My favorite haunt as a boy was Jim Graces hobby shop in Milwaukee. I rode the North Shore lines interurban electrics from Waukegan and returned with a lot of knowledge but not much more. I am wondering what ever happened to that shop.
Bruce,
Are you sure it was Jim Graces and not Jim Graves. Along with another name for the shop itself?
There are still a lot of LHS’s in Milwaukee WI.
Cheers, [D]
Frank
P.S.Click on search in yellow bar and a whole list will pop up
Not sure if I qualify as an official “old timer”. it depends who you ask, so with that said, a few places have changed names / owners. Do you remember where it was located?
Mike.
Jim Grace’s Hobby Center was located at 314 W. Center Street in Milwaukee, according to the dealer listing in MODEL RAILROADER for May, 1950.
“Visit our operating HO layout. Open daily; Mon and Fri eves. Auth Mantua and Varney repair station.”
I lived in Milwaukee then, but don’t remember if that was one of the several hobby shops my Dad took me to, those many years ago.
I just checked it out on Google maps. It’s now an empty lot, in a area that no “country boy” like me would care to go.
Much different than it was in the 50’s.
Mike.
Wasn’t Russ’s hobby shop around there years ago ?? I’m thinking 51st and Center?
Randy
I’m an old timer by most standards. I remember Russ’s and yes it was at 5108 W Center. I think Russ held on into the 1970s but perhaps not into the 1980s. I do not mean to be unkind but by the time I went there, Russ’s was the sort of place you’d go to if you were looking for a part or a kit that had been out of production for a while and nobody else had it. And that included the Milwaukee Model Shop at 3308 W. Lisbon which was a trip back in time all in itself, and Garman’s in West Allis which had new stuff for sale but which seemingly never removed anything from the shelves because it was too old or outdated either. But Russ did have the PFM sound system that he would demonstrate on a length of track if you asked, although Russ was crusty enough that you might be reluctant to ask anything.
Jim Grace was seemingly before my time, but I remember hearing his name be mentioned. His ad in the January 1955 MR gave 1812 W Atkinson as the address. By December 1955 it was 3384 N Green Bay Rd. Another ad appeared in January 1956 – and then the ads for Jim Grace seem to come to a halt. So in a fairly short time span he had 3 different addresses.
Jim Grace was a co-chair of the ill-fated 1950 NMRA convention in Milwaukee where ten people were killed (including a staff member of Model Railroader magazine) and dozens were seriously injured in an excursion train collision. He and his co-chair Grant Oaks had the duty of calling or telling the widows that their husbands were dead.
Dave Nelson