Subj: If you are from Detroit…..
Here’s another of those memory lists you might enjoy. Feel free to add any
of your own memories and send it along or back to me. — Tom
> If you’re from or grew up near Detroit. . . how many of these did you
> experience?
>
> You used a pillowcase to go ‘begging’ on Halloween, and you yelled, ‘Help
> the Poor!’ at every door. (‘Help the poor, my pants are tore, I need some
> money to buy some more.’)
> ******
> You remember what Devil’s Night used to be.
> ******
> You remember the huge elm trees forming lush green tunnels over many
> Detroit streets in the summertime. Or when they’d come around to spray and
> tell you to stay in the house. And, the autumn smell of burning leaves,
> after you’d rake huge piles to the curb for burning.
> ******
> You remember honking your horn as you went through the tunnel to Belle
> Isle at the end of East Grand Blvd. where it went under Jefferson Avenue,
> even though the sign at the entrance read ‘Don’t Sound Horn.’
> ******
> You remember the larger-than-life Ambassador Bridge. And you remember the
> submarine that was tied up at the Brodhead Naval Armory alongside the
> Belle Isle Bridge.
> ******
> You took a class trip or a moonlight cruise on the Bob-Lo boat with
> Captain Bob-Lo.
> ******
> You remember running home from school so you could have lunch with Soupy
> Sales. Or eat some meal with Howdy-Doody in the early days of TV. Also
> the roller derby, harness racing and Uncle Miltie.
> *******
> You rode a bus to Edgewater Amusement Park to ride the huge wooden roller
> coaster (again and again) or the Salt & Pepper Shaker or the Wild Mouse
> (before it went off the track injuring the riders).
> *******
> You remember ‘A fantabulous day for the family, at fantabulous Edgewater
> Park.’ P.O.P. meant pay-one-price.
> *******
> Mom packed the car with kids, swimsuits, towels, and peanut butter and
> jelly sandwiches to spend the day at Metropolitan Beach or Walled Lake.
> Later you danced at the “New Walled Lake Pavilion” to the music of the
> 1940s and 50s Big Bands, which later was to burn to the ground.
> *******
> You played in the ‘Big Ditch’ as I-94 was being built.
> *******
> You played tennis on Belle Isle’s or Palmer Park’s courts, or golfed at
> their Par 3 course, both lit after dark. Or went ice-skating, or for a
> horseback or canoe ride, rode in a pony-drawn carriage, hand-fed the
> animals at the zoo, visited the aquarium (remember the teepee), or
> attended an event at the Casino. Or remember when they’d close the Isle on
> Cap & Gown Night because the kids used to go there and throw things in the
> fountain.
> *******
> You rode the big white roller coaster or found your way out of the Fun
> House at Jefferson Beach Amusement Park.
> *******
> You took a day trip and drove way out to Walled Lake Amusement Park where
> they had lots of rides, a roller coaster, or swimming – and to the Walled
> Lake Casino for dancing.
> *******
> When ice-skating was outdoors and Palmer Park or Belle Isle was the place
> to do it. You also remember its tennis courts, wading pool, golf,
> ice-skating, casting pond and horse and buggy rides. Hitting a long drive
> on the first hole at Palmer Park’s course might mean having some kid sneak
> out of the woods, grab it and take off.
> *******
> Or how about the Detroit Firefighters working the crowds at the fireworks,
> selling tickets to their Field Day, and giving out firecrackers to the
> kids. Or the US Army contingent lodged near Wyoming and Curtis peeforming
> mock battles during their exercises at U of D Stadium in the early 1940s.
> And the noon air raid siren practices, that were deafening if you lived
> near a firestation.
> *******
> You rode a streetcar that ran on tracks down the center of Gratiot,
> Woodward, Jefferson or Michigan Avenue. Or the electric buses on Warren
> and Grand River. The Woodward street car took you to the Zoo in Royal Oak,
> where a visit was often preceded by a meal at Hedge’s Wigwam across the
> street. The popular joke at the time was: “Know the Indians in front of
> the Wigwam?” “Sure.” “Well, they don’t know you!”
> *******
> You remember how all of the lights from the auto dealerships lit up
> Gratiot and Livernois, e.g., Funston Chevrolet. And the slogan at Pappy’s
> on Livernois, where car buyers received a free bunny from his displayed
> rabbit cages : “Meat on your table and a car in your stable.”
> *******
> You remember when Eastland, Wonderland and Northland Malls were initially
> opened and WERE open, not enclosed. And when Wonderland had animals in
> circular cages. (Heck, I remember when Northland was first built in about
> 1953 and there was no Eastland, etc.)
> You remember driving out 8-Mile to Crystal Pool, at Greenfield, sneaking
> tons of bubbies in your trunk at the West Side Drive-In, the anti-aircraft
> guns at the Armory and the race riots that spread from the Belle Isle
> Bridge to the 8-Mile and Wyoming ghettos.
> ********
> You know how to pronounce Gratiot, Schoenherr and Cadieux.
> *******
> If someone told you it’s on Outer Drive, you knew to consult a map first.
