Do You Remember?

 

If you're from Detroit. . .
 
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.') 
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You remember what Devil's Night used to be. 
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You remember the huge elm trees forming lush green tunnels over many Detroit 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. 
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You remember honking your horn as you went through the tunnel to Belle 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.'
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You remember the larger-than-life Ambassador Bridge.  And you remember the submarine that was tied up at the Brodhead Naval Armory alongside the Belle Isle Bridge.
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You took a class trip or a moonlight cruise on the Bob-Lo boat with Captain Bob-Lo.      
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You remember running home from school so you could have lunch with Soupy Sales.  Or eat some meal with Howdy-Doody in the early days of TV. 
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You rode a bus to Edgewater Amusement Park to ride the huge wooden roller coaster (again and again) or the Salt & Pepper Shaker or the Wild Mouse (before it went off the track injuring the riders).
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You remember 'A fantabulous day for the family, at fantabulous Edgewater Park.'  P.O.P. meant pay-one-price.
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Mom packed the car with kids, swimsuits, towels, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to spend the day at Metropolitan Beach or Walled Lake. 
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You played in the 'Big Ditch' as I-94 was being built. 
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You played tennis on Belle Isle's courts, or golfed at their Par 3 course, 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 the Casino. Or remember when they'd close the Isle on Cap & Gown Night because the kids use to go there and throw things in the fountain.
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You rode the big white roller coaster or found your way out of the Fun House at Jefferson Beach Amusement Park.
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You took a day trip and drove way out to Walled Lake Amusement Park where they had lots of rides, a roller coaster, or swimming - and to the Walled Lake Casino for dancing. 
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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.   
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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.
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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.
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You remember how all of the lights from the auto dealerships lit up Gratiot and Livernois, i.e. Funston Chevrolet.      
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You remember when Eastland, Wonderland and Northland Malls were open, not enclosed. And when Wonderland had animals in circular cages.  (Heck, I remember when Northland was first built and there was no Eastland, etc.)
You remember Crystal Pool by 8 Mile and Greenfield
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You know how to pronounce Gratiot, Schoenherr and Cadieux. 
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If someone told you it's on Outer Drive, you knew to consult a map first. 
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You thought driving to Southfield was going 'out to the country.'  
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You checked out books for two weeks from the Bookmobile that came to your elementary school once a week. 
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You vividly recall the mineral bath smell (rotten eggs) when you drove through Mt. Clemens. 
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You bought candy and nuts from window-lined, walk-around counters and squeaky wooden floors at S. S. Kresge or Woolworth's ('dime' stores).  
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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 the Rationals. 
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You drank Faygo, Towne Club (they had their own store and you'd walk in and see rows and rows of different flavors in cases on the floor -- no shelves here), Vernor's, Grilli's, Oso, or Atlas pop (we never heard it called 'soda').    
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Your mom saved Top Value, Holden Red, S&H Green or the yellow Gold Bell stamps.   
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Cunningham Drug Stores soda fountain (where when you heard "Mom ran into Cunninghams" you couldn't believe she ran into it with her car) and their raspberry phosphate.            (I always got the Cherry Cokes.)
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Your school took a bus trip to the cider mill (with donuts and cider after the tour), or to Kellogg's in Battle Creek or to a radio station.
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Silverstein's was the candy store of Army and Navy surplus stuff. 
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You had a subscription to the three Detroit newspapers, including The Detroit Times. 
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You remember news anchor Jac LeGoff who eventually worked at every TV station around Detroit.
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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).    
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You had a Shaffer's or Awrey's breadman and a Brickley's milkman. Or a Twin Pines milkman, a Sealtest milkman, a Jewel Coffee man, a fruit and vegetable truck, and a Fuller Brush man (and they were always men).   
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You remember Pure, Penzoil, Speedway 79, Texaco, Monkey, Dance, Purple Martin, Sinclair, Danny's Dino, Kayo and Gulf gas stations, and when 'gas wars' meant 17-cents a gallon.
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You remember Primo's Pizza, Carbone's Pizza, Red Barn, Powers, Henry's, Herc's Beef Buffet, Cupid's, Tom's Tavern, Ted's 5x5, Totem Pole, Red Devil, Marcus or Richard's Drive-In (car-feteria).
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You attended a wedding reception or a banquet at Roma Hall.    
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You attended 'Wendy Ward's CharmSchool' at Montgomery Ward's..  OMG FOR SURE!
