 
Brother_james
Member
Username: Brother_james
Post Number: 1
Registered: 09-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 8:33 pm: |    |
I grew up in River Rouge in the 1960's through 1974 so Detroit was an adventure. I remember in the mid-1960's I'd ride the bus with my mother to go downtown for Christmas shopping. The bus ran down Jefferson to Waterman and then over to Fort Street. It ended at Cadillac Square in front of the Sheraton Cadillac Hotel with its grand Crystal Ballroom. We'd have lunch at the Elias Brothers Big Boy, something we didn't have yet downriver, and walk up Woodward to shop at Hudsons and Crowley's. I think it was the 12th floor at Hudsons that would be decorated for Christmas. I looked forward to that every year.
We were white but we'd sometimes visit the church of a black friend of my mother, Mrs. Page. She went to the New Starlight Baptist church. We'd be the only white people there but the folks welcomed us so warmly and were really good to us. This was in the 1967-68 timeframe during the time of the riots and racial tension. Funny how worshipping God together transcended all the other stuff going on.
I started River Rouge High in 1969. We had race riots in the high school hallways that year, and school was shut down for a while. It was generally a bad time in the whole area, and I think a lot of whites (rednecks mainly) and blacks (the minority who were hateful at least) fully expected a race war to break out at any moment. I know that's when the white flight from Detroit went into full swing. Middle class black people also left, leaving behind very little in the way of tax base.
I've sort of thought of Detroit as being in a steady decline since then. I go back to visit family every year and it was really depressing to see how few people attended the July 4 fireworks this year. I'm not sure what will reinvigorate Detroit with all the automotive industry troubles. I think if the hearts of a lot of people could change, there'd be a much better future for the city. It is like a physical pain viewing all the ruins from Fort Wayne to the Boblo boats. I pray for Detroit that something good can happen to turn the city to a path of prosperity. |
Detroitplanner
Member
Username: Detroitplanner
Post Number: 214
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 10:21 pm: | |
Lombowski, does the name Barney McCouskey mean anything to ya? |
Ragtoplover59
Member
Username: Ragtoplover59
Post Number: 9
Registered: 09-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 1:38 am: | |
Brother_James and Mkhopper, Great storys, I see this thread made more then just myself come out of hiding to say something for the 1st time.
Let me be the first to say Welcome ! |
Ragtoplover59
Member
Username: Ragtoplover59
Post Number: 10
Registered: 09-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 2:28 am: | |
As far as the Riots in 67. that was when I was living on the Playground, outside my bedroom window were a few Tents set up for the troops,Many more were set up on the grounds of Southwestern HS.
Mom would walk us down to the stores on Fort street to do her shopping, My memory of that time was that the troops standing on the corners had "Real Guns"and our little area seemed like a different place then it was before!
When we went to visit Family on the Eastside, Dad would drive past the areas that were Burned out.
It was hard to understand how we could do that to our own city.
The block where my cousins lived on the east side was a Fantastic place to Play back then, Tree lined streets full of Houses and happy kids, Today that same block ( Phillips st) has 1 house left.
I can come back and see how my street is doing, I can go to my old schools and look around,Some of the same Stores are still there, I can find places I played at as a Kid and remember more things after seeing these places!
My cousins have NO love for Detroit anymore, They have No place to visit, No yards to remember playing in, No Houses they grew up in to look at,,Its all gone.
That is why things like this forum are Important.
We all lived the same story, But we still can have a different perspective of What Happened !
Please keep these Stories Going and some more Pictures would also be Great ! |
Brother_james
Member
Username: Brother_james
Post Number: 2
Registered: 09-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 12:39 pm: | |
1967 was a real turning point in Detroit. Though I don't live there any more, I may move back at some point because I have a sick relative who needs family support. But I love Detroit, even though I don't really like it. It's "home" to me no matter where else I've lived, and I've been on both coasts at one time or another.
I got a very warped and schizophrenic view of Detroit from my experiences there. As I said before, we had riots in the high school in 1969. My mother had brought me up with the constant reminder that "Jesus loves little black boys and girls just as much as He loves little white boys and girls" and I believed her. But like many young white kids, I got caught up in the emotionalism of what was going on in Detroit and Rouge. I didn't know anything about police brutality, or even much about racial strife though I did know that I had uncles that called black people ugly names.
When we'd wait to get into the high school in River Rouge all the white sudents would congregate at one end of the building and all the black students would congregate at the other end. There was no mixing whatsoever. I remember that when some black kids started going to the Lancaster movie theatre in Rouge many whites refused to go any more, so it just closed down. That sort of thing happened a lot.
I joined the army when I was 17 and my opinions about race had been colored by my experiences at Rouge High. For example, after a pep rally at a football field on the "black" side of town, two of my other 8th grader friends and I were chased down and beaten up by a group of older black kids as we walked home. My experience was one of experiencing and observing a lot of racial hatred.
