Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289
Post Number: 201 Registered: 08-2007
| Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 - 1:34 am: | |
when i was young both grandparents had incinerators in there basements, that was always fun for me 'WATCH THE GARBAGE DISAPEAR'. A former co/worker of mine drove a garbage truck for the city back in the 60,s/70,s he would get "hot loads " and have to dump the trash in the parking lots. |
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba
Post Number: 5981 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 12:51 pm: | |
Yum, smoldering garbage next door. Reddog289, explain. jjaba. |
Living_in_the_d Member Username: Living_in_the_d
Post Number: 10 Registered: 01-2008
| Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 1:50 pm: | |
Yeah, in addition to the house incinerators, each house was issued a wire steel mesh basket to burn all your leaves in, etc.., simpler times. |
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba
Post Number: 5983 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 3:12 pm: | |
We just raked leaves into the street and had a 50 ft. controlled burn. We loved to trample through them and inhale fresh fumes. Burn bans ruined all the fun. jjaba doesn't remember burning garbage at home, ever, in Detroit. jjaba, Westsider. |
9936sussex Member Username: 9936sussex
Post Number: 73 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 4:16 pm: | |
I always associate autumn with the smell of burning leaves. My dad would rake leaves to the curb and burn them. A smokey haze would fill the air---Halloween would be soon! I also remember my parents (and grandparents in Pontiac) burning trash in the alley in one of those metal grated trash baskets. Of course, I'm sure that it wasn't healthy at all, but I sure did love that experience of seeing those flames. I must have been a pyromaniac in another life! |
65memories Member Username: 65memories
Post Number: 509 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 6:41 pm: | |
9936...me too. My dad would rake leaves into the street and burn them in medium size piles. We would play street football and have to watch where we ran for fear of getting a "hotfoot". To this day, the smell of leaves burning evokes those memories. Burning leaves? Autumn on the Westside of Detroit. |
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba
Post Number: 5985 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 11:47 pm: | |
jjaba lived at 18967 Sussex, just South of W. Seven Mile Rd.. Where's 9936? About Joy Rd.? jjaba. |
9936sussex Member Username: 9936sussex
Post Number: 74 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 7:35 am: | |
Jjaba: 9936 is between West Chicago and Plymouth....specifically between Elmira and Orangelawn. |
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba
Post Number: 5987 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 11:36 am: | |
Sussex, any pics. of neighborhood? Big or little houses? jjaba presumes standard Detroit lots, single homes. jjaba. |
9936sussex Member Username: 9936sussex
Post Number: 76 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 7:43 pm: | |
jjaba: I do have pictures, just not technically savvy to do much with them. The lots were 35 feet, houses (at least the one that I grew up in) were around 750-800 square feet. 2 bedroom bungalows, built after WWII. Pretty much a blue-collar kinda neighborhood. Everyone took very good care of their homes, so it was a nice place to grow up. |
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba
Post Number: 5989 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2008 - 12:39 am: | |
The same was jjaba's experience both on Northlawn and on Sussex. Good neighbors. jjaba, Westsider. |
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289
Post Number: 218 Registered: 08-2007
| Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2008 - 2:38 am: | |
back to garbage jjaba. according to my former co/worker ex garbage truck driver. he said that he would get loads that had 'hot spots' from incinerators, etc. if he saw smoke from his truck he,d dump the load in the nearest lot. i saw this once in livonia. did not see the truck just a burning pile of trash. i ran to the basement of the print shop, told him and he said "HOT LOAD". IT did stink. |
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba
Post Number: 5992 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2008 - 11:11 am: | |
Add your garbage to the garbage that moved into Livonia from jjaba's neighborhood and you've got quite a mix. Enmass, they moved out there in the mid-50s and early 1960s. Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of tickey tackey, and they all look the same. Livonia was an upgrade to new small single houses in heaven. Still, 100,000 live there and the whitest city in USA of its size. (2000 census) jjaba, Northlawn/Schoolcraft. |
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289
Post Number: 232 Registered: 08-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 1:26 am: | |
and to think it could have been part of Detroit. as for working 13yrs in Livonia and making alot of pick ups and deliveries into Detroit, Detroit was more interesting. |
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba
Post Number: 6009 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 2:09 pm: | |
