A while ago, I wrote a post searching for Gary Ed Mach. I was thrilled when some info came back regarding his work with the Engineering Society of Detroit, but even more thrilled when Gary himself posted a reply.
It’s fall in the Detroit area and commercials run regularly advertising Cedar Point’s “HalloWeekends.” While Sandusky, Ohio may be the closest amusement part to Detroit these days, it was all about Bob-Lo Island in the 80’s.
My grade school had annual outings to the island. Though I didn’t especially enjoy the boat ride at the time (approx. 80 minutes), I would love another chance to experience the sights, sounds and smells of the boat. Each had either a dance floor, arcade or both, concessions and of course an amazing view of the Detroit River. The park itself was relatively small with a couple dozen rides ranging from bump’em cars to full-on rollercoaster thrill rides. I was never quite old enough to enjoy the park to the fullest and regret having been afraid of the best rides.
These days, the entire island returned to its residential roots, housing private homes, vacation property, and marina space. Who knows… in another 20 years rides may return and ferries could carry excited Detroiters to that little chunk of Canada (yep… it’s really part of Canada) to appreciate local amusements… though I doubt it.
Once again, my mom comes through with a forwarded email with a lot of old memories from Detroit. Some are before my time, but good nonetheless.
You used a pillowcase to go ‘begging’ on Halloween, and you yelled,’Help the Poor!’ at every door. (‘Help the poor, my pants are tore, I need some money to buy some more.’).
You remember what Devil’s Night used to be.
You remember the huge elm trees forming lush green tunnels over manyDetroit streets in the summertime. Or when they’d come around to spray and tell you to stay in the house. And, the autumn smell of burning leaves,after you’d rake huge piles to the curb for burning.
You remember honking your horn as you went through the tunnel toBelle Isle at the end of East Grand Blvd. Where it went under Jefferson Avenue, even though the sign at the entrance read ‘Don’t Sound Horn.’ And you remember the submarine that was tied up at the Brodhead Naval Armory alongside the Belle Isle Bridge ..
You took a class trip or a moonlight cruise to Bob-Lo with CaptainBob-Lo.
You remember running home from school so you could have lunch withSoupy Sales.
You rode a bus to Edgewater Amusement Park to ride the wooden roller coaster (again and again) or the Salt & Pepper Shaker.
You remember ‘A fantabulous day for the family, at fantabulous Edgewater Park .’ P. O. P. Meant pay one price.
Your Mom packed the car with kids, swimsuits, towels, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to spend the day at Metropolitan Beach .
You played in the ‘Big Ditch’ as I-94 was being built.
You played tennis on Belle Isle’s courts, or golfed at their par 3course, both lit after dark. Or went ice-skating, or for a horseback or canoe ride, rode in a pony-drawn carriage, hand-fed the animals at the zoo,visited the aquarium (remember the teepee), or attended an event at theCasino.
You rode the big white roller coaster or found your way out of theFun House at Jefferson Beach Amusement Park .
Took a day trip and drove way out to Walled Lake Amusement Park where they had lots of rides, a roller coaster, and to the Walled Lake Casino for dancing.
When ice-skating was outdoors and Palmer Park or Belle Isle was the place to do it. You also remember its tennis courts, wading pool, golf,ice-skating, and horse and buggy rides.
Or how about the Detroit Firefighters working the crowds at the fireworks, selling tickets to their Field Day, and giving out firecrackers to the kids.
You rode a streetcar that ran on tracks down the center of Gratiot, Woodward, Jefferson or Michigan Avenue. Or the electric buses on Warren and Grand River .
You remember how all of the lights from the auto dealerships lit up Gratiot and Livernois – and that they only sold American-made cars.
You remember when Eastland, Wonderland and Northland Malls were open, not enclosed. And when Wonderland had animals in circular cages.
You know how to pronounce Gratiot and Schoenherr and Cadieux.
If someone told you it’s on Outer Drive, you knew to consult a map first.
You thought driving to Southfield was going ‘out to the country.’
You checked out books for two weeks from the Bookmobile that came to your elementary school once a week.
You vividly recall the mineral bath smell (rotten eggs) when you drove through Mt. Clemens .