When I got to the army, I discovered that people from other places didn't seem to have the attitudes I'd observed back home. I saw white and black guys being friends and hanging out together (by now it is 1974-1977). I became friends with a black roommate and really appreciated his perspective on things. I learned a lot, and I found myself becoming more like what my mother had tried to teach me to be (with God's help).
I've lived in California, Virginia, Texas, Florida, and overseas. One thing that really strikes me when I go back to the Detroit area is that people relate very very very differently in different parts of the country and world. It's not that things are perfect or in harmony or that there is no racism among the black and white people in other areas. But there doesn't seem to be the same level of deep-seated racial tension and even downright hatred between people that I still observe in Detroit.
I don't say this to tear down Detroit, but to share a perspective. I love Detroit and would love so much to see wounds heal and people loving one another. I know it does happen, but not on a large enough scale. There are so many problems to be fixed before you'll ever see middle class people moving back into Detroit. I'm not sure where it can begin. Something's gotta happen, though, because the continuous decline is too hurtful. The answer won't start with the politicians. It will have to start with people, and the only thing I've ever found that changes the hearts of people is God. So I pray for Detroit. |
Keith
Member
Username: Keith
Post Number: 5
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 1:36 pm: | |
Suppersport, nice thread. Yes this is a city that leaves you scratching your head sometimes. My family moved downtown from Birmingham to the Lafayette Park area in 1967 when I was 11. Ironically enough to get the kids away from someof the influences in the burbs at that time....or maybe we always loved a good riot ;).
Some memories include:
-lots of bicyling as a young teenager in the "real warehouise district, downtown, Belle Isle.
-having to put away your bike or lay low when gangs of kids came through riding double on bikes as they were hoping to return not riding double.
-taking the bus downtown for guitar lessons at Grinells music store
-winos on the buses
-delivering the Free Press in the Lafayette Towers
-Hudsons, Crowleys, Sams, Griswold Sporting Goods, Epps sporting goods, etc... never had to go to the burbs to shop.
- movies at the Cinerama, Adams, Fox, Madison, etc
- Sanders
-ethnic festivals behind Cobo Hall
-Emily and Pooh's fun runs and Emily's store
-Quickees...on the way to Cass Tech....donuts that is
-5000 kids, chemistry both academic and recreational at Cass Tech
-Drinking at 18
-Chin Tiki, Top of the Flame,
-Trip in the Park ---head shop, 40 inch bell bottoms, etc in Grand Circus Park.
- Live music at he original Union Street which was on Mack near Alter.
-the first Dalley in the Alley...move from the North Cass Street Fair on Second to the Alley.
-later living in Hadley Hall on WSU, moving to Woodbridge in 1982 and raising my kids there.
Anyway, we have been here ever since but there is no logical reason why. Crime, crappy schools, income tax, etc. But here we are enjoying it none the less.
Before we bought our current house, I figured that we should go through the mental exercise of deciding where we wanted to live since we then had more choices in the city or burbs. We stuck with Woodbridge. I guess it's basically a community of similarly minded equally crazy people and we feel at home here.
As I said, Detroit's a city that has a certian attraction beyond logic and can leave us all scratching our heads.....maybe it's lice.
This has been one of the better threads in the forum. Thanks to SSport and all posters.
I don't have much time to post these days but this struck a chord.
Cheers |
Pam
Member
Username: Pam
Post Number: 518
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 1:46 pm: | |
quote:There are so many problems to be fixed before you'll ever see middle class people moving back into Detroit.
That is happening right now, despite the problems. |
Lombaowski
Member
Username: Lombaowski
Post Number: 20
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 2:24 pm: | |
"Lombowski, does the name Barney McCosky mean anything to ya?"
Yes it certainly does. My uncle told me that the league/association was in serious trouble a few years ago and that this old guy from my neighborhood gave them a truckload of money. Little League should be a right for kids not a priviledge.
Stein Playfield looks a little better than it did five years ago also as I think the city put a few dollars into it. They had some youth football games there when I was in town a few weeks ago and I stopped and watched. It was nice to see people still enjoy the park as there were hundreds of folks there to watch the kids play.
Lots of memories for me there. |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 2860
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 2:56 pm: | |
Lowell, I nominate this thread to go to the Hall Of Fame Threads....
I cannot think of another thread that has "de-lurked" more Newbies than this one...
Welcome to the forum RAGTOPLOVER59, BROTHER_JAMES, MKHOPPER and KEITH !!!!
This is what makes DETROITYES worthwhile. No bickering, no Detroit vs. Suburbs crap, no politics, no high blood pressure.... just pure soothing nostalgia!!  |
Detroitej72
Member
Username: Detroitej72
Post Number: 281
Registered: 05-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 5:04 pm: | |
Groing up in Northeast Detroit in the 70's and 80's was a great time. My mom would take my sister and I for walks up to Kreske's and Woolworth's where we would sit at the counter and eat lunch. A treat was to go to Sander's for a sundae after dinner if you were good.
All our school cloths shopping was done at Montgomery Wards and Federal's at 7 & Gratiot. We would buy groceries from Chatham's and our meats from the local butcher "Andy & Hank's".
