52 miles per hour. Blaisdell Motors was selling, your choice, a Coupe or a Roadster with a Rumble seat for $725.00. Or you could step up in luxury to the De Luxe Sedan for $875.00. If you were in the market for a used car – Hupmobile Touring - $150.00 or an Overland Touring car for $75.00

Elks Kermess

1927 – through the internet I found that a Kermesse is a fun festival, usually denoting the celebration of some event or anniversary. The Elks Kermess (as it was billed) was held in the Armory, (now the Minot Board of Education Building) from October 29^th through November 5^th . Although sponsored by the Elks Club, the event was open to the public. I believe tyou could purchase Kermess money to be used at the event. One ad read -  “ Kermess money at $500.00 for 50 cents. It seems some of the stores in town would give you “Kermess Money” if you purchased items in their business.

Minot Elks Lodge - 1954

The original Minot Elks Lodge #1089 was dedicated in 1909. It was located on the southwest corner of  Main Street and 2^nd Avenue in Downtown Minot. On Wednesday, October 27^th, 1954 the new Minot Elks Lodge opened on 2^nd Avenue and Broadway, about a block west of the original Elks Club. The grand opening events were limited to Elks members only, except for an open house from 2 pm to 8 pm so non-Elk members could see the new building. The Elks Club in 1954 boasted of having about 1750 members and the new building was built at a cost of about $500,00.00. Below is the original Elks club... I have a picture of the new club someplace.... will post it when I find it