You bought candy and nuts from window-lined, walk-around counters and wooden floors at S. S. Kresge or Woolworth’s (‘dime’ stores).
You went to Sock Hops at Notre Dame high school on a Friday night where you heard Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger and the Last Herd, or theRationals.
You drank Faygo, Towne Club, Grilli’s, Oso, or Atlas pop (we never heard it called ‘soda’)..
Your Mom saved Top Value, Holden Red, S&H Green or Gold Bell stamps.
Cunningham Drug Stores soda fountain and their raspberry phosphate.
Your school took a bus trip to the cider mill (with donuts and cider after the tour), or to Kellogg’s in Battle Creek .
Silverstein’s was the candy store of Army and Navy surplus stuff.
You had a subscription to the three Detroit newspapers, includingThe Detroit Times.
You remember news anchor Jac LeGoff who eventually worked at everyTV station around Detroit .
You visited the Wonder Bread Bakery and got to take home a mini-loaf of bread (but you weren’t cool unless you ate Silvercup bread).
You had a Shaffer’s or Awrey’s breadman and a Brickley’s milkman. Ora Twin Pines milk man, a Jewel Coffee man, and a Fuller Brush man (and theywere always men).
You remember Pure, Penzoil, Speedway 79, Monkey, Dance, PurpleMartin, Sinclair, Danny’s Dino, Kayo and Gulf gas stations, and when ‘gas wars’ meant 17 cents a gallon.
You remember Primo’s Pizza, Carbone’s Pizza, Red Barn, Powers,Henry’s, Herc’s Beef Buffet, Cupid’s, Tom’s Tavern, Ted’s 5×5, Totem Pole,Red Devil, Marcus, or Richard’s drive-in. (car-feteria).
You attended a wedding reception or a banquet at Roma Hall.
You attended ‘Wendy Ward’s Charm School ’ at Montgomery Ward. OMG FOR SURE
You remember when Ben’s Hi-Chaperelle and Watt’s Club Mozambiquewere the places to go to catch Motown acts.
Every year when the Blue Angels came to Willow Run Airport .
Or always wished you could be one of the Hudson ’s Teen Panel girls whose pictures hung on the wall in the Juniors Department ..
You had friends or relatives who could get you into Camp Dearborn for the canteen dances in the summer and to go swimming. Or the pond atBelle Isle near the Conservatory where the sign warned you not to touch the water.
You had a reverb unit installed in your car at Mickey Shorr’s orCrazy Jack’s (a. k. a Michigan Mobile Radio or MMR) on Livernois.
You remember the riots of 1967.
When the bleacher seats at Briggs Stadium were only $2.00 to watch the Detroit Lions play. And when they won the National Football Championship(before there were Super Bowls) in 1957 against the Cleveland Browns, 59-14.
And when the Red Wings won all those Stanley Cups in the 1950s, and balcony seats at Olympia Stadium were only $1.25!
You remember Detroit wrestlers Dick the Bruiser, Bobo Brazil,Leaping Larry Chene, Wild Bull Curry, Ernie ‘The Cat’ Ladd, Lord Athol Layton, Edward ‘The Sheik’ Farhat, Fritz Von Erich, George ‘The Animal’Steele and Johnny Valentine.
You remember bowling for a quarter a game at Chandler Park Lanes,Falcon Lanes (next to The Ginos/Falcon Showbar), Parkside, Woods, Ritter’sor Ritz bowling alleys.
You worked at Detroit Bank & Trust, Manufacturers National Bank,Bank of the Commonwealth, City National Bank, or National Bank of Detroit .
You ‘parked’ at Belle Isle, either to watch the color-changing waterfall or the submarine races – depending on how old you were and who you were with! You were in awe of the Big Stove on East Jefferson at the entrance to Belle Isle (before it was moved to State Fairgrounds entrance).
You remember your Mom taking your burned-out lightbulbs to Detroit Edison to exchange for new ones.
You remember the J. L. Hudson Co. (known to us as just ’ Hudson ’s’)building on Woodward Ave that occupied an entire city block.