I would walk to Fantasy Lanes on 7 Mile to bowl with my friends on days off of school. Sometimes we would sneak into the arcade Electric Palace at Gratiot and Lappin to play video games. We were told not to go there because the kids were older and tougher. Of coarse we didn't listen!
My schools were McGregor and Burbank. I used to walk to school across Heilmenn's Field, and remember how cold it was in the winter. When they would plow the parking lot, we kids would make snow forts out of the snow piles.
I also learned how to swim at Heilmenn's pool as well as played baseball for Wishegan/ Heilmenn Athletic Club.
Our alleys were gravel, and when I was older, us boys loved to play "kill the man with the ball" because getting tackeled on gravel hurt more than cement. By doing this, we proved our manhood!
Everybody it seems in the neighborhood knew each other, and if you got in trouble, your parents found out in no time. This was NOT something I enjoyed at the time!
Even when I bought my own house, it was near Balduck Park, and I still had the neighborhood feel; everybody looked out for each other. |
Douglasm
Member
Username: Douglasm
Post Number: 682
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 6:56 pm: | |
Gistok....
....we're in agreement about the "Hall Of Fame" designation. It's kind of like a written "oral" history..... |
Detroitplanner
Member
Username: Detroitplanner
Post Number: 216
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 7:52 pm: | |
My best Stien field memory was chasing my dog down cathedral then across it, and over to the southfield service deive where I finally cornered him. Dammed dog would take off running the second you would open the gate. I was probably about 8 at the time, and the dog was much faster. He would sprint ahead, wait for you to catch up and as soon as you were going to get his collar he would take off again!! (Dogs are much faster than 8 year olds!) I thought I was such a man to be going over to the other side of the park by myself.
That dog was my first dog, easily my favorite, but so hard to love.
I never participared in the Barney McCowskey Leagues, though many of my friends did. I'd go up there to watch ball, sometimes football. We would also go to the hall sometimes. They would have a great haunted house as a fundraiser in those days. |
Ha_asfan
Member
Username: Ha_asfan
Post Number: 30
Registered: 06-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 8:05 pm: | |
Philm, YES ! I remember KARP DRUGS ! I think they had a black sign and red letters. In those days, our boundaries were Woodward to Greenfield, Six mile to Eight Mile. We had bikes and we TRAVELLED ! What was the creamery at the new Lodge and Outer Drive ??? Was it Browns ??? The big dig disrupted neighborhoods and cracked walls..gas pumps had spinny things in glass windows and some stations gave out stamps to redeem for household products. The Jewish Community Center on Meyers at Curtis...wow, great memories ! South of Six on Meyers was the Exotic Aquarium fish shop with a brilliant orange backlit sign that covered the length of the facade. right across from Mercury Theater. I remember the Hudsons delivery trucks roaming all of those hoods, our driver was Homer, stopped at out house several times a week, mom liked to shop and in those days, her credit card was called a "coin" and it was round and metal. One of the best memories from that era was this time of year, the High Jewish Holidays. When Yom Kippur rolled around, the neighborhood went SILENT. Businesses closed, traffic trickled and the streets were full of people walking to and from synagogue or temple. In the Christmas season, Outer Drive and Vasser were ablaze with lights as was Palmer Woods and Sherwood Forest. Dad and mom took us on our annual trip to Grosse Pointe to see the over the top Christmas displays, we LOVED that too ! There alleys in some neighborhoods that became playgrounds and gravel streets that were sprayed with oil twice a year. There was a kinship between all the kids that went to Schultz, Vernor, Vandenberg and Hampton but I think there was a disconnect between the Mumford and Henry Ford High Schools. Another reason that those neighborhoods were so great was the true socio/economic mix. One neighborhood with doctors, teachers, attorneys, firemen, sales people and all living together without rivalry. Downtown Detroit Days when HUdsons removed their plate glass windows and had walkin displays where I remember registering for the first plane ride to the moon ! Halloween, well that was a festival in itself first hitting the drugstores then the houses for truly great things like caramel apples, cakes and balsa wood airplanes. In those days I wasn't afraid of the police although dad told us never go to them... those were the days when shopkeepers knew your name and you theirs. Robin Hood Drugs would run a monthly tab, even for kids ! Butcher shops with live chickens...bakeries with bakers....I never thought of our neighborhood as affluent, it wasn't a concept I had learned yet but nearly every house had a full time housekeeper, some had two and I remember several freinds in the big houses with two housekeepers, a laundress and a houseman. Walking to school was a parade of uniformed housekeepers and neatly dressed well behaved kids who quickly became animals as soon as they left their guards behind. I wish my memory was better, too much has been forgotten. |
Jimaz
Member
Username: Jimaz
Post Number: 697
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 11:23 pm: | |
So many memories about bikes!
We'd find a large, empty parking lot with a gentle slope and have a contest to see who could run the course from high point to low point in the longest time. The trick was to go as slow as possible without feet touching the ground.
Once learning to ride a bike with no hands, the next challenge was to use those hands to extend your coat as a wind sail. Weeeeeee!
