Friends,
Moving Pillsbury Forward had a great turnout this past week at both the Downtown Farmer’s Market and at our weekly Tuesdays on the Dock. Thank you! Since we sold out of engraved bricks this week, more have been ordered and they should be available in the coming week (download the brick purchasing information flyer).
We will continue to host guests as a part of our Pillsbury Reunion Project at the Pillsbury South Loading Dock on Tuesday mornings from 9:00am to 11:00am for the next several weeks (download the reunion flyer here). Please, feel free to come out and engage us. We still have a good supply of new in-the-box timecards and plenty of 1929 Warehouse #4 bricks available.
This week we learned more about the plant through two extended interviews with longtime employees. The project is experiencing wonderful success in capturing the history and great stories of Pillsbury.
Bricks – Since the 1929 Warehouse bricks have been a popular collector item, we thought everyone would enjoy knowing that they were manufactured locally by Springfield’s own Poston Brick. An article in the State Journal from May 4, 1930, reads:
The Pillsbury Mill is constructed of Poston brick made in Springfield and sold by Henry Nelch and Son Company. The face brick was burned at the Poston Springfield Brick company especially for the Pillsbury project following the color scheme and texture of other Pillsbury buildings.
After a series of experiments, the company found it could duplicate the dark red face brick samples submitted by the Pillsbury officials. Special treatment of the clay and shale and extreme care in burning were required, however. The bricks were selected and assorted very carefully.
Yes…the Union Made POSTON Springfield, ILL stamp is visible on many of the bricks (see below photo).
Thanks for engaging the project,
The Reunion Project Team
pillsburyproject.org
