209 West Mc Nichols 6 mile and Woodward

Greetings all ! I have a question . I'm sure anyone who travels up and down Woodward from areas north, Ferndale, Royal Oak, ect may have notice this little pink building on the N/W corner .
It is called Juila's Cleaners 209 W. Mc Nichols .
South Palmer Park/ North Highland Park .
I was wondering if anyone knows what it was originally built for and used for ? I know it's been Juila's for many years since the 70's and even before that it was another cleaners, but I've spoken to her , I know her, my Godmother :-), and she said that sometimes older folks come by and tell her they use to eat there when they were young.
I'm thinking this had to be in the 40's-60's.
It's a interesting looking little building and I told her I would ask around I.E , you guys and see what I can find.
I've done a couple Google searches and nothing really came up :-[[
I'm SURE someone on this site know something about this place , or can direct me to ,you guys seemed to know EVERYTHING !!! about the metro area !
Any help and/or pics would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Dave !

Have you tried a Polk's Directory at the library? But you have to actually go to the library-this isn't something you could do on Google unless you get a reply here.

Toddle House, maybe? There used to be a lot of them. Last one I remember in Detroit closed in the 60s, it was around the cultural center somewhere.

They looked like a little white house, door in the middle, and chimneys at each end.

Here is Julia's, it does look like a Toddle House.

http://goo.gl/maps/6heqs

Toddle House for sure in the 40's, 50's and early 60's. I ate there a few times but it wasn't the type of restaurant that a teenager would frequent. Biff's was right across 6 Mile and had a great burger.

People used the bus a lot in those days, and Toddle House was right by major bus connections. They were open 24/7 and you could go in and wait for your connection while having a quick snack. I suspect my mom and dad had many a meal there as this was not too far from her house. She really loved the Toddle House and I remember we sought out the one near Wayne State because she wanted to reminisce and see if it was the same as it used to be [[a whole ten or 15 years before). The cook was amazing to watch as she juggled omelets, scrambled eggs, eggs sunny side up, bacon and toast all to arrive nearly simultaeously at our counter spots.

I thought the only Toddle House in the area was on the corner of Woodward and Lothrop in New Center [[Is that what's now called "Mid Town"?).

That building has been around as long as I can remember, and it was a dining establishment, but I don't think it was a Toddle House. The design doesn't look right for a counter service place, and doesn't match pictures of other Toddle Houses I've seen. Memory says it was a touch more upscale than a coffee shop, too.

I also believe at one time in the late 70's it was a music club.

There were several Toddle Houses in Detroit, according to my mother, who grew up north of the Boston Edison area.

You're right, Gazhekwe. I just found a website that is trying to document all the Toddle House locations, and it lists 3 in Detroit. The one at Woodward and Lothrop, plus two on Jefferson, 7865 E Jefferson and 1541 E. Jefferson.

Toddle Houses were purpose built, and the place we're talking about doesn't appear to fit their norm. Pictures here:

http://dinerhunter.com/toddle-house-locations/

Interesting factoid - the founder of Toddle House was the father of the founder of FedEx.

Wow thanks for the info Gazhekwe, JVB and everyone else I'll try the library.
Interesting info JVB.
if anyone else has any possible info I would appreciate it !
thanks !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gazhekwe

Toddle House, maybe? There used to be a lot of them. Last one I remember in Detroit closed in the 60s, it was around the cultural center somewhere.

They looked like a little white house, door in the middle, and chimneys at each end.

Here is Julia's, it does look like a Toddle House.

http://goo.gl/maps/6heqs

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Thanks that is the place :-) it has a very unique look to the building and I know it was a place to eat , I'm just not sure what the name was or what they served . It does look like it might have been a toodle house

Looks like a real estate office. I'll check my Polk's later this evening.