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You might remember when Ben's Hi-Chaperelle and Watt's Club Mozambique were the places to go to catch Motown acts.
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Every year when the Blue Angels came to Willow Run Airport.
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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 at Belle Isle near the Conservatory where the sign warned you not to touch the water.      
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You had a reverb unit installed in your car at Mickey Shorr's or Crazy Jack's (aka Michigan Mobile Radio or MMR) on Livernois.      
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You remember the Detroit riots of 1967. 
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When the bleacher seats at Briggs Stadium were only $2 to watch the Detroit Lions play.
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And when they won the National Football Championship (before there were Super Bowls) in 1957 against the Cleveland Browns, 59-14.
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And when the Red Wings won all those Stanley Cups in the 1950s, and balcony seats at Olympia Stadium were only $1.25!  Sitting in the balcony (Standard Beef Co tickets) behind the "girls" with their hair in curlers -- where were they going after the game?
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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.
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You remember bowling for a quarter a game at Chandler Park Lanes, Falcon Lanes (next to The Ginos/Falcon Showbar), Parkside, Woods, Ritter’s or Ritz bowling alleys. 
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You worked at Detroit Bank & Trust, Manufacturers National Bank, Bank of the Commonwealth, City National Bank or National Bank of Detroit. 
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You 'parked' at Belle Isle, either to watch the color-changing fountain 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 the State Fairgrounds entrance). 
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You remember your Mom taking your burned-out light bulbs to Detroit Edison to exchange for new ones  or broken toaster for repair free.        
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You remember the J. L. Hudson Co. (known to us as just 'Hudson 's') building on Woodward Ave that occupied an entire city block.  
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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.      
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You ate a Maurice Salad at a J. L. Hudson's cafeteria.   
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You went shopping during Downtown Detroit Days.      
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You remember Women's Hospital before it became Hutzel Hospital. 
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You remember that Hudson's hung a HUGE American flag on the front of their  building every 4th of July.  (It was the biggest one in the country at that time.)       
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You would ride the bus downtown at Christmas and stand in line at Hudson's amid a fabulous winding animated Toyland, just to see Santa and the trains.      
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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.  
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Thanksgiving was not complete unless first you went to the Hudson's Parade, then to watch the Detroit Lions play the Green Bay Packers (always the Packers back then) at Briggs (later Tiger) Stadium.      
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You know guys who put up big antennas so they could pull in the Lions home games on Channel 6 out of Lansing.  
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You watched the 'old guys' play bocce ball at Buddy's Rendezvous Pizza or sang the Schnitzelbank song at the Dakota Inn with Boris the Organ Player.    
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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.  
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You remember the Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark 'The Bird' Fidrych.    
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You remember the Detroit Pistons and the WHA Michigan Stags hockey games at Cobo Arena and if you are old enough, the Pistons at the Olympia in 1956!        
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You remember the Empress or National Burlesque on Woodward.
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How about Al Ackerman ringing Big Al's bell for the Sports Hero of the Day. 
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And watching Cadillacs being made on Clark Street. 
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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 or fallen.). 
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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.      
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You remember hearing the air raid sirens on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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You remember Big Bear and Wrigley Super Markets.  
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You remember the RAF bomber flying from England in 1962 that exploded over the Detroit River near Grosse Pointe Park.   
 
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Or the guy who came through your neighborhood on a bike to sharpen your scissors, etc. Or the 'sheeny man' who came down
the alley on a horse drawn wagon picking up scrap metal and sharpening knifes and scissors.         
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You remember the milkman delivering milk and cream in glass bottles!
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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.      
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You ordered Cold Duck at the Ponchartrain Wine Cellars (the restaurant/bar where it was invented) and enjoyed a frog leg dinner.
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You remember going to White Castle and getting 12 for $1 and they stayed with you for 3-days.
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Going sledding at Warsaw Park, Balduc Park, or Derby Hll.
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The chocolate malts at Cunningham's...  They always tasted better there!