  Joe645 Member Username: Joe645 Post Number: 1 Registered: 05-2006 Posted From: 67.77.145.224 |
I am looking for someone in their 60's that can remember the names of a couple of popular Drive-In Restaurants which were located on Northwestern in the late 50s and 60s. Thanks for any help. | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 919 Registered: 12-2003 Posted From: 69.221.93.11 |
Why does the person have to be in their '60s? | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 559 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Because we are, uh.....what was the question again? | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 560 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Oh, yeah, now I remember. Big Boy drive in at Greenfield and Northwestern. Brown Derby at Middlebelt and Northwestern (basically a frozen custard joint). Them's the only two I can recall. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1242 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
36---I know all about the drive inns, but I don't recall any question being asked about them. I thought Northwestern played in the Big 10. ahh--youth. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 73 Registered: 04-2006 Posted From: 68.40.50.194 |
Is this the Lodge that you are speaking of? | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1243 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
I thought the Lodge ends at 8 Mile. jjaba, where are you when I really need you? | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 920 Registered: 12-2003 Posted From: 69.221.93.11 |
I remember the Big Boy and the Brown Derby, but because I'm not in my '60s, I can't talk about it. | ||
Angry_dad Member Username: Angry_dad Post Number: 52 Registered: 02-2006 Posted From: 64.12.116.204 |
Any "Daly's"? | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 74 Registered: 04-2006 Posted From: 68.40.50.194 |
Today's Lodge ends between Telegraph and 12 Mile... and turns into Northwestern Hwy. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 561 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Actually, before the Lodge was built, the road from Wyoming to Eight Mile was James Couzens. Past Eight Mile it was Northwestern Highway out to Orchard Lake Road, where it suddenly ended. Plans were made off'n'on for years to extend it, but it never was. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1244 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
I think we are picking on Joe 645. And we shouldn't since this was his first post. Sorry Joe. But Joe, I remember those days, and there was only ONE drive-inn to be seen in back then, and it was not on Northwestern. It was on Woodward--It was not Teds, it was not the Susie Q, and it was not the Totem Pole. Been there / done that. It was THE VARSITY. Most awesomemost drive inn on planet Earth. 7 Chevy '54 Bel Airs all lined up in the back row. 3 AM car radios playing Big Joe Turner's rendition of "Shake, Rattle and Roll", another 3 listening to the SAME song, this time by Bill Haley and the Comets, and one ( usually chicks borrowing big brother car for the night) listening to Rosey Clooney's rendition of "Mambo Italiano". Welcome to the Forum, Joe. | ||
Cmubryan Member Username: Cmubryan Post Number: 265 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
Does anyone notice how when they replace signs they drop the Lodge name off the freeway and it simply is labeled 10. I stronly dislike this. They are doing it w/ every expressway ( Jeffries, Chrysler, Ford) | ||
Neilr Member Username: Neilr Post Number: 254 Registered: 06-2005 Posted From: 68.60.139.169 |
Cmubryan, I agree. I have a sense of local pride in the expressway and service drive names that we have in Detroit. In conversation, I always use the name rather than the number when refering to a Detroit expressway. | ||
Livedog2 Member Username: Livedog2 Post Number: 265 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 24.223.133.177 |
A wealthy old lady decides to go on a photo safari in Africa, taking her faithful AGED poodle named Cuddles, along for the company. One day the poodle starts chasing butterflies and before long, Cuddles discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a YOUNG leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch. The OLD poodle thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep doo-doo now!" Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the OLD poodle exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious YOUNG leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?" Hearing this, the YOUNG leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. "Whew!" says the leopard, "That was close! That OLD poodle nearly had me!" Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a near by tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the Young leopard. So off he goes, but the OLD poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up. The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard. The YOUNG leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!" Now, the OLD poodle sees the YOUNG leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?", but instead of running, the OLD dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old poodle says: "Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another YOUNG leopard!" Whereupon, the YOUNG lepoard grabs the monkey by the head and runs off into the trees in fear but eats the monkey with thoughts of relief that he did not end up a pile of bones after the OLD poodle ate him! Livedog2 | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 595 Registered: 07-2004 Posted From: 209.69.221.253 |
