  Kville Member Username: Kville Post Number: 47 Registered: 04-2007 |
In an Eastland Mall thread, we started getting off the topic of the shopping center and started reminiscing about Sanders. It got me to thinking about many local products that we grew up with or take for granted around Detroit, but are not readily available elsewhere. I moved to NE Indiana about 20 some years ago, but come back to Detroit regularly. When I do, I stock up on Sanders hot fudge, Burghardt's rye bread, Kowalski hot dogs, etc. Kowalski has finally made it to a local grocery store near my home in Indiana (the only grocery store around that carries it), but many other things are not available. I remember when Strohs was not even available outside Detroit and for many years Vernors had not gone national. As it is, Vernors is still not well-known outside Detroit. I can only name about a half dozen people in my area who have even heard of it, even though it's available in the stores where I live. I realize that many of the "local" products are not manufactured in Detroit anymore, but they did originate there. Any other local products bring back memories that you don't often see in other places? Faygo? Better Made? What else? | ||
Norwalk Member Username: Norwalk Post Number: 85 Registered: 11-2006 |
Red Pelican Mustard | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 507 Registered: 10-2003 |
Jiffy! | ||
Wkl Member Username: Wkl Post Number: 111 Registered: 11-2003 |
I can get Vernors and Faygo at my local super market out here in Northern California. I'm a regular at Sanders web page. Mmmmm....Bitter Sweet topping!!! If you ask for ginger ale on Horizon Airlines (a regional carrier for Alaska Airlines) you get Vernors. | ||
Club_boss Member Username: Club_boss Post Number: 113 Registered: 12-2006 |
I was born in Detroit, however when I was around 5 years old we moved to Massachusetts and we would vacation to Detroit to visit family every year. I thought Detroit was soooo cool, we would go to Northland all the time. Vernors (I think it was only available in Michigan at one time, was it not?)Sanders and on and on. | ||
Terridarlin Member Username: Terridarlin Post Number: 17 Registered: 02-2007 |
I wanted to surprise my dad and other family members here in Raleigh, NC with Burghardt's Bread. I called and ordered some to be shipped (figuring they would want it prepaid) they said "we'll ship it, you send us a check later". What a pleasure to do business with, and the bread was better than we remembered. | ||
Citychick Member Username: Citychick Post Number: 12 Registered: 05-2007 |
I used to send Better Made potato chips to my sister in CA. I remember New Era potato chips before they disappeared. | ||
Carolcb Member Username: Carolcb Post Number: 898 Registered: 11-2006 |
It still makes me sad that Koepplingers Bread (sp?) no longer exists..... | ||
Dexterpointing Member Username: Dexterpointing Post Number: 91 Registered: 05-2007 |
kowalski's hunter sausages with yellow mustard(yum) | ||
Club_boss Member Username: Club_boss Post Number: 114 Registered: 12-2006 |
It still makes me sad that Koepplingers Bread (sp?) no longer exists..... It was a sad day at our house when their Egg Bread was discontinued. You could actually taste the egg in it. | ||
Fortress_warren Member Username: Fortress_warren Post Number: 303 Registered: 10-2006 |
Wkl,I'm in Norcal,I've never seen Vernors or Faygo. What store has it? My grandmother worked at Sanders for 35 years. She worked the chocolate candy line. They picked her when the supervisor went down a line of women and felt their hands. The women with the cold hands, no fingerprints in the chocolate, got the job. | ||
Ewo Member Username: Ewo Post Number: 29 Registered: 05-2006 |
Last year my brother visited from Germany and he couldn't get enough coney dogs while he was here. | ||
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize Post Number: 1273 Registered: 02-2007 |
You don't see too many Michigan Made stuff anywhere, these are our little treasures. Only 5 states sell Better Made products and 3 I believe sell Faygo Products (Including Michigan). (Message edited by Urbanize on June 01, 2007) | ||
Citychick Member Username: Citychick Post Number: 13 Registered: 05-2007 |
