  Eastburn Member Username: Eastburn Post Number: 550 Registered: 03-2008 |
Can't find that anyone's tried to dredge up memories of this 50s & 60s wonderland on McNichols around Mt. Elliot. Wonderful (to the kid I was) war surplus stuff. I wore a WWII Eisenhower jacket in grade school. Heck, you could buy an Army "duck" amphibian vehicle or a decommissioned tank. | ||
Jgavrile Member Username: Jgavrile Post Number: 217 Registered: 09-2005 |
Yea that was a cool place to go. Lots of goodies. Wish they were still in buisness | ||
Mortalman Member Username: Mortalman Post Number: 492 Registered: 03-2007 |
Remember it well! Does anyone know what the address was? You buy all these great gadget and take them apart and have a whole floor full of other gadgets. I can remember something with cross hairs in a magnifier. Maybe it was a bomb sight. You're right about being able to buy and Army "DUKW" Amphibian vehicle. Here's a good question that I'm sure somebody on here probably knows. Are there any veterans organizations that have any military vehicles and/or guns that were purchased from Silverstein's that sit out in front of their clubs? | ||
Barnesfoto Member Username: Barnesfoto Post Number: 5567 Registered: 10-2003 |
It was a very cool place to go, especially the crosstown trek... My grandfather loved to go there...I was very small, so the place seemed huge, and the best part was there was always somebody near the door giving out trinkets to the kids.. | ||
Bobl Member Username: Bobl Post Number: 221 Registered: 07-2008 |
Bought a huge canvass tent there. Held together for five years of heavy beer drinking and young adult partying, not to mention one severe thunderstorm, at State and Provincial campgrounds. Cost? Twenty dollars. | ||
Eastburn Member Username: Eastburn Post Number: 551 Registered: 03-2008 |
You could buy a British Webley .45 revolver for 5 bucks. | ||
Marshall Member Username: Marshall Post Number: 14 Registered: 09-2008 |
I loved Silversteins. In the late 60's they also had surplus paint, which I used on my boat. There was an Epps on Livernois near Purtain that was pretty good too. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 2528 Registered: 12-2005 |
That place was great, you could get all kinds of mechanical gizmos for next to nothing. I went there in the mid 70s, all the way over to the east side! | ||
Sumas Member Username: Sumas Post Number: 373 Registered: 01-2008 |
My Dad, a WWII, veteran, loved that place. I was pretty little but I remember the tank. | ||
Eastburn Member Username: Eastburn Post Number: 552 Registered: 03-2008 |
Barnesfoto, I'd forgotten about the freebees. I think my Mom may have made special trips just to take me there since it was out of my range as a little kid. Epps also had a store on Gratiot around State Fair. Cool stuff (that's where I got my Eisenhower jacket) but noting like Silversteins. | ||
Eriedearie Member Username: Eriedearie Post Number: 4054 Registered: 08-2007 |
I remember that store. Have not thought about it in years. They had all sorts of gadgets. I'm sure my dad still has some things from there. I'll have to ask him if he remembers going there. | ||
Docterry Member Username: Docterry Post Number: 143 Registered: 08-2008 |
As kids, this was the place! When dad took us there, it was like a holiday. The last I remember was getting a giant bag of wood scraps in all kinds of shapes and colors that we spent months making "stuff" out of. Wish there had been something similar when my kids were little. | ||
Norwalk Member Username: Norwalk Post Number: 435 Registered: 11-2006 |
I used to love when my Dad would take me there. If I recall there was a train turn around building not to far from Silverstein's. I think the prison might be there now. Does anyone recall that? Or was Dad "pulling my leg" | ||
Ordinary Member Username: Ordinary Post Number: 282 Registered: 06-2006 |
I remember going there with my older sibs when I was real young. Now that Ark Surplus in Mt. Clemens has closed, there are just no good army/navy surplus stores around. Or are there? | ||
Gingellgirl Member Username: Gingellgirl Post Number: 234 Registered: 04-2007 |
It was my dad's favorite field trip. I think he liked it because it smelled like the Army. Afterwards, we'd go to the original Marcus Hamburgers across the street. | ||
