Clark Dexter dropped off this booklet filled with old fish recipes and some commentary from the man himself- Frank E Davis. The man who built the last building that was on I4C2- The Frank E Davis Fish Co.
I’ll be posting a page or two a day-
click the photos for the larger easier to read versions-
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Published by Joey Ciaramitaro
The creator of goodmorninggloucester.org Lover of all things Gloucester and Cape Ann. GMG where we bring you the very best our town has to offer because we love to share all the great news and believe that by promoting others in our community everyone wins.
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Lia got me an original of this a few years back in an auction- it’s very cool. Amazing to think (and I do remember it) that the Frank E. Davis Company- the first, large mail order food company in the US, sat right there on what became the present i4c2 lot. We have so much history here!
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What a treasure! Great letter too–any idea of the date?
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Very cool! Look forward to some old Glosta recipes!
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great graphics. we’ll see how the recipes stack up with sista felicia’s when you post em. if i’m not mistaken, there’s a reprint of the ‘fishermen’s wives cookbook’ coming up from cricket press soon. ask barry ‘cuda’ for details…
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I have a mint copy of this book. It certainly brings to mind the connection between Shelburne, Nova Scotia and Gloucester because he had Fish Processing Plants in both places and they were very connected. Many people in Gloucester are connected to the Maritimes because of the jobs Frank Davis provided. There was a rumor for years which everyone has forgotten now but which I remember, that Frank Davis was so incensed by the taking of the property by eminent domain (the I4C2) during the times of Urban Renewal (when his neighbors at the BC didn’t get touched) that he put a curse on the land and it is said that the ghost of Frank David haunts that land and keep anything form ever being built. So far, nothing built yet, but it looks hopeful and perhaps the ghost is mollified a bit these days.
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Where exactly is I4C2 pier? I grew up in Gloucester, but don’t know the names of the piers.
I think I have a copy of the same booklet as well.
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The area between the Building Center and the Gloucester House is known as I4C2. While there is a lot more information, should you choose to investigate, the simple answer is that during “Urban Renewal” properties were taken through a process known as “eminant domain”. Each of these parcels had a designation, such as, Industrial 4 or Commercial 2, hence I4C2.
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Love the cover illustration and Frank Davis-centric map; looking forward to reading and comparing the recipes to modern methods of cooking fish.
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Alright, I’m finall going to as a question that has been bothering me for years. Perhaps some of our older crustations can help me out. “Slug” often talked of his days with “Davis Bros.” Before and around his time with the Fabet and Booth, then Atlantic Seafoods on Harbor Loop. Clark, Toby, anyone…Was Davis Bros. connected with Frank E. Davis, or was it a smaller operation like Producers (Curcuru Bros), Cape Ann (Deltortio Bros), The FBI (Frontiero Bros.) or the Orlando Bros. Note: I went in that direction to remind people how Family Business helped keep the fresh fish business going after the corporations left town or fully switched to frozen.
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http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CEAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gloucester-ma.gov%2FDocumentView.aspx%3FDID%3D773&ei=HOLhUKHsCMaB0AHN_YD4BQ&usg=AFQjCNGF-VBYjMoHihJN00TyQYXTj4g0UA&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.dmQ
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