Growing up in Detroit

[jimh]

Dad had recently gotten rid of his pre-war "jalopy Nash" and was soon to buy his first brand new car, a 1950 Plymouth DeLuxe. I was almost born in the back seat of a Hudson Hornet. But Uncle Ben drove a little faster and made it to Cottage Hospital with minutes to spare on August 29, 1950.

I grew up on Farmbrook between Frankfort and Southampton. Attended Bethany Lutheran School for Kindergarten through 8th grade. Went one year at Finney, then attended Lutheran East, graduating in 1968.

Now living in Norton Shores in the Muskegon area.

I went to Liggett [[1962?) for one year when it was in Indian Village then it moved out to the Suburbs and became University Liggett. I then started going to Bethany Lutheran and remember lots of things about Bethany but one that stands out was the day President Kennedy was shot. We heard about it over the PA in classroom we were in shock and we prayed for his recovery. By the time it came over the PA that the President had died we were in the gym. We prayed for the family. We were living in the Whittier Hotel where my father was the mgr. I also remember there was no school or commercial TV for 3 days. But, we in Detroit had cklw which was a reprieve from 24/7 funeral programming.

[jimh]

Going back to the 40s and early 50s, I can recall everyone having a 55-gallon oil drum in the alley behind their house where paper and combustables were burned regularly. The DPW would dump them regularly, or at least until the bottom of the drum rusted out. Garbage was in a sparate zinc-plated metal garbage can.

The Las Vegas communities are well into re-cycling. The local service, Republic Services, provides three plastic recycling bins free of charge. The white one is for paper [[newspapers, mostly), red for tin/aluminum cans and plastic containers, and blue for glass. I'd say that 75 - 80 percent of my neighborhood participates. The containers are emptied once every two weeks. Regular trash is picked up twice a week.

I remember that in the later 1950s too. I also remember an old guy on a horse drawn cart [[barely moving) picking up some of the bigger items in a different form of recycling. He was known as a junk man he sang a lot too.

[EMG]

I went to Liggett [[1962?) for one year when it was in Indian Village then it moved out to the Suburbs and became University Liggett.

I attended, and graduated from, ULS in the '70s.

[EMG]

But, we in Detroit had cklw which was a reprieve from 24/7 funeral programming.

Ah, how well I remember what it was like to be a kid and rue the days the news took over all television. I was too young to even watch television at the time of the JFK assassination but I sure remember suffering through the summer of '73 when it was the Watergate trials and all you could get on American television for A WHOLE SUMMER VACATION was John Dean and his wife's 25 million karat flashing diamond ring. If it hadn't been for Windsor's Channel 9, Bozo the Clown, and Mr. Hoodini, I might actually have had to resort to....playing outside!

Actually...I did, because other than those programs, and also the occasional game show like Jack Narz's "Beat the Clock" [[anyone here remember that one?) and another program called "This Is The Law," Canadian television was pretty worthless, at least as far as entertainment value. I still remember once actually seeing a Canadian talk show where they interviewed Canadian children about what they thought about Canadian television, and this one kid said, "Canadian television isn't any good - it's too boring - there are too many educational programs."

Well, true. Unless you had a rotating antenna and were able to pull in some of the foreign films on Channel 32...good for education of a different sort....

[turkeycall]

jimh-"I then started going to Bethany Lutheran and remember lots of things about Bethany but one that stands out was the day President Kennedy was shot."

What grade were you in and who was your teacher? I was in eighth grade, Mr Sheldon was my teacher and the principal.

We left school for the day a little early. I remember the anger and resentment among the older students - like Oswald's actions had violated us all.

[SMRJim]

I grew up in the shadows of Cody High School. I went to Everett [[which was a wing in Cody High) for Kindegarten and took a summer school class and Driver's Ed at Cody. I was born at Mt Carmel. I only live about 1.5 miles from the houses I grew up in, I have only lived in three zip codes in my life, all contiguous.