I predict that using the names of freeways will eventually be a kind of shibboleth. In New York, the oldsters still refer to the trains by the corporate names: IRT, IND, BMT, etc., while the youngsters and newcomers call them by numbers or letters. | ||
Missnmich Member Username: Missnmich Post Number: 513 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 70.186.39.150 |
Old timer's rant: The Lodge is the Lodge. M-10 is an interloper. US 10 runs from the gate to my childhood subdivision, straight down Woodward Ave, to Hudson's ... | ||
Missnmich Member Username: Missnmich Post Number: 514 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 70.186.39.150 |
Oh yeah, by the time Woodward got to my town, it was called Saginaw Rd. ... | ||
Hysteria Member Username: Hysteria Post Number: 262 Registered: 02-2006 Posted From: 152.163.100.8 |
Here's a great nostalgia filled article (and pics) about many of the diners, and a few on Woodward as The_rock mentioned above: http://info.detnews.com/histor y/story/index.cfm?id=216&categ ory=life (Message edited by hysteria on May 17, 2006) | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3839 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
jjaba here. Ray1936 post#561 tells it like it tis. That's exactly what jjaba knows. Ray1936 is a newsboy and newsboys deliver truth. jjaba, humming Hey Mambo, Mambo Italiano, Hey Mambo... jjaba rode his fat tire bike up James Couzens from Wyoming to Northland in 1954. The pretty boulevard was set amongst stunning neighborhoods, crossing W. Outer Drive, Vassar, W. Mc Nichols, W. Seven Mile, etc. The center median was wide, lined with trees, and kids playing games. At W. Eight Mile Rd., Northwetern Highway continued. It was a highway, not a blvd. of such beaudy. The John C. Lodge Expressway was plunked down and dug out into the existing public right of way, enough roadway left for the service drive extanct. East of Wyoming, the Lodge widens as this route was completely purchased from homeowners who saw their neighborhood sliced and diced by the highway robbers. jjaba, NWsider. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 565 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Yeah, James Couzens was lined with huge elm trees on the boulevard. That was years before the dutch elm disaster. I watched bulldozers ram those trees and uproot them in preparation for the Lodge construction. At the time, I was thrilled for the progress, because I thought the Lodge Expressway (as it was then called) was the greatest idea ever. I've mellowed. It is nothing but a sad memory now. Ah. A gray cell just flashed a neuron into active memory. On the northwest corner of James Couzens and Schaefer was a vacant lot that had the finest sand one could ask for. We used to go up there and get sand for my kid brother's sandbox. Circa 1948 or so. We haven't done much for Joe's original question. But I don't think there were many drive-ins along the way -- ever. | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 922 Registered: 12-2003 Posted From: 69.221.93.11 |
I wish I could have seen Couzens as a boulevard... Considering that I have to use the Lodge...what alternate idea would you guys have done, to move people back and forth from the NWest? What should they have done instead? I heard Grand River was unbelievably clogged up, which led to the Lodge ... | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1178 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 63.41.8.210 |
Well now you can - from the archives at WSU, James Couzens/Northwestern Hwy aerial photo taken in the 1930s from around Wyoming.  The bustling intersection of Telegraph and Northwestern from the 1950s. I like the Rambler station wagon, or what I think that is.  | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 566 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
That northwest corner of Telegraph and Northwestern is where Dunham's sporting goods originally was. They moved down by Orchard Lake Road long ago, maybe 1970? Used to be called Dunham's bait shop, and that's basically what it was. Always stopped there for three dozen night crawlers on the way out to Milford....... | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 300 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 65.185.132.134 |
And the Fitty-six Desotta turning left. Mopar or no car! | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1179 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 63.41.8.210 |
I wonder if it was that pink with dark gray paint scheme. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 3841 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 67.160.138.107 |
A De Soto, a Buick, two Ramblers, and a Ford. One Standard Oil Station. Love the Oakland County directional signs. They read, Yeminsville, 2 miles. Middle of Nowhere, 3.5 miles. Pontiac, that-a-way. Lake Michigan, this-a-way. Many cities stopped expressway construction. Do some research: Milwaukee, Portland, Oregon, and the famous abandonment of a plan to cross midtown Manhattan from NJ to Queens. Cicero Ave. in Chicago was slated to become an expressway from Midway Airport up to the Kennedy Expressway. Never happened. Mass transit would have been an option in Detroit. jjaba. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 567 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
Way back when, there was so much opposition to the route of I-696 through the northern 'burbs that I thought it would never be built. Glad it was because it sure quickens my trips from Farmington to Macomb county on my annual visit. Does anyone still call it the Reuther Freeway? |