What is it that prevents adults from enjoying life so thoroughly? |
Karl
Member
Username: Karl
Post Number: 4255
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 12:16 am: | |
Ha_asfan said: "Downtown Detroit Days when HUdsons removed their plate glass windows and had walkin displays ....."
Sorry, I fell outta my chair when I read this - don't ever recall it being mentioned in all the Hudson's stuff on here. What year was this, and how did it work? Marshall Fields and Macy's, take that - and that!
Then you said: "In the Christmas season, Outer Drive and Vasser were ablaze with lights as was Palmer Woods and Sherwood Forest. Dad and mom took us on our annual trip to Grosse Pointe to see the over the top Christmas displays, we LOVED that too !"
I recall seeing in the Freep (we never took the News - had to have that morning paper) each Christmas that Detroit Edison would annually break the last year's record power output at Christmas due to all the lights. Now record power use occurs in the summer w/air conditioning.
Oh for those power-gulping C9's with the flame-stamped glass, rich colors and red/green cords..............
There was nothing like Detroit. |
Jams
Member
Username: Jams
Post Number: 3795
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 12:21 am: | |
Gistok's words:
quote:This is what makes DETROITYES worthwhile. No bickering, no Detroit vs. Suburbs crap, no politics, no high blood pressure.... just pure soothing nostalgia!!
This is what brought me to detroityes, a place to exchange stories about our PERSONAL experiences whether it was about the time we grew up or our current life. We all have our stories.
All other comments regarding others reactions will be not be deleted, as they will not be posted in the first place
Kudos again to Sport, for starting this thread in the first place and to all of you that have taken time to share your special memories.
ps This thread has had an influence in the "real" world. A few of us forumites were discussing this thread, sharing our memories and discovered our paths had crossed, albeit indirectly, in our youth. Although both of us have no idea where to start with so many memories. |
Ha_asfan
Member
Username: Ha_asfan
Post Number: 31
Registered: 06-2006
| | Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 10:05 am: | |
The Downtown Detroit Days were in the early to mid 60's...quite an extravaganza. All of the Woodward and Farmers Street windows were removed, it was an elaborate over the top affair with tons of people. I was just a little kid but the memories are intact, partially because it was such a departure from what I knew as Hudsons. It was on the same level as the infamous Christmas displays, the Christmas Shop For Kids ONLY, it was a time when the all protocols of behaving properly in the giant department store were dropped and you could really have fun on a child's level. My final memories of Hudsons downtown are closed off areas, banks of unused elevators and a general air of depression. In the 70's, Hudsons started their Prop Sales, an annual even for several years. Some of those display props were wonderful and valuable pieces of furniture, lighting and accessories, some of those things are still in my home. When Himelhochs closed, their fixture sale was amazing too. Nailed down or not, it had a price tag. The entire store was open for roaming and scoring good buys. Does anyone remember the little sandwich store on Grand River just off Harmonie Park and East of Broadway ? It was a holein the wall that served the most incredible and delicious roast beef sandwiches and little else other than soup. That was the place where you could find every level of business person from top executive to salesperson eating a sandwich from heaven. One of my uncles had a barber shop on Broadway across the street from what is now the Michigan Opera Theater. That too was one of our regular Saturday stops, so roaming downtown Detroit was just another playground for my brother and I. Of all the downtown visual delights, the best may have been the hand dunking the donut into the coffee shop across from Hudsons on....was it Grand River ??? Strange as it may seem, one of the great thrills of walking the streets of Europe is the sense of old downtown Detroit that I always get, the people, the multitude of stores, displays and happy looking people. |
Supersport
Member
Username: Supersport
Post Number: 10690
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 11:00 am: | |
quote:There was nothing like Detroit.
I would argue that there still isn't.
Thanks for the kind words people, and welcome new posters/long time lurkers. Every once in a blue moon, whether it be on the forum or on my blog, I have an idea, an experience, or something I want to share that I know before my fingers begin to type that it's gonna be something special. I no more than posted this thread and I knew it would bring back a magic to the forum that sometimes seems to collect a little dust. I didn't anticipate it attracting the first time posters that it has though, that was an added bonus.
As for the hall of fame, the Godfather himself assured me on day 2 or 3 that it was already destined.
Keep the stories coming, and armchair lurkers, well, get in the game! |
Mrsjdaniels
Member
Username: Mrsjdaniels
Post Number: 212
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 11:26 am: | |
Detroit to me meant family...when the weather got warm, it meant enjoying outside...bbq'ing at Belle Isle, family trips to Cedar Point...hope and promise. I always felt great knowing that I lived in a big city that ppl like the Pope and Nelson Mandela came too. It meant the Pistons in 89/90 and the TIgers in 84. It meant going to the best high school in the city (King)...
