Antiques & Collectibles

Through a carefully-curated selection postcards, author Emma Wolf takes the reader through the bygone days of Manistee County, full of lumber barons, streetcars, steamships, and charming images of daily life in this coastal Michigan community.

The name "Manistee'? comes from the Ojibwa who lived in the region. Some believe it means "Spirit of the Woods'?--and that seems fitting. The abundance of towering white pine trees attracted John Stronach to build the first sawmill in the area in 1841. A thriving lumber town rose up along the river. A fire destroyed much of the town in 1871, and wealthy lumber barons decided to rebuild the town out of brick; those structures still line River Street today. The Manistee streets are quieter now than they were in the town's heyday, but the Victorian charm and over a century of remarkable history remain. Drawing from the postcards of lifelong collectors and information from residents whose families have lived in the town for generations, Emma Wolf and the Musculus family bring the unique history of Manistee County to life.

In the late 19th century, the Rockwellian city of Plymouth, Michigan, became the breeding ground for competitive air-rifle companies, putting this still-thriving suburban Detroit community on the map. Plymouth's Air Rifle Industry hones in on the three air-rifle companies and the spin-off .22-caliber rifle company that dominated the Plymouth landscape for years. William Philip Markham and his company, the Markham Air Rifle Company, first received an air-rifle patent in 1887. The Plymouth Iron Windmill Company entered the competition in 1888, when founder Clarence Hamilton introduced his prototype to the board of directors. After firing the rifle, general manager Lewis Cass Hough declared, Boy, that's a Daisy, and the Daisy air rifle was born; the company was renamed in 1895. The Plymouth Air Rifle Company opened in 1888 and ceased to exist after its building burned in 1894. Hamilton went on to develop a .22-caliber rifle and started the Hamilton Manufacturing Company in 1898. The rifle era ended when the last of the competitors, Daisy, moved to Rogers, Arkansas, in 1958.