Old Detroit Bars

[Fwrudedog]

Park Ave Bar on Park & Charlotte. My parents used to go there and my dad would play the guitar and I would play under the table.

[Smirnoff]

Any word on the revitalization of the Bucket of Blood or Pinky's?

[Pam]

I posted this in another thread but in case you missed it, here it is again. New exhibit on bars and restaurants at the Detroit Historical Museum:

http://detroithistorical.org/detroit...kinson-gallery

[mikefmich]

I like turtles.

Damn you Gnome. I literally spit milk on my monitor.

[Fwrudedog]

The Gold Dollar was always in the same building. It no longer exists as a bar or business entity. Neil Yee sold it almost a decade ago. Was the apartment building you lived in right next to the Gold Dollar? That is where I see the trees front and back. Man, that would have been fascinating sitting in the apartment and watching the street activities.

I used to live at the apts just south of the Gold Dollar. The one with the trees front and back. My parents managed the building. I lived at 3119 Cass and later moved around the corner to 443 Peterboro. It was not a gay or crossdresser bar, it was a transgendered bar. [[sometimes referred to Shemales). There is quite a difference. We used to sneak on the roof and look in the fan vent into their dressing room on shownights. We were chased away more than once. What a blast.

[Fwrudedog]

Another bar left out was Bill Baileys Bar @ 414 Brainard. I always knew it as the 414 Bar. Then the Red Dog Bar @ 700 Selden. Also the Shooter's Bar @ 3657 3rd Street. What about Ken's Lounge @ 3930 Cass Ave.

[Trickrk]

Hello,
trying to see if anyone has any information on a bar that was on Jefferson back in the 60's and I am guessing early 70's.
I believe the bar was called The Club 49. The owner was Nick Colby or Kolby and I think his wife's name was Dee, I believe them to have had a son named Kelly.
To my best recollection, Nick the owner was shot and killed at the bar.
I have vague memories of Nick, the smoky bar and Nick's trophy room filled with stuffed animal heads. At some point in my early life my family lived in the roof top apartment above the bar.

After Nick's death I believe the bar was sold and later came a gay bar by the same name.

[EastsideAl]

Hello,
trying to see if anyone has any information on a bar that was on Jefferson back in the 60's and I am guessing early 70's.
I believe the bar was called The Club 49. The owner was Nick Colby or Kolby and I think his wife's name was Dee, I believe them to have had a son named Kelly.
To my best recollection, Nick the owner was shot and killed at the bar.
I have vague memories of Nick, the smoky bar and Nick's trophy room filled with stuffed animal heads. At some point in my early life my family lived in the roof top apartment above the bar.

After Nick's death I believe the bar was sold and later came a gay bar by the same name.

I remember that bar on Jefferson. It was right down the street from where one of my best friends lived, near the car wash [[that's now the party store), the vet we used to take our dogs and cats to, and across from the Jeffersonian. My friend's father used to go there back when the folks you're talking about must have owned it. But I didn't know about the shooting. I remember it primarily from its days as a [[whispered-about) gay bar. The old gay guy who lived at my corner and bunch of his elderly buddies used to hang out there.

[Trickrk]

I think someone may have told me it was a "cop bar" back when Nick owned it, before it was a "gay bar"
When did you live in that neighborhood?
Is the bar still there?

Thank for the reply

[G-DDT]

Don't know if anyone mentioned it, but there was the Norwalk in Hamsandwich. Had my first "legal" drink there [[didn't stop me from drinking there prior), and I kind of regretted it [[got harassed by a snaggletooth crackhead foaming at the mouth trying to sell drugs or solicit sexual favors). The jukebox had songs from Barry Manilow, the Clash, and the "Beware of the Blob" piece. They used to sell bags of these dried carmelized kipper crunchies [[little fish with the eyes and everything) behind the counter.

Got harassed there once by two seedy-lookin'/actin' mullet-heads asking us for money, and then, when one was in the bathroom, the other swiped some old dude's billfold [[just inches from his own hand) the minute his head was turned and bolted out the side door. Man! the commotion! The craziest part was seeing the chief harasser come out of the loo and get beset upon by all these pissed off, aged Polish patrons angry at him for what his friend just did and how he was going to pay for it. Ugly times there.

[EastsideAl]

I think someone may have told me it was a "cop bar" back when Nick owned it, before it was a "gay bar"
When did you live in that neighborhood?
Is the bar still there?

Thank for the reply

I lived in that area from the time I was a little kid in the '60s until now, with the exception of several years I spent in college, overseas, and in NYC. My Dad has lived around here for all of his 80+ years.

That bar is long gone [[closed sometime in the '80s?). It was on the block between Belvidere and McClellen, and even the building is gone now I think.

[EastsideAl]

They used to sell bags of these dried carmelized kipper crunchies [[little fish with the eyes and everything) behind the counter.

Blind robins? That's some ol' time Detroit bar snacks there...

[EastsideAl]

Here are 2 small pictures of Club 49 from the 1976 Detroit buildings survey.



Although the buildings on either side are still standing, the building that had the bar in it is definitely now gone.

[ronaldj]

The Norwalk featured an "automaton" band that hung in a corner and played "sort of" in sync with the jukebox.