> ********
> You thought driving to Southfield was going ‘out to the country. And the
> billboard sign on Northwestern “If you lived in Magnolia, you’d be home
> now!”
> ********
> You checked out books for two weeks from the Bookmobile that came to your
> elementary school once a week.
> *******
> You vividly recall the mineral bath smell of rotten eggs when you drove
> through Mt. Clemens.
> *********
> You bought candy and nuts from window-lined, walk-around counters and
> squeaky wooden floors at S. S. Kresges, Neisners and Woolworth’s, the
> so-called ‘dime’ stores.
> *********
> You went to Sock Hops at Notre Dame high school on a Friday night where
> you heard Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger and the Last Herd, or the Rationals.
> *********
> You drank Faygo, Towne Club (they had their own store and you’d walk in
> and see rows and rows of different flavors in cases on the floor — no
> shelves here), Vernor’s, Grilli’s, Oso, or Atlas pop (we never heard it
> called ‘soda’).A trip to the Vernorss’ factory near the foot of Woodward
> was always a downtown treat. And later, a real treat was sneaking into the
> Avenue, Gayetie or Empress Burlesque Theatres where Scurvy Miller would
> try to sell you his overpriced popcorn while theover-the-hill ladies were
> changing their scanty costumes. *******
> Your mom saved Top Value, Holden Red, S&H Green or the yellow Gold Bell
> stamps.
> ********
> Cunningham Drug Stores’ soda fountain (where when you heard “Mom ran into
> Cunninghams” you couldn’t believe she ran into it with her car) and their
> raspberry phosphate.(I always got the Cherry Cokes.) During and just after
> WWII, when neighborhood kids would shout, “Cunninghams has Hershey bars!”
> everyone would speed there on their bikes before they all disappeared.
> ********
> Your school took a bus trip to the cider mill (with donuts and cider after
> the tour), or to Kellogg’s in Battle Creek or to a radio station.
> ********
> Silverstein’s (or was it “Saperstein’s” was the candy store of Army and
> Navy surplus stuff.
> *******
> You had a subscription to the three Detroit newspapers, including The
> Detroit Times.
> *********
> You remember news anchor Jac LeGoff who eventually worked at every TV
> station around Detroit.
> **********
> You visited the Wonder Bread Bakery and got to take home a mini-loaf of
> bread (but you weren’t cool unless you ate Silvercup bread).
> **********
> You had a Shaffer’s or Awrey’s breadman and a Brickley’s milkman. Or a
> Twin Pines milkman, a Sealtest milkman, a Jewel Coffee man, a fruit and
> vegetable truck, and a Fuller Brush man (and they were always men).
> Sometimes a gassed and wheezing WW I vet woukld try to sell you something,
> which you’d buy even if you didn’t need it.
> ***********
> You remember Pure, Penzoil, Speedway 79, Texaco, Monkey, Dance, Purple
> Martin, Sinclair, Danny’s Dino, Kayo and Gulf gas stations, and when ‘gas
> wars’ meant 17-cents a gallon.
> *********
> You remember Primo’s Pizza, Carbone’s Pizza, Red Barn, Powers, Henry’s,
> Herc’s Beef Buffet, Cupid’s, Tom’s Tavern, Ted’s 5×5, Totem Pole, Red
> Devil, Marcus or Richard’s Drive-In (car-feteria).
> *********
> You attended a wedding reception or a banquet at Roma Hall.
> *********
> You attended ‘Wendy Ward’s CharmSchool’ at Montgomery Ward’s.. OMG FOR
> SURE!
> *********
> You might remember when Ben’s Hi-Chaperelle and Watt’s Club Mozambique
> were the places to go to catch Motown acts.
> *********
> Every year when the Blue Angels came to Willow Run Airport.
> **********
> You had friends or relatives who could get you into Camp Dearborn for the
> canteen dances in the summer and to go swimming. Or the pond at Belle Isle
> near the Conservatory where the sign warned you not to touch the water.
> ***********
> You had a reverb unit installed in your car at Mickey Shorr’s or Crazy
> Jack’s (aka Michigan Mobile Radio or MMR) on Livernois.
> *********
> You remember the Detroit riots of 1967.
> **********
> When the bleacher seats at Briggs Stadium were only $2 to watch the
> Detroit Lions play.
> ******
> And when they won the National Football Championship (before there were
> Super Bowls) in 1957 against the Cleveland Browns, 59-14.
> **********
> And when the Red Wings won all those Stanley Cups in the 1950s, and
> balcony seats at Olympia Stadium were only $1.25! Sitting in the balcony
> (Standard Beef Co tickets) behind the “girls” with their hair in
> curlers — where were they going after the game?
> **********
> You remember Detroit wrestlers Dick the Bruiser, Bobo Brazil, Leaping
> Larry Chene, Wild Bull Curry, Ernie ‘The Cat’ Ladd, Lord Athol Layton,
> Edward ‘The Sheik’ Farhat, Fritz Von Erich, George ‘The Animal’ Steele and
> Johnny Valentine.