And you remember the white-gloved elevator attendants operating the expandable gate and lever- locked door, and just before letting you out, she would call out the names of the various departments on that floor.
You ate a Maurice Salad at a J. L. Hudson’s cafeteria.
You went shopping during Downtown Detroit Days.
You remember Women’s Hospital before it became Hutzel Hospital .
You remember that Hudson ’s hung a HUGE American flag on the front of the building every 4th of July.
You would ride the bus downtown at Christmas and stand in line atHudson ’s amid a fabulous winding, animated Toyland just to see Santa.
Or you remember going to see Santa Claus at the Northland Mall igloos because it was televised and you hoped your friends would see you.
Thanksgiving was not complete unless first you went to the Hudson’sParade, then to watch the Detroit Lions play the Green Bay Packers (always the Packers back then) at Briggs (later Tiger) Stadium.
You know guys who put up big antennas so they could pull in theLions home games on channel 6 out of Lansing .
You watched the ‘old guys’ play bocce ball at Buddy’s RendezvousPizza or sang the Schnitzel bank song at the Dakota Inn.
You remember when Mayor Cavanaugh would give Santa and Christmas Carole (who always looked like she should be freezing in her short red velvet outfit trimmed with white fur) the keys to the city at the end of every parade.
You remember the Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych.
You remember watching the Detroit Pistons and the WHA Michigan Stags hockey games at Cobo Arena.
How about Al Ackerman ringing Big Al’s bell for the Sports Hero of the Day.
And watching Cadillacs being made on Clark Street.
Or the giant, three-dimensional ‘Elsie’ the Borden Cow (head)located on the side of the Ira Wilson Dairy off the I-94 service drive.(Now, it only says ‘ILSON’ – much of the stack has been taken down).
Going to the Better Made potato chip factory and getting small bags of brown chips or shoe strings before going to the Jewel movie theater.
You remember hearing the air raid sirens on Saturday at 1 p. m.
You remember the RAF bomber flying from England in 1962 that exploded over the Detroit River near Grosse Pointe Park .
Or the guy who came through your neighborhood on a bike to sharpen your scissors, etc.
You remember the ice man delivering ice to be placed in your ice box(we didn’t have refrigerators then) after you placed a card in your frontwindow indicating whether you wanted 25-, 50-, 75-, or 100-pound blocks.
You remember the milkman delivering milk and cream in glass bottle!s from a horse-drawn vehicle.
You remember going to the drive-in and getting blasted by mosquito spray from the back of a pickup truck that drove up and down the lanes.
You ordered Cold Duck at the Ponchartrain Wine Cellars (the restaurant/bar where it was invented) and enjoyed a frog leg dinner.
A trip to Toys R Us was a reward for good behavior. It was somewhere we could spend our hard-earned allowance on a new GI Joe figure or some LEGO sets. It was also like being inside of a museum of awesome, where the wares were categorized by types: action figures, building toys (including LEGO), radio-controlled toys and slot-car tracks, educational toys, board games, electronic games, and eventually video games.
Today, Toys R Us stores are organized (mostly) by whatever commercial property the toys are related to: all of the Spiderman-related toys together (regardless of type: action figure, r/c car, or even LEGO), all of the Harry Potter stuff, all of the Hanna Montana stuff. Sadly, it just reinforces the commercialism that was once criticized (and even disallowed before the late-70’s) for children’s programming based on products.
I came across a great blog post that traces the history of Toys R Us design and architecture from the 70’s to today. I still remember Geoffrey the Giraffe’s face welcoming me to the store…
YouTube is a great way to go back in time find commercials and TV shows from the past (though I still can’t find any episodes of Kid Bits!). Here are a few for your viewing enjoyment:
If you can find a few more Detroit favorites from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s post a link in the comments!
I grew up with a lot of great products made right here in Michigan… in fact many of them were made right in Detroit! Sadly, some of them are no longer native to our great state, but I’d like to share them anyway:
Faygo Pop – A delicious variety of flavored pop (or soda if you’re from other states). While some consider it to be a value brand, I still think Rock and Rye, Cola, and Frosh are some of the best tasting soft drinks on the planet.
