Favorite Detroit Eccentrics

[EastsideAl]

A lot of them in the old days hanging around downtown and local events. Like Greektown Stella, Dancing Gus, Polar Bear Gus, Stinky Dinky, and The Brow, of course. And some people who would only be remembered by those involved in certain activities, like the "Fort and WHAT?" guy who used to ride the buses late at night, or the "look at my eyes" guy who used to show up at west side rock shows with eyes painted on his hands. One of my favorites was the very quiet guy who would stand by Kennedy Square passing out home-printed obscene religious tracts.

[Jimaz]

Like Greektown Stella....

DetroitYES Home » Discuss Detroit » Stella of Greektown found! RIP, Stella.

Ollie Fretter was my first thought until I thought of the big one, Henry Ford!

[G-DDT]

DetroitYES Home » Discuss Detroit » Stella of Greektown found! RIP, Stella.

Ollie Fretter was my first thought until I thought of the big one, Henry Ford!

Popped my skull when I saw an old weathered Fretter sign in a strip mall in east Somerville, MA [["home of the American Flag"-so they say); there was one that had just opened there right before his chain went under, the locals told me. Some of them even remembered his on-air coffee promise.
Supposedly Ford used to always have an axe handy in his house-absolutely afraid of being locked in, I guess.

[Zacha341]

Who was 'The Brow'? Does any one remember the guy that used to go around WSU and Cass Corridor on crutches perpetually with the one leg hitched up, knee bent down?? Glad I did not run up on Stinky Dinky!!

A lot of them in the old days hanging around downtown and local events. Like Greektown Stella, Dancing Gus, Polar Bear Gus, Stinky Dinky, and The Brow, of course. And some people who would only be remembered by those involved in certain activities, like the "Fort and WHAT?" guy who used to ride the buses late at night, or the "look at my eyes" guy who used to show up at west side rock shows with eyes painted on his hands. One of my favorites was the very quiet guy who would stand by Kennedy Square passing out home-printed obscene religious tracts.

[EastsideAl]

Who was 'The Brow'? Does any one remember the guy that used to go around WSU and Cass Corridor on crutches perpetually with the one leg hitched up, knee bent down?? Glad I did not run up on Stinky Dinky!!

The Brow was a retired Detroit school teacher who showed up at pretty much all local sporting events in the '80s and '90s dressed in white shirt and tie, carrying a bunch of hand-lettered signs containing the worst puns imaginable. He would wander the stands throughout the games holding his signs over his head. When not displaying the signs, or trying to get cheers started [[almost always unsuccessfully), he would just yell a stream of really bad insults at the opposing team. I believe he died in the late '90s.

He was such a super fan that he would always show up at the airport with his signs to "welcome" the teams back from road trips. In fact, he would often drive to Cleveland or Chicago to greet the teams as they got off their planes there, only to turn around and drive right back to Detroit without attending the game. Sometimes going directly back to Metro Airport in order to greet the teams at the other end of their return trip. I believe it was Isiah Thomas who gave him his nickname, because, well, just look at the pictures...







Stinky Dinky [[aka Dirty Dinky) was another oddball regular in the Tiger Stadium bleachers in the 1970s, who would also show up for a lot of events downtown and often rode the Woodward bus. He was a short little old man who wore big jackets covered with his homemade buttons. On the front was usually a huge button that said "I'm The Famous Stinky Dinky", and the rest were either sports related or just outright filthy dirty. He usually wore a pair of those cheap novelty oversize sunglasses, and an ancient Tigers cap that was also covered in buttons or written slogans.

He would encourage people to take pictures with him, and ask them to kick in a little cash for the privilege. He especially liked to take pictures with girls, who he would say nasty obscene things to while trying to feel them up. Indeed, he was always repeating the same scatological and obscene sayings, while also trying to cage cash, cigarettes, or beer off people. Add to that the fact that his name was also notably appropriate, and once the novelty wore off almost everyone who came in contact with him quickly learned to avoid him.

I was very surprised to find this picture of him by Dave Jordano, even if it is from the back.

[FEO]

Tony was big white haired guy that hung around the streets of downtown.
He wore a bright orange raincoat and a safety belt. He would direct traffic on his own.
He would even stop all traffic for the fire engines when they got a run.

A guy from California called Squirt went to all the police and fire stations in Detroit to sell his perfume. He would always squirt their Bell phone with some smelly perfume and when you made a phone call you had to hold it arms length away because it stunk. He didn't drive so he had to hire someone to drive him.