Old Detroit Bars

**Patrick** · January-03-10, 07:03 PM

My grandfather owned a bar before he went off to WW2 on right near Mt. Elliott near the cemetary called the Graveyard Inn. The name changed a few times but he owned it til the mid 50s.

**Fury13** · January-03-10, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by dookie joe

I could've swore part of the old Selden Bar and Selden BBQ was also where John's is.

The way I've always understood it is that Honest John's now occupies two storefronts: one used to be Elmer's, and the other was Selden BBQ.

**Django** · January-04-10, 01:38 AM

When Honest Johns first opened here in the Corridor John right away barred a bunch of folks, myself included. I had soon met so many ppl who had been barred, some of us had planned on starting our own little 'barred from honest johns club'. We were going to make t-shirts and everything, hang out at surrounding bars and talk shit about John. I actually dig John and have respect but its actually more fun like it is. Not really my kind of bar anyway, with its clientele and all.

Anyone else here barred from that bar?

**Fury13** · January-04-10, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by Django

When Honest Johns first opened here in the Corridor John right away barred a bunch of folks, myself included. I had soon met so many ppl who had been barred, some of us had planned on starting our own little 'barred from honest johns club'. We were going to make t-shirts and everything, hang out at surrounding bars and talk shit about John. I actually dig John and have respect but its actually more fun like it is. Not really my kind of bar anyway, with its clientele and all.

Anyone else here barred from that bar?

How exactly do you get barred from a bar? It's never happened to me.

**pgn421** · January-04-10, 10:55 AM

He barred me from his bar on Field. Must be nice to have so much business, that, you can bar them from!

**dookie joe** · January-04-10, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by Django

dookie, I believe the Owner of the Miami bought and live in that Victorian today. Im helping fix up the place.

Awesome. 136 Selden; the address is ingrained in my head. My brothers and me sent many pizzas and taxis there.

Our house was built really close to that place; you could reach out and touch both houses. My bedroom window was literally 5-6 feet away from the upstairs bathroom. A really good-looking blonde lived in the upper flat, and she kept the bathroom window wide open. I was 11-12 years old watching her bathe, shave her legs, etc. [[btw I'm not some weirdo Peeping Tom, but c'mon, I was just coming into puberty and it was RIGHT THERE outside my bedroom window! And this lady was fine).

I told my brothers about it and sometimes they'd come in to peek, too. My older brother was stupid -- rather than turning off the bedroom light and peering through a sliver in the curtains to avoid detection the way I had, he leaned way out the window. The woman spotted him and said "you f'in kids, I'm gonna tell your mother." She pulled the shades for a few weeks -- but then she opened them again. So she must have known we were watching, but she either didn't care or got off on it.

Meanwhile, in the downstairs flat, I could look down into the kitchen window near the sink area. The couple who lived downstairs would screw on the kitchen counter, right in my view, at least once a week. Now, I imagine some folks enjoy doing that, but I get the distinct feeling it was for my benefit. Who the hell screws on the kitchen sink once a week?

Then again, it was the swinging 70s, and I'm sure these folks were trying everything, including the kitchen sink. But I suspect these pot-smoking leftover hippies were getting a kick out of giving me a show.

**dookie joe** · January-04-10, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by Fury13

How exactly do you get barred from a bar? It's never happened to me.

Lots of people got barred from Corridor bars back in the "day." The thug crowd would bounce from the Corner Pub, Sabb's, the Gaeity, Elmer's, Bob & Betty's, or wherever. One of them would do something stupid and the whole crowd would get banned.

I sometimes go onto the OTIS offender website and look up all the guys from that crowd, many of whom I palled around with. Most of those guys are on OTIS, which is sort of like a Cass Corridor version of classmates.com: "Oh, I see Joey's doing life for kililng his girlfriend. I wondered what he'd been up to. He's gained weight in prison."