I have known many Cody grads over the years. 2 ex-girlfriends, one of my current band-mates and his brother and many of their friends, a good college friend and some of his friends as well. From the classes of 73 thru 80 or so [[I was Saint Marys of Redford 78). I took drivers ed at Cody in the summer of 76 with Mr. Morger. Used to hitchhike there and back quite a bit with my buddy who was also in the class. I still remember standing over near the fire station and gas station [[if I remember right) by Southfield and Joy with the thumb out [[now that I think of it the fire station was probably on the other side of the street). And I remember listening to the AM radio in the Dodge Dart I was driving on that crappy little track, hearing 'Fooled Around and Fell In Love' and 'Go Now' all the time. We were standing outside one day, on the 'island' in the middle of the street across from the 'trailer' we had the class in and my buddy tossed a match onto the dried up grass. There was a lot of cottonwood crap on the grass and the lawn went up in flames. We were frantically running around stomping out the flames. Another day we were sitting in class and this kid came running in, stumbling up the steps, frantically yelling 'they're trying to steal my flute!' over and over - a group of kids had chased him and were just outside the classroom. The kid stayed in our room until the would-be thiefs took off.

[SMRJim]

Born at Mt Carmel in 1960, lived on Prevost [[3 blocks west of Greenfield) just north of Grand River for the first 23 years of my life. Went to Edison for kindergarten, then Saint Marys of Redford all the way through, then U of M-Dearborn. Some of the places we hung out, played, shopped, etc. - Grand River/Greenfield shopping center [[mainly Wards and Kresges, got shoes at Thom McCann or Flagg Brothers), Big Boy, Great Western Auto, St Marys Bakery, Robert Hall, Grandway Bar, Buds Party Store, Milkys Market, Bashurs Drugs [[got my comic books and baseball cards there), The Alter Ego headshop, Grandmont bowling alley, Cook Park, Eadahs Party Store, Perks Party Store, Devics Drugs [[root beer in a frozen mug for a dime), Norwest and Great Lakes theatres, Detroit Public Library - Cheney Branch, Elmers restaurant, Red Devil, St. Marys playground [[strikeout, plastic and rubber ball baseball games, basketball). Northland [[not in the immediate hood but a popular spot)...

[oladub]

EMG, AHA! There, I had an 'aha' moment. It was the [[rhymes with ship wreck) house where you lived on the other side of me. That would explain your information about it being built in 1961. In that case, I would guess your driveway was caving in because of the settling still taking place over the old stream bed.

Mr. S was a quiet man. We would only see Mrs. S outside of her house infrequenly though. We wondered about that.

Yes, that suburb had too many regulations. I once forgot to get my car off the street across the street from my house before the witching hour and received a ticket. As the police officer had marked me down as being parked in front of the wrong house, I decided to fight the ticket in GP Woods court. There must have been thirty cases. He saved mine until last. The second last case, after almost everyone had cleared out, was the only black guy and he was sentenced to jail for vagrancy. The only person to go directly to jail was the only black guy. It was getting late and the judge was not in a good mood. When he got to me he said, "What's this, a parking ticket?" The inference being that I was wasting his time. So I explained that I had not been parked in front of the house number listed on the ticket. The judge replied, "Hhere were you parked? I'll change the number and arrest you for parking there". I backed off and paid the original fine as I had to be in school the next day instead of jail. It was a good civics lesson on judicial arrogance. I thought of mentioning that rich people hire lawyers to get out on such technicalities but I bit my tongue instead.

garbage vs. rubbish day: Stuff that would rot and smell like kitchen waste we called garbage. Rubbish was paper, glass, cans, broken things,...stuff like that.

[EMG]

EMG, AHA! There, I had an 'aha' moment. It was the [[rhymes with ship wreck) house where you lived on the other side of me.

Bingo!!!! But now I'm confused. I indeed lived in the shipwreck house, built in 1961. And the F-----s lived next door to me on the east, in a house that apparently wasn't built until 1963. So where in relation to those two houses did you live? West of shipwreck? Or east of F's?

[oladub]

Bingo!!!! But now I'm confused. I indeed lived in the shipwreck house, built in 1961. And the F-----s lived next door to me on the east, in a house that apparently wasn't built until 1963. So where in relation to those two houses did you live? West of shipwreck? Or east of F's?

ENG, "Bingo!!!!" trumps "AHA!". In the F's house. We were Pre-F's. My father built that house next door to you and sold it to the F's. That's how I came to know Mrs. F. Ignore everything I said about the post 66 house on the other side of the F's house. I had thought that was the house you lived in but now we both agree that you were in the ship wreck house.