I know its not the greatest of corners. You have DeJavu[[sp) across the street to the South and the New Light Recovery Center methadone clinic about 2 doors West. An old friend of mines parents owned the coney right next to the pink building until it burned about seven yrs ago. The car dealership on that S.E. corner had a shooting killing the owner fairly recently also. The gas station is fairly nice though, I remember a really funny story about a crazy woman screaming at random people there getting off the bus. Oh yeah, then theres the creepy candy store on the S.W. side right in front of the bus stop.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by douglasm

You're right, Gazhekwe. I just found a website that is trying to document all the Toddle House locations, and it lists 3 in Detroit. The one at Woodward and Lothrop, plus two on Jefferson, 7865 E Jefferson and 1541 E. Jefferson.

Toddle Houses were purpose built, and the place we're talking about doesn't appear to fit their norm. Pictures here:

http://dinerhunter.com/toddle-house-locations/

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Thanks for posting this. During college I ate ate a old retro diner on Mack in Grosse Pointe Woods once. Being a West Sider, I had only a slight idea where it was and was eating by myself as I was calling on the local grocery stores as part of a college job. I have since tried to find it, and due to this link I am able to verify that it is indeed now the boston market!

I had an internship on McNichols near the corner of Woodward in the mid 80's so I was in that neighborhood a lot then. I only remember it being a cleaners.

Ahhh, Club Toddle....as we used to call it. Whenever I'd skip a school day as a senior, we'd always head to Toddle on Mack in GPW for breakfast as our first stop. From there we'd head down Warren Ave to bowl 4 games for a dollar.

Yes that pink building surely looks like a Toddle to me.

I checked a 1940 Polk's directory but I don't see anything listed there. I'm not sure if it had a Woodward address, a McNichols address, or a Geneva address, but none of the possibilities seem to match that location.

Thanks MikeM for you help ! It's a great mystery . I am almost 99% sure it was a place to eat , so I thought it would be easier to find or someone would have a story about it .
Like I said earlier she said sometime people would stop by and say they would eat there , I'll tell her next time try to get the name it would help :-)

Ancestry.com has city directories online going into the 50's but they are incomplete for all of the 1950's and I could not find the listing. Looks like its time to head down to Burton.

I double-checked my older Polk's but no luck. The south side of McNichols is in Highland Park and I never realized they still called it Six Mile after the rest of it was renamed McNichols.

Toddle House restaurants, 1967:

5514 Woodward
7607 Woodward
18701 Grand River
1985 E Jefferson
15412 E Jefferson, GPP
20195 Mack, GPW
23720 Michigan, Dearborn

Toddle House restaurants, 1949:

2881 W Grand Blvd
15518 Livernois
7865 E Jefferson
15412 E Jefferson, GPP
916 W McNichols
7607 Woodward

Ok so it's not me , I need to dig a little deeper , where is the Burton is it down at Wayne State ?

Detroit Public Library, Main Branch. Across from the DIA. Woodward, north of Warren.

916 W McNichols Could this be it? Counting from John R? Oh, I guess not.

Tawdle Howzes r kewt. Bawdy Howzes r knotty.

Could it have been the place that sold "Philly Cheese Steaks"? There was a place on Six Mile just west of Woodward that had a rather loud/large sign that advertised these Philly steaks. Though maybe it's still there, and I just haven't looked over there lately.

I'll try to swing by the Main Detroit Library this weekend

Sanborn Map from 1951 shows it as a restaurant, but no further information.

The Toddle House at 916 W. Six Mile was down between Third and Hamilton, about where Menjo's parking lot is today. I remember as a kid going to the Toddle Houses on E. Jefferson - both the one in GP Park just past Alter, and the one in front of the motel near downtown [[which is still standing, but much altered, as a coney island today) - and especially the one on Woodward next to the Hecker Mansion [[then Smiley Bros. piano). My mother loved to grab a quick breakfast there, and those homefries were heavenly.

Al Thanks for the great info about 916 W. six mile I always wonder what was on that lot . they have a nice fence around it although crumbling .
I'll check out the Sanborn map , thanks Al !
I'll keep checking

Julia Cleaners was formerly the Lido Pizzeria. I don't quite remember when it closed but I grew up in HP and later lived on McNichols and Second for quite a few years beginning in 1975. The last time I specifically remember going in the Lido with my family was 1963. I remember the year because I had recently turned 16 and was asking to use the car while we were eating! Its possible that some other business was there between the Lido and Julia tenancies, but I can no longer remember.