  Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 5531 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 64.228.210.210 |
Here is today's P.D.J. | ||
Goat Member Username: Goat Post Number: 8422 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 70.53.96.156 |
Thanks AIW for the links on artifacts and the brief bio's of Mr. Meredith and G. Gillis. BTW: The maps are great! | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 259 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 129.9.163.234 |
thanks for that AIW--I used to work out of the building at the corner of Fort and 12th, 1915 Fort, on the other (south) side of the street. There was another large warehouse bldg. kitty corner to us (NE corner) that had a big fire on the upper two floors. I was demolished after that. It had a big painted sign on the west wall "Harmo tire". | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 539 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Good research, AIW. Wonder if they ever got their 54c? Seems a tad comical in this day and age. 56packman, I remember that fire, it was a dandy. As I recall, there were mounds of old tires in that warehouse which made it a bitch to put out. And do you remember the steel girders in the middle of Fort Street over the RR tracks that caused at least one fatal accident a year by someone hitting them head on? The bridge was rebuilt in the mid-60s removing the girders. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3773 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
When it comes to Westside traffic and fire beats, nobody knows it like Ray1936. He can smell it still like Hygrades hot dogs on his beat. And all of this from his Far Westside new home. Nobody knows the SW side of Detroit like our Canadian photo-journalist Andrew. Thanks so much for alls you do. jjaba, Westside Torah Bukkor Old Newsboy. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 540 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Um, well, actually, jjaba, what I remember most was the old Hygrades rendering plant on Michigan across the street from Western Market. On a foggy day, you could smell it for miles. Not particularly unpleasant, but certainly unique.... | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3783 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
That's the reference jjaba was making. That smell at Hygrades was to help the beat cop know where he was without looking up. It also worked well with the blind guys,too. So what was Ray1936's fav. donut shop along there? And which beer gardens helped you out at Christmas? Does Ray1936 remember the Canvassar Bldg. (formerly a Ford Garage) at Michigan Ave. and Roosevelt, SE corner? jjaba's father ran an envelope factory in the bldg. It is being rennovated. jjaba, LOL. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 541 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Ah, memories. There were two restraunts on the Michigan Ave. beat, which was from 14th to the Boulevard, but included Western Market. There was Hygrade's, down around 23rd, and there was Chris' Grill, alongside the MC Depot. Both were open 24/7. Good coffee in both. Then there was Lyle's Ham joint on the day shift. I know there were a couple of bars in that stretch, but danged if I can remember the names. I wasn't much of a drinker, so never put the mooch on the bar owners. Ah, just remembered the Mercury Bar, 14th and Michigan. Roosevelt and Mich? Yes, I remember the envelope company, but don't recall that building name. Wonder how many times we crossed paths. Then there was the bowling alley just around the corner on W. Grand Blvd. What the heck was the name of it? Burned down around 1970 as I recall. One walk I'd like to take again (maybe I will, next trip back) was walking to that beat from the 2nd Precinct station. Right up 20th street and under the longest train viaduct in the world. At least it seemed to be. And, boy, did the trash accumulate under it on the sidewalks. Don't think anyone but cops ever walked there. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 264 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 129.9.163.234 |
Was that bowling alley called the Fairfield lanes? | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3788 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
The name of the envelope factory was Cupples-Hesse. jjaba's father had his office on second floor, with a small air conditioner stuck out the window on the Roosevelt side. When the Teamsters struck the factory, Ray1936 kept the peace there. Maybe one disgruntled employee started the tumult. Teamsters agents swarmed and the workers went out. It was a terrible tension in the family. And dad didn't even own the place! He was supt. of the factory. In return for his good work, Dad gave Ray1936 some scratch pads and a bottle of Canadian Club for Christmas. (Yes, Jews give xmas gifts like the rest of you.) jjaba would love to walk that beat with Ray1936. Bring a whole gang of us on your narrated walk. Ray1936, you don't have to drink to watch over a bar. In Chicago, beat cops watch over bars and currency exchanges. jjaba, shaking bums at the MCS on the beat. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 543 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