NOW IT MEANS - depression...all the crime and grime and dirt and trash...the hopelesness and joblesness...the bullet proofed glass windows at fast food restaurants...the car culture that overblown...the slumping housing market...I love my family but its time for me to go |
Karl
Member
Username: Karl
Post Number: 4267
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 11:49 am: | |
If anyone here ever worked in the Dime Building (I did not and am not familiar with its workings) I recently met the couple that owned and ran the "notions" shop (really those-days's version of a convenience store/office supply) in the lobby. The man recently died - but they had both spoken of these years being the best in their lives/careers. I will supply more details if anyone wants them. |
Lowell
Board Administrator
Username: Lowell
Post Number: 3039
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 12:04 pm: | |
Share it Karl.
BTW, a bright blue arrow to the left of a thread, when you view the list of topics, indicates that the thread is destined for the Hall of Fame if and when it fades. This thread was probably tagged for the HOF earlier than any other thread previously. |
Alsodave
Member
Username: Alsodave
Post Number: 765
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 1:31 pm: | |
Great thread! While I was recovering from surgery down at Henry Ford Hospital recently, I was "remembering distant memories" about Detroit. We used to live off of Seward and the Lodge service drive in the early 70's, so it was kind of nice to be "home again" while in the Hospital. I joked with several nurses that I wanted to walk over to the Red Barn Restaurant on the Blvd for a bite to eat and then head over to Kresge's to get the latest Superman or Batman doll (we still called them dolls back then--with no negative connotation)!
My younger brother and I would "fight" over who got to push our baby brother in his stroller, when we walked with our mom to go shopping (and get ice cream!!).
Our dentist's office was in the Fisher Bldg, so it was a strange sensation getting our teeth cleaned while looking out the window--we thought we would fall out of the chair!
Christmas season was great--my dad would load us up in the car and drive up and down Woodward and Jefferson to admire the lights.
I also remember the first year of the fireworks after the Ren Cen went up. We were over in Windsor and it was like watching two shows at once--with the reflection off of the new towers!
Detroit will never be what it *used* to be--but that's not a bad thing. The museums, the festivals, the thriving neighborhoods, the activism by residents and non-residents alike are a few things that will keep this city going.
Thanks for the great thread, Sport! |
Philm
Member
Username: Philm
Post Number: 27
Registered: 03-2005
| | Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 4:24 pm: | |
Yes. Great Thread!
Let me explain something. I left Detroit 32 years ago. I did so for career interests. I return to visit every chance I get. In the 80's and 90's I dispaired at the things that I saw during my visits. More recently, that dispair turned to pride, of the rebirth that is taking place. It is all of you that will make Detroit what it will become, and my hope is for new generations of old fogies like myself, years from now, sharing the same kinds of fond memories.
For many of the reasons so well articulated in this thread, Detroit will always be HOME to me in my heart.
Sorry for the sap....
Phil |
Oladub
Member
Username: Oladub
Post Number: 2
Registered: 08-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 1:22 am: | |
Memories of a five year old in the early 50's on Three Mile Drive between Mack and Warren- Like everyone else, we had one car and Mom was a housewife. Going anywhere required walking. Shopping meant a three-block hike to Warren with a shopping cart in tow. There was A&Ps at Warren and Three Mile. Across the street was Adolph DeLue's butcher shop. A few stores to the west was a Detroit Public Library branch later replaced by the branch behind the Alger Theater. J. Fred Sanders, near Outer Drive and the drug store, served tuna sandwiches wrapped in wax paper. In summer, there was Alanosi's ice cream. Going downtown to shop at Hudsonfs involved the walk to Warren, taking the E. Warren DSR to the Crosstown bus to the Gratiot streetcar. The doctor's office was across Grand Boulevard from the GM building. If I behaved, my reward was a visit to the showroom on the first floor. There was a narrow pedestrian tunnel underneath Grand Boulevard connecting the two buildings. Three Mile Drive was a lovely elm lined street where most people had German backgrounds. In the summer, the vegetable, milk, garbage, rubbish, and horse drawn junk wagons plied the streets. DDT spraying trucks made for real excitement. They blasted the branches backward. Then, we kids would run under a tree dripping of DDT. |
Hutt
Member
Username: Hutt
Post Number: 15
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 5:36 pm: | |
My memories of growing up in Detroit are as vivid as if they were yesterday. I grew up in the westside area of Joy Road and Greenfield, and I wish I had more pictures of how it used to be. Awesome tree-lined streets and so many different styles of houses. I remember a friend of my fathers was a bricklayer and he said Detroit was known as the city of houses because of that. Then there were the gardens people had.
My next door neighbor must have had 25 rose bushes in just about every color they come in. We would go fishing and give her the fish heads and guts for them...such a pungent aroma! Then our neighbor a few houses down from us had an extra 2 and a half lots with a grape arbor, an apple and cherry tree, and a fig tree that he would bury every fall and undig in the spring, I've never had figs like that since. I would play with his grandkids when they would visit and I'll never forget the time we learned the smaller the pepper, the hotter the pepper. At our house we always had the dahlias, some with blooms as big as your whole head. Another thing that comes to mind is just the plain old way people cared for one another. I took a ride over there today just to check it out, hadn't been over there for quite a while. Looking at this trashed and destroyed neighborhood just broke my heart, and I remembered why I hadn't been there for quite a while. Does anyone out there have all the houses that were on Woodmont between Ellis and Joy Road? Please put them back where they were. Thanks. |
Douglasm
Member
Username: Douglasm
Post Number: 683
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 6:44 pm: | |
Oladub....
