 
Kellyroad
Member
Username: Kellyroad
Post Number: 195
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 1:08 am: |    |
Quote:
........ I'm thinking that we need to consolidate several threads...what do you think?
GB: I see your point. Many threads have overlapping themes. ie. 60s and 70s nostalgia of varying yet close neighborhoods on the far eastside (Morang, Civic Center, Heilmann etc.). It's a question of being too fragmented and making participation too tedious or too poignant and perhaps not getting a fuller, more meaningful participation. Some threads stick with landmark and neighborhood nostalgia (Do you remember so and so or this building?) while others evolved into more social observation/commenteries (witness the Heilmann thread). Each thread seems to have its own theme and flavor. Perhaps "Where are the Denby Tars" and "Denby High School" could be consolidated.
On a personal level the "far eastside" thread is what got my interest in the first place, but I think it became to broad based and just plain fizzled out. It seems the popular threads are the ones where bloggers can relate on a more intimate level....Morang memories, Civic Center, Heilmann.. are all microcosms of yesteryear and just seem to entice participation. My vote...leave it alone and try to participate in many threads as possible.
PS: Thanks again for your frequent and articulate discussion on many of the eastside topics (you too ES61) |
Eastside61
Member
Username: Eastside61
Post Number: 857
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 12:04 pm: | |
Kellyroad- Good Points - I am still with GB that an actual history of the Eastside over the past 50 years needs to be written...Maybe an Arcadia type publication......and recent observations is that of "Eastsiders" seem to dominate at times...Why is that??????? The Westside....ONLY has the Student Jjaba who never got off of Northlawn, Sussex or the Dexter bus. |
7_and_kelly_kid
Member
Username: 7_and_kelly_kid
Post Number: 67
Registered: 12-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 1:31 pm: | |
I don't know about you guys but my world was bounded by Gratiot, 8 Mile, oh...maybe Beaconsfield and Morang and Kelly. KR can attest to this......our moms made the boundries..."The Busy Streets"..........even getting that all important drivers license Woodward was about it.......and who could afford gas at 75 cents a gallon?...... |
Goblue
Member
Username: Goblue
Post Number: 1078
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 2:40 pm: | |
All: Yeah, I see your points...KR really nails it...maybe just the one Denby thread is all that's needed...but the rest should go on.
Holy shit 7&K...75 cents for a gallon of gas?•••.I was thinking more like fifteen cents to a quarter a gallon...but even then my boundaries in high school were about 8 Mile on the north...maybe Schoenherr- Gratiot-Chalmers on the west although sometimes we went to the drive-in movie on 8 Mile that was further west (named the Bel-Air?)...Kercheval on the south...remember I was dating a S'Eastern girl...and the lake on the east. A real long sojourn was out to Bloomer State Park but we didn't want our folks to find out that we'd been that far...one time a buddy and I got away for a camping weekend to Midland so I could see a girl I'd met the summer before...I'm not sure how we pulled that off with our parents. |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 6250
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 6:34 pm: | |
If they do an Arcadia Book on the far east side the front cover should have something that fits in with the ethnicity of that area... a pigeon coop or feather bowling!  |
Goblue
Member
Username: Goblue
Post Number: 1085
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 7:57 pm: | |
Gis: I like that...can't think of anything better than a pigeon coop...or a Stroh's logo. |
Kellyroad
Member
Username: Kellyroad
Post Number: 196
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 12:41 am: | |
or a E&B or Goebel beer logo or Better Made Potato Chip label
Another Topic of discussion: What picture, logo, drawing or emblem would best suit the "The Nostalgia of the Far East Side of Detroit Book"? |
Kellyroad
Member
Username: Kellyroad
Post Number: 197
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 1:50 am: | |
Morang Avenue is where I lived for the first 6 years of my life....just south of 7 Mile in a duplex near Saratoga. It was a county road and the speed limit was 30 miles/hr. During the 50s and early 60s Morang was lined with elm trees on boulevards (the area between the street and side walk) that were considerably wider than the ones on nearby residential aves. Most of the duplexes were well maintained, had enclosed porches on the back, and ivy growing on the brick. I still recall the DSR bus would stop right in front of our house across the street....that diesel motor sound and smell takes me right back to that era. Morang was THE main street for "local shopping" on the far east side (Eastland and 7/Gratiot don't count here) As mentioned before in other threads, that area was loaded with kids in the 50s/60s. Walking to Columbus and later St. Jude was like a parade around 3PM....Morang, Eastwood, Saratoga were a beehive of activity. Morang was kind of in the middle of the two schools so students were coming and going in all directions along Morang.