Eastburn Member Username: Eastburn Post Number: 555 Registered: 03-2008 |
I think Joe's in Mt. Clemens & Pontiac is still in operation. No comparison to Epps or Silverstein's, though. | ||
Eriedearie Member Username: Eriedearie Post Number: 4057 Registered: 08-2007 |
Gingellgirl! Didn't you just love those greasy Marcus burgers! My boss would send me there for a sack full every now and again that he would treat the staff with. Ordinary - Ark Surplus closed! Gosh when did that happen? One of my friends' brothers worked there for years. I have not been around that area in a while. | ||
Slick Member Username: Slick Post Number: 36 Registered: 02-2008 |
Ordinary, here is a link. http://detroit.citysearch.com/ yellowpages/directory/Detroit_ MI/150/493/page1.html The thought crossed my mind as I was reading the thread. Many happy times at Silverstiens. | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 334 Registered: 08-2007 |
I believe the address was on Girardin. My father made trips there in the 50's and 50's. The DPD may have bought a DUKW, surplus vehicle from them. It was an amphibious vehicle and could go on land or water. If you were a tinkerer it was heaven. | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 1241 Registered: 04-2007 |
On certain Saturdays Silverstein's had a clown outside doing tricks and giving away paddle ball sets or yo-yos. The tanks and amphibian vehicles were awe inspiring to a young kid. It was a great place to pick up a Navy P-coat or army fatigue jacket. Silversteins was on the route to our grandparents home...we passed that place thousands of times. Related question: There was a business on the south side of 6 mile just west of Van Dyke near Silverstein's that had a car on top of the roof. Does anyone remember that or what the name of that business was? | ||
Zitro Member Username: Zitro Post Number: 2413 Registered: 04-2008 |
I know there was a junkyard right there but can't recall the name of it. | ||
Detroitjim Member Username: Detroitjim Post Number: 52 Registered: 02-2008 |
The street address of Silversteins was 12thousand something Brimson. You could enter the parking lot at the corner of Sherwood and E McNichols. | ||
Alfie1a Member Username: Alfie1a Post Number: 87 Registered: 10-2007 |
There was a business on the south side of 6 mile just west of Van Dyke near Silverstein's that had a car on top of the roof. I think that was Merit auto parts. A junkyard. | ||
Kellyroad Member Username: Kellyroad Post Number: 1245 Registered: 04-2007 |
Z abd A1A: Thanks. I believe it was a junkyard...picked up a part or two during its day. If I recall correctly, Silverstein's parking lot was half gravel, half mud... made for an interesting adventure on a misty day. | ||
Treble484 Member Username: Treble484 Post Number: 65 Registered: 02-2006 |
Boy just brought back some great memories, my dad would load us up in the '59 pontiac safari station wagon about once a month. 94 east to Mt Elliott and north, up mound to 6 mile. It was like a fantasy land of military stuff and gadgets. I was a young boy and it was like going to disneyland. | ||
Jgavrile Member Username: Jgavrile Post Number: 218 Registered: 09-2005 |
Silversteins was pretty good for sure,How about Barry's surplus on Grand River near Oakman South of the Sears store. Man that place had stuff in it hanging off the ceiling too. Pretty big store.Lots of military stuff you couldn't identify. | ||
Rj_spangler Member Username: Rj_spangler Post Number: 65 Registered: 10-2008 |
This brings back lots of memories fro me as well -- I had an "Ike Jacket" that I got there as a boy too! Bought lots of cool stuff there as a boy. It was just before Mt Elliot on McNichols. Next to it was a scrap metal place which I think is still there, then Gallagher / Kaiser which I worked at in like 1977. I also worked right across the st from Silverstein's at making aluminum siding before that at Kaufmann's. My little brother and I loved Silverstein's! | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 726 Registered: 08-2007 |
Ive heard stories about Barry,s on GR, Did they have a tank like Silversteins? | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 336 Registered: 08-2007 |