.....you doctor didn't happen to be W.C.C. "Bud" Cole Sr. & Jr. on the 10th floor of the Fisher Building, did it? Mom did the same thing in relation to the GM Building showrooms. If I was extra good, I got a Chocolate Coke at Shetlers or a grape drink at the Concourse Cafiteria (sp.) first. |
Mani
Member
Username: Mani
Post Number: 123
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 10:53 pm: | |
Growing up in Detroit in the 70's was very rough. The city was on a major decline. Poor leadership....Mayor Coleman Young. I saw neighborhoods decline with the people in them. I saw people die from drugs, murder, and violence. I experienced the poor education system, No leadership, everyone struggled and is either still barely hanging on or has died. Alcholism, break-ins, domestic violence, racism. This was growing up in Detroit. |
Jiminnm
Member
Username: Jiminnm
Post Number: 1092
Registered: 02-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 12:18 am: | |
What do I remember about growing up in Detroit? I'm not sure Lowell has enough space.
I remember K-6 at AL Holmes in the 1950s, near Georgia and Gratiot. Walking to school thru others' yards to save a couple of blocks. Not sure I'd do that today, but there aren't many yards left there either. I also remember dancing with a girl for the first time sometime when 10 or 11. I remember grades 7-8 at Pulaski, at State Fair and Strasburg, where I could walk home and have lunch with Soupy. I remember the DPS' Spring Flings, where they would bus kids from many schools to a big dance, and going to parties for the first time. I remember riding my bike from my parents' house to my grandparents' south of the City Airport and the gas holder on Lynch Rd. I remember the construction of I-94 near Harper and Gratiot, and even strayed into the ditch (which drove my parents berserk). I remember going to Eastland shortly after it opened, and never anticipated what that meant for the future.
I remember riding the Gratiot bus for 4 years to attend Cass Tech, where I met west siders for the first time and decided that they were human after all (even took one to the prom), where I skipped a few classes to walk down Vernor and see the Tigers play a weekday afternoon game (yes, they did that a lot) and see the prettiest play in baseball - Kaline throwing a bullet from the right field corner to get the runner trying to go from first to third, where I learned to bowl at a little bowling alley on Henry that still used human pinsetters (you could nearly get their legs if you tried hard and then they'd cuss you out). Those bus rides also allowed me to make the acquaintance of some girls from Dominican and St. Anthony high schools. I remember working after school at Vanity Fair across from Hudson's and finding really old stuff in their 8th floor storeroom. I remember taking driver's training at Pershing High and watching those films showing awful accidents, but still getting my license at 16 despite my dad's claim that I couldn't drive worth a sht. I remember graduation from Cass, sitting on the stage in 90 degree weather, in the cap & gown, with a bad sunburn. I remember skate boarding down Derby Hill one night after graduation when we had one beer too many.
I remember working on Belle Isle selling hot dogs one summer while other kids that I graduated with came and play tennis and baseball everyday. I remember working at Currier Lumber on Nevada the next summer, losing 35 pounds and getting a bit more serious about women. I remember working full time and attending WSU full time to keep my college deferment. I remember seeing the great performers - Bob Seger at the Hideout, the Doors and Crazy Arthur Brown at Cobo, Hendrix at Masonic, Beach Boys at Hill Aud (OK, in AA), Simon & Garfunkle, Dionne Warwick and Mitch Ryder at UD, the Woolies, MC5, John Sinclair, CSNY, the Rationals, the Tidal Waves and many others that time and strange substances have blurred my memory. I remember the riots of 1967 and worrying about my dad who had to drive across town to work. I also remember the Tigers of 1968.
I remember meeting my future wife at a dance at Mercy College (when there was such a thing), where I also met Gene McCarthy's daughter and Dustin Hoffman for an interesting evening in 1968. Alas, my marriage failed as did McCarthy's run for the Democratic nomination. I remember attempting a run for Woodstock, only to have my motorcycle die in Port Huron. I did eventually marry a McKenzie grad, and that worked out better.
I remember spending enough time at WSU to get three degrees, and even went to two of the graduations. I remember working downtown for 31 years and watching the City change around me. I remember Hudson's downtown when it was a force, as well as Crowley's and Kern's, lunch at Sanders, and meals at so many of the restaurants mentioned in another thread. I remember many ball games at Tiger Stadium. I remember throwing snow balls at Harry Gilmer and probably other coaches because the Lions couldn't win then either, although I also remember the original Fearsome Foursome on the Lions (not the Rams). There was nothing like a Thanksgiving Day game, outside at Tiger Stadium. I remember many baseball games there, the All Star game of 1971 when Reggie's home run went way over my head and hit the light tower on the right field roof, the dismal season of 1975 (when I saw double header that Oakland won 16-4 and 11-0), several games when Fidrych pitched between conversations with the ball, the 1978 reunion of the 1968 Tigers, the ALCS games of 1984 and 1987, and the last game we saw there in 1999 only a week before moving to NM. I remember the 2-3 Wings games each season that I could get tickets for, and the Spirit of Detroit in a Wings' jersey (as well as the Pistons' downtown parade). We still try to get to see the Tigers and the Wings when they come out west.
