The D & F Tower

My recent journey back to downtown Denver gave me the chance to shoot this photo of the famed Daniels & Fisher Tower, which stands on the 16th Street Mall. This landmark was part of the Daniels & Fisher department store, and according to Wikipedia, was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi at the time of its construction. Wikipedia also notes that it was modelled after The Campanile, or St. Mark's Bell Tower in Venice, Italy, and indeed it looks very much like its Italian sister. (CLICK HERE to see The Campanile).

Daniels & Fisher was acquired by the May Company, and starting in the 1950s, this historic tower became known as the May D & F Tower. When the old department store fell victim to the wrecker's ball around 1980, the clock tower was spared, and it stands vigilant over the passersby on the 16th Street Mall today, nearly 100 years after it was built.

Sweet Deliveries

Hammond's Candy Company is a longstanding Denver institution. Founded in 1920 by Carl Hammond, Sr., the company makes a wide variety of candy canes, lollipops, and other sweet treats, all by hand in their Denver factory. They have also been featured on the television program, Unwrapped on the FoodTV network.

I have visited them before, but earlier this month, I took my wife, my daughter-in-law, and my granddaughter to the annual Hammond's Christmas Candy Cane Festival. It is a good event for children and families, as there are activities for them, live reindeer, Santa, and of course, lots of candy canes and lollipops!

One thing that always catches my attention at the Hammond's factory is their old delivery truck, which is seemingly always parked out front. It is a bit of Hammond's history. I don't know the details behind it, but it was manufactured by International Harvester. I would guess from the look of it, that it is a late 1940s to mid 1950s model. Hopefully, it won't just be left to rust in the elements, but perhaps eventually be restored to its original condition. You just don't see many of these still around anymore.

The IH logo of International Harvester has another place in my childhood memories. They used to manufacture a variety of products, from farm implements, to trucks, and even household appliances. When I was a child, we had an International Harvester refrigerator that bore the IH brand. This was before the days of "frost-free". I can still recall my mother defrosting the freezer section of that refrigerator. How times have changed.