56Packman, Fairfield lanes does not strike a bell at all. I'd know it if I heard it. The top city leagues bowled there all the time, Freddie Wolf and those guys. Couple of times Fred had his Wacky Wigloo radio show from out front. Jjaba, looks like a Detroit trip in 2006 is going to happen after all. Sold our house yesterday; closing scheduled for June 14. Our new house won't be ready until July 17, so we'll be environmentally challenged for a month. Looks like we'll take off for Detroit and stay with friends and family for most of that time. I'm gonna walk 20th street one more time and check the Cupples-Hesse building. I guess I'll have to skip Western Market.  | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 265 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 129.9.163.105 |
Ray, I'm not 100% sure of the name of that bowling alley--I thought it might have been Fairfield lanes. My reason for this was that there was a Fairfield theatre on W.Grand (I'll look up the exact address tonight when I am home) that was converted into a bowling alley in the late 40's. We spelunked it in the mid 70's. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 544 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
OK, 56. I'm 100% uncertain!! | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3791 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
56packman, do you mean W. Grand Ave. or Blvd.? We have both in Detroit. This Forum is all about precise. Thanks. jjaba, on the Dexter bus crossing W. Grand Avenue. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3792 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
Ray, the bldg. on the SE corner of Roosevelt and Michigan Ave. was an Albert Kahn Ford garage owned for decades by the Canvassar Family. When a Ford garage, the elevator kept the inventory on floor two and three, with the mechanics shop on the first floor. The elevator was a huge powerful big guy which could handle a roll of fine paper. Cupples-Hesse moved over there in the 1950s when the Post Office took over their E. Grand Blvd.-Dubois location. Smith Envelopes was bought out by the St. Louis firm, Cupples-Hesse. Later, Dad moved it again, also Cupples-Hesse to the Murray Body Works, Russell and Clay. 3 moves in one decade of the 1950s. In the Michigan Ave. bldg., rolls of fine paper were sent up the elevator to third floor, where a sheeting and die cutting operation processed the paper. Second floor was envelope machines. Millions were made, printed, and boxed for delivery a day. First floor had the corner entrance with offices along Michigan Ave., and delivery, shipping and receiving along Roosevelt. There was a Catholic Church down the side street. Dad gave the nuns scratch pads when they came around. He and jjaba made them up from the cutting scraps from envelopes. We had a manual press we used to make them. That glue was nasty. jjaba, Westside printshop memories. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 547 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Speaking of scratch pads..... As friend wife and I started packing up the house today to put everything into storage while between homes, I opened a little-used drawer and found a pad of these, snitched away from my work desk 22 years ago. I wouldn't post it were it not for the statute of limitations.......  | ||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 5534 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 64.228.210.210 |
Packman, the bowling alley you mention above may not be the same one. Ray, here's the bowling alley, from the 1944 fire map. No name sorry... The 1920 map showed houses, so if there was a theatre there, it had a very short run. I couldn't find any refernce to a Fairfield theatre either...  | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 548 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Yup, that's the location. Michigan avenue is just to the right off the map; that 20' corridor to the right was an alleyway. Geez, I wish I could remember the name. Those old fire maps are a treasure, aren't they? | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3796 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
Ray1936 treasure chest. 10. hand cuffs, old style. 9. Glock. 8. scratch pads. 7. Mayor's pen. 6. City of Detroit pencils. 5. Patrolman cap. 4. petrified donuts. 3. gas pump key from the precinct. 2. Roll call from first day on job. 1. Letter of thanks at retirement. Good work. jjaba. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 550 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Yup, got a nice one from Bill Hart along with my retirement certificate signed by him. I like to say my retirement certificate is signed by a convicted felon. Sad event. Bill Hart was a nice guy. Gullible, but nice. |