Vernor’s Ginger Ale – I can’t believe I forgot this Detroit icon! (Thanks to “Mom” reminding me about it in the comments!) When my friend (Joey Ford) visited his grandparents each summer, his mom made sure he brought some Vernor’s Ginger Ale home to California with him. These days, Vernor’s is owned by the Dr. Pepper/Snapple folks and can be found in most states, but it’s real home is Detroit.
Better Made Snacks – Driving by the Better Made factory is torture. The smell of fresh potato chips is enough to drive you mad. During Halloween, it wasn’t uncommon to get a small bag of Better Made potato chips from many of the houses in or neighborhood. You can still get cases of chips from nearby distributors and even directly from Better Made themselves. Some people may think that fresh chips aren’t better than those shipped across the country… they’re wrong.
Stroh’s Beer – In 1999 Stroh Brewery was sold to the same folks as Miller/Pabst. Though they’re still an American beer brewer (unlike some more “regal” brands), Stroh’s is no longer made in Michigan. Stroh’s was definitely the brand of choice for the adults in my neighborhood during the 80’s. Block parties looked like television commercials for the stuff…
Stroh’s Ice Cream – Why would a brewery make ice cream?! One word – prohibition. When other breweries were going under, the Stroh family changed with the times and made some of the most creamy delicious ice cream on the planet… but they did have competition:
Sanders Confections – My grandmother worked for Grandpa Sanders (pronounced San-Ders, not Saun-ders… that always drove my grandma nuts) and there was nothing quite as close to heaven as a Sanders Hot Fudge Cream Puff Sundae. Today they’re still known for hot fudge and carmel ice cream toppings, but they’re chocolate is darn fine, too. Speaking of chocolate:
Morley Candy – The Morley Candy Company has since taken over the Sanders line of confections using the family’s original recipies. Once local rivals, Sanders and Morley are now one in the same. Our parents always filled our Easter baskets and Christmas stockings with goodies from Morley and Sanders.
Honeybaked Ham and Dearborn Brand – I love a great sandwich. Part of that is because my dad always made legendary sandwiches. Post-holiday leftovers often included ham sandwiches… man, I’m salivating just thinking about them. Honebaked became famous for their pre-applied glazing while Dearborn Brand has been making great sausage and seli products since the 1940’s.
Kellog’s – Battle Creek’s own Kellogg’s company defines cereal and wholesome breakfast options.
I’ll continue to collect more lists of other famous Michigan brands, foods, products, and celebrities. If you have suggestions or contributions, please leave a comment (below)!
One of the most formative experiences in my childhood: my early exposure to an Atari 2600. My older cousin, Kyle had a few different video game consoles. Joey, a friend that traveled to Detroit from California every summer to visit his grandparents had a 2600 in both states! Enough of our friends had Atari consoles that we had regular opportunities to “rot our brains out” (as our parents put it).
The actual game itself wasn’t the main attraction. Heck, most games were merely a square darting around the screen avoiding other squares. When we played games as a group, it became a production. Alternate storylines to the game evolved: Activision’s Space Shuttle game grew to include mission control, mission specialists, and technicians, Missile Command became a life and death struggle between the US and the commies… which one should note was un-winnable.
Many early games relied heavily on the printed instruction manual packed with each cartridge wherein the back story was established and the difference between the all-too-similar bad guys was explained. The Nintendo Entertainment System was the first home console that actually had recognizable characters on the screen and a developed storyline that played out on your screen. However, we managed to establish one of the most critically panned games as our favorite: Gumshoe.
In the fall, we would go into hibernation mode. Sure, we would spend some time hiding in leaf piles, playing army, and digging up each others’ yards. But as the outdoor temperatures dropped, we found ourselves inside more often. One of the youngest members of the “Brat Patrol”, “C.J.”, had a Nintendo (which was still a relatively new gaming system). He had a few sports games for it, but the title that we all marveled at was “Gumshoe.”
