Hudson’s Department Store, 1934

THE WAY IT WAS
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Photograph courtesy of The Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University

1934 Detroit may not have had a lot to cheer about in the depths of the Depression, but the Tigers, including a crack lineup of Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer, Billy Rogell, Goose Goslin, Marv Owen, and catcher/manager Mickey Cochrane, managed to lift the spirits of residents. In 1934, the team clinched the American League pennant (its first since 1909), prompting Hudson’s Department Store to display this giant banner on its Woodward Avenue side. The Tigers lost the World Series that year to the St. Louis Cardinals, four games to three, but the Bengals went all the way the next year to win the World Series by defeating the Chicago Cubs, four games to two.