Morang was one of the streets that defined the "triangle"...7Mi, Kelly, and Morang. A far eastsider knew where you lived if you just said "the triangle"
The other side of Kelly (where Morang curves more to a east-west direction) was the business area. Chatham on Morang along with the one on Kelly Rd.is where we got our groceries... Many trips to Normandy Optical(between Payton and Riad). for new glasses and/or repairs kept that optician in business. I still recall my first visit to a 31 flavors (on Morang on a Saturday night). My dad, my brother and sister must have waited over 20 minutes to be served and another 5 minutes to make up our minds (you have to appreciate that there was never that many flavors to choose from in an ice cream parlor before 31 flavors).....I got the rocky road!
Pecar Electronics was a place where you simply went in and dreamed. HiFi and/or stereo equipment in those days were relatively very expensive especially the really good stuff that Pecar's carried like Yamaha or MacIntosh equipment. Kavan's is where I first heard the term "groundround" instead of hamburger. It was also the first time I experienced onion rings...yes even before Big Boy's.
Morang seemed kind of mysterious (from a child' perspective) beyond the Cadieux intersection...Our family always cut down Cadieux going to I-94 or toward Warren or Mack.
Anyway those are a few of my "Morang Memories".
What was the name of the car dealer on Morang near Laing that sold sports cars? (I believe Triumphs) |
Kville
Member
Username: Kville
Post Number: 99
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 4:35 am: | |
It's a little scary to me to read the threads of memories going way back to the 80's and even 70's and the "original" businesses that may or may not still exist in the neighborhood. It's scary because I grew up there starting in the early 50's and the businesses I remember were already gone by the time many of these memories begin. My parents were one of the first ones to move to that new neighborhood in the early 40's. My mom had to walk to the corner of Laing & Casino to use the pay phone because they couldn't get one in the house yet. After that, it was all party lines.
Our boundaries were basically Hayes on the west (near the "older" neighborhoods), city limits on the north, Harper on the east, Whittier on the south. Even though it was a new neighborhood, it was still urban and we lived close to all our relatives and knew our neighbors. Someone pointed out that there were kids everywhere. Most of the kids either went to St. Jude or Carleton. The family hardware store took us out of the neighborhood somewhat, but basically all our shopping was done in the area. There was no I94 for quite a while. Sommers' Funeral Home was the newest business on Laing & Morang. When they started building all the apartment buildings on Morang, we called it "Apartment Boulevard." We'd go to Don's Shoe Repair behind Ross's Drug Store on Whitehill where he'd give us his empty pop bottles to redeem at the grocery store - it was our first way to earn money. We'd immediately spend it at the drug store, where we'd deliberate for a half hour deciding how to spend the two cents or maybe a nickel. Now I've really dated myself.
