The Detroit street peddlers - remember them ?

[Bobl]

We had Twin Pines milk delivery - and a milk chute.

And before Twin Pines replaced them, we had Sealtest milk delivery. The milk came in big glass bottles.

This was in the mid 1960s.

I remember the Good Humor man on Belle Isle, but I'm sure I saw others, even a local one on my own block, at times. My favorite Good Humor product used to be the ice cream bars covered with coconut.

The Belle Isle route was the most desirable for drivers at that time.
The coconut was the most difficult to clean at the manufacturing plant, even worse than the strawberry shortcake. I know, because I worked as a cleaner there, on the midnight shift, one summer. I really teed off the day shift one time, when I forgot to replace some paper washers on the pipes and pumps after cleaning and running steam through them!

[Vcalibur]

I remember when the twin pines truck, sanders and awry bakery would deliver goods to the houses and I also remember when this Native American named Buffalo would cross the Canadian border every weekend to sell eggs, fruits and vegetables from his farm. Those were the good times and they can return.

[gibran]

Simpler times...Goodhumor man in white uniform, vegetable man in his truck..three quarts for a dollar, and they were so fresh...The knife guy must of had a long route for he was on the eastside too... Book mobile [[not totally related but still a summer memory none the less)...

[SMRJim]

In our neighborhood there was a guy named Sal Gonzales who drove around in a truck with a loudpseaker selling fresh fruit. I remember him saying 'get your fresh, homegrown Michigan strawberries'. I lived near and went to school at St Marys of Redford. His daughter was in my class at school.

I also remember door-to-door salesmen coming by with a big suitcase filled with various things. I remember them coming into our house and showing the stuff to my mom. She usually bought something for us kids. They would have these soft plastic white colored 'sheets', maybe 3' by 3', with pictures on them and kids could color on them with crayons. That's what I remember her buying. And of course we had the milkman leave the milk in the milk chute. I can still remember seeing him come up to the house with that bottle-holder thing filled with bottles of milk - the bottles had little grip indentations on the sides where you held the bottle.

We only had the Good Humor man when I was real young. I loved Toasted Almonds, Chocolate Eclairs, Rasberry bars. Later we had a Penguin truck come around with the loud music - I remember them playing Pop Goes the Weasel. That was when I discovered the Screwball - a pushup-type thing in a cone-shaped piece of plastic with a piece of gum on the bottom. Loved em. Whenever you heard the Good Humor truck ringing that bell you could hear kids in the neighborhood calling out ' mom - Good humor truck!'. We often ended up having to chase him down the street after waiting to get money from mom, sometimes quite a ways, running after him yelling 'stop!', holding our money in our hands.

[sumas]

Hey Big, that union song was a Wobblie tune. It was entitled, "You can't fool me I'm sticking with the union". Nice ditty! Was doing some work in Royal Oak the other day. Amazed to see a milk and egg delivery truck. Didn't know home service routes still existed. Sweet!

[babeeblumer]

Milk, bread, eggs, fruit and veggie trucks, the Fuller Brush Man and his suitcase, knife sharpener and popsicle venders riding three wheelers all come to mind. I also have a strange recollection of the hearing impaired going door to door in the neighborhood and leaving little cards with sign language diagrams for a donation. A different world.

[9606 Prest]

Do you remember Henry's Hamburgers on Greenfield?

[SMRJim]

Do you remember Henry's Hamburgers on Greenfield?

Not sure who that was intended for, but the only hamburger places I remember on Greenfield were Elmers, at the SW corner of Fenkell and Greenfield, right near the fire station, and Likers, which I think was on the west side of Greenfield between Grand River and Schoolcraft. I think both were your old-fashioned square, white building with round stools around the counter and also along the window. Based on your address I'm guessing you were near West Chicago or Joy. Was Henrys over in that area? Ever go to Stoepel number 2? I think it was by Mansfield/St Marys just off W Chicago. My O'Shea baseball team sometimes practiced there - if I remember right our coach lived right across the street.

[Linda from Detroit]

Gosh, you guys are bringing back all the old memories. I remember all of this stuff from my years on Virginia Park and then on Strathmoor. One thing I haven't seen mentioned are those little square "milk chutes" on the side of your house by the back door so the milkman could just deliver your weekly order. We had so many different ones to chose from back then, but one of our neighbors had a Bordon route, so he was the guy we brought from and all the kids took turns riding with in the summer.

[9936Sussex]

9606Prest: Oh my gosh, I remember Dandy Hamburgers on Greenfield, corner of Plymouth! [[at least I think it was Dandy's). My first introduction was as a little girl, when my mom and I would walk over to the Bookmobile [[which parked on the west side of Greenfield). We would also stop sometimes, after church [[Grandale Presbyterian) as we walked home. Sheer, greasy bliss!