My final memories of Detroit are mixed. Before moving, I thought I'd take a drive thru the old neighborhoods. My grandparents' house on Woodlawn was gone, along with 60-70% of the houses in that area (more now per Google Earth). My parents' house on Waltham (they moved to TN in 1990) was still there, looking pretty good, still with the maple tree that my dad planted from a seed, except that a couple of heavy steel doors had been added. Only a couple of houses were missing in the neighborhood. Some kids, though, took exception to a white guy driving thru their neighborhood and threw a few things at my car.
I haven't been back since we moved here. It would probably seem like a different place. But, the memories I have are in me and aren't going anywhere. |
Ha_asfan
Member
Username: Ha_asfan
Post Number: 33
Registered: 06-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 8:00 am: | |
Hutt, your garden description struck a cord with me...it just doesn't seem the type of gardens you mentioned exist any longer. I remember the gardns of the 50's and early 60's and there was an abundnace to them, a profusion within the garden...no fancy "designed by a landscape company" gadens but instead, grandma and grandpa get out on on your hands and knees and WORK in the garden gardens. Not "oh, look at the beautiful garden harry's landscaping did for me". The old gardens were layers of flowers and an old garden hose with a cool sprinkler at the end. Sometimes when out riding in the country I will come across a garden that evokes the old neighborhood memory and it is a good thrill. Perhaps gardens are symbolic of the human condition...but those old gardens with the dinner plate sized Dahlias and fruit tress that you describe, yum, what a great memory. Very curious about burying the fig tree every year... |
Mikeg
Member
Username: Mikeg
Post Number: 325
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 9:25 am: | |
Here is a Susan Agar article about a fig tree that started as a transplanted cutting brought back from Italy 80 years ago and planted in the back yard of the immigrant's home on Coram St. near Gratiot and Seven Mile Road. Following its burial every winter and several cuttings later, its progeny still produces tasty figs in the immigrant's grandson's Grand Rapids backyard. The article describes in detail how he buries it each fall and resurrects it each spring. |
Neilr
Member
Username: Neilr
Post Number: 350
Registered: 06-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 10:00 am: | |
In the Bagley Community, beautifully tended front lawns were the norm. Virtually every lawn was at least very well maintained and the truly serious homeowners grew bent grass that was trimmed to perfection. Nobody had in-ground sprinklers or lawn service. This labor intensive effort of cutting, trimming, and watering was the job of the man of the house.
There is an old adage: Judge not, lest you be judged. Well, this did not apply in that neighborhood. Everyone examined their neighbors' lawns, and knew folks would be looking at (and critical of) theirs. |
D2dyeah
Member
Username: D2dyeah
Post Number: 27
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 11:12 am: | |
Ha_asfan/ Your descriptions of neighborhood gardens in the 50's/60's in Detroit are right on the money. My Grandparents backyard was their pride and joy from Easter till Thanksgiving. I will always remember my Grandmas "Snowball " bushes in the summer and her rose garden that had flowers that lasted forever. She used to dig holes next to each bush, and "deep water" them for ten minutes. That was her speciality. Grandpa cared for his blackberry bushes everyday after work, and when my brother and I visited on weekends, we picked them with him. That memory of him is one of my favorites. |
Ha_asfan
Member
Username: Ha_asfan
Post Number: 35
Registered: 06-2006
| | Posted on Monday, October 02, 2006 - 6:43 am: | |
Mikeg and D2dyeah, Mike, thanks for the link the fig tree story. The process is intimidating but hell, if you want fresh figs in Michigan...It must be said, a fresh fig [if you can eat just one] off a tree has got t be one of the gretest tastes of all time. And D2dyeah, I'm glad that old fashioned garden memeory is in place in other mainds bessides my own. There was a real difference in the gardens of yesterday. Plant varieties were less hybridized, people had different attitudes towards gardens...seemed in those days, a garden was just like a dog, every [almost] house had one and taking care of the garden was not a chore, rather a pleasure and something for your neighbors to enjoy as well as yourself. When I walk through my neighborhood and see mature shrubs yanked out and replaced by two gallon size nursery center little soldiers, symetrically arranged, planted and, mulched, maintained by electronically controlled irrigation systems, weekly visits by the lawn cutting crews and the monthly visit by the chemlawn guy, it's easy to see why they never look like the gardens of old, they are just there to be looked at and passed by. Never part of the family, not tended to with devotion, they are simply display. Old gardens were process and love. I fight the battle and maintain my little 1940 garden as part of my 1940 house. Long live old gardens ! |
Kahnman
Member
Username: Kahnman
Post Number: 24
Registered: 02-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 04, 2006 - 2:52 pm: | |
My Dad ran the service department of the Dictaphone Corp. on W. McNichols at Greenfield Rd. from 1964-1971. He moved our family from Kansas City to Detroit and found a place in Novi to make our home.