[EMG]

Ok, that clears things up. But now I'm still confused about a couple of other matters.

You said earlier, "I lived in the red brick house and understood you to have lived in the yellow brick house. However, you are saying that you also lived in the tri-level brick house [[---2). Picture 2 was my father re-strapping a lawn chair. I am hiding behind the EMG sign in photo 3. Mrs. Fi----- was a widow when I knew her, but she lived in the red brick --2 house. Carpenters built and owned both houses which might be a point of confusion."

The picture 2 of your father re-strapping a lawn chair - he WAS on the back porch of my/Shipwreck's house...right? And in Photo 3 you are standing to the right of that same house...right?

I understand that you had F's house before they moved in, and your dad built F's house. So was your dad just over visiting and doing some work for Shipwreck on Shipwreck's porch at the time of Picture 2? And before F's house was ever built, did you live in Shipwreck's house at that time or were you just borrowing his porch to pose for the picture of the empty lot on which F's house was to be built?

You also said you lived in "the red brick house." I'm drawing a bit of a blank now - and honestly can't remember - did F's tri-level that your dad built also have red bricks? [[I mainly remember the siding; I forgot about the bricks. I always thought of myself as having "the only brick house on the block" - well, it was the only brick ranch anyway - so when you started talking about "red brick house" naturally I thought you were talking about Shipwrecks/my house). I do remember the yellow brick house immediately east of F's tri-level - in fact that yellow brick house went up for sale within a year or two after I moved in to the Shipwreck house, and I actually went in to its open house to inquire about the price. Alas, it was beyond what I thought it was worth at the time.

[oladub]

EMG, A picture is worth a thousand words. We both had some red bricks. This is the only picture I have found showing your house.

Attachment 3632

[EMG]

Yep - that's it exactly. I never took a picture of the F's house and after a few years had forgotten exactly what it looked like from the front, but the situation was exactly as pictured above. That is my driveway and side of my house at the left side of the picture. And the counts as described in our original posts where you said you were the seventh house from Mack, and I said that made you my next door neighbor to the east) now match up too. I just got mixed up when you said you lived in "the red brick house" because my house was ALL "red bricks," and I had forgotten that the F's also had red bricks.

[stonechipped]

The floor in that oil change facility used to rotate around...way way ahead of its time

[stonechipped]

East Side General Hospital was where I made my debut in 1950 have no idea where the hospital used to stand...Any help out there?
Thanks

[jcole]

East Side General Hospital was where I made my debut in 1950 have no idea where the hospital used to stand...Any help out there?
Thanks

East Side General Hospital, 2199 Cadillac Blvd
http://www.migenweb.net/wayne/wayhospitals.htm

[LPL]

How about Women"s Hospital in 1935??!!

[scribe114]

Born at a Sinai Hospital in 1968, grew up on the East Side on Field St. between Canfield and Sylvester a block north of the Boulevard and a block west Swanson's Funeral Home. Parents moved Northeast to Mapleridge a block from Columbus Middle School two blocks from Denby.

Went to Marcy Elementary on Sylvester between Concord and Helen for two years, parents pulled me and my brother out and sent us to Eastside Vicariate from 75-78. Parents got tired of paying tuition and put us back in public school.

Went to Burton International in the Cass Corridor from 78-82 learned the West Side like the back of my hand since most of classmates were West Siders. Decided to continue to go to school on the West Side and went to Chadsey H.S. from 82-86. Was accepted into Cass, but I did not care for the East Side schools and Chadsey was an open enrollment school.

Graduated spent 20 years in the Marine Corps and now I live in Southwest Detroit.