**Bobl** · January-04-10, 02:43 PM

I'm older than most posters, but am still surprised that no mention has been made of the old Andersen's Gardens and Willis Show [[Strip?) Bars, on Third.
When I worked at Henry's Drugs [[Third & Forest), some of the working girls would duck inside to the cosmetics counter when the Big Four or "outsider" cops were in the vicinity. Got to know a few of them. One greeted me by name one night, when, along with one of my room mates, I was carrying a Christmas tree home.
"Hey, Bobby, I got something to put under your tree!"

The look on my room mate's face was priceless!

**Django** · January-04-10, 06:04 PM

dookie, I cant wit to tell my boss about the screwing on their kitchen sink once a week. Yes, 136 Selden is the address, I just walked around the corner to confirm it.

Had you ever been in the basement? It has the weirdest, box Ill call, it made of brick and mortar. Its filled with sand. Its about 5 1/2' long, 3' wide and 3' tall. Someone started a rumor that it was some sort of coffin or container to store a body. A few ppl still get the creeps talking about it.

How do you get barred from Honest Johns? Try writing "Johns n asshole" on his bathroom stall wall. I did it in a joking way, he actually once handed me $100 while I was stackin rocks on Belle Isle. He really liked that stuff, we got along for a while but it fell apart. When he told me I wasnt welcome at his bar I shook his hand with a smile and said no problem. I think when he opened his new place he wanted to nip any possible future problems in the bud.

Good stories. Hope to her some more. I currently live next to the old St Stans off Chene on Medbury but never went there. Im not even sure when it closed. I used to go to The Raven I think its called on Chene, and the Majestic on Forest which burned down about two yrs ago. I really wanted to grab that sign from the Majestic after it burned, I think someone else got it.

**pgn421** · January-04-10, 06:25 PM

Django- I used to stop in the Raven. Wasn't the owner crippled? Crutches? His name Al? They had some good blues bands there. It was on my beat

**Django** · January-04-10, 06:27 PM

Cash McCall every Thursday as I understand PGN. I dont remember the owner though. Nice club the Raven.

**pgn421** · January-04-10, 06:34 PM

that's him. When are you going to be on the Eastside , so we can go to Nikkis?

**pgn421** · January-04-10, 06:43 PM

Django- I will send Metro Cars, to pick you up at the Miami

**Django** · January-04-10, 09:52 PM

LOL PGN, I live about 4 blocks from the Raven, no need for your metro car. Just come by the Miami so I can buy you a beer and a bag of chips.

**Django** · January-04-10, 09:56 PM

OHHHH! NIKKIS, thats right, you recommended me as a friend on FB with her. I constantly check out the pics from her at her bar. Their always very ummmm... voluptous.

**Django** · January-07-10, 01:13 PM

The Raven PGN

**RickBeall** · January-09-10, 11:24 AM

Did any of you Corridor Old Timers as kids ever buy records at Fortune Records on Third?

**Bobl** · January-09-10, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by RickBeall

Did any of you Corridor Old Timers as kids ever buy records at Fortune Records on Third?

Went there several times, just to listen and talk. That was the record label that should have and could have made it, big time. Timing, and lack of distribution capability, worked against them.
Who remembers the name of the bar, which was just a bit farther down Third, maybe next door?

**dookie joe** · January-09-10, 02:56 PM

I never went to that record place. We'd go to Grinnell's downtown to buy records. I don't even remember that record store being there, although after I researched it I see they moved there in the 50s. I don't remember it...Tom Thumbs Pizza [[later Mormondo's) was right around there, as was Beaver's Boutique, the topless shoeshine place, if memory serves. I think the bar you're talking about was the Sweetheart.

Right down the street from there is the old garage that was owned by Jim Burwell, the KKK member who also drove the church bus and gave money to civil rights groups. The garage is still standing; the current owner, who also owns the old Clay School on MLK [[Myrtle) wants to turn the garage into a television/movie studio.

Speaking of record stores, there was a place called Jo-Jo's records in the neighborhood. Jo-Jo, the owner, was one of the biggest pimps around, along with guys named Fleet and Florida Bobby.

**RickBeall** · January-10-10, 03:12 PM

I continue to work on a little song about the area. I think I am going to call it "Cass Corridor Boogie".