Not only did they move to live there, they moved their businesses to Livonia too. We are now two full generations removed from Wyoming and Schoolcraft, St. Brigit Parish, and Noble School. Infact, Noble PTA is proud to talk of intergeneration families there since the 1960s. Sadly, the retail is gone but great to see the homes maintained for the most part. jjaba, Northlawn Bar Mitzvah Bukkor. |
Birwood Member Username: Birwood
Post Number: 65 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - 7:04 pm: | |
Can anyone other than Ray1936 & Myself remember the big natural gas storage tank that was at Lyndon & Schaefer in the Gas Company yard, just across the tracks to the north from the DSR Coolidge Terminal. If you remember it, does anyone remember or know of anyone who ever climbed it? My older brother,, now 62, claims to have climbed, like around 1961, it one night with acouple of his pals after leaving Al Pisa soda fountain |
Jgavrile Member Username: Jgavrile
Post Number: 11 Registered: 09-2005
| Posted on Thursday, February 07, 2008 - 7:47 pm: | |
Lot of things going on in that area. Gas Is Best! The DSR barns, Schaefer Police station,Mercury paint company ,I think? Grand-Schaefer Auto Parts. Somewhere near the corner of Schaefer and Grnd. River was a 53 Ford with 2 front ends put together. It was an advertisment for car drive-away, where they would transport your car to anther town for you. Like down to Florida, while you took a train or a plane. |
Jgavrile Member Username: Jgavrile
Post Number: 12 Registered: 09-2005
| Posted on Thursday, February 07, 2008 - 8:54 pm: | |
I remember living on Appoline near Schoolcraft about 2 years after I got married. Lived in a lower flat there around 1968. Pretty quiet neighborhood. They had just started to buy up homes for the I-96 freeway to come through around Davison mear Myers. I was going to WSU back then. Don't remember what the rent was but less than $100.00 per month for sure. |
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba
Post Number: 6119 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, February 07, 2008 - 11:30 pm: | |
Rina's Pizza and the Detroit Library were near Grand River and Schaefer. Best pizza on Westside. jjaba. |
9936sussex Member Username: 9936sussex
Post Number: 84 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 7:29 am: | |
Was that the Monnior Public Library at Grand River and Schaefer? I loved that library. So quaint and cozy. Used to go with a girl friend to do homework there. |
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2695 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 12:04 pm: | |
Monnier, sussex. Yeah, that was it. They sponsored a stamp (philatelic) club for kids down in the basement and I have fond memories of it. And I credit that hobby in my formative years with giving me a wealth of information on geography, history, and trivia that really buried itself in my head. Hey, I know where Zlotys can be spent...... |
Chuckjav Member Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 356 Registered: 09-2007
| Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 12:21 pm: | |
Jgavrile....Yes, I am glad to hear that you remember the two-headed automobile in the window of "Auto Drive Away" storefront - corner of Ward & Grand River. It was still there in the spring/summer of 1969, when my family moved into the neighborhood (from Oak Park). The vibe I had (as an eleven year old) was that the neighborhoods between Cooley and Mackenzie High School had once been a very nice place to grow up. It seemed incredible to me how quickly things had gone to hell in a hand basket. |
Chuckjav Member Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 357 Registered: 09-2007
| Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 12:29 pm: | |
Ray1936...I know of a great little restaurant in Hamtramck - "Three Star". Some of the best BBQ ribs and chicken in the metro area, excellent selection of Polish beer too. I'll bet they'll take a few Zlotys (accompanied by greenbacks, of course). |
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2697 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 5:24 pm: | |
Three Star, huh? Okay, marked into my little black book. BBQ Ribs and Polish beer (maybe with some Polka music in the background) sounds like a dream! I'll bring my Zlotys. Maybe a few shekels to treat Jjaba as well. |
Chuckjav Member Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 359 Registered: 09-2007
| Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 6:10 pm: | |
Ray1936....Yes, my friend. Three Star is on Joseph Campau - across the street (and a little south) from Woody Pontiac; featuring fine food at a great price with Okocim & Zywiec brand in large bottles. Jjaba, Ray, and the DetroitYes regulars will enjoy Three Star - fun for the whole family. I almost forgot to mention the fine selection of pies! |
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2703 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 7:53 pm: | |
Every time we drive back to Michigan, I have to take a large Coleman cooler with me. The wife loads up on Kowalski products to take back home. Every morning on the road back has me making a first stop for two things....coffee in the thermos, and ice in the cooler. Works good, have never had anything spoil. |
Alfie1a Member Username: Alfie1a
Post Number: 17 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 8:24 pm: | |
Chuck, you're right about 3 star. and the Zywiec or Okocim makes it well worth going to Hamtramck. When in the area, i always go to a little bakery on Conant and get a couple 6 packs of Zywiec. I worked for several years in Hamtramck. for some reason, many of the Zywiec labels somehow got off the bottle and are now stuck to the side of my toolbox. Ray, reminds me of myself. When i go up to copper country, i always stock up on Volwurth's products. Hot dogs, ring bologna and summer sausage. the dogs are especially good roasted on a stick over a campfire. |