[Bodybagging]

I was born in Detroit, at women's hospital, which is now called Hutzel? Lived in a apartment building at 3439 Cass from 1970 to 1980, we lived above a doctors office, Dr.Nimm and another that I can't recall the name of.. I went to Burton elementry school, later being reclassified as Burton International due to all the ethnic groups enrolled.
Highlights of my memories from childhood in the Corridor were BIRDTOWN petshop, owned by Pat and Gary, I believe they purchased it from a old gentleman named Mack, spent alot of time there and they became close friends, I stop in a see them every now and again, although its been years now.
Cass Methodist church, They had a great youth program and I spent many wonderful years there.
Cass corridor youth advocates, I can remember a gentleman named Fraser ran this place, yet another great youth program. In fact I played Baseball on the police athletics league thru them.
ChinaTown, I loved Chinese new years, they had a festival and it was very exciting for a young boy. Chungs restaurant and the Forbidden city restuarant.
Once I turned 9 my grandparents set me loose on the city, every saturday, I would be given 10 dollars and head up Cass avenue on the bus to spend the day watching movies at the multiple theatres of the day. I grew up exploring down town Detroit on those saturdays.
Of course my favorite memories were being within walking distance of the Thanksgiving day parade.
In 1980 we bought a home in Delray and a new world of adventure awaited me..LOL I watched the decay of a beautiful Hungarian neighborhood within 6-7 years. Thats enough for now, I think.

[13074Glenfield]

Growing up on near Harper and Gratiot, we separated garbage [[food waste) from rubbish [[cans, bottles etc.) and burned the trash [[paper) in the alley in a basket like thing made of wire. It was a great day when burning the trash was added to my chores list.

For big stuff, we'd put it behind the garage where the guy with the horse and wagon [[who we called the sheenie man, for some reason) would come and take it. In the later 60s, after we moved to Glenfield and Dickerson the sheenie man didn't come around anymore, so my dad would put a six pack or two on top of anything he wanted hauled away and the city garbage men would take care of it. When we reroofed the garage, we just dumped everything in the alley and put a case on top of it. They came and cleaned the whole area up neat as a pin.

[big c]

born @ burton-mercy hospital grew up on e. lafayette st. between leib & mt.elliott attended bellvue elementary & miller jr. high schools spent all free time with the other kids @ the elmwood rec center for some reason we all called it the "DUS".....parents moved farther east
to lillibridge st between east warren & shoemaker by then I was attending Wilbur Wright high school...

[BillRush]

Born in Bon Secours, lived on Lenox near E Warren. Then moved to Pinewood, at 7 Mile & Gratiot.
Finished growing up in Harper Woods. My dad grew up at Conner & Gratiot in what he always referred to as the Projects, some place called Parkside, I think. Anyone every heard of it? When I was little, he used to take us kids on drives through his old neighborhood but all I remember is that Parkside was near City Airport and there were cannons in the courtyards of the buildings

Parkside was at Warren and Connor just outside Chandler Park. It was federal Housing ,whatever that meant.

[393Bird]

Lived in Redford Township, just off of Beech, south of 5 Mile. Went to Redford Union HS. Live in Tn now.

[Hermod]

Growing up on near Harper and Gratiot, we separated garbage [[food waste) from rubbish [[cans, bottles etc.) and burned the trash [[paper) in the alley in a basket like thing made of wire. It was a great day when burning the trash was added to my chores list.

For big stuff, we'd put it behind the garage where the guy with the horse and wagon [[who we called the sheenie man, for some reason) would come and take it. In the later 60s, after we moved to Glenfield and Dickerson the sheenie man didn't come around anymore, so my dad would put a six pack or two on top of anything he wanted hauled away and the city garbage men would take care of it. When we reroofed the garage, we just dumped everything in the alley and put a case on top of it. They came and cleaned the whole area up neat as a pin.

Yes, growing up on Nottingham near Grayton. One zinc-plated "garbage can" in which the garbage was placed [[wrapped in newspaper). One 55-gallon drum with home-made top as a "trash can" for metal, glass, wood, and cloth. Two separate pickup days.

We also had a wire container in which we burned the paper waste [[newspapers and magazines were saved to give to paper drives). Every Saturday, lug four to six bags of paper waste up out of the basement and out to the alley for the weekly burn. Rest of the week the wire container lived next to the trash can behind the garage.

The old black sheenie would come around just before trash pickup day. I remembered his cart was pulled by a mule but it may have been a horse. In addition to picking up the big stuff, he would also root through the trash cans, but since he never left a mess, nobody minded him doing that.

[EMG]

Yes, growing up on Nottingham near Grayton. .....

That made us just about neighbors!!! I grew up on Nottingham a few houses north of Britain. I was there from 1961-1990.