One year my company made up gift baskets for all our foreign offices - we filled them with Michigan Wine, Better Made Potato chips, Morley Chocolates, Sanders Hot Fudge, cherries, Detroit post cards, and a CD featuring songs by Detroit artists, among other things. And a guide with the history of each product/company. We couldn't figure out a way to keep the White Castles, Kowalski hot dogs, or paczki fresh tho, so they didn't get any of those items. | ||
Wkl Member Username: Wkl Post Number: 112 Registered: 11-2003 |
Fortress_warrn - The Nugget Market in Davis (just outside Sacramento) carries both. They don't carry all the Faygo flavors, but they usually have 5 or 6 flavors on the shelf in the old 16oz bottles. I've seen Vernors from time to time in the Safeway in Davis too. | ||
Jan Member Username: Jan Post Number: 20 Registered: 07-2006 |
Good thread. I'm in Washington, DC. I've seen canned diet Vernors at Pearsons liquor store on Wisconsin Ave., NW in Glover Park. jan | ||
Izzadore Member Username: Izzadore Post Number: 30 Registered: 11-2006 |
What about Towne Club? That's a Detroit product right? | ||
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize Post Number: 1279 Registered: 02-2007 |
"What about Towne Club? That's a Detroit product right?" You're speaking of the original one they stopped making decades ago. The imitation one is NOT a Detroit Product. | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 87 Registered: 01-2007 |
And Win Schuler's. James | ||
Rrl Member Username: Rrl Post Number: 834 Registered: 12-2003 |
My favorite "new" product/producer is the Garden Fresh line: chips, salsa, guac. Absolutely the best schitt. So good that Costco has picked up their tortilla chips and salsa and is now selling it across the Midwest. One of Detroit's more recent SUCCESS stories! http://www.gardenfreshsalsa.co m/ | ||
Ookpik Member Username: Ookpik Post Number: 247 Registered: 01-2007 |
I think Towne Club was from Warren. One product that is rarely mentioned as a Detroit product is the Eureka vacuum cleaner. The company was founded in Detroit in 1909 but left in 1945. Ookpik | ||
Lighthaus Member Username: Lighthaus Post Number: 6 Registered: 05-2007 |
Try buying squirt outside of Michigan or even places outside of Detroit. Go down south, they never heard of it. Whats vodka without squirt? | ||
Kville Member Username: Kville Post Number: 48 Registered: 04-2007 |
The first time I drank Squirt was at the home of one of my parents' friends. When it bubbled up my nose, their friends thought that was the funniest thing. Vernors had that same effect and now my granddaughters call it "tickle pop." We're working on getting the next generation of our family to appreciate that and other Detroit products, even though they haven't grown up there. My son does all he can to make sure they all get to know the city every time we come up - he always takes them on a driving tour, which kind of fascinates my wife & me because he was only 8 when we moved to Indiana. He wouldn't remember a lot of things personally from when we lived over near Chandler Park, but we did the same thing with our two sons by visiting a lot of the areas around the city every time we came up, which is every month or two. | ||
Pinewood73 Member Username: Pinewood73 Post Number: 43 Registered: 07-2006 |
My great-uncle was one of the founders of Better Made, so we always had them around the house growing up. My favorite is the Red-Hot chips! | ||
Parkguy Member Username: Parkguy Post Number: 34 Registered: 04-2007 |
My favorite chips are Better Made, but I have to give some greasy props to Uncle Ray's flavored chips: Coney Island, ketchup, dill pickle, and vinegar & salt flavors. I just wonder what kind of chemicals I'm shoving down my throat... | ||
Club_boss Member Username: Club_boss Post Number: 116 Registered: 12-2006 |
When I lived in Detroit, around the holidays I would send a few packages of Better Made to a couple of lucky relatives. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 841 Registered: 10-2003 |
Wki's comment about Vernors on Horizon flights is well taken. Dora and I flew from Seattle to Wenatchee and I was served a Vernors. Squirt, Vernors, Hires, Royal Crown Cola and a host of other "classic" brands are controled by Cadbury Schweppes America Beverages in Plano, Texas. I can get most of the brands out here in the Pacific Northleft, as CSAB/Dr. Petter/7-UP has a bottler in Everett, WA. www.brandspeoplelove.com/csab/ Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx is their website, listing the brands and histories of each. It's going to hit 100 out here today. Sure could go for a Boston Cooler...... | ||