I agree that trying to consolidate these threads would make them cumbersome. Maybe we need to group them by decades. I enjoy reading about the old neighborhood, but many of the memories here could have been from somewhere else because I don't recognize the businesses that came later. And personally, once the thread attracts over 100 entries, I start to lose interest because they seem overwhelming to wade through, especially if you come in late. But I do appreciate this thread a lot anyway. Thanks. |
7_and_kelly_kid
Member
Username: 7_and_kelly_kid
Post Number: 68
Registered: 12-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 10:45 am: | |
KR......Laing Motors?.... |
Goblue
Member
Username: Goblue
Post Number: 1090
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 11:29 am: | |
I agree with Kville...maybe breaking the threads into decades would be a good idea...I recognize a lot of the places mentioned on this Morang thread but I didn't get to this area much until I was Denby...except for belonging to BSA Troop 706 at St. James Presbyterian which led to friends who lived along Morang...Hayes seems to have been the dividing line...we lived on the west side of that line and so our world tended to focus more toward 7 & Gratiot...and as we grew a little older down toward 6 & Gratiot...a split by decades might be a good idea. |
Carm
Member
Username: Carm
Post Number: 70
Registered: 01-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 11:31 am: | |
I grew up on Nottingham between Berkshire and Haverhill. My last name is Perini and growing up I was always asked if my family owned Perini's Restaurant on Whittier. Not only did we have nothing to do with it, I never, ever stepped foot inside the restaurant. |
Kellyroad
Member
Username: Kellyroad
Post Number: 198
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 12:37 pm: | |
ALL: In a way I agree with the concept of categorizing the threads by time period but it almost seems a moot point with the contributors of east side nostalgia....We all wax nostalgia in the 50s-70s and I wonder if a thread could even be pigeonholed and contained within a specific decade period anyway. If the title of thread contains the time period and place and thus attracts more frequent and meaningful dialogue by more contributors I'm all for it. Let's give it a whirl.
7K, I had a feeling it was Laing Motors but it seemed to obvious. |
7_and_kelly_kid
Member
Username: 7_and_kelly_kid
Post Number: 70
Registered: 12-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 12:53 pm: | |
.......not that there's anything wrong with being too obvious...... |
Newport1128
Member
Username: Newport1128
Post Number: 167
Registered: 05-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 6:46 pm: | |
Yep, it was Laing Motors. Thanks for awakening an old memory. In the early seventies, I owned a Plymouth Cricket, which was made in England. When Chrysler stopped importing them in 1972 and the dealerships no longer serviced them (except for Snethkamp on 6 Mile & Woodward), I used to take it to Laing Motors for service, since they also serviced other British cars. The place was tiny. There was only enough room in the showroom for one car. |
Gibran
Member
Username: Gibran
Post Number: 1690
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 6:50 pm: | |
yes Laing motors...we always thought is was kind unique since we were in the heart of the motor city.... |
Gibran
Member
Username: Gibran
Post Number: 1691
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 7:19 pm: | |
what a dynamic little neighborhood Whittier, Morang and Kelly....dive shops, import cars, family taverns, great Chinese and Italian foods, butchers and bakeries, corner stores, music, movies and all within walking distance...and we surely walked everywhere... our mom's called ahead to order meat, get a haircut style (much to the surprise of us when we sat in the barber chair), we carried fruit from fruit stands on Rossiter an knew that we couldn't cross the grass on the old guys house across from the park...We respected the guys who put a lot of effort into their lawns and watered ours to get worms to fish the foot of alter...
We knew whose fruit trees were in season thinking that it would balance out with kids getting into each others...allies were adventures in junk dealing ( and finding old magazines that would raise a mother's fury if caught and maybe a stern lecture by dad)...
we roamed the stores wishing to buy a bat in spring and hockey stick in winter...
all of the families knew each other and despite a few feuds over little things banded together when they lost a loved one... we celebrated Halloween and knew who had the best candy and tolerated popcorn balls from the elderly.. our parents taught us many great lessons and hard work and some that we had to figure out on our own...in short eastside wasn't perfect...but it must of left a lasting impression that we still call it home. no matter where we are at today... |
7_and_kelly_kid
Member
Username: 7_and_kelly_kid
Post Number: 71
Registered: 12-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 7:28 pm: | |
I remember one year, being st. Jude got out before the public schools, my buddy and I made a map of all the fruit trees in "Trisville"...and then a little later in life..........we discovered the dive bars! |
Jaja
Member
Username: Jaja
Post Number: 37
Registered: 12-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 8:43 pm: | |
Reading the post about Sommers funeral home, I remember when my father passed away in 1961, Mr Stanley Sommers sent us a Christmas card later that year... and we received a card every year from then on until his own passing.. which seems to be about 10-15 years ago... his son sent a letter informing us about the passing... I've never heard of any business doing such a thing... that's the east side...and Milroy's ..
what a tradition... Friday night fish & chips...