> **********
> You remember bowling for a quarter a game at Chandler Park Lanes, Falcon
> Lanes (next to The Ginos/Falcon Showbar), Parkside, Woods, Ritter’s or
> Ritz bowling alleys.
> **********
> You worked at Detroit Bank & Trust, Manufacturers National Bank, Bank of
> the Commonwealth, City National Bank or National Bank of Detroit.
> **********
> You ‘parked’ at Belle Isle, either to watch the color-changing fountain or
> the submarine races — depending on how old you were and who you were
> with! You were in awe of the Big Stove on East Jefferson at the entrance
> to Belle Isle (before it was moved to the State Fairgrounds entrance).
> **********
> You remember your Mom taking your burned-out light bulbs to Detroit Edison
> to exchange for new ones or broken toaster for repair free.
> **********
> You remember the J. L. Hudson Co. (known to us as just ‘Hudson ‘s’)
> building on Woodward Ave that occupied an entire city block, and
> especially its 12th Floor toyland.
> And you remember the white-gloved elevator attendants operating the
> expandable gate and lever-locked door, and just before letting you out,
> she would call out the names of the various departments on that floor.
> ***********
> You ate a Maurice Salad at a J. L. Hudson’s cafeteria. You also ate a hot
> corned beef sandwich and dill pickle at the Deli behind downtown Hudson’s.
> ***********
> You went shopping during Downtown Detroit Days.
> ***********
> You remember Women’s Hospital before it became Hutzel Hospital. You may
> even have been born there, as was I.
> **********
> You remember that Hudson’s hung a HUGE American flag on the front of their
> building every 4th of July. (It was the biggest one in the country at
> that time.)
> *********
> You would ride the bus downtown at Christmas and stand in line at Hudson’s
> amid a fabulous winding animated Toyland, just to see Santa and the
> trains.
> **********
> Or you remember going to see Santa Claus at the Northland Mall igloos
> because it was televised and you hoped your friends would see you.
> **********
> Thanksgiving was not complete unless first you went to the Hudson’s
> Parade, then to watch the Detroit Lions play the Green Bay Packers (always
> the Packers back then) at Briggs (later Tiger) Stadium.
> ***********
> You know guys who put up big antennas so they could pull in the Lions
> home games on Channel 6 out of Lansing.
> ***********
> You watched the ‘old guys’ play bocce ball at Buddy’s Rendezvous Pizza or
> sang the Schnitzelbank song at the Dakota Inn with Boris the Organ Player.
> You may have even hung out there yourself, where some people (including
> me) met and eventually married the “Girl of their dreams.”
> ************
> You remember when Mayor Cavanaugh would give Santa and Christmas Carole
> (who always looked like she should be freezing in her short red velvet
> outfit trimmed with white fur) the keys to the city at the end of every
> parade.
> ***********
> You remember the Detroit Tigers pitchers Hal Newhouser, Dizzy Trout,
> Virgil “Fire” Trucks and later Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych.
> ***********
> You remember the Detroit Pistons and the WHA Michigan Stags hockey games
> at Cobo Arena and if you are old enough, the Pistons at the Olympia in
> 1956!
> ***********
> How about Al Ackerman ringing Big Al’s bell for the Sports Hero of the
> Day.
> ******
> And watching Cadillacs being made on Clark Street.
> ***********
> Or the giant, three-dimensional ‘Elsie’ the Borden Cow (head) located on
> the side of the Ira Wilson Dairy off the
> I-94 service drive. (Now it only says ‘ILSON’ — much of the stack has
> been taken down or fallen.).
> *********
> Going to the Better Made potato chip factory and getting small bags of
> brown chips or shoe strings before going to the Jewel Movie Theater.
> **********
> You remember Big Bear and Wrigley Super Markets. Oldsters even remember
> “Packer’s Outlet,” Detroit’s earliest super market, at Livernois and Six
> Mile.
> **********
> You remember the RAF bomber flying from England in 1962 that exploded over
> the Detroit River near Grosse Pointe Park. And the regular B24s flying
> from Ford’s Willow Run Plant to Selfridge Airfield, where they were
> prepped for the flight to England.
> ********
> Or the guy who came through your neighborhood on a bike to sharpen your
> scissors, etc. Or the ‘sheeny man’ who came down
> the alley on a horse drawn wagon picking up scrap metal and sharpening
> knifes and scissors.
> *****
> You remember the milkman delivering milk and cream in glass bottles!
> ******
> You remember going to the drive-in and getting blasted by mosquito spray
> from the back of a pickup truck that drove up and down the lanes.
> ******
> You ordered Cold Duck at the Ponchartrain Wine Cellars (the restaurant/bar
> where it was invented) and enjoyed a frog leg dinner.
> ******
> You remember going to White Castle and getting 12 for $1 and they stayed
> with you for 3-days.
> ******
> Going sledding at Warsaw Park, Balduc Park, or Derby Hll.
> ******
> The chocolate malts at Cunningham’s… They always tasted better there!
>
>
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