Izzadore Member Username: Izzadore Post Number: 31 Registered: 11-2006 |
As for Better Made. I never was a fan of the Red Hot Chips. The BBQ was always good though. In grade school, I usually bought the BBQ instead of the Sour Cream and Onion with my astro-pak. | ||
Jaj Member Username: Jaj Post Number: 16 Registered: 05-2007 |
Silvercup bread and Mills bakery | ||
20043_stotter Member Username: 20043_stotter Post Number: 36 Registered: 03-2007 |
I'm sure there were a lot of breweries long gone. Pfeiffer's, where my grandfather worked and retired from. Other beers, Goebbel's, E&B, are some that I remember. | ||
Bearinabox Member Username: Bearinabox Post Number: 209 Registered: 04-2006 |
Squirt is a Detroit product? Live and learn... | ||
Chitaku Member Username: Chitaku Post Number: 1382 Registered: 03-2006 |
my friends great Uncle was Cross from Better Made so he always had a variety of delicious snacks. | ||
Paintnprint Member Username: Paintnprint Post Number: 11 Registered: 04-2007 |
Twin Pines! Vernors, back in the day, was made with cane sugar, aged in wood, and delivered a kick when you drank it too fast. They should label the new thin "Vernors Lite." When we had the flu, Ma would warm it up in a pan, flat and hot. But, the best was a Boston Cooler. The vanilla took the edge off. Regards, Koko (Message edited by Paintnprint on June 02, 2007) | ||
Ravine Member Username: Ravine Post Number: 940 Registered: 01-2006 |
Oh, man. The Boston Cooler. Back in your commentor's youth-- somewhat heavy weed-smoking days-- the ticket to bliss, after a night of toking away, was the Boston Cooler. Ach, aye. | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 61 Registered: 04-2007 |
Detroit product memories: -touring the Vernors plant on woodward (just north of where the Whitney restaurant is located now) and finishing up with a boston cooler. -touring the twin pines dairy on East Outer Drive and finishing up with a rich chocolate milk. -going to the Stroh-haus before going on the Stroh's plant tour and quaffing a pitcher with friends -driving to school down gratiot in the morning and rolling down the window near French Road just to get a wiff of that Better Made potato chip aroma which would permeate even through car exhaust and bus fumes . It was always neat to look at the potato chips going along the conveyor belt in the factory front window. -Sander's story: my uncles had a barbershop on Jefferson and East Grand Boulevard right next to a Sander's (I believe there is a Big Boy there now). During the depression Sander's would add more hot fudge to your Sundae just as long as there was some ice cream left in your dish. Many patrons were pretty crafty about utilizing this feature to maximize their treat. | ||
Ookpik Member Username: Ookpik Post Number: 251 Registered: 01-2007 |
Squirt isn't a Detroit product but does have a Michigan connection. The soft drink originally comes from Phoenix, Arizona but a bottler from Holland, Michigan eventually bought the company. Now Grilli's pop - that's a Detroit product. My Grandpa was the only one I ever knew who bought Grilli's. He would go from the suburbs down to French Road and pick up a case of Grilli's. 12 huge 32 oz glass bottles in a wooden case. Awesome. Ookpik | ||
Parkguy Member Username: Parkguy Post Number: 37 Registered: 04-2007 |
Does anyone remember Bulldog Ginger Beer? The only place I remember having it was Bette & Jessie's Fish & Chips. Really hot ginger taste. I think it was made in Detroit. | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 64 Registered: 04-2007 |
brownie (atlas) root beer E&B beer...Pollas market(Kelly Rd in Harper Woods) had sales on E&B on Thursdays... ..16 ounce bottles with a unique taste Vlassic Pickle (a Michigan product)...not quite as great as grandma's but a good dill pickle | ||
Paintnprint Member Username: Paintnprint Post Number: 13 Registered: 04-2007 |
Bulldog Ginger Beer?! Nobody has spoken those words to me in forty years. My folks liked it as a mixer, and had four cases in the basement. My brother, six years older showed me a way to get a bottle out of the stack, punch a nail-hole in the lid, drink it, and return it to the stack. Now, at the time I thought this was genius, but later it proved not so much. "You two drank half of the ginger beer!" Ma yelled. That was the exact moment when I understood how valuable Bulldog Ginger Beer Was. I promised to never do that again, and didn't! Koko | ||