The Nintendo “Blaster” was a light gun that had a simple camera that was able to detect flashing signals sent from the T.V. when the trigger was pulled. You would aim the blaster at the hapless “Gumshow” and shoot him to make him jump, as well as shoot oncoming projectiles, cars, bad guys, and (oddly enough) floating balloons. The game was horrible. It was the only Nintendo game I ever remembered to randomly lock up the console. We were luck if we made it through a few levels. However, we were held captive by the implied story line (we read the manual while waiting for our turn to play) and the prospect of firing a “gun” at the television.
We never spent much time playing video games, but when the weather was too hot or too cold, we would sneak inside for a few minutes of R.C. Pro-Am or Duck Hunt. Today, many kids spend far too much time isolated from each other or making “virtual friends” online via World of Warcraft or Halo. They let their game consoles do the imagining for them. Old school games forced you to imagine that a blinking triangle was your spaceship. Video games were novel enough that 6 or 7 of us could crowd into a den and just watch each other play Pitfall, then after 30 minutes-or-so, we ran outside and played it in real life… except with sprinklers for crocodiles
and each other for logs!
If you lived in (or near) the city of Detroit in the 80’s, you knew that the day before Halloween was a scary time. Though Devil’s Night was most notorious for setting abandoned homes on fire, it was a much more innocent event for the kids in our neighborhood. We weren’t allowed to stay out much past dusk, but we tried to squeeze in a game or two of “witch” (see the block party article for a description), followed by a few harmless pranks.
Usually, we would ring a neighbor’s doorbell, then run and hide in the bushes. Never the same house more than once and we were always called home for the evening before it was late. One time a rogue faction of kids decided to toss eggs at cars despite our protest. Those that chose not to participate watched the action with a mixture of fear and excitement from a safe distance. One driver pulled his car over, got out, and yelled at the rebels. They threw a few more eggs in his direction, but, luckily, none of them had good aim. The usual running and dodging through alleys and secret paths ensued and we all regrouped in Joe’s tree fort to trade stories. Though most of us didn’t throw any eggs, we enjoyed sharing in the excitement.
I remember a few years when (presumably) the “big kids” on the block soaped a few windows and egged cars in driveways, but this is all still pretty minor in retrospect. The next year we stood on guard with walkie-talkies linking our guard posts… theoretically… the models most of us purchased from Radio Shack really didn’t have enough range to cover the block. We walked up and down the block in groups of three of four in our denim jackets wielding flashlights. We really thought that we were the reason no more eggings happened… it was likely pure coincidence.
What’s not a coincidence is that Devil’s Night is gone. Former Mayor Dennis Archer started the Angel’s Night initiative in 1995 that organized community patrols and enforced a curfew for minors. The first year, incidences of arson plummeted… in fact, I can’t recall a single reported Devil’s Night-related fire.
Spike has published an article (and video) where Bill Murray outlines some information regarding Ghostbusters 3. Starting with about 1:30 remaining in the clip, he also notes some of the frustrations with Ghostbusters 2 and “what went wrong.” When I watch these movies now (as an adult), I recognize that Ghostbusters was superior to Ghostbusters 2. However, when I was a kid… I just wanted to see another Ghostbusters movie. Let’s hope that the writers get it right and we’re treated to another supernatural comedy classic.
We loved our bikes on Hillcrest (as most kids do). We could spend an entire day lapping the block over and over again. Most of the kids in the BRAT patrol had a BMX style bike, complete with pads covering all of the dangerous parts of the bike. My brother and I? We had the legendary Schwinn Stingray. The only complication? It wasn’t “cool” by the time we were aware of the concept of “being cool.” A yellow banana seat atop a metallic red frame might have cut it in the 70’s, but by the 80’s a banana seat would just get you chased by “the big kids.”
Christian (my brother) and I would try anything to make our curvy bikes more BMX-like: replacing the seat, different handle bar grips, pedals, tires… anything. Looking back though, I really loved that bike. It provided my first tastes of freedom, danger, and excitement… banana seat and all.
Eventually, most of us upgraded to multi-speed bikes. A few folks got 10-speed street bikes, but just about the time it was my turn to get a new bike, mountain bikes were becoming the new standard. They could take more abuse and looked a lot more like the BMX bikes that I longed for when I was younger, but they really never replaced the spot in my heart occupied by that old yellow and red Schwinn.
