Here is an old-timey photo of “Lamb’s Bird Store” in Detroit, Michigan. It is one of several pet stores that was connected to a Lamb family with roots in Detroit as early as 1914.
Here is how I imagine the scene:
A musty, summer film of feather and seed coat the oak floorboards in Lamb’s store. Perched above the well dressed and bespectacled proprietor and his assistant are tangles of wicker and wire cages, each a future place of shelter and song for yellow canaries, goldfinch, Panama parrots, and pigeons in dragoon. Glass globes sit next to bags of aquarium sand, seashells, sunken miniature pirate ships, and coral decor. Japanese fantail goldfish are on sale. Pups and the occasional rhesus monkey can be found in the back. Outside, the streets of Detroit — Gratiot, Jefferson, Woodward, or Grand River — bustle with cars and well dressed passersby. A peak through the window as you walk past Lamb’s store is impossible to resist.
The note on the back of the photo says: “Lamb’s Bird Store Detroit Mich”.
Using a variety of genealogy research tools and newspaper archive sites I set out to learn more about this bird store. I identified a Lamb family that operated a variety of bird and pet stores in Detroit as early as 1914 through some time in the 1950s and possibly later. The father, Chester A. Lamb (1863-1948), had two sons, Frank Nevel Lamb (1891-1959) and Joseph J. Lamb (1893-1981).
The earliest mention of a Lamb owned bird or pet store was from a 1914 Detroit City Directory which lists a “Chester A Lamb, Prop Detroit Bird Store, 218 3rd Ave., rms 1125 Jefferson Ave (see page 400).” Here is the advertisement on page 400:
1914 Detroit City Directory
There was a similar ad and listing in the 1915 directory. There is no mention of sons Frank or Joseph yet.
1915 Detroit City Directory
On the same page (at the bottom) is an ad for “Royce & Passmore” which is “The Oldest Bird Store in Detroit”. I believe that at some point the Lamb family became owners of the Royce and Passmore store, as this 1932 newspaper ad suggests. It lists “Royce & Passmore Bird Store” at 133 E. Jefferson and “Lamb’s Pet Shop” at 4542 Grand River, both in Detroit, Michigan. The discrepancy in the address for the Royce and Passmore in 1916 (201 Jefferson) vs. 1932 (133 E. Jefferon) suggests the store was moved down the road.
By 1917 both Frank and Joseph started showing up in the Detroit City Directory as being connected to bird and pet stores of their own. I went through many (but not all) of the available listings trying to confirm various locations for the families stores. There were several different addresses and it was hard to decipher when stores moved or changed hands. This 1929 advertisement shows the four main addresses that kept popping up.
The stores listed are:
Royce & Passmore Bird Store at 133 E. Jefferson
Lamb’s Pet Shop at 4542 Grand River
Lamb Bros. Bird Store at 2757 Woodward
Detroit Bird Store at 829 Michigan
I believe Joseph J. Lamb was the one most connected to the store at 4542 Grand River. The variation of the names of these different stores makes it difficult to identify which one is shown in the original photo. Here is a sampling of the many available newspaper clippings connected to these stores.
Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) - January 21, 1945
Note the new address of 3129 Grand River
Here is a tentative family tree I have constructed about the Lamb family. I have also included obituaries for Chester and his son, Frank.
Chester A. Lamb (1867-1948)
Frank N. Lamb (1891-1959)
I have not been able to find definitive information about when Joseph J. Lamb died, but I believe it was in 1981.
I did find one photo on a public ancestry family tree said to be of Frank Nevel Lamb. I have included it here next to the man in the original photo.
Is it possible that the man in the original photo is a younger Frank? There is certainly a resemblance, but I would need to more accurately identify the time frame of the two photos. Is it Chester? Joseph?
I have not been able to find any more recent photos of Joseph. I did, however, find a note written on another ancestry family tree about Joseph:
“In business for himself. Owned pet store in downtown Detroit. Was burned down during the Detroit riots in 1967. Known as the 12th Street Riot”
Is it possible that the man at the back for the store is Frank or Joseph?
This has been a fun, but challenging photo to research. Some key questions remain:
Who is the man in the center of the photo (Chester? Frank? Joseph? someone else?
Which of the many store locations does this photo show?