I remember watching on TV the tanks rolling down the streets in '67 and my dad intoning, "Son, thats only 20 miles away from here." I was 6 years old at the time.
Most of my memories of Detroit relate to recreational events. I loved the zoo - especially the train and that long funky tunnel you would go through. The penguinarium was my favorite exhibit.
I loved Greenfield Village and Cobo Hall for the yearly auto shows. Detroit Dragway with pit passes and the smell of burned hair from standing behind the gasoline burnouts of the Snake and the Mongoose funny cars. Going to the Michigan State Fair and seeing the 1910 Fruitgum Co. perform "Winchester Cathedral" (complete with megaphone!). Going to see the Tigers;especially for the World Series.
I loved hobby shops and my brothers and I were heavily into slotcars. The Merrie 5 hobby shop had an incredible slotcar track complete with a large mountain with a spiral helix inside it that you would drive through.
The Tel-12 mall became a Friday night ritual with a Hot Wheel car (or a GAF Viewmaster Reel) and a Hot Sam pretzel each week. Less frequent were visits to the Livonia Mall.
I loved going to Belle Isle and I have a fuzzy memory about a boat called the Bob-o-lo. Or was that the island? Does anyone else remember that?
"C-K-L-W...The Mo-tor Cityyyyy" jingle is stuck in my head forever. Growing up in Detroit during the Motown era was incredible and it permanently burned a love of soul music into my psyche.
Our family moved to Grand Rapids in 1971 and I didn't leave the state until 1986. During those years I reconnected to Detroit through music again but now it was punk and new wave that brought me back downtown.
I got to see Bauhaus, New Order, OMD, Killing Joke, Tuxedomoon, The Cramps, etc. etc. during those years. Oh yes, and an obscure group called REM opening up for The (English) Beat!!! St. Andrews Hall and the Grand Circus Theater were a few favorite venues.
I moved to Washington State in 1986 and made it back to Detroit for the first time in 20 years earlier this year with my oldest daughter shopping for colleges. I posted my recollections in a different thread and in a nutshell, I will always call Detroit my "home" and have a special place in my heart for the art, architecture and people that that make up this city. |
Supersport
Member
Username: Supersport
Post Number: 10777
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 1:33 pm: | |
Detroit for me now...
Over the past few weeks Detroit has changed for me. It has changed in a way that is almost undescribable, but it is something in which you can feel in the air. Until a few years ago, I never really understood why baseball was America's past time. In fact, if you go back more than 6 years ago I would have called the sport downright boring.
Though even before this year's success of the team I began to see why. There are two key reasons for me. The first and foremost is friends and family. This sport, unlike any other, seems to draw friends and family together more than any other. Seldom can I attend a game and not run into somebody I know. More often than not, it is the ONLY place I bump into people from where I grew up, down in Adrian.
The second reason is simply being outdoors. Even during the ugliest of years it was fun to be in the sun, drinking a cold one (or two..or three), and watching a game. It's simply relaxing.
Now back to how things have changed. The Tigers are like the official team of Detroit, for they wree the Olde English D, that D is something special. It represents who we are as a people, who we are as a city.
People from all parts have carried on that feeling we all had during the Super Bowl, the one that somewhat subsided afterwards. Well it's back now, and it's even stronger this time around.
I read the message boards on the internet for the local papers. People from across the country, people from around the world, everybody who once had a tie to Detroit is tuning in. Everybody with that tie is exhibiting a level of pride that they had all but forgot about.
Perhaps just as importantly as what we in this region feel is what people across the country are now saying, what they are thinking about Detroit. The talk of the 1967 riots and of those of 1984 are growing tiresome. Every time since 1984 when a Detroit sports team has won a championship, all has been calm. Hopefully, we will soon be celebrating another World Series Championship, one that is celebrated without any civil unrest, one that tells the world "We aren't that Detroit you took us for, we've turned the corner. We're a city on the rise...a city with pride."
A good friend of mine, one of whom had been here for several decades told me "This is what I've been waiting for for over 30 years." My friend realized what an impact a good Tiger team would have upon downtown. It broke his heart to see ugly ball played at their brand new digs. It make have took a few seasons, but here we are. The people are back, they have brought their money, as well as their pride.
Out of my nearly 5 years down here, even during the Wings/Pistons/Shock championships, even during the Super Bowl, I've never felt as proud as I am right now. This is it, this is the change, the breaking point this city has needed. The thousands upon thousands of extra people coming downtown experiencing new things, these people will be part of the change. These kids watching competitive baseball for the first time in their lives, some of which are in their 20's, they have discovered one more thing to love about the city.
This is what Detroit is for me now, a moment of pride, a pride not so unlike what I've felt in the past, simply never this strong. |
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