Jyogi Member Username: Jyogi Post Number: 3 Registered: 05-2007 |
When did Atlas quit? They used to have it at the "Schvitz" (Oakland Bath House) when I went there in the mid-late 90's | ||
Dave Member Username: Dave Post Number: 140 Registered: 10-2003 |
Kellyroad, Instead of Vlasic pickles, try Raskin or Topor. Both are Detroit area products, both are salt-brine cured instead of vinegar cured. Great pickles! dave | ||
Dave Member Username: Dave Post Number: 141 Registered: 10-2003 |
Oh.. by the way... I eat Better Made potato chips now, but when I was a kid, before Lay bought them out, It was New Era in the big metal can with the Statue of Liberty on it. dave OOps! is wasn't Lady Liberty Just a nude lady. http://www.rubylane.com/shops/tradewindsantiques/item/AD27 (Message edited by dave on June 04, 2007) | ||
Waz Member Username: Waz Post Number: 53 Registered: 11-2006 |
I'm not sure if this was a Detroit product or not, but the market in the neighborhood where I grew up had an Aunt Jane's pickle barrel. You'd just grab the tongs and fish out one of them monsters. | ||
Norwalk Member Username: Norwalk Post Number: 91 Registered: 11-2006 |
Topor's banana peppers are GREAT!! | ||
Mtm Member Username: Mtm Post Number: 217 Registered: 06-2006 |
Does anyone remember Vernor's with milk? At the factory tours, you could get small bottles mixed with plain or chocolate milk. There was a method to the mixing, too, otherwise the milk might curdle. If I remember correctly, it was milk first then Vernor's poured gently down the side of the glass - kind of like a Guiness. | ||
Catman_dude Member Username: Catman_dude Post Number: 146 Registered: 03-2006 |
Another recent thread mentioned Velvet Peanut Butter made in Detroit area. | ||
Jman Member Username: Jman Post Number: 61 Registered: 10-2006 |
Mtm, when Vernor's was at the foot of Woodward you could get a glass for a nickle. The Cream Ale as they called it was seven cents. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 4468 Registered: 08-2004 |
A great new Better Made chips flavor are Sicilian flavored... awesome! Is Pepperidge Farms local or national? I (unfortunately) live 4 blocks from one of their outlet stores in SCS. | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 66 Registered: 04-2007 |
Dave, Wow, thanks for the memory jog. My grandfather kept a big can of new era potato chips on the top of his dining room china cabinet. It was a real treat when he'd reach for the can and treat his grandchildren with those great tasting (just rightly salted) chips Mtm, vernors and milk...I do remember that. We even made them for awhile at home (probably not the same consistency as the real deal but nonetheless a real treat) | ||
Kville Member Username: Kville Post Number: 50 Registered: 04-2007 |
20043_stotter - you wrote: "I'm sure there were a lot of breweries long gone. Pfeiffer's, where my grandfather worked and retired from." My grandfather also retired from Pfeiffer's around 1956. He had worked at different breweries over the years, but that was the last one he worked at. What year did your grandfather retire? Is Awrey's Bakery still around? Weren't they located out in Livonia or someplace? | ||
Steamaker Member Username: Steamaker Post Number: 16 Registered: 03-2007 |
I believe my uncle worked at Altes brewery. My father told me he always had beer in his trunk | ||
Defendbrooklyn Member Username: Defendbrooklyn Post Number: 194 Registered: 11-2005 |
Great thread!!! Is Karls nuts made in the D? | ||
Jman Member Username: Jman Post Number: 62 Registered: 10-2006 |
Kars nuts were made in Ferndale. (Message edited by Jman on June 05, 2007) | ||
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize Post Number: 1305 Registered: 02-2007 |
Oh yeah, forgot about Kars (briefly). | ||
Royaloakian Member Username: Royaloakian Post Number: 87 Registered: 05-2004 |
Kars is in Madison Heights now and they give tours http://www.karsnuts.com | ||
Caldogven Member Username: Caldogven Post Number: 51 Registered: 05-2006 |
How about Kubich(sp)sausage(Slim Jims). If I remember right they were on 6 mile east of Gunston. You would ring a bell and they would let you in. My uncle would send me some every Christmas. | ||
Lizaanne Member Username: Lizaanne Post Number: 11 Registered: 06-2007 |