Alfie1a Member Username: Alfie1a
Post Number: 19 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 9:36 pm: | |
hey Ray1936, you're a retired Detroit police officer, no? Do you remember a case during the 50's of random sniper type shootings around the city? I think the victims were mostly gas station attendants. My father was one of the victims. He worked at a gas station at Michigan and Lonyo. The bullet grazed his cheek. This occurred before i was born in 1958. What years were you with the force? |
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2705 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 11:56 pm: | |
Well, I was a cadet (civilian employee) from 1955 to 1959, and a police officer 1959 - 1984. No, sorry to say I can't recall those random shootings. Sounds interesting....what do you recall your Pop saying about it? |
Alfie1a Member Username: Alfie1a
Post Number: 20 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Saturday, February 09, 2008 - 9:04 pm: | |
Ray, thanks for responding, He never mentioned it, I recently learned this from my mother. All she could tell me was that he was one of several victims. I cant find anything on the web regarding this. You might have known my uncle, Gary Foran. He was on the force through the 70's. |
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2707 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Sunday, February 10, 2008 - 2:23 am: | |
I'm sure we crossed paths, but don't recall the name, Alfie. I think the earliest 'big story' in the DPD that I can recall was in the late summer of 1955 when I first started. They had a barricaded gunman at 11046 W. Outer Drive (how in the hell do I still remember that address?) that lasted six hours and resulted in two police officers being wounded and the gunman, Charles Luther Rollins (how in the hell do I still remember that name?) shot and killed. Made the headlines for days. In this day and age, they have four barricaded gunment every week. |
Alfie1a Member Username: Alfie1a
Post Number: 119 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Monday, December 22, 2008 - 9:09 pm: | |
I looked up the old house on google earth, still looks good from the pic. It's been about 5-6 years since I drove past, I'm due for another trip to the old neighborhood.
12153 Pinehurst. That tree and shrubs along the side were there when I was little. 1960's. I wonder if the dog chain is still wrapped around the trunk. It was always there. I don't remember the pine tree in front. It was the biggest house on the block.
view from Foley. Many nights, I fell asleep out on that upstairs back porch while listening to Ernie Harwell. |
Chuckjav Member Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 1264 Registered: 09-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, December 24, 2008 - 11:20 am: | |
Alfie1a...Yes, the house and surrounding properties look fantastic. Please tell us more about your life & times living there. |
Alfie1a Member Username: Alfie1a
Post Number: 129 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Monday, December 29, 2008 - 7:30 pm: | |
Hey there Chuck. I guess I wanted to post those pics just to bring this thread to the top. In case anyone new to the forum might have lived in the neighborhood. Not really much more to add regarding those years. Other than summer was so special for a young'n. Played baseball most every day. We always played army too, that was a lot of fun. And the insects. When you're small, you are right down there with them. A friend on my block, David Stanton, was a big time bug collector. We'd have nets and jars, go to the rr tracks and catch whatever we could find. There were a lot of different color monarchs back then. We'd take them back to his house and put them in the jar with formaldahyde, then pin them on a board and make cool displays. One of those summers must have been the big year for the 17 year locust because we had 100's of those. I remember those huge moths that had 6-8 inch wingspans. Haven't seen one of those in many many years. I haven't seen David since those days but I wouldn't be surprised if he was a scientist or a professor or some such thing. It was right in the center of the city but in my memory, it was almost like in the country. With all the gardens to raid, the wild rhubarb growing everywhere, and mulberry bushes all over the place. The alleys and vacant lots were our domain. I remember one funny incident. My friend Howard and I discovered what we thought was a dead guy in a vacant lot on Plymouth. We ran and told his dad and when he investigated, the dead guy got up, drunker than I ever want to get. Do you remember a big catholic church south of Plymouth and somewhere east from Parker school?. I can't remember exactly where it was. Anyways, that place gave me the creeps. Especially because a lot of the kids had to go there for catechism. I had no idea what that was but the way they said it scared the crap outta me. |
Chuckjav Member Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 1344 Registered: 09-2007
| Posted on Thursday, January 01, 2009 - 1:48 pm: | |