Do any of you guys remember the names of the hookers from those times? I need a bunch of hooker names. Also, any stories or peculiarities about them would be great.

**RickBeall** · January-10-10, 03:58 PM

Does anyone have any stores about Wolfman at the Motown Coney, or the nearby pizza place? I bet they delivered some pizzas to some strange places.

**Gingersays** · January-10-10, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by RickBeall

I'd love to hear more about the taxi-dancing. That is the kind of thing I would like to write a song about [[I'm an amateur musician). Where did you see the article on taxi dancing? Its hard to believe it survived on into the late 1970's.

Taxi-dancing in Detroit was alive and "well' until Go-go dancing, topless bars etc. became popular. The "studios" were all on Woodward Ave. The Artison, Hollywood, Moulin Rouge, Trianon, and Trees were all on the second floor as were most all of the ballrooms. Downstairs was usually a bar but sometimes a restaurant. Girls from all walks of life worked there; from the inner city to the best suburbs. A variance of economic status, ethnic background, education and religion existed but the girls basically learned to get along with each other.
The clients were mostly professional men, especially lawyers. One of the advantages of working there was the flexibility in hours. If a girl needed to be off work for any reason for any length of time, she could do so without penalty from the managers. That is the biggest difference between Taxi-dancing and a "regular job." Obviously, there are others.

The neighborhood bars gave the girls discounts on drinks to encourage their patronage [[to attract more male customers). Connie's Showbar, Chez Bernie, Alwood, Arturo.s, Pate's, Garden Bowl, Brother's all on Woodward. The "higher class - [[higher cost)" prostitutes perched on stools in the Woodward Avenue bars. Cass Avenue bars, the price of the drinks and the hookers was a bit lower. Second Avenue again lower and Third Avenue still lower. After that, the price went down again for the street hustlers.

**Gingersays** · January-10-10, 04:22 PM

Originally Posted by RickBeall

I continue to work on a little song about the area. I think I am going to call it "Cass Corridor Boogie".

Do any of you guys remember the names of the hookers from those times? I need a bunch of hooker names. Also, any stories or peculiarities about them would be great.

Mitzi, Dolly, Caren, Teeney, Bevy, Big Louise, Little Louise, Esther, Tina, Vi.......

**RickBeall** · January-10-10, 04:39 PM

Hi GingerSays,

Wow, you really have the lowdown on the Taxi-Dancing, you just expanded the song from a line to a couple verses I think, and the lay of the land from Woodward to 3rd is fascinating.

More names please .... give them a bit of posthumous fame. And any stories. A lot of things happen to a person in their life, but the things they remember, they remember for a reason, the "stories" often shape folks subsequent life in ways no one understands.

Or categories the girls by street, since life got rougher and rougher as you approached 3rd.

**Gingersays** · January-10-10, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by dookie joe

I never went to that record place. We'd go to Grinnell's downtown to buy records. I don't even remember that record store being there, although after I researched it I see they moved there in the 50s. I don't remember it...Tom Thumbs Pizza [[later Mormondo's) was right around there, as was Beaver's Boutique, the topless shoeshine place, if memory serves. I think the bar you're talking about was the Sweetheart.

Right down the street from there is the old garage that was owned by Jim Burwell, the KKK member who also drove the church bus and gave money to civil rights groups. The garage is still standing; the current owner, who also owns the old Clay School on MLK [[Myrtle) wants to turn the garage into a television/movie studio.

Speaking of record stores, there was a place called Jo-Jo's records in the neighborhood. Jo-Jo, the owner, was one of the biggest pimps around, along with guys named Fleet and Florida Bobby.

Ramsey's was a well-known, reliable auto, truck repair garage on Selden between Second and Third Avenues. Harry ran Anderson Gardens on Third just North of W. Willis. The Calumet Bar was across the street. Big Red-headed Ed operated a 2nd hand furniture store next to it. A pimp named Rob, who owned a fancy Italian restaurant in Livonia, operated out of the Selden BBQ