I had not thought about this in YEARS, but my Grandpa used to take me to Saunders at Northland when I was little, and we would sit at the counter and have hot fudge sundaes in the little metal cups, and water in the little paper cones in the cone holders. That seems like a million years ago.... Well, maybe only about 35ish, but still!! Thanks for the memories! ~Liza | ||
Fareastsider Member Username: Fareastsider Post Number: 421 Registered: 08-2006 |
I LOVE FAYGO! and Everfresh Juice and those subs in the gas stations made on Fenkell..YUM! | ||
Lmr Member Username: Lmr Post Number: 47 Registered: 03-2007 |
I can actually get Vernors at a store in Rochester, Minnesota. Couldn't believe it. Love that Sanders website. My husband loves it too, he is a real chocoholic, and skinny as a rail. He thinks the Sanders website is one of the best things about Michigan. Sanders chocolate from Detroit goes quite well with a Pearson's nut roll from Minnesota. | ||
Applesauce Member Username: Applesauce Post Number: 13 Registered: 06-2007 |
You can still get Sanders stuff in GP, luv the bumpy cake! http://www.sanderscandy.com/gp store1.htm | ||
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall Post Number: 169 Registered: 05-2004 |
Awrey's is on Farmington between 96 and Plymouth. That's where they make the stuff and they have a store inside to get some goodies cut rate too. | ||
Scotty00 Member Username: Scotty00 Post Number: 5 Registered: 04-2007 |
Hey - none of you posters called soft drinks soda! You must all be from Detroit! Its a midwest thing..."pop"...right? | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 4515 Registered: 08-2004 |
While not necessarily a Detroit product, but it does appear to be a Michigan product... Almond Boneless Chicken at your Chinese Restaurant.... believe it or not... How many of you folks located elsewhere in the USA can get Almond Boneless Chicken at your Chinese Restaurant?? (Waiting for people to check their carryout menus.)  | ||
Debw858 Member Username: Debw858 Post Number: 15 Registered: 05-2007 |
Caldogven - Kubisch Sausage is now located in Shelby Township at 50400 Rizzo Road (586) 566-4661. Was just there the other day. Still great! | ||
Prenkert13 Member Username: Prenkert13 Post Number: 1 Registered: 04-2007 |
I remember Atlas beverages pretty well, but thats because my moms family owned it. Still have the old bottles and crates. But defiantly Faygo, and Better Made chips. I have a cousin that moved to Utah and cant wait to visit out here just for the White Castle, which i dont think is a Detroit product, and the Faygo cream soda. And what about Jets pizza? There square/ deep dish is one of the best pizzas ive had. | ||
Waxx Member Username: Waxx Post Number: 200 Registered: 09-2006 |
Growing up in the 80s I can recall the Stroh's Brewery on Gratiot, Vernor's on Woodward, Joe Muer's on Gratiot, Blue Bird Bakery on Kercheval, Silvercup Bakery (before my time, but the facade was still standing in the early 90s) on Chene, Hostess on Oakman (is it still open?), Wards on Gratiot, its west counterpart on Grand River. A&Ps were (still) virtually all over the city (I have a list at the top of my head that's too long to name). Wards on Michigan in Dearborn, and there was one on Southfield and I-94. I can recall Exxon, Gulf, Texaco, Boron, Clark, (Union)76, Standard (now BP) Oil spread thorough Detroit like brushfire-this was in the early 1980s-Going to Hudson's with my grandmother although only the first 5-6 floors remained open. Crowley's in the New Center area, Dittrich furs is STILL THERE! Simmons and Clark downtown now surrounded by microbreweries, most 'greasy burger' joints have left the eastside but the westside STILL has 'em-Elmer's on Oakman and W. Chicago is a huge favourite of mine-going to Sears on Woodward with my old man in the 80s and going there after school in the early 90s when I got older-sadly it closed down along with the surplus stores including the one in Warren that reconditioned lawn/power tools. Pizza Papalis, although Red Devil made the better pizza, is THE best pizza to have (most of the time), Jet's good, too. Better Made is still running strong-I stay down the street from it-Gibb's Wine recently closed it's doors on Gratiot and Harper but its Pointe Plaza location is running strong as well. Has anyone tried Faygo's Centennial soda? It's more addictive than Artic Sun from the 90s. | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 775 Registered: 11-2005 |
Detroit products (Sanders, Kowalski, Faygo, et al) I thought Barry Sanders was an Oklahoma State product. ... ... I need to go to bed. |