Alfie1a...the church you speak of could very well be Epiphany; located on Mendota - between Plymouth & West Chicago. Northward from Epiphany, as we both know, Mendota bends to the west and becomes Foley. I am betting that the summer you spoke of - buzzing with cicada and giant Cecropia moths - was, perhaps...1966? Pretty sure I mentioned this previously; the old neighborhood had tons of fireflies during the summer of 1969. Sometime in August of that year, malathion was sprayed from helicopters to control mosquitoes...never saw fireflies (or mantids) again. |
Alfie1a Member Username: Alfie1a
Post Number: 135 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Saturday, January 03, 2009 - 12:45 am: | |
Hey Chuck, thats it. I looked on google earth and it's still there. When the other kids talked about going to catechism, it seemed so ominous. 1966 seems about right for the cicadas, those things were everywhere. I didn't know the name of those moths, cecropia. I looked it up and the first article i read stated that if you are fortunate enough to ever see one, you'll never forget it. That sure is the truth. The sight of one of those will always be in my memory. I saw a few of them back in those days. And the huge caterpillars too. They sure were pretty bugs. It's a damn shame about the spraying, no doubt they killed much more than was intended. I was trying to find some information on The Mouse House, for a different thread. Found out that Stanley "Mouse" Miller went to Mackenzie during the 50's. There was a teen hangout across from the high school called The Box. Mouse repainted the facade with some grafitti/artwork and was expelled from Mackenzie in 1956. In case you don't know, he's famous for poster art and record cover art. Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and much more. A famous Mackenzie alumni. |
Chuckjav Member Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 1356 Registered: 09-2007
| Posted on Tuesday, January 06, 2009 - 1:17 pm: | |
Alfie1a....yes, one thing I remember from the Lambrecht Realty agent's 1969 fact sheet for 13042 Foley (our former home) - Parish: Epiphany; one more memory - High School: Mackenzie. We were the second family in that home; original owner was the McLennan Family (1927 through 1969). Boggles my mind to fathom the history they witnessed - through 42 years - at the corner of Ward and Foley. The McLennan Family left behind a treasure trove of Detroit Free Press, Detroit Times, LIFE, Coronet, and Reader's Digest. They also left behind a neat stack of Mackenzie's DIAL news magazine (1943-47); totally awesome! PS Glad you like the excerpt from Mouse Miller's Wikipedia page; please be sure to check out my Mackenzie High School Wikipedia page. (Message edited by chuckjav on January 07, 2009) |
Mackenzie68 Member Username: Mackenzie68
Post Number: 59 Registered: 03-2008
| Posted on Thursday, January 08, 2009 - 8:19 pm: | |
Seems like I mentioned this, but maybe not. The Roman Catholic neighbor kids on Cheyenne around Elmira called it "Pimp-phany" and were sure that was the real name of their school and church. All I know is that they couldn't think of anything better to do on all their extra days off than hang on the fence at Parker and laugh at us while we were stuck in class. There's a Sears kit house, Arts and Craft style bungalow on Littlefield, in the first block south of Foley. As recently as 1980, the original owners still lived there. |
Chuckjav Member Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 1408 Registered: 09-2007
| Posted on Saturday, January 10, 2009 - 10:35 am: | |
Mackenzie68....although there are quite a few like-styled homes (as you described) in the old neighborhood, I'm pretty sure that I am familiar with the one you mentioned - particularly if it is green. I've probably already asked...but, where did you live while attending Mackenzie? |
Alfie1a Member Username: Alfie1a
Post Number: 146 Registered: 10-2007
| Posted on Sunday, January 11, 2009 - 2:42 pm: | |
Chuckjav I read the Mackenzie High wiki, very informative. Great job putting that together. In '67, my father bought the house on Murray Hill near Outer Drive. That summer before school began, we watched 4 new homes being constructed on Curtis near Greenfield. We'd never seen that before and at least once a week I went over and checked out the progress. Then, when school began, and I was the new kid in class, there was another new kid as well. It was James Stewart, a classmate of mine at Parker. His family bought one of the newly built homes on Curtis. He was the first black kid at Isaac Newton Elementary and, aside from kids I met around the neighborhood during the summer, the first friend I had in school. |
Chuckjav Member Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 1442 Registered: 09-2007
| Posted on Monday, January 12, 2009 - 10:06 pm: | |
Alfie1a...thanks, glad you like the MHS article. Your story reminds me of my family's adventures through Detroit. We moved from Mt. Pleasant, to Detroit - June, 1965. Needless to say, white folks (like us) were few & far between at Duffield Elementary, on the lower east side (1965-1967). Not long after the Riot, in October of '67, we rented a house in Oak Park - stayed there until March of 1969; my mom got a job with the City of Detroit - necessitating our return to the Motor City. This time, we moved to the Meyers & Grand River area; not a good time to be living there. I will never forget - as white folks were leaving by the hundreds & black families were moving into the formerly segregated neighborhood - there I was at Parker....about to be beaten up by a gang of kids. One of them shouted "wait...hold up, hold up"; that's Charley Greene - I went to Duffield with him, leave his ass alone". Yep....I was spared - just that once. |