Last Friday, the Detroit Historical Society released a fun old video showing the creation, journey, and installation of everyone’s favorite jersey-sporting statue, the Spirit of Detroit. Created by Marshall Fredericks in 1955, the statue sits downtown at Jefferson and Woodward outside the municipal center. The 1959 film was, "photographed as a public service by: the Chrysler Corporation, Michigan Consolidated Gas Company, City of Detroit Reports and Information Committee."
The film briefly shows workers applying a patina to the bronze statue in Norway, then carefully placed on a frame to hold it while it was shipped across the Atlantic on the German freighter THOMAS SCHULTE. The film shows the 26-foot statue being lifted by a crane and situated in front of the (now) Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, then just the City-County Building.
The film is about 13 minutes long and ends with a long dedication ceremony. Who knew the Spirit of Detroit would end up wearing so many Red Wings and Tigers jerseys (along with the very, very occasional Lions jersey)?