Silverstein's did not have any connection with Brimson St. and they did carry more diverse selection of items than Barry's. The store ranged from upholstery material to shoes to electrical items. | ||
Detroitjim Member Username: Detroitjim Post Number: 53 Registered: 02-2008 |
Silversteins street address was on Brimson. Customers could only enter off of 6mile through the parking lot. | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 337 Registered: 08-2007 |
You better check a map of the area. Access could be from Girardin or via their parking lot. Brimson is north of McNichols and the store was south of McNichols. In the early 50's the parking lot was not accessible. Patrons would have to park on Girardin and enter through the gate. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 2145 Registered: 04-2005 |
I still have a bazooka sight that I bought there in the 60s, and probably have more things that are squirreled away somewhere. It was a regular Saturday stop for us, too. I can still smell the cosmoline.  From 1949, couldn't show more since it was cut off by an overlapping map. | ||
Ordinary Member Username: Ordinary Post Number: 283 Registered: 06-2006 |
Eastburn I'll have to check out Joe's. Are they the same one that used to be by Hoover and 11 Mile Rd? Eriedearie, Someone told me that the land they were on was worth quite a bit and they got an offer they couldn't refuse. I think it's been a year or two. Slick, Thanks, I'll check that out. I've been to a couple other surplus stores, one in Dearborn Heights and another out by 12 & Woodward and they just don't compare. | ||
Eastburn Member Username: Eastburn Post Number: 558 Registered: 03-2008 |
O, not sure if they were on Hoover. I knew them from their Pontiac store on Huron (M59). I was wrong about a Mt. Clemens location. It was Ark that I was thinking of. (Message edited by Eastburn on November 26, 2008) | ||
Treble484 Member Username: Treble484 Post Number: 66 Registered: 02-2006 |
Harrys Army/Navy surplus is still open on Telegraph and Ford Rd. in Dearborn. Bit it us mostly retail and nothing like Silverstines. | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 342 Registered: 08-2007 |
I am trying to remember the name of a surplus store in the Grand River & Oakman Blvd. area. This would have been in the mid 60's. | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 379 Registered: 10-2007 |
I loved that place. Bought more than my share of stuff, mostly never used. What killed stores like that (besides lack of wars) was the internet and places like this: http://www.73.com/a/product_in dex.shtml | ||
Larryinflorida Member Username: Larryinflorida Post Number: 3372 Registered: 02-2007 |
Remember Herschell Electronics? 7 and Gratiot, I think. They had surplus electronics stuff, too. | ||
Larryinflorida Member Username: Larryinflorida Post Number: 3373 Registered: 02-2007 |
They made aluminum radio and tv towers across from Silverstein's. Universal Tower, I believe. | ||
Sludgedaddy Member Username: Sludgedaddy Post Number: 236 Registered: 01-2008 |
Brimson St. ran from east to west. As a young lad, I lived on Edgeton St. one block north of Brimson. I can recall many a Saturday afternoon hanging out inside of that infamous tank by gaining access through the escape hatch on the underside. Kids were also able to manually turn the turrent by hand cranking it. Collected a lot of odds and ends from that venerable enterprise. As kids playing army in local fields and alleys, the military surplus items from WW Two fit the bill with authenic helmets, etc. ...Always wanted to collect enough spare parts to build a replica V-2 rocket in my back yard and plan to take out Saginaw! | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 343 Registered: 08-2007 |
Anybody remember the Doberman's they had running on the grounds when they were closed? | ||
Lodgedodger Member Username: Lodgedodger Post Number: 1002 Registered: 05-2008 |
Epps, yes...bought my first pair of skates there (used). Sorry about the thread jack. | ||
Django Member Username: Django Post Number: 2191 Registered: 10-2003 |
Django drools with jealousy of you all. | ||
Lodgedodger Member Username: Lodgedodger Post Number: 1005 Registered: 05-2008 |
Sludgedaddy! A V-2 rocket! I've always wanted to visit the ruins of Peenemunde! Now that's a REAL threadjack. So sorry! |