[9936Sussex]

9606Prest: What were your side streets on Prest? Were you south of West Chicago?

[EMG]

...One thing I haven't seen mentioned are those little square "milk chutes" on the side of your house by the back door so the milkman could just deliver your weekly order.

I mentioned having had one of those in one of my earlier posts in this thread!

[SMRJim]

Gosh, you guys are bringing back all the old memories. I remember all of this stuff from my years on Virginia Park and then on Strathmoor. One thing I haven't seen mentioned are those little square "milk chutes" on the side of your house by the back door so the milkman could just deliver your weekly order. We had so many different ones to chose from back then, but one of our neighbors had a Bordon route, so he was the guy we brought from and all the kids took turns riding with in the summer.

I'm guessing that if you had milk delivered you most likely had a milk chute. As a kid I just assumed all houses had milk chutes and some type of mail chute as well - in the city [[at least back then) you didn't have a mailbox out by the street. The mailman had to walk their route, using that little mail 'buggy', as long as there wasn't snow covered sidewalks, and put the mail in the mail slot in the door or the mail chute next to the door [[we had the chute). Our milk chute came in handy when I got older. I usually didn't have a key, so if I came home late after my parents went to bed I could hit the inside milk chute door a couple of times with my fist and get it to open, then crawl though [[I was skinny and we had an extra wide chute). Got caught by dad more than once hanging halfway through the chute. I think we had Bordens deliver, but can't remember for sure. I seem to remember seeing that truck with Elsie the cow on the side.

[Corn.Bot]

Our milk chute came in handy when I got older. I usually didn't have a key, so if I came home late after my parents went to bed I could hit the inside milk chute door a couple of times with my fist and get it to open, then crawl though [[I was skinny and we had an extra wide chute). Got caught by dad more than once hanging halfway through the chute. I think we had Bordens deliver, but can't remember for sure. I seem to remember seeing that truck with Elsie the cow on the side.

LMAO because I used to do the same thing, wriggle in through the milk chute when I did not have my key. Except, a broom closet was built over the inside door of the chute, so I had to make sure to unhook the little lock on the outside of the broom closet door before I went out so I would not be locked in the broom closet when I came back in [[it only had to happen once, believe me). The chute was accessible through the closet, but I seem to remember the Sealtest guy leaving our stuff on the back steps.

[jjaba]

Detroit Creamery horse drawn milk wagons, placing fresh milk in our milk chute.
Starch shirt, black bow tie Good Humor Man at Northwestern Field on Grand River at Sunday softball games.
Door to door knife sharpener guy walking down our street.
Dixco truck of Sealtest Dairy delivery routes.
jjaba, Westside Memories.

[Stinger4me]

I do not remember the horse drawn milk wagons in Detroit. Most of the rest of the items are vivid in my memory. There were times when the "Sheeny Man" would ask for some water for his horse. We always obliged. Twin Pines the "employee owned dairy, Jersey Creamery, Sealtest delivered our milk. The insulated sheet metal box is still in my garage. Does anybody recall Cook's Coffee or the Sanders delivery men?

[jjaba]

Did Sanders deliver hot fudge sundaes on Sundays? Never remember that on the Westside growing up in the 1940s.

jjaba, Proudly Westside.

[9606 Prest]

We lived on Prest between W. Chicago & Orangelawn.

[9606 Prest]

Henry's Hamburger's was on Greenfield & Plymouth Road.

[9606 Prest]

Stoepel number 2 was on W. Chicago across from gate of heaven parish & school. I went to the grade school there from grade 1 thru 8.

[9606 Prest]

We went to church at Gate of Heaven Catholic Church on W. Chicago & St. Mary's. I also went to grade school there for 8 years from grade 1 thru 8! It was a long walk from Prest to the school.

[9936Sussex]

9606Prest: Did you know the Presotto or Stahl families? They lived on Prest between Orangelawn and W. Chicago. Stahls lived on the corner of Prest and Orangelawn , I believe.

[barb48207]

Does anyone remember the Hot tamale man in Detroit, and does anyone know of a place that sells good hot tamales now? Thanks

[iceandsnowqueen]

Its been a while since my last post and I need to respond to your opinion that there were no ice boxes in the 60's and 70's. Of course we had electricity in Detroit!!...but old people still used their ringer washers, ice boxes and old clunky 40's telphones. My grandparents came over from the old country, and after farming and coal mining in Pennsylvania, they move to Detroit. Of course they were too thrifty to throw the ice box away..so it sat on the unheated porch and they used it! I remember the ice man delivering ice.

[Bigb23]

Iceandsnowqueen - I still remember the old ammonia fridges with the coils on top. But the ice boxes were just a tad before my time.