Historic Bakery Sign Uncovered in New Cakes & Ale Bakery Space
Decatur Metro | November 23, 2010This is so cool!
Kristin Allin of Cakes & Ale writes in…
Regina Brewer is posting a photo of the amazing sign we uncovered at the new Cakes & Ale spot (151 Sycamore) on the Decatur Minute blog. …the sign is just perfect! It happens to be in the bakery space we are renovating on the left wall. I don’t have the photo with me, but I think it says “Mrs Teele’s Homemade Bread, Rolls, and Biscuits, Delicious Fruit and Meringue Pies, Cakes and Desserts.” It’s a very cool piece of our Decatur history and it just feels “meant to be.” If you pick up this story, we would love some help from Decaturites on any information they can provide about Mrs Teele’s bakery.
According to Regina at the Decatur Minute, Cakes & Ale will keep the sign and restore the plaster around it.
Any long-time Decaturites have any memories of Mrs. Teele’s bakery?
Pic obviously courtesy of Decatur Minute
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Serendipity, baby…serendipity.
That kind of poetic symmetry is about as close to perfect as you can get. If it were a detail in a short story, it would be criticized for being unrealistically idyllic.
very very cool.
Found this reference in a 2007 obituary of the Palm Beach Sun Sentinal, might provide a lead via the reference to a Leonard Teel of Decatur, GA
Teel Teel, Mary, in her 80s wrote a memoir about a M-bygone era, growing up on a family farm in Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the 1920s and 1930s. Eventually she got farther from farm work than any of her four sisters, M-developing a love of travel and settling in South Florida. Mary Naomi Teel, 95, who M-resided at the Plantation Nursing and M-Rehabilitation Center, died pf pneumonia Tuesday at Plantation Hospital. A memorial service will be held October 19th from 6pm to 8pm at the Fred Hunter Funeral Home on Taft Street in Hollywood. Mrs. Teel is M-survived by two sons, Leonard Teel of M-Decatur, GA, and Larry Teel of Hollywood; two daughters, Mary Slevin of Steilacomm, WA, and Lorraine Perez of Davie; five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
Except it’s “teele” with an e on the end in the sign.
nice bit of research; there is a Leonard Teel who still lives in the city. Kinda doubt it’s the same family though.
I love this so much. And now I have a craving for a Mrs. Teele’s fruit pie.
Reminds me of the story of the 100-year-old Lea & Perrins steak sauce bottle that was found in the build out for Kevin Rathbun Steak. Certainly seemed like a good omen for Kevin and his restaurant; hopefully this is a good omen for the Allins. (Hard to imagine any of the Allin’s restaurants not being successful though. Amazing food, beverages and service at Cakes & Ale.)
Serendipity indeed! Very, very cool. Iberian Pig kept the old sign on the front of the building. Now Cakes & Ale will keep this one. I’m sure there are more out there. Getting to be a cool vibe with the old signs.
Very very cool. Assuming copyright isn’t an issue perhaps they could use the name for one of their pastry offerings. Mrs. Teele’s Butter Tarts, anyone?
So…will this slow down the opening of Cakes & Ale due to the historic preservation of the sign and other archeological finds? I like Brian’s idea of naming a pastry based on the find.
To answer the question from PMcG about whether this will slow down construction: Yes, some of the historic items we find need to be incorporated into the job, which takes time. I think we’re on schedule to open in March, though, which isn’t too long from now!
Great! I hope it’s smooth sailing all the way and I’m looking forward to the new space.
I do believe this is the universe’s way of saying that the Allins chose the right spot for the bakery! I’m with Paula– now I’m craving some fruit pie. (Apple-cranberry, anyone?)
Checked with my sailing buddy who grew up on Sycamore St. in the 1950s. He remembers the space being a small grocery store — “The Decatur Market,” so Mrs. Teele predates us all.
Perhaps more clues will be revealed as the plaster comes down.
I think the Decatur market was the next building up.
Very neat. Wish we could tear off that shingled facade on the med lab clinic next door. Might be another interesting historic piece of Decatur retail waiting to be discovered.
not to worry, that’s next on the list! It’s the last hold out from a time when all of those beautiful old buildings had been covered up back in the 1960s and 70s.
Just remember, I’d like the sign [img]http://cid-dafb909291ab6846.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/Best%20sign%20in%20Decatur?sa=133855096[/img]
If I had to guess from the typeface, I’d say that sign is pre-1930 … likely older than living memory.
I searched the AJC and other Georgia newspapers from 1800 and got no promising references to Teele bakery or Teele Decatur, but that doesn’t mean too much. A visit to the Dekalb History Center archives inside the old courthouse might help solve the mystery. They would know what to search for.
The only thing I found Googling was a reference to a Teele family in south Georgia.
The key may be in the sign below the bakery sign. It reads “Albert L. Teele – Real Estate”.
The only Albert L. Teele I can find had a Real Estate office on 521 Market St.; Chester, PA in 1917. Perhaps Albert and his wife got tired of the Pennsylvania winters and moved south?
I should have said “the most plausible Albert L. Teele” … since there is a Adventist Minister; a publisher of a “Beet Sugar Industry” trade rag; a lawyer and one author/historian .. all sharing that popular name.
Good detective work, Rus.
Not much help, but the 1911 Sanborn map shows a typical boarding house on that corner (Church & Sycamore). So it’s definitely later. Very cool find!
Remember that the corner then is not the corner now. There was at least one more structure east of the present row. Why can’t Google streetview go back that far?