Thanksgiving past in Detroit

Back in the heyday, were the Detroit homes packed with family and the streets packed with their cars?

The 1950's Thanksgiving Parades down Woodward overflowed with people from start to finish.

Not only on the street, but people who know the right folks packed the bldg. windows along Woodward. I was in a bldg one year when I was little thanks to my uncle.

My dad was a salesman for Rust-Craft Greeting Cards. He had displays in W.T. Grants and many other department stores and drug stores. In 1966 or 67 he took me age 5 or 6 to the second or third floor of a department store on Woodward[[ I'd give anything to know the name) We sat in a stock room with a window overlooking Woodward and watched the parade below. One of the most pleasant childhood memories.

We lived at Wayne State in the late 60s, and we hosted a Parade party one year. All our family and friends came down for breakfast [[they had to car pool as parking was limited. We weren't really close to any of the Wayne parking at that time). We walked over to Woodward and watched the parade, then came back for hot cider and homemade donuts. It was a huge success, we still get compliments about it. Woodward was packed. Husband was able to find an ex-girlfriend's family who always staked out the same corner to watch the parade. after the parade, we sipped our hot cider, munched our hot donuts, and watched the stopped traffic going up Second. The traffic jam took an hour and a half to clear.

Dfd, Typically families in Detroit's heyday lived in clusters within walking distances of each other. If some cars had to move from one neighborhood to another they would free-up spaces on the street for other cars. In addition, the two car household was not commonplace in Detroit until the mid-1970's. This was because most of the men had good salaries that could easily take care of thier wives and brood. When mom needed to take us to Dr's appointments in the 1970's we would hop the bus to either Children's Hospital or to Downtown.

I don't recall there being too much hassle getting to or from the parade either though dad insisted on dragging a step ladder with him!

Dad always took us to the parade while Mom stayed home and got the turkey cooking. It usually was cold but being kids we didn't care. Coming home to a house smelling of roasting turkey and pumpkin pies was probably the best of all.

Thanksgivings in Detroit were very special in our family. They were all from the South and moved to Detroit in the 1950's for jobs in the auto plants. In the 60's we moved to Ohio and had quite a few relatives still in Detroit. I remember my aunt and uncle hosting many holidays at their home on Mark Twain near Joy Rd. We had other relatives on Sussex and St. Mary. We would make the trip up from Ohio on Wednesday night for the long weekend. The meals were phenomenal. The house would be full of people - playing cards, my aunt played the piano and we would all sing, telling stories and talking about the future. Houses throughout the neighborhood would be quite busy with visiting family and Thanksgiving dinners and parties. My family were all Baptists and although several were heavy drinkers they abstained around my family because my mother was adamant about no alcohol.