and Henny Penney takeout...great memories.. |
Goblue
Member
Username: Goblue
Post Number: 1097
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 9:36 pm: | |
Jaja: You're right...that was the Eastside...people cared! Interestingly enough...KR seems to say that the same atmosphere continues to exist in his neighborhood downriver. |
Eastside61
Member
Username: Eastside61
Post Number: 867
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 10:06 pm: | |
anyone remember the three foxes that lived off of Worden and Morang in the early '60's.......they all lived next door to each other....I did see two of them in TC last summer........and we had a great night discussing other's and even helping out an Eastside friend who is in the witness protection program (has had a face lift) because he got in trouble with a guy who used to live on Northlawn in the late 50's in some type of payola scam when they worked for WIDR in Kalamazoo.....sad to see an eastsdier be influenced by this misguided Tappan Jr HS goofball..... |
Goblue
Member
Username: Goblue
Post Number: 1105
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 10:31 pm: | |
Broncos united!! |
Eastside61
Member
Username: Eastside61
Post Number: 873
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 11:41 pm: | |
Tappan Junior High School were known as the broncos?????? I know that Jjaba was a great cheerleader at Noble - Tappan and Cass tech...I remember watching him prancing around at Denby /CT football and basketball games....with the other cheerleaders...Go Technicians!••• |
Gibran
Member
Username: Gibran
Post Number: 1706
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 05, 2008 - 9:17 pm: | |
how many of our friends or family still reside in the old neighborhood? My cousin just moved out and passed away shortly after....my sisters in-laws still live in the neighborhood..I think Bill, Jim , Anne S.paerents still live on wayburn...I don't know many others...last time I was home it for a brief stop...people who lived in my house must of thought I was a stalker.....wild my basketball goal was still up ... |
Maryh
Member
Username: Maryh
Post Number: 4
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 05, 2008 - 9:34 pm: | |
A good friend of mine still likes to end her letters with:
" Peace, Love and Eastside " |
Kellyroad
Member
Username: Kellyroad
Post Number: 201
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 - 6:41 am: | |
Gibran: I've posted that very question....."How many of our friends or family still reside in the old neighborhood?...
Even though my mother has moved out of the neighborhood in 1995 she still has the "St. Jude bulletin" mailed to her. There are still a few names that are recognizable from the 50--80s: However, I'm not sure if they still reside in the St. Jude parish boundary. I know of no one still living in the neighborhood (On Eastwood between Morang and Kelly) that was there during my era 50s-70s)...But I am pleased to see that the basketball backboard that my dad an I put on the garage in 1967 still remains. |
7_and_kelly_kid
Member
Username: 7_and_kelly_kid
Post Number: 73
Registered: 12-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 - 12:37 pm: | |
hey KR......I remember playing catch with our dads in our respective driveways too......... |
Goblue
Member
Username: Goblue
Post Number: 1117
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 - 2:03 pm: | |
My sister is the closest in our family to our Eastside roots...she lives in GPW...not the same! |
Eastside61
Member
Username: Eastside61
Post Number: 878
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 - 4:57 pm: | |
Tom and Judy Tuschak moved two years ago from their home on Bishop and CPDrive.....it took them over three years just to sell the home.....The only other person I know who still lives within the city limits lives on Outer Drive about 4 houses up from Mack......His car has been stolen three times....."Only in Motown"..... |
Optima
Member
Username: Optima
Post Number: 4
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 - 5:06 pm: | |
Wow, while reading this I am really "jonesing" for the old neighborhood as I was moved to Salem (South Lyon) back in '72 as the old Seger song states. I was raised in the 8 and Schoenherr area (St. Raymond parish) and still maintain a credit union account in Eastpointe - primarily as an excuse to come to the east side and visit Sara's Sweets (8 Mile north of Mack) to get some of the fantastic Alinosi's white chocolate.
As kids, our big conquest was to cross 8 Mile and attend shows at the Warren cinemas. Also much time was spent at Wish Egan park and the one off of State Fair (memories are faint). We actually traversed far and wide for our ages.
Westland just doesn't compare...
Cm |