[Trickrk]

Wow Al, I really appreciate you posting those pictures, that is it for sure, we lived in that upper area apartment. I could not even tell you for sure how old I was then, but I have the vague memories of along ago childhood.
If you don't mind me asking, where did you find those pictures at?
again thanks

[EastsideAl]

The are from this site, which has all of the pictures from the 1976 photographic survey of Detroit buildings that was undertaken with part of the bicentennial funding for that year.

http://www.placepromo.com/search.php

Unfortunately, the search function on that site seems to be broken currently, but the pictures from that block of Jefferson came from page 284 of the site, which is linked here.

http://www.placepromo.com/search_res...tion=&page=284

The addresses given are approximate, and Club 49 is misidentified as being at 9209 E. Jefferson [[the actual address was 8217). If you move around the pages near that one you can see what most other buildings in the neighborhood looked like in 1976.

[EastsideAl]

Just for fun, here is a shot from that site of the pre-John Thomas Honest John's on Field just north of Jefferson.



My great grandparents lived just up the street for many years, and my grandfather was a semi-regular there. I went to middle school just up the street about 5 years before this picture, and remember walking and riding my bike past this bar on my way to Belle Isle.

Wish I had that beautiful Mopar out front now.

[dguy4evr]

Don't recognize any of these bars but in the 1965-1966 time frame I worked for a place called Superior Bar Supply in Detroit. One bar that I loved to deliver to was Johnny O'Clocks on Kercheval and Pennsylvania. Johnny O'Clock used to dress up in what would be best described as a "Super Fly" outfit. I was only 16 at the time but Johnny always took time to ask me how I was and would sometimes hook me up with a free lunch.
On a side note, I worked six days a week. Two of the six days were spent in Hamtramck, the other four were for the rest of my week. For such a small area it took me two days to deliver to all the bars there. I could park my van and deliver to 5 to 8 bars without moving the van.
There was one bar in particular that sticks in my mind. It was the Cory Bar. It was located just west of the Chrysler overpass on Jefferson. I was told not to ever deliver during certain times. I found out when I got there too early. I watched in amazement as the bartender lined up about 50 shot glassed and 50 shell glasses. He then took the whiskey bottle and filled the glasses while another filled the shells. They must have had 100 burgers on the grill. Then the day shift at Jefferson Assembly came in for lunch. There must have been 200 people served during that short
time! They were lined up two and three deep at the bar. That place was a gold mine.

[piczka]

I had a good friend who was a medical equipment salesman in Detroit. As a result he visited many of the hospitals in Detroit, including the old Detroit Receiving, Detroit Memorial, Grace, Harper, Children's, etc. Being a salesman he was friendly, sociable and enjoyed a cocktail or two.

One Friday afternoon after work he decided to stop at the Willis Show Bar for a TGIF by himself. Knowing that he was in a rough area he left his driver's license in the car before entering. He sat down and went to the cigarette machine to buy a pack of smokes. The machine was near the front door. As fate would have it a patron who had been kicked out earlier returned to get his revenge. He opened the front door and shot the first person he saw, who was my friend, killing him instantly.

Because he had no ID he lay in the Wayne County Morgue for 3 or 4 weeks before the police searched his car, found the wallet and put it all together.

Just another forgotten incident in the life of a big city. It happens all over the world, everyday.

Now you know the rest of the story.

[Stinger4me]

Park Avenue, just north of Columbia was the location of the Clover Club. I believe it was owned by Max Lobell. Jerry was his son and worked there msot days. I recall it being a quiet neighborhood bar in the area.

[DetroitsPrincess]

Hi guys! New here... Just wondering if anyone here remembers a "Big Angie" from the Cass Corridor area/Joe's Sweetheart Bar on 3928 3rd Ave. She used to live at these addresses: 3760 2nd Ave; 4441 3rd St, & 15892 Linwood St. She was a caucasian girl just turning about 20. She may have hung out with [[black) guys named "John John and Snake"? This would have been around the mid 80's to the late 90's. [[1985-1997) Any info, stories, etc would be great!

[Bigb23]

For such a small area it took me two days to deliver to all the bars there. I could park my van and deliver to 5 to 8 bars without moving the van.

When I lived in Hamtown in the early 80's, I vowed to have a beer in the 100+ bars at the time. Had to stop at 30. The one with women's sport/regular bra's hanging in the bar was probably my last.

[RaumVogel]

When I lived in Hamtown in the early 80's, I vowed to have a beer in the 100+ bars at the time. Had to stop at 30. The one with women's sport/regular bra's hanging in the bar was probably my last.

I lived in Hamtramck from 83 to 87.I loved the dives and don't think I was able to make it to 30 but close.I lived above Paychecks for awhile.

[Henry Whalley]

I believe the guy's name was Danny Dickerhof [[sp?) and he was a sculptor or painter IIRC.

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I spent time at Verns too, tryin to pick up those coeds... I don't remember doin very well, but sometimes on my way back home to [at that time] Royal Oak I'd take a lil love with some of the workin girls.. I remember Johnny Walkers on Woodward by ?? Warren..?? Small place on the West side of Woodward.. Is Danny on this forum, the Danny D. who I knew that lived in a garage on?? Hancock?, or Canfield? a few blocks West of Woodward...Had a banana tree in the place...right across from the campus as I remember it... A really great guy to me.... Later in the 70's I'd show up in Detroit with a load or a bag of gold and Dan D, would put me up at his place. Later, as I remember It, his daughter showed up one day [out of nowhere] and soon he moved to the berbs....6 years ago..?? 8, 10..?? I saw a post here with someone saying to Danny, something about coming back.... Wonderin if it's him...

[Henry Whalley]

I knew Danny Dickerhof [sp?] who lived on W. Canfield where the street was red brick. IIRC he was a sculptor or welder. Visited his studio with the banana tree several times. Don't know where he moved after that.